News

Game Informer reveals no Exp. Share or HMs

No Exp. Share item or HMs, while autosaving is an optional feature. We summarise the slew of articles already revealed!

By , October 1, 2019, 3:10 PM

Update: Game Informer have since clarified in their podcast (25:56) that there may not be 18 Gyms in the game.

Video game website Game Informer has revealed exclusive news on the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield games in a special deal, involving them visiting Game Freak headquarters. Several articles have been released, but let’s cut to the chase and summarise them for you!

Autosave feature to debut in Sword and Shield

Autosaving will work throughout the game, both in and outside of the Wild Area, in the background as you play. This feature can be turned off, however.

Exp. Share is no longer an item; instead a feature

The director, Shigeru Ohmori, confirmed that all Pokémon in your party gain an equal amount of experience. Whether this can be turned off or not remains to be seen. In the previous Pokémon games, Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee, the Exp. Share was a Key Item that you couldn’t turn off.

HMs not in Galar

Hidden Moves (HMs) were missing in the generation seven titles, and once again they’re missing from here too. The planning director, Kazumasa Iwao, stated:

We didn’t have them in Sun and Moon, and this time around, we didn’t feel it really matched the concept, especially with the Wild Area and wanting to have this higher degree of freedom. The player can kind of choose how they want to engage with the gameplay. Having the more HM-based elements, we didn’t feel it really matched the game, so this time around they’re not in it.

Getting competitive-ready Pokémon made easier

Pokémon caught during your playthrough can be useable in competitive battling! A system is in place that will, for instance, allow you to “fix” the issue of a Pokémon not having the right “personality parameter” (this possibly means Nature) for competitive battles. That said, apparently players can still “put effort into breeding to come up with the perfect specimen for competitive play”.

Max Raid battles have five difficulty ratings

So claimed Ohmori and Iwao, anyway. Much like Pokémon GO, there are five difficulty ratings for Max Raid battles, and they can be quite difficult too once you reach five star battles. You can choose the difficulty, based on how strong your Pokémon are.

18 different Gyms!

While not accessible from their public articles (it might be for paid subscribers), it appears that there are 18 different Gyms. Some fall into a ‘minor’ league, and others into a major. Which ones are major differs between Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. Does this mean you can encounter both Bea and Allister in the same game…? It’s also not known if you battle in each one – more details need to be confirmed. UPDATE: This has since been retracted in Game Informer’s follow-up podcast. 

What types get into the major league for each version?

What is your favourite bit of news?

Edited by Sheep.

bobandbill is a staff member on The PokéCommunity forums, and the Head Editor of PokéCommunity Daily. He likes discussing and writing about Pokémon on top of playing the games. He is not, contrary to popular belief, two people.