'Pokemon Sword & Shield' Will Have Gym Masters Instead of Gym Leaders

A recent tweet announced a surprising change in the new Pokemon games.Earlier today, Nintendo of [...]

By Christian Hoffer

A recent tweet announced a surprising change in the new Pokemon games.

Earlier today, Nintendo of America tweeted about Pokemon Sword & Shield, a pair of new Pokemon games that will be released for the Nintendo Switch later this year. The games will be set in the Galar region, an area inspired by the English Isles. The first trailer for the new Pokemon games showed massive stadiums that many assumed were the Galar region's gyms. Nintendo confirmed that the stadiums were gyms via the tweet and also announced that the gyms would be run by Gym Masters instead of Gym Leaders.

The new gyms are obviously inspired by soccer stadiums, which are present in cities and towns throughout England. Not only is the player character seen wearing a soccer-style jersey, many of the gyms also appear to be open air with grassy surfaces.

It's unclear why Pokemon Sword & Shield changed the terminology from gym leaders to gym masters. Maybe it's an extension of the Pokemon Masters from Pokemon: Let's Go, which were Pokemon trainers that specialized in a specific species of Pokemon. Or maybe The Pokemon Company just wanted to add some extra flavor to the Galar region and make it feel a little more foreign from other Pokemon regions.

Pokemon Sword & Shield will be released later this year.

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