Official Sword and Shield website teases a brand new Pokémon

A brand new Pokémon is being teased for the upcoming Generation 8 titles Pokémon Sword and Shield, but at the moment it’s not entirely clear what that Pokémon is.

On the official Pokémon Twitter it was posted that a brand new Pokémon has been discovered with a link purporting to lead to some Galar region research.

The link leads to the official website for Sword and Shield where a glitched image of a Pokémon now appears. Chase this moving image across the screen enough and you can click on it to access a Pokédex entry that has more redactions than revelations.

Farfetch'd theories

From the entry all we can really tell about the cryptic new Pokémon is that it’s a fighting-type, coming in at 257.9 lbs with an ability called Steadfast. There’s also a small descriptive paragraph (with many further redactions) which reads: “Only [redacted] that have survived many battles can attain this [redacted]. When this Pokémon’s [redacted] [redacted]ers, it will retire from combat.”

Of course, this enticing mystery has led to a rush of theories from fans. Somewhat ironically, one of the most plausible theories is that the glitched Pokémon is an evolved form of Farfetch’d called Sirfetch’d, found only in the Galar region. Sirfetch’d has already been rumored as a new Pokémon prior to this.

Given the original Farfetch’d holds a leek in battle it’s not completely, er, far-fetched that in the British-inspired Galar region this leek could become a knightly lance which, once shattered, forces the Pokémon into retirement. Certainly the green, beige and cream color palette of the glitched image matches that of a Farfetch’d.

There’s been no further information on when this Pokémon’s identity will be confirmed but it’s really not long until Sword and Shield’s November release date. Whatever it is, this Pokémon will join the roster of new Generation 8 Pokémon which has already been confirmed to include a Galarian variant of Weezing as well as Polteageist the teapot Pokémon and the adorable sheep Wooloo.