Rumour: Nintendo May Have Caught The Pokémon Sword And Shield Leaker

People already hate the game, with or without leaks. Won't make much difference.

Lawyerchu, I choose you!

Oopsie...
I got a leak of Scorbunny evolution looks from my student via Instagram chat.
Don't worry, it will be secret until the releasr day.

He dones us a great service.

That is that person their own stupid fault.

I remember when I got Pokémon Y 6 days too early because the store selling them already started shipping the game, sure I showed few friends how the game looked but I did not go to the internet and leak/spoil the whole game.

I don't mind leaks but I would not do it myself, it doesn't make any sense to me to do it even while I'm fine when others do, because that's their problem.

Then why are leaks still coming??

Some pages have also taken the leaks down now.... What a relief -.-

“We just want to ask you a few... questions” Nintendo exec puts on rubber gloves and readies the pneumatic drill

@RazumikhinPG

The game's sales aren't going to reflect your statement, and you know it.

@Spudtendo nor will the leaks, and you know it.

Not gonna lie, I peeked at most of the leaks. Just this morning, I looked at an article showing all of the new (and regional) Pokémon. Personally, I'm not too pressed about things needing to be a surprise (though I do draw the line at movie spoilers). I saw some of the new Pokémon and some really neat Galarian variants and it didn't fill my excitement for the games. It actually made me more excited for them.

But on the same token, I applaud Nintendo for being vigilant on this as it does stink to have all that hard work made irrelevant if someone else takes it upon themselves to undermine it

Normally I hate leaks, now I'm just kinda glad since I now know what starter I'll be picking.

I've now seen the leaks, and actually, I really love a lot of the designs!

@RazumikhinPG
All people?, or only you and any more?. because are few the negative and hate comments about these games nowadays.
ah, and I don't hate the games.

@SakuraHaruka I didn't write all people.

Have no interest in this game

@RazumikhinPG Speak for yourself. I can't wait to play.

I don’t know who this KG is but that all caps and tone post points to then being a giant creep.

I personally don’t consider pokemon looks to be spoilers. If I had the story spoiled I would be extremely angry, though.

That being said, I know some people love playing these games blind, and be surprised by discovering the new Pokémon themselves, as well as their evolutions, so in-your-face screenshot posting of these things embedded in articles (instead of links) and image cards on YouTube videos are really [bleep] moves.

Typing “spoilers ahead” and then embedding an image won’t help anyone that happens to do a quick scroll by to the comments.

@RazumikhinPG speak for yourself. Tons of people love the idea of the game so far. A giant jump from Sun & Moon. Pokemon has never been this GOOD

I for one think it's kind of stupid that a franchise as large as Pokemon feels the need to debut new generations of monsters through the video games.

Why didn't they release more cards, toys and other merchandise with a bunch of the new Pokemon first and keep the regional areas and characters a secret?

@RazumikhinPG yea but seems you imply a majority of people hate the game. I bet you this: the game will be the best selling Pokémon game up to date. Nowhere near as many people are actually angry at the game.

A leaker not using a proxy and a throwaway?

He had it coming

@isellpixels I don't have a wife, I'm gay.

@Tharsman you just need to browse the internet a bit to find out a lot of people are actually not very excited about the game. And the leaks just confirmed how massive the cut in the Pokedex is, which people hate even more. I'm not going to develop that idea any further, just google it. My point was that the leak won't make a lot of difference: people who were going to buy it, are still going to do it even if the leaks revealed that the game forces you to eat poop.

@nessisonett kinky

It's not like they can sue him over anything. The guy did nothing wrong. He purchased his game and a store gave it to him early. The store might get in trouble, but there's nothing they can do to this guy.

Sorry everyone but I am the leaker. I have leakest for the last time. Nintendo took me to the principal's office at Nintendo's headquarters and we talked about leaking. I told them that at night, a Pikachu from the future comes and tells me about the next Pokemon game but Nintendo didn't believe me which I was surprised that they didn't. They then put my hands on the desk and slapped them till I am no longer able to hold a Switch anymore. That is when I cried and told them that I was actually never ever ever going to buy anymore Nintendo products again. So, then everyone started crying and after hugs and stuff we decided to become friends. Now, I work at Nintendo.

The End

Muwahahaha. Sorry, this took quite the while to write. :/

@Tharsman "I bet you this: the game will be the best selling Pokémon game up to date. Nowhere near as many people are actually angry at the game."

