We’ve already spoken at length about the
Pokémon Sword & Shield reveal trailer.
We’ve got the analysis on our channel to
prove it.
But we’re not done with this reveal yet
as the Direct also provided a map of the new
Galar region.
And like many of the past region maps, it’s
incredibly detailed making it possible to
look ahead at what we might encounter on this
Pokémon journey.
So we’re running it through the old Analysis
Machine to see what secrets and hidden details
it can find.
But be sure to watch our reveal trailer analysis
as we’ll be referring back to it throughout
this.
Now as we said before, the Galar region is
based off the United Kingdom, just flipped
upside down.
And the trailer featured plenty of scenes
of the opening areas including the trainer’s
house, which we can find on the map at the
very bottom.
This means that technically your trainer is
from Scotland, and that’s quite important
to a small correction we need to make.
We said before that female trainer was wearing
a pom pom beret.
It’s actually a stylized version of the
Scottish Tam O’Shanter hat.
So Game Freak is trying to be accurate in
regards to the trainer’s origins.
We talked about this opening area at length
in the reveal trailer, but let’s do a quick
rundown nonetheless.
We have the trainer’s house and directly
next to it is a large red house that features
both a pond and a Pokémon battle arena making
us believe that your rival in this gen will
be a bit of a rich kid.
It would be pretty cool if your rival was
actually a jerk who thought only the rich
can be great.
There would be a lot of possibilities with
this rich and poor dynamic that could be mined
for a good rivalry.
But knowing recent Pokémon and Game Freak’s
unwillingness to create jerk rivals, it likely
won’t happen.
What we think will happen is that your rival
will want to go to the nearby foggy forest
to the west where a professor will promptly
stop you and ask that you go to their lab.
This sends you along Route 1 where the curved
part will be blocked off until you have your
first Pokémon.
That is unless you receive your starter in
those foggy woods, similar to rescuing Professor
Birch in Gen 3.
Either way, you’ll eventually arrive in
the first town which features both a train
station and a purple building that we believe
is one of the professor’s labs.
This is likely where you’ll receive your
starter but not your Pokédex.
Instead, you’ll be sent further along the
path until you reach the purple building near
a lake.
As we said in our previous analysis, we believe
this belongs to a second professor.
The first, or the one in town, gives you a
Pokémon to defend yourself, while the one
on the outskirts gives you the Pokédex so
you can explore the region and catch ‘em
all.
We’ve seen this sort of spread between receiving
a Pokémon and a Pokédex before as it was
Professor Oak who gave the device in Gen 2,
not Professor Elm.
Whatever the case is, there will be some reason
to travel to this lakeside house, but it is
a dead end.
And that’s where the train station comes
in.
We saw a train waiting there in the trailer,
but we don’t think it’ll actually go anywhere
until these beginning tasks are completed.
In fact, the train might not even arrive until
you finish them.
The train tracks lead directly into a mountain,
but we see another station on the other side.
This is where you’ll get off and we’re
pretty the game opens up in a big way at this
point.
We can see two large lakes that take up the
majority of this area along with an old castle
turret to the northwest and a bridge to the
left before opening up to the coast.
But there’s something missing here.
There are no roads at all.
It could be possible that this entire area
is fully explorable allowing players to walk
along the lake shores until they reach the
mountains or even go west until they reach
the beach.
They could even return here once surf is learned
in order to visit that small in the middle
of the lake.
And that castle turret might even hide some
cool Pokémon.
It would be a really cool example of nonlinearity
in Pokémon, but on a smaller scale.
Now having said that, there is only one way
forward through the center and the right and
left paths could be blocked off in some way.
As we mentioned in our previous analysis,
this map isn’t exactly one to one.
Not every single element is represented, only
the most important points.
So this area actually being linear is a very
real possibility.
Still, we’re hoping that more exploration
will be available.
At the very least, this seems to be the equivalent
to the Lake District in the UK.
It’s interesting to note, but as we’ll
soon see the locations of some of these landmarks
doesn’t necessarily mean they were inspired
by them.
Continuing north, there are two paths that
the player can take.
One leads directly into the industrial city
while the other crosses a bridge into a valley-like
area.
However, we believe this bridge will be closed,
forcing players to enter the city.
