Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct time confirmed - watch live

by James McMath

Nintendo has confirmed the Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct time ahead of the live stream, promising "new information" on the upcoming Switch release.

The main thing fans will be hoping for from Pokemon Direct in June 2019, of course, is a Sword and Shield release date, with the title highly anticipated.

What time does Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct start?

Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct is due to start at 3pm CEST on Wednesday, June 5th, 2019. The broadcast, on YouTube, is scheduled to last for 15 minutes and fans can set reminders now.

Start times in other regions:

  • 6am PT
  • 9am ET
  • 2pm BST
  • 11pm AEST

Leaks, rumours and 'Galarian forms'

Just as we saw with the Dota 2 TI9 Battle Pass last month and, with any anticipated new game, there are plenty of rumours surrounding the Pokemon Sword and Shield release. One of the most recent apparent leaks comes from Pokejungle and is that the Pokemon will have Galarian forms.

The apparently leaked Galarian forms are:

  • Noctowl: Ice/Flying (Becomes black, with bits of dark blue.)
  • Sentret: Normal/Ground (Now has steel-claws)
  • Furret: Normal/Ground (Has a drill on its tail)
  • Spinarak: Bug/Ghost (is now black, but the smiley on its black is a bright pink)
  • Ariados: Bug/Ghost (Same as Spinerak. Now has a spooky angry-face on its back.)
  • Jumpluff: Grass/Fairy (Body becomes white, pom-pom-things turn pink)
  • Sudowoodo: Steel (Now disguised as a pinetree)
  • Houndour: Dark/Ice (“skull” on its head is now made out of ice)
  • Houndoom: Dark/Ice (Horns and bone-parts are now Icicles)
  • Magcargo: Fire/Water (Has now a seashell as its house)
  • Ralts: Dark/Fairy (Green “Helmet” turns dark blue and the dress-part becomes purple)
  • Kirlia: Dark/Fairy (Same as Ralts, but its legs stay white)
  • Gardevoir: Dark/Fairy (The same as previous, looks a bit like its Mega)
  • Zangoose: Fighting/Dark (White fur becomes black, has sharper claws)
  • Seviper: Poison/Steel (Has a giant iron spike-ball instead of its Knife-tail)
  • Spoink: Poison (Tail is made of purple sludge and its crystal is dark purple)
  • Grumpig: Poison/Ghost (same with spoink, but its pink parts become dark green)

All will be revealed at E3

Whatever is revealed during Pokemon Direct on June 5, Nintendo fans don't have long to wait until E3, when the company will reveal more details about Pokemon Sword and Shield as well as a raft of other game.

E3 2019 is due to take place on Tuesday, June 11, when Nintendo Direct is scheduled to start at 6pm CEST / 5pm BST / 9am PT / 12pm ET.