Yeah. As much as I'm not alone in disliking the current direction of the series, this game is going to do BIG numbers. It's tough. On one hand, I'm bummed that this game just isn't doing it for me. On the other, I'm plenty happy for the people who are going to wholeaheartedly enjoy the experience.

Well, everything is getting leaked nowadays, so I'm not surprised by this.

@RazumikhinPG I’m aware the people that are upset are very vociferous about it. A month from now, though, we will be hearing “biggest Pokémon launch ever” and we will all see how few people actually are that angry (or how few actually are angry enough not to buy it)

Would I had loved it the Pokédex was full? Damn sure. But that won’t stop me from getting this game, as it looks amazing.

Btw, your initial point was the opposite you outline now (even if unintentionally.) you claimed the leak made people angrier, as if that actually would negatively impact more people or people that were in the fence into no longer buying it.

I tried to stay away from leaks showing new Pokemon (I can’t wait to see a new, unknown Pokemon walking about the overworld, squeal like the little girl I still am inside, and rush to catch it), but I did look at the starters’ evolutions and at the returning Pokemon from previous generations. The last time I was this hyped for a Pokemon game was before the release of Diamond/Pearl (12-year-old me pored over official reveals in gaming magazines with an enthusiasm bordering on obsession), I honestly can’t wait for next Friday.

Oh, they found him. And? They can't do anything to him, they can only shake in impotent rage.

Cya
Raziel-chan

In before Sword and Shield sells good, but still falls below expectations.

I don't mind leaks as long as I can avoid looking at them. In the specific case of Pokémon games I prefer to know all of the new mons in advance, and I won't pick a version without knowing the differences. If Game Freak doesn't reveal those, leaks are actually helpful.

@Razzy I'm not a lawyer so anything I say here could be wrong but I believe Nintendo do have the right to prosecute the leaker for breaking the laws of embargos.
I think it all boils down to how they obtained the game, if the leaker was given a game review, they can absolutely be prosecuted for breaking their agreement but if this was another street date being broken by a retailer, I don't think they can prosecute the leaker but rather the store they got it from.

@RazumikhinPG Yeah, I don't get why. It looks like pokemon to me. Hell, in some ways it looks better in others it looks, well, not as good as it could, but still better. Like, the only thing I'm a bit down about is the cuts. Not because I really liked, hypothetically, bidoof, but because it limits options

All I can say is game over 🤣🤣🤣

I think people still don't get that Game Freak is still in "experimental" mode regarding development on the Switch. Sure, if Iwata were still alive, there might be a push towards reaching the limits the Switch is capable of. Two full Pokémon games will probably have GF ready to take it to the real next level. That's in regard to recycled assets from the 3RD games.

As for Dexit, I still want a high def pic of the old Pokémon that are available, and which are not. I'm pretty sure some of my favorite lines will be out, but one shouldn't be that salty to the point of hate because of that. I know that this isn't like Black/White, since you get access to your old Pokémon after you beat the game the first time.

People tend to fear change, and this is no exception. They just want to play it safe with their old Pokémon teams and strategies instead of coming with new ones with what the game gives you. Or they simply want to breeze by with their team of perfect nature, perfect IV, perfect moveset, Hidden Ability, shiny Lv. 100 monsters.

They want to be the very best like no one ever was, at any cost.

Since I'm more casual than competitive, I know that I will enjoy what this game will offer, without thinking too much of what it leaves out. My only disappointment is that GF failed in making Galarian Rapidash an alicorn. I really wanted a Princess Celestia Pokémon.

@NCChris Correct. They can't really do anything legally to the guy, but they can make his life hell via pretty strongarm investigations of his social media and just being assholes. I think 2k sent people to a guy's house for borderlands 3.

If they broke an NDA yeah, there will be a bunch of fines and then the publication and store will probably be blacklisted

@Mew2Senshi I'll be honest, hypothetically, a smaller dex is better for the competitive players. A lot of Pokemon are useless for competitive. Then you have like 35 legendaries and weird and useless things like unown. Cut the other starters and mythics and you cut 100 Pokemon that it makes sense to cut, which is fine.

Like, I looked at the leaks. A lot of it is popularity based. Most of the really obvious top popular Pokemon are in. Some choices though make a lot less sense. I dunno. There was a rumour that postgame there are more than the leak I saw. If that's true, I dunno if it is, the game is fine. They basically just cut few "real" Pokemon and just the fossils, legendaries, mythics, weird one offs, and starters. I really hope thatnl rumor is true

@Razzy They can harass him under the pretense of investigating where he got the game. I heard that's a miserable experience.

