Pokemon Sword & Shield Trailer Reveals New Gen 8 Pokemon, Trainer Customization, And Camping

Just as promised, Nintendo shared some new details about Pokemon Sword and Shield during this month's Nintendo Direct presentation. This time, the company gave us a closer look at how trainer customization will work, as well as a couple of new features being introduced in the games, namely camping and curry cooking.

As in recent Pokemon titles, you'll be able to choose different outfits for your trainer in Sword and Shield. This time around, you'll be able to customize your outerwear, gloves, hairstyle selection, eye color, and makeup. That's not all; you can also camp out at any time on your journey by setting up a Pokemon Camp. While camping, you can watch your Pokemon interact with each other, and you can call a monster over to play with them, which in turn will help improve them in battle.

You can do more than just play with your Pokemon at the Pokemon Camp; you can also cook curry via a minigame, which your Pokemon can then eat. There are more than 100 different types of curry to cook, and each recipe you discover will be logged in your Curry Dex. You'll also be able to visit other players' Pokemon Camps while exploring the Wild Area.

Finally, Nintendo unveiled two more Gen 8 Pokemon. First is Polteageist, a small ghost inhabiting a tea pot. We also got our first look at the new duck Pokemon Cramorant, which has a humorous new Ability called Gulp Missile. After Cramorant uses the moves Surf or Dive, it'll return with a fish in its mouth. The next time the Pokemon is attacked, it'll spit the fish out at the opponent.

We've been steadily learning more and more details about Pokemon Sword and Shield in the lead up to their release. Ahead of the Pokemon World Championships last month, The Pokemon Company shared another trailer that showed off some game-changing new Pokemon Abilities and held items. We also learned more details about the games' online battling options. Unlike previous Pokemon titles, however, Sword and Shield won't use the Pokemon Global Link service.

Pokemon Sword and Shield arrive on Nintendo Switch on November 15. Ahead of their launch, Nintendo will release a special Pokemon edition Switch Lite on November 8, which features a unique color scheme and illustrations of the games' Legendary cover Pokemon, Zacian and Zamazenta. For more on the titles, including where you can secure a copy and what pre-order bonuses each retailer is offering, be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.

While the Gen 8 Pokemon games may be looming on the horizon, The Pokemon Company has one more free gift in store for Gen 7 players before Sword and Shield arrive. Beginning in October, you'll be able to claim a free Shiny Solgaleo or Shiny Lunala for Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon from GameStop stores in the US. The Shiny Legendary giveaway will run through November 10.