New Pokemon Sword and Shield Feature Was Predicted By The Anime Years Ago

The latest Nintendo Direct dedicated to the upcoming Pokemon: Sword and Pokemon: Shield games revealed one of the new features that will be added to the battle system for the upcoming Nintendo Switch games. Dubbed Dynamaxing, the ability will cause a user's Pokemon to grow to massive sizes, giving them massive boosts in strength and defense for three turns.

But if you're a fan of the original Pokemon anime, the idea of giant Pokemon might not be new concept. A few fans on Twitter were quick to point out that giant versions of Pokemon have appeared in the anime before, particularly in the 17th episode of the first season, "Island of the Giant Pokemon."

Dynamax was a thing in the original Pokemon anime👀 pic.twitter.com/yPj2ZwUfdZ

— Dobbs 🔜 E3 (@ethandobbs) June 5, 2019

For those who don't remember, the episode took place right after St. Anne sank and James' Gyrados, along with a group of wild Gyrados, caused a twister that sent Ash, Misty, Brock and Team Rocket flying through the air. The groups woke up in different parts of a mysterious island while Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Meowth, Koffing and Ekans were all missing. As the three groups tried to find one another they kept running into giant Pokemon, particularly Pikachu, Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Rhydon, Kabutops, Zapdos and Moltres. Most of the giants try to kill either the humans or the Pokemon, leading the groups all running away in a panic. Towards the end of the episode its revealed that the giant Pokemon are actually robots, and that everyone has been running around in an amusement park called Pokemon Land. The episode ends Giovanni revealing via phone call that he had spent a fortune investing in the park.

Other giant Pokemon that appeared in the anime included Dragonite, Tentacruel, Alakazam and Jigglypuff.

Even Detective Pikachu used the idea of giant Pokemon, as a garden full of gigantic Torterra appear late in the second act of the film and nearly kill Tim, Lucy and Pikachu when they wake up

The 15-minute direct revealed numerous new features for the upcoming games, along with debuting seven new Pokemon — Gossifluer, Eldegoss, Woolo, Drednaw, Corviknight, Zacian and Zamazenta. The last of those mentioned will be legendary Pokemon for this generation.

Pokemon: Sword and Pokemon Shield hit shelves on Nov. 15, 2019.