@isellpixels I think that's how the pokemon company would like to do it. The problem is that it's a three-way thing with Nintendo and gamefreak. I'm sure with how big the franchise became, the Pokemon company doesn't give an ass about the games.

Nintendo is better off revealing the full Pokedex before the release day outcry. I saw the leaked version and its....amazingly disappointing.

Why am I paying more money for less content? The game isn't even longer than past games. Its absurd and Nintendo should be ashamed

@Xansies honestly most of my favorite pokemon were cut.. I don't play competitive so it really hurts me a lot to see them go. I can't bring my old ones up from the previous generations because they don't exist now so my hype for the game is dead.
Yes yes new Pokemon should be something I look forward to but I tend to like a lot of Pokemon that aren't popular like medicham.

@RazumikhinPG speak for yourself dood alot of people including myself are still getting pokemon sword or shield for switch stop eing salty man.

@Mando44646 Well, I feel like people should know this: Sword and shield has technically the second most Pokemon available in the game (without trades or bank) than all the others behind X and Y. I mean, I guess that could be a spoiler, but I'm not saying a number, but still whatever, it is negligibly bigger than sun and moon, sure.

This means that if you don't have other Pokemon games to trade from or aren't interested in tracking people down to trade (they apparently made this easier thank God) then it doesn't matter to you except that there are now Pokemon you cant get no matter what.

I heard a rumour that post-game 200 more become available. If that's true, s&s have by far the biggest regional dex and honestly only cut like the version starters, legends, mythics, fossils, and I don't know, unown. If that's true then people really shouldn't complain because there are 800 of the things and you can account for 100 Pokemon with just the legendaries and starters and then you got fossils ultra beasts, mythics, all this mean which means if that's true only like 50 really got cut. But I don't know if that's true. Everyone should assume it isn't. How the Pokedex is, I can get why people would be upset, but it's still kinda the same as it's always been.

Honestly I used to be annoyed about the lack of national dex but then again maybe I might have an actual chance of completing "A" pokedex without worrying if I'm missing obscure niche rare pokemon/legendary found only in X game or worst, a mythical whose every runs I missed out due to how long of an hiatus I had with this franchise.

Like it was starting to be annoying to meet all those NPCs with special moves for hyper rare mythical pokemons I would likely never ever put my hands on for one.

@Burning_Bacon Yeah, I'm waiting on whether that post-game rumor is true. If it is I'd imagine that mostly every non-unique Pokemon got in, but til we know one way or another, I can totally see why people would be disappointed.god I hope if that rumor is true it's not like island scan. Ugh

I mean, it's not like the regional Dex is small, it's the second biggest, it's just not being able to trade or transfer that makes it feel small.

@Kalmaro To be fair, people would've posted it on the release day in a matter of hours anyway.

@RazumikhinPG people don't. Fans do.

@isellpixels In a perfect world, that would be ideal. But I think GF, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are probably aware that everyone who plays the card games or buys novelizations probably plays the games, but not the necessarily vice versa. So you have a situation where a good chunk of the audience isn't aware a new Pokémon exist in the TCG because they don't play or collect the cards. I guess ultimately, your idea is that eventually these new characters would be introduced to the video games. But I can see segments of the audience being utterly confused.

Not to mention, you run the risk of some weird inconsistencies between mediums that they would probably like to avoid. Not that they don't exist already. I still find it annoying Pikachu can thundershock a Rhyhorn in the anime, but not in the games 😂😂. But I agree in theory. It would be cool to see that kind of synergy across the brand

@nessisonett
"Is it safe?"

@Razzy I imagine the leaker will be disallowed future access to events or products connected to Nintendo in any professional capacity. If he violated the NDA he signed, which he almost certainly did, then he might also be in legal trouble.

@Octane True true, and Pokémon leaks don't surprise me at all.

@Xansies that's part of the problem that makes it feel small. I feel limited to what seems like a small number of new creatures and everyone but my own favorite pokemon.
(I haven't heard of this rumor for the post game, what is it may I ask?)
I just feel like, as an older player, I'm being left out at this point, I know I'm not the target demographic but at least keep players like me in mind who have favorites they have collected since Ruby and Sapphire and have transferred them up, just to get stopped at sun and moon and told they can trap them in jail with the hope a future release well let them in.

