Galarian Ponyta Will Be Exclusive To Pokemon Shield

Last week's super chill, ultra-mysterious 24-hour stream of Pokemon Sword and Shield gave us a glimpse of a mystical, magical version of Ponyta, like something out of a found footage movie. Now The Pokemon Company has updated its Pokedex today, releasing official art and information about this new addition to the world of Pokemon. Galarian Ponyta is a unicorn with cotton candy hair, its Psychic-type powers adding a beautiful glow to its puffy mane. But while this re-imagining of a Kanto favorite has been received with open arms, there's some not-so-welcome news about its availability: Galarian Ponyta will be exclusive to Pokemon Shield.  

Since the dawn of the Pokemon franchise, certain Pokemon have only been available in certain games, with others existing only in their twin titles. This is meant to encourage trading between players (the mechanic that inspired Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri to create the series in the first place). For Pokemon trainers who purchase Pokemon Sword rather than Shield, Galarian Ponyta is still obtainable if you have a friend willing to trade. We imagine, however, this revelation might influence more players to get Pokemon Shield, considering that an itty bitty glimpse of this shiny new Ponyta made the internet go haywire. 

#GalarianPonyta was trending on Twitter the night of the livestream, as screenshots of blurry outlines and purported sightings of a glowing Pokemon were retweeted like conspiracy theories. The livestream — which was essentially a trail cam left in Galar's Glimwood Tangle Forest — had avid trainers were glued to their screens. But Galarian Ponyta was the only new Pokemon shown, and its appearance came toward the very end of the stream. Other sightings included already confirmed Galarian Pokemon like Impidimp, who breathed on the camera, obscuring our view of Galarian Ponyta when it ran by (thanks a lot, you little demon). Though it appears that the whole of the livestream — all 24-hours of it– was an elaborate way to announce Galarian Ponyta.

Is this trolling? This feels like trolling.