Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let's Go Eevee for Nintendo Switch Revealed

Nintendo announced Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let's Go Eevee for the Nintendo Switch with a release date of November 16 this year. As the name (and past leaks) suggest, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company see the Let's Go games as the evolution for players brought in by Pokemon Go to continue the series and thus, the catching mechanics and designs are similar. During a press conference in Japan more details were revealed surrounding Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. The Let's Go games have been made as home console experiences hinting that 2019's Pokemon games would be more focussed towards handhelds.

In terms of gameplay, wild Pokemon battles don't exist in the Let's Go games although you can square off against multiple trainers. One of the reasons for choosing Eevee was the Pokemon's popularity over the years. In Pokemon Yellow, your rival used Eevee and it's been used as a partner to Pikachu. Speaking of Pokemon specifics, you can gain access to a new special Pokemon if you link Pokemon Go to Pokemon Let's Go via Bluetooth.

That said, there are other ways Pokemon Go and Let's Go will interface although they haven't been elaborated just yet although if you play both you will be rewarded. Event items earned in Pokemon Go such as Ash's hat will not carry over to either Let's Go game.

In addition to this, there are no plot differences between either game and you won't be able to evolve your partner Pokemon although you can catch other Eevee and Pikachu in the wild. The ability to transfer items from Go to Let's Go opens up halfway through the game and you'll be able to do it freely after that. You can also partake in mini-games when transferring Pokemon over. Controls for catching Pokemon in handheld mode have you moving the console around and pressing a button. No touchscreen support although it does use the Switch's gyroscope.

As of now, only the original 150 Pokemon will be available in Pokemon Let's Go, suggesting that more could be added via DLC.

Previously, it was rumoured that Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let's Go Eevee would be 2018's Pokemon games. According to a report from Nintendo-focussed gaming site, Nintendo Everything (via ResetEera) it's been discovered that domains for these two possible titles - PokemonLetsGoPikachu.com and PokemonLetsGoEevee.com were registered by CSC Corporate Domains. The same company is listed as the registrar of Pokemon.com as well. 

Before this noted insider Emily Rogers stated that we could see an announcement for a new Nintendo Switch Pokemon game this month. It could forsake the traditional trappings of previous games on the Nintendo 3DS for a format not too dissimilar to Pokemon Go. However, like traditional Pokemon titles, expect two versions. The reason for Pokemon on Nintendo Switch to take cues from Pokemon Go has to with the tremendous success seen by the latter. So much so that long-time developer Game Freak has taken notice and is looking at ways to improve on it.

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