Pokemon Sword and Shield is the first mainline Pokemon game to be on a Nintendo home console, and after playing the first 90 minutes of Pokemon Shield we have a better sense of what’s to come. In an interview with IGN at Nintendo’s Pokemon Sword and Shield preview event, producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori answered our most pressing questions regarding key gameplay changes and the future of the series as well as our most outlandish inquiries about the Pokemon timeline, Sir Fetch’d’s evolutions, and the classic, “Which starter are you picking?” For more from this interview, be sure to check out what Masuda and Ohmori had to say about online functionality and the game's length. Here are the topics covered:

The Elite Four May or May Not Be Present

Why Hop Has Two Partner Pokemon

Tutorials Will Never Go Away Completely

Max Raid Battles and Surprise Trade Excite the Team the Most

Masuda and Ohmori Choose a Game Version and Starter

Your Sir Fetch’d Questions Answered… Sort of

Pokemon Timeline

The Next Switch Pokemon Game Could Be Drastically Different

The Elite Four May or May Not Be Present

Gyms return in Pokemon Sword and Shield after Pokemon Sun and Moon deviated from the formula with its trial structure. While some gym leaders are unique between the Sword and Shield versions, there’s definitely some crossover. And regardless of what version you buy, you’ll have to collect eight badges before you face another challenge or set of challenges.

Typically, players face the Elite 4 at the end of Pokemon but currently, the team will neither confirm or deny the Elite 4’s presence in Pokemon Sword and Shield. It’s something Ohmori wants players to discover for themselves, but he can say “there are really powerful opponents that [players] have to challenge after they get their [8] badges.”

Why Hop Has 2 Partner Pokemon

The first thing that struck me about Pokemon Sword and Shield is that for the first time in franchise history your rival has two partner Pokemon. This is meant to drive home the fact that he’s more experienced than you (despite picking the weaker type to my starter). Hop having more skill than you allows him to “guide you along,” says Ohmori, which is why Hop is the one who reminds you how to throw a Pokeball. Because while you can catch a Pokemon, unprompted, some form of tutorial or quick aside is still in place.

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Tutorials Will Never Go Away Completely

To the dismay of some longtime fans, tutorials are an integral part of Pokemon now and forever. But that’s only because the team wants Pokemon to be accessible to everyone. “[Our goal with] every Pokemon game,” says Ohmori, “is [to] make them games that can be enjoyed even by someone who may [be playing this as their] first video game.” But part of keeping old fans happy as well is to “gradually introduce more in depth, complex systems that are going to also satisfy some of the [those fans who] have been with the series for a long time.”

Max Raid Battles and Surprise Trade Excite the Team the Most

Everyone who’s looking forward to Pokemon Sword and Shield is probably excited for a different reason, from simply getting to know a new generation to just cooking up some curry. But what excites Masuda and Ohmori the most is Max Raid Battles and the surprise trade feature, respectively.

“Max Raid Battles are our first time introducing this kind of cooperative, battle gameplay,” says Masuda, who sees potential in real life friends planning battle strategies (especially for those harder fights). Max Raid Battles have a “difficulty system that goes from one to five stars and if you go on to the five star ones, it's actually pretty difficult and you need to kind of really coordinate with your team and make sure you go after it.”

“I'm most excited about seeing players' reaction to the new Surprise Trade feature, which is kind of a powered up version of Wonder Trade,” says Ohmori. Wonder Trade is a feature from previous games where you can select a Pokemon and trade it with another player for a random Pokemon in return. The key difference is with Wonder Trade the sequence happens right then and there but with Surprise Trade it happens randomly in the background. “You choose a Pokemon and then, while you're adventuring, it will be traded with someone from around the world,” Ohmori says, and it’s these kind of surprises he hopes will delight players as they explore Galar.

Masuda and Ohmori Choose a Game Version and Starter

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield have numerous differences including exclusive Pokemon, gym leaders, and different legendaries. Everyone has a different method for picking between the two but here’s how Masuda and Ohmori pick a version to play.

Masuda selected Pokemon Sword because he “want[s] to encounter the gym leader Bea” who’s exclusive to that version. Ohmori went with Pokemon Shield because he “want[s] Zamacenta, the legendary Pokemon exclusive to Shield,” on his team.

