Gastrodon deleted image leaks big change for Pokemon Sword & Shield

Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Galar Region might have a lot of things to see and numerous new Pokemon to catch, but not every form is available in the games – as seen with Gastrodon and Shellos.

There has been growing speculation surrounding Nintendo’s decision to host a Pokemon Direct press conference on January 9, with the game’s developers suggesting there will be around 20 minutes worth of content for people to watch during the livestream.

While official details about the conference were scarce at first, eagle-eyed fans spotted something on the official Play Pokemon Twitter account that appears to hint at a big change coming to the game soon.

More Pokemon leaked?

Gastrodon and Shellos are only available to catch in their East Sea, or blue, forms in Pokemon Sword and Shield. There’s also West Sea forms available in previous titles, which is pink in color, but that wasn’t included in the new region.

• Read More: Is a Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake coming soon?

However, a deleted image was posted to Twitter showing the pink form is actually in the game, leading many fans to believe that a change – whether it be announced in the Pokemon Direct presser or not – will be coming soon.

As seen below, the image captured by user PhillyBeatzU shows that the post was actually focusing on Gyarados, but perhaps accidentally revealed that more than just one form of Gastrodon exists in Pokemon Sword and Shield, or will do in the near future.

Pokemon Sword and Shield future changes

So, you might be wondering how can we actually see the West Sea Gastrodon making it into Pokemon Sword and Shield – or what’s the most likely path for it to be added?

There are a number of possibilities, including an update or expansion to Pokemon Home allowing players to move species and forms from previous titles to the Galar Region.

Another route that Game Freak could be going down is revealing downloadable content whereby players can visit other regions later in the game, possibly after completing it. This one, however, seems a little more unlikely. There’s also a chance more forms will be added as part of a future update.

• Read More: Pokemon Sword and Shield spawn locations guide for every Pokemon

Players have so many questions already, but what will actually change in Pokemon Sword and Shield remains something of a mystery at the time of writing. We’ll just have to wait and see.