Pokemon Sword and Shield Devs Set The Record Straight on Number of Gyms

Earlier this week, word of 18 gyms being in Pokemon Sword and Shield was making the rounds, exciting fans. That said, it turns out this wasn't true. The misinformation spread from what appears to be a mistranslated quote from director of the game, Shigeru Ohmori. In this mistranslation, it was relayed that there's 18 different types of gyms in the game, but again, this isn't the case. Since the misinformation spread like wildfire, The Pokemon Company issued a statement, confirming that there's only 8 gyms in the game. The statement was made to Game Informer, where the mistranslation originated from.

"In the Galar region, Pokemon Gym Battles are popular sporting events, and the 18 different types of Gyms that exist in Galar contribute to the background setting of the story in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield," reads the statement. "In each game, Trainers must collect eight Gym Badges to complete the Gym Challenge and earn the opportunity to participate in the Champion Cup."

The statement continues:

"Over the course of the main story, Trainers will challenge eight Gyms, which are all in the Major League. Which Gyms appear in the Major League and Minor League will differ between Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. For example, depending on the version of the game, Trainers will be able to challenge different Gym Leaders, such as Bea or Allister. Each version will have eight Gyms and eight Gym Leaders that Trainers can battle for a traditional Gym Challenge experience that fans have enjoyed throughout the Pokemon video game series."

As you can see, this clarification isn't a great clarification, but what the statement is getting at is that there's 18 gyms in the region, but this is for the purpose of lore. For the purpose of the game, players will only challenge 8 gyms in each version of the game.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are set to release worldwide later this year on November 15, via the Nintendo Switch, and the Nintendo Switch only. For more news, media, and information on the upcoming pair of games, be sure to check out all of our previous and extensive coverage of Sword and Shield by clicking right here.