Pokemon Sword and Shield Trailer Reveals New Rivals

A new Pokemon Sword and Shield trailer released today by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company revealed a whole mess of new details for the upcoming Nintendo Switch video games, including new Galarian Pokemon forms as well as a form-switching Pokemon and more. Including in that deluge of news is a set of new rivals players will take on: Marnie and Bede.

The official press release sharing all of this morning's news indicates that there will be several different trainers competing with the player in the Galar region's "Gym Challenge" in order to become Champion. Whether Marnie and Bede will be the only rivals in the game remains to be seen, but past Pokemon games have featured a couple major NPCs that followed and grew along with the player's journey.

Here's how The Pokemon Company describes Marnie in her official description:

"Marnie is a rival who has a competitive side, and together with her partner Morpeko, she aims to become the Champion of the Galar region. She has many passionate fans due to her calm and calculated battle strategies."

You can check out the official artwork for Marnie below:

Here's how The Pokemon Company describes Bede in his official description:

"Bede is a rival who is skilled at Pokémon battles and has the pride to match. He has joined the Gym Challenge, having received his endorsement from Rose, the chairman of the Galar Pokémon League. While he clearly is aiming to become Champion, he seems to have other objectives as well."

You can check out the official artwork for Bede below:

What do you think about all of the new Pokemon Sword and Shield information this morning? Are you more excited than ever, or did the news not really do anything for you? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

Pokemon Sword and Shield is scheduled to launch on November 15th for Nintendo Switch. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming Pokemon games right here.