Why’s that?
Well if we look farther north, this path doesn’t
have access to the other two towns in this
area.
Instead, it leads directly to the next city.
So obviously we’re going to have to check
out the rest of these towns first.
And that means that the second major place
you’ll visit in the Galar region is this
industrial city, which is a bit similar to
visiting Lumiose City early on in the Kalos
region, though it wasn’t fully accessible
in this first visit.
We do believe that the industrial city will
be completely explorable though.
And thanks to the trailer, we know it houses
one of the new Stadiums in Sword & Shield
as part of that central tower.
What we don’t know is if it will be the
first of these Stadiums, but we have a feeling
that it will be.
The city’s location in relation to the UK
seems to put it around the Newcastle area
though this city doesn’t seem to take any
inspiration from it, instead going with the
more steampunk aesthetic.
It certainly makes it stand out.
Now this city seems to be another opportunity
for the game to be non-linear.
Players could either leave to the east or
west and end up in another town that features
a Stadium.
After completing that Stadium, a bridge to
the north would immediately take them to the
next with no backtracking.
It’s a bit of a circular path.
But there’s always the possibility that
some kind of barrier will force players along
a certain route.
With that said, we’re going to go west first
as that leads to one of the towns from the
trailer.
But before we even reach it, there are some
intriguing landmarks just outside the city.
There’s a normal path leading away from
a bridge and towards the mountain and it even
has a circular area where the player can cross
the tracks and reach some kind of building.
These tracks, however, are unlike any other
on the map which leads us to believe that
this nearby mountain is where the mining scenes
in the trailer took place.
The minecarts leave the mountain and stop
by the nearby building for processing before
they continue on to the city for proper use.
At least, that’s our theory.
So the path allows the player to visit this
place before entering the mountain.
But there’s one other major mystery here,
the bridge to the south.
It connects two mountains though we can’t
see a destination.
The train that goes across this bridge absolutely
originates from the city, the lowest crossing
on the left proves it.
But where is it going?
Well, we have a rough theory, but let’s
save it for later in the analysis.
Instead, let’s return to the northern mountain
which we believe the trainer travels through
to reach the next town that’s dotted with
mysterious Stonehenge-like rocks.
There’s even a path leading from the south
where the trainer will presumably exit.
This is where we got our best look at the
new Stadiums in the trailer, specifically
that this is the Grass Stadium.
It’s also the location of the hillside artwork
of a presumed Legendary.
The location of this town is roughly near
Yorkshire in the UK and matches much of that
area.
However, this artwork which is based on the
Cerne Abbas Giant is nowhere near Yorkshire.
Instead, it’s near Dorset which is south
of London.
It’s another indication that Game Freak
is playing fast and loose with the actual
locations.
If we head east from this town, we can actually
see another conspicuous building.
It’s all on its own while the path splits
off around a small pond.
We can even see some kind of sign above the
front door.
While we’re not exactly sure what this place
is, we have a feeling that it’s the new
Pokémon Day Care where you’ll be breeding
your Pokémon.
It’s then that we come to the large bridge
leading to the other town.
But rather than head that way, let’s return
to the industrial city to see what it’s
like to head east from there.
Right away we see a blue bridge that’s likely
another set of train tracks.
It goes into another mountain and we believe
turns north as we can see more tracks just
above until those head into a tunnel as well.
We don’t know exactly where that tunnel
leads, but presume it ends up in the next
city.
Of course, there’s a normal bridge as well
for trainers to walk across that also leads
into the mountain.
And we think it’s very possible that the
exit is just to the north where we see a paved
road lead directly into a tunnel.
But this brings us to a coastal town that
does feature a Stadium.
And considering the blue emblem on the front
along with its location, it’s extremely
likely to be the Water Stadium.
Beyond that, there’s a lighthouse on the
edge as well as a sailboat.
While it’s not exactly likely, this sailboat
might a key aspect to Sword & Shield’s postgame.
If Kalos is nearby like France is to the United
Kingdom, then maybe we can return there though
we find that highly unlikely.
Another possibility is that this location
is based off Blackpool which is also a coastal
resort on the Irish Sea.
And that’s where our other idea comes in.
What if Ireland actually is featured in Sword
& Shield?
