The Pokémon Company Issues A Statement About The Number Of Gyms In Sword And Shield

I wasn't too worried about the gyms but it's nice that they are still letting you fight them the old school way.

I hope the "minor league" gyms still have themes and puzzles to them and aren't just generic dojos. :/

More challenges are always a good thing! I wonder how we'll be rewarded for defeating minor league gyms. Can't wait for the stream tomorrow!

I’m confused since I have not played any Pokémon game far beyond the first gym... did people fear this games 18 gyms was too much or too little?

Also, 18 gyms... 8 major league ones, minor league ones being different... does this actually mean 8 major/main story + 5 side quest/gyms? With the 5 being different for each version of the game?

I'm confused. What are minor gyms, what significance do they have then? Are all gyms different between each version or just a select few? If Nelly is in Sword, but Allister is in Shield which version should I get?!

Wow. Why the hysteria around there being so many gyms? Who cares if there are more than 8? Because 8 has always been the tradition? So what? What is actually wrong with collecting 18 badges before you enter the final challenge? It only serves to prolong the game and increase the challenge of it, which I'm sure veterans would appreciate. I don't get why this, above all the other tweaks to tradition over the years such as dual battles, mega-evolution's, etc has got people worried. I swear this just holds the series back if you want 8 badges maximum sheesh.

@Baker1000 honestly, the lack NatDex doesn't bother me outside of playing with my favorite mons, but there's enough new ones to get stoked about

Ok, but what the heck are the Minor leagues? It says that there will be a traditional 8 gym experience, which for the main story is the Major league. But if you start out with the Major league, then where does the Minor league fit in? They mention the minor league, but they have yet to go indepth about how the minor leagues will function.

@BENDsli More than you know. Some juicy leaks have come out about what'll be added to the game. And i'll say meowth fans should get excited.

Everyone seems a little confused...

Based on this newest statement, the minor league is just background information for the sake of lore.

Gyms in Sword/Shield are treated like football teams, and the Pokemon League is kind of like FIFA. Minor League Gyms are all the Gym teams that didn't make it into the Pokemon League. Many different football teams exist around Europe and the world, but not every team makes it into FIFA. Similarly, many Gym teams exist around the Galar region, but not every Gym team makes it into the Pokemon League.

We should not be assuming we get to interact with more than 8 Gyms. This statement clearly outlines "8 Gyms" and nothing more.

@Tharsman No, while there are canonically 18 gyms, you can only visit 8.

aDrive on YouTube suggested some interesting possibilities. I like the idea that many of the minor gym leaders may still be characters who you might battle at various points throughout the game, or in the Championship Tournament that's apparently replacing the Elite 4 (I imagine it will still be 4 rounds and a champion battle, but maybe set up like a tournament for flavor)

Another idea is that they are already setting up a 3rd version or "Pokemon Sword and Shield 2" like we had with Black and White 2, taking place in the same region at a later date. The way they talk about minor league gyms fighting to enter the major league already sets up that sort of thing.

Also I would not be opposed to having many different gyms between the two games, that would make buying both versions more interesting. But I know THAT would be a minority opinion.

I don't understand why they even mentioned 18 Gyms when the player experience apparently is limited to 8. It did seem too good to be true when the information came out, but I wanted to buy into experiencing a very expansive Galar region. Now my expectations and excitement are back in check. Hopefully tomorrow's stream doesn't fumble information.

That response is more confusing than it needs to be. Does each game have 8 totally different gyms? Where do we get the number 18 from if each game still only has 8 gyms?

@I-U The rapid-fire questionnaire is probably what made Ohmori stumble and mention it.

It seems that whilst one region's leader, say Bea (no idea her type, but we'll say Grass), will be minor in Sword, so you will not go into her gym and battle it for the badge. However, in shield grass is major and therefor you need to go in and take the badge. Vice versa for all gyms. However, 18 equals 9! So it's possible minor gyms maybe like dojos, no leader but still participants and some small prize to win. They could have 5 dojo like minor ones, as someone mentioned earlier. Or less. It really isn't clear, yet

Geez, it seems people are too confused about this. As far as I see, the number 18 is only for the "lore". It's most likely for other places to explore, such as the anime (if Galar would be in the next anime, that is), or mangas. But only 8 Gyms will make it to each game... And if all 8 gyms of each game is total exclusive, then we will get 16 gyms. If not, as I say, the rest are just in the "lore"

Statement doesn't seem to answer much, lol

The 18 gym minor/major leagues statement was probably more about world building instead of actual gameplay, and it was just majorly misinterpreted.

AGAIN, EVERYONE WORKING ON THIS GAME IS DRUNK.

@Ulysses Agreed, though it seems like it'd make more sense if the Pokemon League was the equivalent of the Premier League rather than FIFA.

@StableInvadeel How was it misinterpreted? The original statement didn't say "there are 18 gyms in the region, 8 of which are playable." They just said there's 18 gyms. Correct me if I'm wrong, but no Pokemon region has had an operating gym in the in-game lore that you couldn't actually challenge.

So 8 major league (traditional) gyms (as usual) is confirmed, and...10 minor league gyms...???

My understanding is each version of Sword and Sheild will have their own exclusive gyms and gym leaders. Sword would have 8 version exlusive gyms and gym leaders and Shield would have 8 different gyms and gym leaders not found on Sword. I would assume each version would have a unique bonus gym not found on the other version making it 9 different gyms per version with a total of 18 gyms between both versions.