Social media is the rise and fall of any one. Once you become a part of it your life is not safe anymore which is why I don't have that many social media profile.

@Burning_Bacon yeah there's a thing that's been going around that after you beat the game the available Pokemon shoots to like 630-something and won't include the starters or other legendaries or fossils.

Personally, that seems likely and unlikely. Like, it would stretch the post game something crazy because that's a 50% increase which would kill the contraversy and really deepen the meta game. But, it's a 50% increase. That sounds crazy. The only thing that made it credible is that it came from people who definitely have the game.

I wont really believe it til it's confirmed, but that would basically mean that since about 130 pokemon are starters and legendaries and fossils, that would mean only 30 others got cut. Again, I doubt this is true, but it would be incredible

@RazumikhinPG Literally will say one thing. You can't 'hate' a game you haven't played! There's simply no point in fussing about this and that until people get their hands on it, which they will in their millions so you comment is absurd.

@Xansies that might fix some of my issues with the game if that's true

Well, given the almost random past-Pokémon selection they've made, no wonder they were going after leakers.
Not spending money is easier than getting a refund, after all.

@Samwise7 so I take it you've tasted urine to confirm you don't like it.

Leaks be damned, the Pokédex and retro Pokemon entries should have been upfront information from Nintendo. A week before release we should know start evolutions, which Pokemon are version exclusive and which old ones are in each one to make an informed decision.

The leaker has actually done us a favour

Spoiler Culture has ruined us culturally to an extent. Who cares if you know something? Did you enjoy Shakespeare less because you know the ending? Does it mess with you to know Han shot... er... Greedo... well on that one take your pick.

@Tharsman you can already guess what the story is though.

If I ever got the game early I'd just be to busy enjoying the game instead .

I always take a peek at the Pokedex before buying soooo works for me!

I've never understood people being angry about what animals are in the game being leaked.
Then again, it's partially because I forget half of them before I play it finally.
My final note, I haven't seen a flame war regarding Sw/Sh for months, and was disappointed to see one in this thread. Come on, guys.

No good deed goes unpunished I see. They were just doing the job gamefreak was supposed to be doing.

do a article on this protest album of official art with the cut pokemon removed

https://imgur.com/a/8swiFFO

It’s not true that Nintendo can’t do anything to the guy. First, they can send him a cease and desist. If he violates that, they can file an injunction against him. They can also sue him for damages and support it by claiming the leaks had a negative impact on sales of the game. And even if they can’t prove that, the leaker will still have to hire an attorney and possibly show up in court or deposition. All of which will cost him a lot of money. Even just responding to an injunction would cost him like a grand in attorneys fees.

I'd want to keep all this garbage a secret as well.

@isellpixels That's a very messy way of doing it...Digimon introduces new creatures through the different mediums and then they never get around to using them in others.

Which means you end up with monsters exclusive to a specific medium which can be annoying. I think people appreciate the generations of Pokémon being introduced in a generation sets because it means all its mediums support the new Pokémon so you don't feel like you're missing out for any period of time if you only follow one medium(TCG, Videogame, anime) and not the others.

Even if you are okay with leakers, Nintendo will of course want to know how he got the game. Did he steal it? Maybe he was the child of a reviewer who didn't realize what his kid was doing. Did a store break street date somewhere?

Nintendo/Game Freak have to take action, if they don't they are telling everyone it's okay by them to spoiler their games. A lot of money goes into marketing games and allowing random leakers to spoil it puts that money to waste.

@RazumikhinPG Speak for yourself and the rest of the minority. I'll be picking them up on day one.

@RazumikhinPG no just you hate it the people hating on it are clout chasers......

@RazumikhinPG PS final fantasy is the stupidist RPG series of all time. Bruh

@Xansies "limits options" Said no one ever when there were only 151 Pokemon.

@Tharsman Not a single one has outsold the original. I am not sure how this one one can do it after Game Freak's PR.

@ancientlii They will never do it.

@penamiguel92 That was on Gameboy. This is on Switch. There should be higher standards for quantity and quality.

@Xansies @Burning_Bacon The leaker said there was only the initial number and no real meat after beating the story. Nobody is sure though.

@ARPK I am even more bummed because I like a lot of things I have seen, but I hate the way Game Freak has handled this release. They just feel out of touch, They are apparently even less transparent in Japan and haven't done nearly as much to address the fans there as they have in the West. I hope this doesn't become the new normal for them because I am worried it could snowball in the future.