Could it be the game’s Battle Frontier?
That is something fans have wanted to return
for a while, but it’s difficult to say if
this will actually be a possibility.
As much as we want it though, we doubt this
will be the case.
Once these three Stadiums have been completed,
we’d expect the small bridge north of the
Lake District to finally open, allowing players
to head for the next major city.
The route in between though is dotted with
strangely arranged stones and some out of
place dead trees.
Perhaps these are scars from some kind of
battle?
Unfortunately there’s just not enough details,
but this next city is a wholly different beast
from the industrial one, almost literally.
A massive wall with turrets lines the front
and the entrance is marked by a giant dragon
head.
In the center is a large castle featuring
a tower with a crown at the top and branches
of the castle emanate from the base that almost
give the appearance of wings.
For a sense of scale, we can see normal buildings
at the base and they seem tiny by comparison.
On the right side, there’s what looks to
be a cathedral or some kind of school while
the left side features its own tower with
a Chinese-inspired dragon at the top.
Not only that, but there’s another Pokémon
battle arena outside of it, the third and
final one displayed on the map.
Looking at all of this, we can only wonder
what the purpose really is.
Is this city the home of Galar royalty?
Or is it where the Champion resides?
Could they one and the same?
Or has this location been adapted from medieval
times into a Stadium.
After all, we’d expect the game to feature
eight in total as that’s always been tradition,
even in Alola with the Island Trials.
So this place needs to have a Stadium and
as we saw with the industrial city, they’re
not always obvious.
But the dragon iconography is really interesting
as that all but confirms that this would be
a Dragon Stadium despite being the fourth
Stadium we’ve visited.
Well, we wouldn’t expect it to be the fourth.
It’s extremely likely that players will
have to go elsewhere before challenging this
Stadium, though we don’t exactly have evidence
of this.
It’s just that most dragons evolve very
late and most would only just be evolving
for the first time by the fourth gym.
Now a new Pokémon could throw a curveball,
but we wouldn’t expect that at the moment.
But this doesn’t answer the question in
regards to the purpose of the dragon tower.
Could this be like the Battle Chateau or Battle
Tower in past games?
Or is it something a bit different?
There’s a lot of questions revolving around
this city, but we are pretty sure that it
won’t be open ended as far as where players
go next.
We can see a drawbridge on the western end
meaning it’ll likely be closed when we first
arrive.
So it looks like we’re heading east.
And as we go that way, we’re immediately
greeted by a fork in the road.
Heading north leads to the canyon maze that
we saw a brief glimpse of in the trailer while
east leads through a small tunnel to a mysterious
complex.
Both eventually lead to another town to the
north, but the path taken depends on whether
we have Surf yet or not.
We’re going to guess though that Surf isn’t
earned until this upcoming town which means
players will have to navigate the canyon in
order to reach the town.
And as many of you mentioned, this town is
very likely the same one we could place in
our previous analysis.
The map inaccuracies got as this place on
the map features no central area.
However, we can clearly see the the museum-like
structure just in front of another Stadium.
And considering the region it’s in, we’re
very likely looking at the Ice Stadium.
Once completing it and earning Surf, players
can then use that ability to travel through
the ice flows we saw during the trailer and
reach the complex to the south.
We still don’t know what this building could
be though.
Maybe it’s the corporate headquarters of
that company we saw advertised in the trailer.
It was only a snippet, but it’s the best
guess we’ve got.
After all, there is a sign out front.
We would then return to the fortress city
and go west through the newly opened drawbridge.
It’s then that we’d immediately see a
monument to Dugtrio built into the side of
the mountain, which is more than a little
odd.
We guess Dugtrio is revered in this part of
the Galar region.
The town is also a bit odd as the houses are
built directly into the mountain as well.
This is a common practice of places around
the world, but it’s the first time we’ve
seen it in Pokémon.
This does lead to the town’s Stadium though
which we’d assume is a Ground if only because
of the Dugtrio nearby.
But that might not be the case.
During the trailer, we see Lucario facing
off against Tyranitar, which is a dual Rock
and Dark type, in a Stadium.
That could mean that the battle is taking
place here.
However, there’s a problem with that theory.
Pupitar doesn’t evolve into Tyranitar until
level 55.