As far as starters go, Masuda picked Scorbunny and Ohmori picked Grookey which makes Sobble the only starter who didn’t get any acknowledgment from the pair. We also asked Masuda and Ohmori which Pokemon, of the new ones publicly announced, is the cutest and their answer mirrored their starter choice. “Lots of cute ones,” Masuda reflects, “I really, really like Sir Fetch’d but, in terms of pure cuteness, its gotta be Scorbunny.” Said Ohmori: “I’m going to adventure with Grooky, so that’s definitely my pick in terms of cuteness.” At the time of this interview Galarian Ponyta hadn’t been officially revealed yet so we have no way of knowing how this would’ve changed their answer, if at all.

Top 10 Cutest Pokemon from Sword and Shield 10 IMAGES

Your Sir Fetch’d Questions Answered… Sort of

Following in the footsteps of Pokemon Sun and Moon, Pokemon Sword and Shield has regional variants only found in Galar. Among them is Sir Fetch’d, an evolution of Farfetch’d. But in addition to having a new look, his leek is longer and shaped like a sword which raises the question: “Did his leek evolve with him or did he just find a bigger one?” The truth is no one is quite sure but Masuda has some ideas.

“I think we can say it's kind of a regional thing. Perhaps [because in] the UK, which is the inspiration for the Galar region, you'll see that leeks are much bigger there than in Japan. So maybe that's kind of a hint that the Farfetch’d that grew up in Galar... maybe had bigger leeks than the ones elsewhere.” But when I suggested that Sir Fetch’d probably found it, Masuda simply replied with, “I don’t know.”

Why the nurse at the Pokecenter says “We hope to see you again” Since the very first Pokemon game, this question has plagued the community. Why does the nurse at the Pokecenter say “We hope to see you again!” if she only sees me when our Pokemon are injured. Because this classic send off phrase is also present in Pokemon Sword and Shield, I had to ask. “I think it’s that she likes the player character,” said Masuda, clarifying further with “I don’t think that it’s because she wants to see the Pokemon get hurt.”

Pokemon May Take Place Across Multiple Eras

Almost every Pokemon game has taken place in its own unique setting but regional variants suggest these places are all part of a connected Pokemon world. The answer isn’t quite that simple though. “It’s kind of hard to say,” reflected Masuda. “I mean, we have done multiple regions before — Gold and Silver had the same region from the original games, for example — so I think you could say they’re connected but I don’t know… are they the same time? The same era? That’s a harder question to answer.”

But that doesn’t mean each Pokemon game is in a completely different decade or universe. As Masuda points out, “Sometimes you’ll see that old characters from previous games have appeared in other places, so maybe that’s a hint that [those games] take place in generally the same era.”

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The Next Pokemon Game on Switch Could Be Drastically Different

The Pokemon series is always tasked with refreshing the formula and pushing boundaries while trying to keep the core essence of Pokemon alive. We’ve seen gyms leave and come back, and the national dex is notably missing from this next adventure. All of these decisions on what to keep and what to change are, in part, based on timing and the other Pokemon games that are already on a platform. Which means the next mainline Pokemon game on Nintendo Switch could have some big changes.

Ultimately, deciding when to make major changes is a balancing act. “What we keep or what we change may depend somewhat on the timing of when that game will come out,” Masuda says. “For example, with Sun and Moon, you mentioned the trials versus the gyms. One of the reasons for that was it was the second generation of Pokemon [on the 3DS]. So we wanted to kind of provide a little bit of a surprise there for people.”

While players could’ve started with X and Y on the 3DS, Masuda points out that Pokemon Sword and Shield is the first mainline game on Nintendo Switch. “We wanted to, for this first entry at least, really do a traditional take on Pokemon and bring back the gyms.”

Another key factor involves a bit of speculation on the team’s behalf: trying to predict where things will be when the game actually comes out. “We usually have about a three-year development cycle for the new-generation titles,” says Masuda. “So when we're first setting out on creating the themes and the systems for the game, we always got to think about, ‘Where are things going to be three years from now?’ and trying to envision that a little bit. [We have to consider that] the people who are currently fans are going to be three years older. [And ask ourselves] what kinds of things would they be looking forward to?”

For more on Pokemon Sword and Shield be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield wiki to figure out which version to buy, see every confirmed Pokemon in the game so far, and continue to get details as we await the game's launch.

Janet Garcia is IGN's associate guides editor. You can follow her on Twitter @Gameonysus.