Game Freak, the studio responsible for developing the Pokemon video game franchise, recently released an update for Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. One thing that it changed in the update, which was a pleasant surprise for the players upon discovery, is the game’s animations. Specifically, players noticed that the animations for sleeping Pokemon were tweaked to make them look like they’re, well, actually sleeping.
In the past, the Pokemon in both Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield didn’t have animation for when they were sleeping—they were simply shown standing up with open eyes, which doesn’t really depict sleeping in any way. Recently, players have noticed that there’s a new sleeping animation wherein bubbles and the letter Z pop out to show that the particular Pokemon is sleeping.
That being said, the developer still hasn’t released a patch note detailing this change. While fans discovered this new change only recently, it hasn’t been confirmed yet when Game Freak implemented this update exactly.
This particular update was noticed by Reddit user Feelinara1992, who posted on the Pokemon Sword and Shield subReddit. The fan shared a clip of a Shiny Sylveon that’s fast asleep—and the other trainers in the community were definitely happy about the update. Sadly, there’s a catch to this: this specific animation will only show up while players are camping.
This means that fans won’t be seeing this new animation with the bubbles and Z’s when Pokemon get hit with the Sleep move during battle. Still, it’s better than nothing. Even though this Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield update may not be as significant or as sizeable as other video game updates, it was still extremely well-received by the community. As they say, it’s all in the details!
Feelinara1992’s Reddit post gained a lot of traction, and many trainers commented their appreciation for the new animation. A lot of players thought that it was a cute change, and others even felt inspired to catch an Eevee just to evolve it into a Sylveon like the one the original poster had.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonSwordAndShield/comments/ljmt3h/im_so_happy_that_theyve_changed_some_of_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Since a change as simple as this was greatly well-received, it wouldn’t be surprising if Game Freak discreetly adds similar updates and animations to Pokemon Sword and Shield in the future. One thing that many trainers voiced out is that they want to see a similar animation for flying Pokemon who have fallen asleep.
More specifically, fans want to see their flying-type Pokemon resting on the ground with their eyes closed while sleeping. After all, this makes more sense than having them continuously float in the sky when they’re supposed to be relaxing or resting.
That being said, fans hope that Game Freak will implement this new animation even during a Pokemon battle, as it really is quite cute to see the creatures curl up on the ground while fast asleep. However, as much as we’d like to see this addition, Game Freak may not release such an update any time soon.