In every previous Pokémon game, the fifth
Gym Leader, which we think this is the equivalent
of only ranges in the 30s.
Some are as low as the upper 20s while another
has a few in low 40s.
But that’s still nowhere close to level
55.
So we’re going to stick with our original
theory that this is a Ground Stadium.
We think we have an idea of where Tyranitar
could fit in later.
To the left of this Stadium, we see a giant
painted picture displaying gears and a shield.
It’s possible that this is the companion
to the artwork we saw in the south.
After all, in our analysis we stated that
the hill artwork was likely connected to the
Sword Legendary.
And that seems to be panning out considering
this shield imagery.
But we’re not sure of the connection otherwise,
just that this scene is a lot happier with
all kinds of crazy colors being used.
It could also be the place where the box Legendary
is confronted in Sword & Shield.
But that’s all guesswork.
There’s still one more town to see in this
area though.
A path on the right side leads into the thick
woods where it eventually opens up into a
small town.
And this place seems like something out of
Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
There are giant multi-colored mushrooms surrounding
the town while the homes look like they’re
made out of gingerbread.
We’re not sure what to think of this place,
but it does have a Stadium and we’d be shocked
if wasn’t based around the Fairy type.
It’s just too fitting.
After completing that Stadium, players would
return to the fortress city and likely take
on its Stadium as the 7th in Galar.
Once that was finished, a train to the north
would become available.
We can even see the tunnel to the north and
a train station on the other side of this
huge natural wall.
It’s then that we’d walk through the snow
valley, which we actually saw in the trailer,
until arriving in the final northernmost city.
And once we’re past the man-made wall, the
snow disappears and everything is green again.
That’s a heck of a wall to affect what the
temperature is going to be like.
But this city is absolutely based on London.
We can see its equivalent to Big Ben, the
London Eye, and even Piccadilly Circus in
the central area.
Or should that be Pika-dilly Circus?
More skyscrapers line the background, but
nothing draws the eye quite like the central
tower that seems lined with crystals and a
dome at the top.
It’s impressive to say the least.
But before getting to that, we also see our
final Stadium.
But rather than a Pokémon type symbol, it
has the Stadium symbol.
So what’s this one based around?
Previously, we’ve seen Grass, Water, Ice,
Ground, Fairy, and Dragon, all of which we’re
positive will be the themes.
We don’t know the industrial city’s Stadium
theme though we’d expect it to be Fire based
off the steampunk aesthetic.
So that leaves this final one.
The shape of the Stadium appears somewhat
like a flower but as we’ve seen Grass is
already taken.
So that would make our best guesses Bug, Electric,
because of the city setting, Poison, or Psychic.
And then we remembered Tyranitar.
We don’t believe there’s any way that
this is Rock or Dark-Type Stadium.
It just doesn’t look the part.
But the Stadium symbol on the front could
indicate that anything goes.
Any type could appear here and the trainers
you face have balanced teams.
It wouldn’t be the first time this was done
as we saw with Blue in Gen 2.
And while the levels of many of the past final
gyms tend to be in 40s range, Wulfric in Gen
6 did have his entire Pokémon team in the
mid-50s.
So we believe we’re looking at something
similar here.
Now while there are mountains all around this
final city, we don’t think they can actually
be visited.
But this does beg the question of where Victory
Road, the Elite Four, and the Champion might
be located.
And we think it’s possible that the Crystal
Tower is Victory Road with man-made hurdles
to overcome until reaching the dome where
the Elite Four await.
This isn’t a guarantee though.
After all, Big Ben and the London Eye could
serve some sort of purpose and the train tracks
over the bridge all the way to the south could
lead to a Victory Road.
And this isn’t even mentioning the new evil
Team’s base.
That could be in any of the places we just
mentioned or the complex near the icy drifts
or even somewhere in the fortress city.
Nailing down where these specific places might
be is a tad tricky.
Pokémon does enjoy throwing some curve balls
at us on occasion.
But that’s everything that we could find
on the Galar region.
It’s looking like a place full of possibilities
and even the chance of some non-linear sections.
We can’t wait to see more of it and discover
what the Stadiums and each of these cities
is all about.
Of course, if we missed anything, let us know
in the comments.
Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe
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things gaming.
