Pokémon Sword and Shield arrive worldwide on November 15, 2019

Nintendo Switch has Poki(C)mon games, but it doesn't really have its own Poki(C)mon games, not in the true sense. Poki(C)mon Sword and Shield, coming November 15, 2019, will be the first real Poki(C)mon games (don't even mention Poki(C)mon Let's Go - don't) for Nintendo Switch, and now we know more about them thanks to today's Poki(C)mon Direct livestream event from Nintendo.

Starting with the intro video, you can tell that Sword and Shield will be a full-fledged new extension of the Poki(C)mon world taking place in the new Galar region - a fact emphasized by the theme song that played over it which featured the catchy hook "A whoollle new worlllddd."

Plus in this new region, part of the fiction is that everyone loves watching battles on TV, which seems like it will come into play for big battles. We also got a glimpse at a bunch of new Poki(C)mon, including a sheep one called Wooloo; a flower thing called Gossifleur (which evolves to Eldegoss); plus a "bite" type called Dredgnaw.

There's also a new place called, not super imaginatively, the "Wild Area" which is pretty much an open world between human settlements where you get the chance to encounter wild Poki(C)mon you can catch. These will vary depending on weather conditions and time of day, and it looks like much more of a free-ranging experience, when compared to the relatively hard-tracked previous instalments.

Poki(C)mon also get a special power called 'Dynamax' in this instalment, which is a special power that makes them huge and more powerful for three turns. This also factors into a new mode where up to four Poki(C)mon trainers can team up to squad raid a single Dynamax wild Poki(C)mon who retains their amped up power for the duration of the conflict. At the end, players get a chance to capture the Poki(C)mon - and some are exclusively available to catch this way.

We also got an intro to new characters including region champion Leon, his younger brother Hop (a primary rival for the player), plus a really quick look at some of the gym battles.

The real capper though was a CG cinematic introducing the game's legendaries, which are wolf-like Poki(C)mon who have - you guessed it - a sword and a shield respectively. These are called Zacian and Zamazenta.