I don't usually promote leaks or discussion on them on account that I'm not a big believer in them, but since the Poketuber aDrive did a whole video covering the leak (which stands out to me as one of the most unique leaks out there, since as of 9/17/19 it doesn't conflict with any existing news and goes in a direction that is unique to most of the leaks), I figured there was no harm in doing a blog covering the "news" within it.
Before I go onward however, I would like to reiterate that this is (as of 9/17/19) just a leak and therefore subject to disproval with future news updates; plus, I'm not putting a stake in this being real yet because as of now, there's no news that's similar to this being unveiled officially - yet. And as with any potential leak there are spoilers inbound so if you don't want to see that, what the hell are you still doing here?
All that being said, let's see exactly what the leak is saying will be coming for Sword/Shield.
Summary[]
To start off the author of the leak says that he's not going to disclose where he is or who he is and clarifies that English isn't his first language so that some grammar may be incorrect; simple stuff, but imho it adds a layer of believability to the leak, because if I recall, a lot of leaks were given by people who spoke perfect English and made no attempt to hide who they were, but this guy appears to have ample reason to hide who he is and therefore may be telling the truth (but that's just me).
- Galarian Exploud - If this form is confirmed, the whole leak is true, because so far, I have not seen anyone ask for Galarian Exploud in any regard at all; as for the Galarian Forme itself, I would say it's pretty cool - apparently, it's Normal/Fairy-type, is much finer, has a brighter skin color, produces softer sounds and can have Pixilate. As a guy who loves the Aura abilities (Pixilate, Aerilate, Galvanize, Refrigerate) it's about time there was a Pokemon who had it as its base ability; and since Exploud learns a lot of great Normal-type moves (including the mighty Boomburst), I can't think of a Pokemon better suited.
- Galarian Ledian + Evo - Looks like poor, poor Ledian won't be so poor in Sword/Shield, judging from both the description and apparent evolution; it becomes Bug/Fighting upon evolving, and can have Technician (yay).
- Galarian Mightyena - Seems Gens 2 and 3 will be getting most of the love this time around; Galarian Mightyena will be Dark/Ice and apparently be living in the mountains of Galar with longer fangs and a white coat. Judging from the presence of fangs, I wouldn't be surprised to see it with Strong Jaw.
- Galarian Ursaring - Here's a far cry if I've ever seen one: regional Ursaring that is Fairy/Fighting. It has some kind of mushroom in its design, either as part of its form or it just has really weird hair that looks like a mushroom; the leaker's grammar makes it tought to tell.
- Galarian Sunflora + Evo - You know, I don't think I disagree with this choice; it apparently is "plant/water" (Grass/Water) due to the ever-present rain in some areas of Galar; its evolution apparently resembles a blue lotus, which I can't wait to see if that's true and has either Storm Drain or Swift Swim.
- Galarian Castform - A pure Fairy-type Castform with an ability that instead of being able to change forms, will gain priority moves and stat boosts based on the weather; my favorite Poketuber will lose his shit if that happens.
- Galarian Magcargo + Evo - Finally a Pokemon who needs one gets one; apparently Magcargo's evo will gain the Fire/Steel-type (like Heatran), minerals that sparkle (on its shell) and is more elongated with eyes that resemble pearls. No clue what its ability will be.
- Galarian Zangoose & Seviper - A pair of rivals each getting a Galarian forme? Sounds like Alolan Ninetales and Alolan Sandslash to me. Anyway, Galarian Zangoose is apparently Poison/Normal-type with the ever-great Adaptability; its claws are much shorter but they secrete venom, a nice contrast from regular Zangoose. Galarian Seviper, on the other hand, is Poison/Dragon-type and gains Merciless as well as gilded ornaments and a tail blade resembling a scythe.
- Galarian Kingler - Not much to note, other than its Water/Steel-type (damn cool type there) and a new abilty acting the same as the Metronome held item (using the same move over and over causes it to increase in power with each use). Neat, but I don't think I'll be using it myself if it's rea.
- New G-Max Forms - Apparently Aegislash, Hydreigon, Eevee, Trevenant, Vespiquen and Rhyperior all have G-Max forms, so that's neat.
- New Gyms - After the first initial Gyms (Milo/Grass, Nessa/Water, Kabu/Fire) will be a Fairy, Ice and Dragon Gyms. Those'll be nice to see, especially with all the new Pokemon they could introduce.
- New Held Item - Apparently there will be a new held item that causes Poekmon which change form mid-battle (specifically Morpeko or Aegislash) to gain 20% HP with each form change; I don't know if this will affect Darmanitan any, but time will tell.
After that, from what I can tell it's some pretty trivial stuff: Max Moves don't bypass Type Immunities (apparently), G-Max Pokemon can only be found in Max Raid Battles (unfortunately), and the 3 current G-Max Pokemon don't have a higher stage of evolution (that was obvious, honestly). He closes this by saying that he's given most of what he knows without spoiling the story (good on you, man), and his disaapointment that some of his favorites won't be present but we apparently get a regional Dex of around 600 Pokemon (more than I thought we would get) as well as his hopes that it'll be fixed in the next games.
Conclusion[]
This stood out to me a lot because a majority of the leak not only doesn't contradict with the other 4Chan leak in any way, but also doesn't contradict any official news so far; plus the direction this takes compared to most "leaks" is very unique (it's not every leaker that'll suggest a Fairy-type Exploud or a regional Zangoose), and the anonymity of the leaker make me think this is a viable leak to believe. Time will tell whether or not this is real, but I'm willing to bet that this probably will be real.
Give your thoughts down below folks, and what do you like the most out of this leak? My personal favorite is probably the Galarian Exploud, because of Pixilate alone and Exploud's access to Boomburst.