We have heard little more about Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield since their reveal, but, thanks to a Pokémon GO data miner, we may have discovered our next snippet of news.
Chrales has been hunting for clues in version 0.143.0, discovering new badges, quest conditions, Lure items, and changes to evolution conditions.
He has also discovered references to IAmASleepingSnorlax which relates to a new encounter on the map, but also something that’s referred to as koala_settings.
This, he believes, is related to something that is separate from Pokémon GO, resulting in speculation that Niantic is working behind the scenes to integrate their location-based game with the upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusives.
Before Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon Let’s Go, Eevee! were released, a similar settings screen had been discovered under the codename “beluga.”
That means that this data mine may have uncovered that Niantic is using the codename “koala” for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, and, with that, that the games will have integration with Pokémon GO.
It’s not a particularly farfetched rumor, seeing as the groundwork has already been made with GO Park in Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon Let’s Go, Eevee! – which lets you transfer Pokémon discovered in the Kanto region from the mobile game to the portable home console using a Bluetooth connection.
And, with Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield expected to have a much larger Pokédex to complete, it would encourage players to more regularly link the two games to one another to transfer captured Pokémon.
Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield will release exclusively for Nintendo Switch worldwide in late 2019.