@TeslaChippie I'd like to think that the bug gym from season one of the anime eventually became a legit gym.

@patbacknitro18 @Tharsman @Lizuka @AnnoyingFrenzy
Think of it like pretty much any sort of league system, like the English Football one. There's Premier League which is the major league and EFL championship which the minor league. At the end of a season, the worst 3 teams in the Premier league get demoted to EFL, and the best 3 in EFL get promoted to the Premier league.

In Pokemon Sword and Shield, it's most likely that the 8 Major League gym leaders are the only ones that own gyms. The 10 gym leaders in the minor league either do not have gyms, or have smaller, less elaborate gym-like locations to battle. The promotion/demotion system would work the same way it does in the English football league, with the owners of the 8 gyms alternating based on how good/bad the gym leaders are in the two leagues.

@Stoobes Both Sword and Shield have the first Grass Gym, so it isn't 8 totally different Gyms down the line for each version. My personal guess is 3~ unique Gyms per version, with the lore explaining how any of these Gym teams could have made it.

Nessa and Milo are in both Sword and Shield, so the idea that each version has 8 exclusive gyms is already debunked.

They said Minor Gyms using an S which could imply that there are more than one Minor Gym in each game version. If that's the case, then each game will have 8 Major Gyms and 10 Minor Gyms, each different depending on the version one choose.

Having one Minor Gym in each version doesn't make any sense if you ask me. It wouldn't work if they are doing a thematic of having Major Gyms and Minor Gyms similar to how it is with football teams in real life and if they trying to emulate that in Sword and Shield, then the most login thing, is to have more than just one Minor Gym in each game. Maybe they didn't wanted to reveal this yet?

But the real question is, will we be able to enter the Minor Gyms? If they are going by the thematic, then we can't take on the Major Gyms until we beat the Minor Gyms. Sounds interesting if this turn out to be the case.

8 gyms in Shield, 8 in Sword
8+8=16
..... Where is the 2? Why is it 18? I'd there 2 that no one will ever see

@TeslaChippie No in-game lore, but in anime, there are actually more gyms than the 8 in the game.
In fact, in BW, because of B2W2 release, Ash ended up having to fight the Poison gym. Also, the Water Gym and Normal Gym (Cheren) also appears, so the region would have at least 11 active Gyms.
So in the end, it doesn't need to be lore for in-game, but lore for the whole region that they can be explored later on. In fact, I won't be surprised if they announce the sister game next year which feature the rest of the Gyms

Removing all the pokemon that they plan too makes it a no buy for me. I'm sure y'all are tired of hearing this but it really makes it less appealing. May pick up sty a discount.

@Baker1000 gotta love Pokemon fans

"We want new games"

Also Pokemon fans

"It better play exactly the same as it always did, oh and I know there are 5000 new Pokemon in this game but if Diglett doesn't make the cut and even though I've never once used him in battle, I'm gonna lose my mind" 😂

@TeslaChippie
Not only that they said 18 gyms in the story.

TIL , Pokemon fanboys are WORST than Smash fanboys.

@carlos82 Except that's a gross exaggeration and a poor attempt at diminishing the issue.

Yes, it could be Diglett not making the cut, and by extension Dugtrio.

For some that would be a Pokémon they'd never use anyway. To others it would be their favorite Pokémon. If Absol doesn't make it into Sword/Shield, I'll be super disappointed because it is my favorite Pokémon and has remained that since I first laid eyes upon it.

Playing the game without Absol makes it less enjoyable. Simple as that.

As for it playing the same way, idk what is up with people, but innovation is good. We're still just gonna get 8 gyms and nothing more though, for sure.

@CorvoRevo NOTHING is worse than Smash fans.

Some things might come close though.

@carlos82 I'm viewing this as an outsider with no interest in Pokemon looking in. And wow. Just wow.

Would be nice if they add a similar feature to switch to 16bit like DQ11

@Lizuka Wait, I didn't get that each version has totally different gyms, only that one or two are different between versions

Would be cool of you got to pick which gyms you take on for a total of 8 badges. But this also works. I'm getting all 18 anyways. 🥰

@Baker1000 you are right at core, but 18 gyms, although very hype make no sense in term of playability

The maximum lvl in Pokémon is 100
18 gyms+ 1 or 2 league challenge means means we will have 19 or 20 big challenges which means we need to have a gym every about 5 lvl

I think the extra 10 gyms should be Battle Frontier style and be a challenge with set lvl and special challenge and if you complete all ten you can unlock another facility which will be the “minor League” witch will another huge facility with a special challenge

@Ttimer5 Not all of the gyms are different between Sword and Shield. I expect that at most 2 of them will be different between the versions. Like how the first totem battle in Sun and Moon was different depending on the version you have.

The gyms that aren't in the game just exist as background lore it seems, and you shouldn't expect to be able to challenge those at some point.

There are still 8, because tradition. Why did people think more was a bad thing?
Kinda disappointed, thought it might mean we were getting a bigger game.

@carlos82 too true

@carlos82 Wow, that hyperbole went and went and kept going until it left the solar system.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@Razzy it's the only way

@carlos82 To misrepresent everyone who dares to have an opinion differing from yours? Dunno, there's plenty ways to do that.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@Razzy bit dramatic there aren't you

@carlos82 No, just being hyperbolic.

But yeah, calling everyone who doesn't like something about these games a whiner is kinda douchey.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@Razzy Good job I didn't call anybody a whiner then isn't it