I don’t know about this…

There have been numerous alleged leaked pokemon from the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield games which have been appearing on social media the last couple days, apparently originating from this Twitter account.

While the “leaks” look professional and convincing, there is a possibility that they could be fake, as fakes of such high quality can be produced by ordinary people. A prominent example would be the “leaked” starter pokemon concept art from over a year ago which were supposedly of the gen 8 starters, complete with the confidential stamp which was already known to be used for internal GameFreak documents:

That really had the fans going, but when the real source came forward, it served as proof that just one guy and his friend who knows Japanese can trick a collective.

But what really makes the latest “leaks” more convincing is the use of quality 3D models, such as this one:

The reason I’m not convinced is because it is possible for an ordinary person to create a 3D model, texture it, and animate it, as shown in the following video:

This was the work of a first-year student in 3D modelling and animation, and he was able to produce something of demonstrably higher quality than the official models, and he did this to spite an ignorant commenter.

The other type of possible fake going around supposedly comes from a yet-to-be-released “Trainer Handbook”:

If the guidebook is legit, then there’s a huge problem with the guidebook itself: it’s a terrible guidebook. Most strategy guides, particularly for RPGs such as the Pokemon games, are packed with helpful statistical information, movesets, and typing information. This particular guidebook would seem more concerned with filling pages with illustrations of pokemon.

As you might remember, the official strategy guide for Pokemon Platinum was the size of a phone book, even though the pages were thin and the font was small. It stands as a bulky example of just how complex the Pokemon games have become, and this was from a few generations ago.

Another problem with these leaks is the recurring use of blurred photographs, which have been used to create the impression of taking a hasty photograph with limited opportunity, but is used to cover up possible flaws in the designs:

There is another problem, and this is a huge one: if these leaks turn out to be true, then GameFreak succeeded in making a bunch of pokemon that I’m not really interested in capturing. The following montage image showcases some of the images being circulated:

Most of them don’t really have the kind of appeal that is normally associated with Pokemon. The Galarian Meowth looks goofy, and its inclusion is confusing considering that we get to see a Gigantamax variant to Meowth introduced. And that weird thing next to it is supposedly a Galarian Persian.

That purple dragon-looking thing looks more Neopets than Pokemon, and seems out of place. Then there’s the red fox, which looks like it doesn’t want to be there. Also, that Farfetch’d is supposedly a Galarian variant, with the difference being a larger leek. Most regional variants have radically different designs, so why does Farfetch’d get such a half-hearted treatment?

I could keep going with what’s wrong with these designs, but you see them. Not only do I doubt that these leaks are real, I want them to be fake. If they aren’t fake, then the gen 8 pokemon designs will easily go down as the worst in the series.

I actually like Scorbunny, so I don’t want its final stage to look so bland.

another moth

I’ll grant that these “leaks” are very convincing, but that’s not very comforting considering that what we’ve seen from them so far looks pretty bad.

This is an interesting time for entertainment media, because social media has resulted in a rise of a culture of leaks. People love the attention that comes with having something exclusive, and there are people who like crafting a convincing ruse. It really isn’t anything new to Pokemon. Some who have been at it for a while remember the Shaymin Sky Forme “leak” from 2008, which was eagerly posted by Pokebeach with their watermark, even though it was made by a DeviantArt user called PurpleKecleon:

The same thing is happening with other media franchises, such as Star Wars, with communities speculating wildly about the contents of the next film in the series, The Rise of Skywalker. In the case of Star Wars, hoaxes have been carefully crafted around information that’s already available to make them sound more believable. Such has been the case with Pokemon, too. The hoaxes have gotten more sophisticated, resulting in fandoms that have to be far more cautious than they have been in times past.

UPDATE: The Twitter account that has been posting these leaks has been suspended. It’s possible that Nintendo requested this suspension because they didn’t want these pokemon leaked. Some of the designs have grown on me, but whether they’re legit remains to be seen.

Cool, but you can’t obtain most of those characters in the game, yet.

Pokemon Masters has been out for a few days, plenty of time to get some first impressions and make some observations. Here are some of mine:

• I’m liking that the focus is on the trainers in this game. In times past, it seems like they got ignored in favor of the Pokemon themselves.
• If you plan on playing this game for more than a few minutes at a time, get ready for your phone to get hot. Also, it chews through the battery like a beast.
• This game is a gacha. The player is guaranteed certain characters as they progress through the main story, but there are also random characters that can be purchased with in-game currency.
• The paid currency is a supplement to the in-game currency, and functions the same way. Players that pay can get more attempts sooner, without having to be patient.
• This game is similar to other character-based RPGs, such as Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, in that the players collect and rank up characters.
• It’s harder to come across the currency used to purchase chances at characters as the game progresses. No surprise there, as many FTP games use a similar approach.
• Progress in games similar to this is usually limited by a resource like “stamina” or “energy” which replenishes with time. However, in Pokemon Masters, you can play as much as you care to at a time. There are already players that are complaining about running out of things to do, but they would be the ones that already rushed through the available content.
• Rosa is a broken character, and she’s available from the outset. She remains an indispensable character from the beginning and well into the postgame. I wonder how intentional this was on the part of the developers.
• Evolution Crystals become immensely more expensive after the first batch. I regret using my first ones to get Empoleon, because now it takes a huge amount of grinding to get Serperior.
• I’m not kidding. This game is ridiculously tight-fisted with Evolution Crystals. I know that most FTP games include a resource that is difficult to amass in quantity, but the coin cost for just one Evolution Crystal is crazy.
• The idea of smuggling things in afros actually came up:

By the way, she actually does this in the show.

• Spending 100 Skill Capsules on a single Gym Leader Notes seems like a bad deal at first, but considering how many you’ll rack up while grinding for the other items needed to achieve max levels, it’s actually a sweet convenience.
• Raichu (with Hau) is one of the best characters in the game, and I’m okay with that.
• I’m one of the few who managed to get Karen within the first few days of the game’s release. It’s too bad that she was outclassed days later with the inclusion of Blue.
• I’m liking the animations, especially for the trainers. Their personalities are on full display, and some of them were characterized very well. I especially appreciated Agatha’s backstory, which provided a lot of insight into her history with Professor Oak that we didn’t previously have access to.
• I can understand withholding the rest of the story until a future date, but did they have to leave us on a cliffhanger? It’s almost as bad as the ending for Halo 2.
• I’m so thankful that DeNA decided to include Auto and Fast-Forward buttons for battles, which makes grinding demand a lot less attention. I know that those are standard features for games like this, but still.
• If Barry has Piplup, what pokemon is Dawn going to have at the point she’s introduced into the game? Buneary?
• It seems like the real challenge of the post-game is in the scheduled Supercourses, particularly the Very Hard ones. Even at maxed levels, they’re not a guaranteed win when autoing.
• Speaking of Auto, it’s probably no surprise that Auto is no substitution for using strategy, and the computer often uses some very dumb moves, such as failing to use Potion when needed, or waiting to use a higher-energy move when the battle can be won with a move that’s already available.
• For some reason, the 5∗ Power-Up has an expiration date. I suspect that this was an oversight, as it would make more sense if it applied instead to the event ticket used to purchase it. It’s hard to think of a reason to limit a player’s ability to stock up on this resource.

Pokemon Masters is brimming with style, and it has a battle system that’s far superior to that of Pokemon Go (though that’s not a hard hurtle to clear). It wouldn’t be surprising to see some quality-of-life updates down the road, and some content additions designed to keep players coming back. The Pokemon lore has gotten extensive over the decades, so there’s a lot of potential for expansion.

So far, I’m liking it.