On Nov. 22 (Friday), the Pokémon Company International, Inc. (TPCi) filed a lawsuit against unknown individuals for leaking Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield game details before the release.
The unveiling of the company's two highly anticipated video games was scheduled on Nov. 15 (Friday). However, never-before-seen photos and information of both games were already revealed to the public as early as Nov. 1 (Friday).
The Beginning of the Doom
The leaks started when a picture of Gigantamax Machamp, a new Pokémon, showed up on Discord. Seventeen minutes later, the image was seen on 4Chan. After another quick 10 minutes, the images were found all over Reddit, where many gamers flock to discuss all things video games, including the much-awaited new features of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield.
Inevitably, the photos were shared on mainstream social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter.
Hunting Down the Real-Life Team Rocket
As of writing, the company is not suing any particular person, simply referring to the defendants as "John/Jane Does." But in the Pokémon Universe, Team Rocket is the criminal organization that steals other people's Pokémon. Apparently, there is a Team Rocket in real life.
According to the suit filed at the Western District of Washington, the real-life antagonist is an individual or a team composed of three persons all living in the United States. TPCi stated that these culprits stole trade secrets by "taking illicit pictures of pages from an unreleased strategy guide."
To hunt down the culprits, the Pokémon Company International, Inc. wants to serve subpoenas on Discord and 4Chan. Hopefully, this will help track down the leakers.
But if we will ever learn the identity of the real-life Team Rocket, that would be the job of Perkins Coie. Perkins Coie is an international law firm known for working for tech giants, like Google.
What Happens Next
TCPi is still awaiting the court's decision. According to Perkins Coie, their client "is entitled to damages in an amount to be proven at trial."
In the suit filed by TCPi, they stated that they value secrecy as their carefully timed announcements are part of their strategy to excite their thousands of fans across the world. The leak, in turn, reduced the fans' interest and engagement.
To this, they request the culprits to compensate for all appropriate relief, including but not limited to attorney's fees, damages, injunctive and monetary relief, and accounting.
About Pokémon's Sword and Shield
According to Polygon, Sword and Shield probably have the most imaginative monsters in Pokémon's series of role-playing video games. Here's what we know so far about this hit RPG:
- Fan-favorites like Pikachu and Charizard returned, but not all species from previous games are available in this version.
- With new species of Pokémon, this new-generation game brings the total number of creatures to more than 1,000.
- NEW: This RPG features a brand-new Galar region where players can capture Pokémon and battle other trainers to become the champion.
- NEW: The new starter Pokémons: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble.
- NEW: Farfetch'd, Zigzagoon, and other classic characters have new evolutions to watch for.
- NEW: Players can now use Gigantamax to enlarge certain Pokémon species.
- NEW: There are a plethora of new characters, including Grookey, Scorbunny, Sobble, Zamazenta, Zacian, Mr. Rime, and Corviknight. For the list of all the new Pokemons, click here.
