Pokémon Sword & Shield: 10 New Styles That MUST Be In Gen 8

The starters for Sword and Shield have been revealed, and people are already talking about what other creatures we’ll get alongside them. Theories on their evolutions have been parked for now while we take a slightly more general approach to Pokémon styles we need to see in the upcoming Galar region.

It’s easy to look at some of the recent additions to the Pokémon roster and deride their uninspired design (a set of keys, an ice cream cone), but way back in Gen I we had a rock with arms (Geodude), a Pokéball (Voltorb) and literally just some eggs (Exeggcute). However, this isn’t about suggesting things to avoid, so much as it is popularly demanded Pokémon styles.

By styles, this could mean type matchups we’ve never seen before; Megas for the most deserving ‘mons, some region specific ideas for Galar and some new evolutions for an old favourite. Importantly, it’s not just Pokémon who need a new evolution in general, as that’s already been covered here.

With Scorbunny’s link to football, it’s safe to say that not including some of these ‘mons would be Game Freak missing an open goal for fan support.

Meltan is the odd one out on this list, seeing as it’s an actual Pokémon which already exists rather than a new style. However, being the odd one out sort of suits Meltan, so just go with it.

Meltan was first introduced in Pokémon GO, debuting on Chikorita’s Community Day, but whenever you caught one, it turned out to be Ditto in disguise. Following this there was a quest to unlock Meltan in game, and it featured in Let’s GO! too.

However, it has been labelled as a Gen VIII Pokémon, so realistically it should play some part in the Sword and Shield games. As for the fact the Mythicals haven’t spanned games before, well Mythicals couldn’t be traded, caught multiple times or placed in PoGo gyms before... Meltan can do all three. Mythicals had never previously evolved either, yet we have Melmetal.

Though Meltan and Melmetal are not ‘new’ Pokémon, having already featured in two games, they’re yet to appear in a main series game (Let’s GO! is just a remake, after all), and deserve a seat at the table when Sword and Shield drop later this year.