One magnum opus, to go. Hold on… Make that two.

We got a first look at the new generation of Pokemon games in a trailer that was released today:

Here are my first impressions of the starters that have been revealed.

First up is the Grass-type, Grookey:

I still don’t know what this guy is supposed to be. At first, he seemed to be some kind of bug, but right now, he’s looking more like a monkey. He’s kinda growing on me, but I’d probably like him more if he evolves into something cool.

This guy is named Sobble. I’m thinking Mudkip when I see him. He seemed really funny to me at first, but I’m starting to like this guy. I like how he did the invisible-in-water thing in the trailer.

Now for the third one:

I’ll take this guy, please and thank you. I’ve wanted a fire rabbit starter since I’ve seen this fan fake, which you may remember from a while back:

Now they actually have done a fire bunny starter! I really liked the fan concept, and I think it looks really convincing, but now I like the real one more. By the way, the new fire rabbit is called Scorbunny. Score, indeed. He’s well on his way to becoming my second favorite pokemon.

Now for the setting. Here’s a smaller version of the map that can be found on Serebii.net:

The setting, named Galar, is apparently based on the UK. I think that’s great, because I’ve wanted to see a Pokemon game set in the UK for quite a while. I wonder whether the region is going to be very rainy?

As indicated by the logos above, the new games will be called Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. This implies an emphasis on attack and defense, so it’s possible that version exclusives will be either more offensive or defensive, depending on the version. I suspect that Steel types will get plenty of attention, and maybe Aegislash will be a significant pokemon in Galar.

What we’ve seen of the Galar region and its pokemon so far is quite appealing. I suspect that we will see more soon, because the timeframe for release for the games is late 2019. If they stay on track, we’re months away from it’s release.