If he has been caught he should make a public statement so it becomes clear who murdered him if he ends up dead in a ditch. Then again some of them pokemon fans are like part of a cult so that would be a danger as well.

@NIN10DOXD I'll take quality over quantity any day. Landorus, Tornadus, and Thundurus are gone (good riddance, felt like color swapped versions of each other), and several others like the Pikachu, Pidgey, and Rattata clones. I almost forgot about the My Little Pony Pokemon I hate so much: Keldeo.

@penamiguel92 I mean, they were too busy saying, "Why are psychics and dragonite so unstoppable and all the physical moves terrible?"

But yeah, still the higher the number, even theoretically assuming every pokemon is equally effective, you can make many, many, many more teams of 6 with 800 pokemon than 150. I'm not going to do the math, but obviously there is a greater limit on a high number of teams than not.

Doesn't matter though, red and blue only had like 10 pokemon that completely overshadowed the rest

@NIN10DOXD Yeah, I saw that. I do wonder about that? Nothing after the main game? That would be an actual first. Even gen 1 had mewtwo

@penamiguel92 weirdly Pidgey and ratata aren't in the leak, but like 3 clones of them are. Also like 3 Pikachu's.

@Kameken I'm curious as to what makes it so bad. It's just pokemon. It looks like pokemon. Hell, even the national Dex thing, there's still half of all the Pokemon in it, that's either the most or second most depending on how you feel about friend Safari and island scanning. At most you can say you wanted more, but honestly, it's still the same pokemon it's been for 25 years. If you liked it then, nothing really seems to have changed.

I mean, anybody that didn't have a bank of Pokemon isn't really affected by the Dex thing because it's not like next year there won't be another Pokemon game that adds in some of the missing ones. You know, exactly like gen 3 did. You only had R&S pokemon up until fire red and leaf green happened. What I mean is, this isn't even the first time gamefreak has done this

@Xansies
"nothing really seems to have changed"
Well, the price point did for one.

@Tharsman So, as long the game sells well, we cannot criticize its faults? That's a rather silly statement, since there are tons of ugly games and movies that sell millions.
What do you care more about? The quality of the game or how much money enters Game Freak's wallet?

@Xansies R&S included the National Dex, it was just locked. Nevertheless, I could still transfer Johto pokémon from Colosseum, but without getting their Pokédex entries.
Sword & Shield removed about half of all pokémon. It's not just the Pokédex, they are not physically present in the game data, so we will NEVER get them (I doubt they'll ever release a patch).

ive seen the leaks, and i like it, most of it anyway, some of the new pokemon are stupid, but some are great designs. too bad my two favorite gen 6 pokemon are not in the game, so i am already looking for alternatives to them. so these leaks have certainly helped me plan ahead.

@GAMER1984dude someone is definitely stupidist.

@Leriel criticize all you want, never said anyone should not. Just stop trying to convince the entire world that everyone is as angry about a partial Pokédex, because they are not.

@Burning_Bacon I haven't seen the list (nor do I want to), but I always like to see each Pokémon game as an opportunity to make new favourites. I make it a rule to myself that I never raise the same Pokémon two games in a row. I realise this may not fix how you want to play, and I wouldn't sell my way as a universal mentality that people should have, but it helps me enjoy things more

@BAN yep, the process is the punishment.

@Minfinity so your team in sun and moon were different from ultra sun and ultra moon? doesnt that make having a decent battlespot team even harder?

I only hate the smash leaks lol

@Tharsman Everyone who really cares about the series should be angry at them, the Pokédex is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm still waiting for the "higher quality animations" LOL

Well hopefully the leaks will stop. Looking forward to the game and being surprised!

@RazumikhinPG Oh dear, you're THAT sort of keyboard commando. I'm sure Nintendo and the Pokemon company are just desperate to get you back on board, that one missed sale will truly dent their confidence. Groan.

@Xansies I think the problem is the price and the way Game Freak shot down ideas of patching games to add content post release to lengthen the game's life span.

@Samwise7 I have no idea what you're going on about, but good luck with that.

@Leriel I literally forgot about coliseum.

@BlackTalon2 I actually didn't play Ultra Sun; it released during an expensive time to own a Switch, and I just never got to it

@Sirobnosnhoj God forbids a news site posts news

@ancientlii That would be illegal, many youtubers got their videos struck by DMCA for using these pictures

don't worry nintendo, I didn't watch the leaks. Can't care less of this fail of a game

@NIN10DOXD Sorry to get back to you late, but I hear you.