With any new game release, rumors and leaks fly so fast that it can be hard to keep track of what has been teased, what has been officially announced, and what is pure speculation. Often, most “leaks” turn out to be complete fabrications or misguided guesses, but other times they can turn out to be accurate and legitimate.

One franchise that faces these rumors more than many others is Pokémon, with new species, gyms, characters, evolutions, types, and much more being rumored with seemingly every passing day. But, some can turn out to be accurate. Here are some of the most notable rumors about Sword & Shield, both legitimate ones and those that were complete nonsense.

Updated by Michael Christopher on March 2nd, 2020:With the announcement of two rounds of DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield coming later this year, some of the leaks on this list have actually turned out to be true or false when they were once the other way around. We’ve decided to revisit this list to update the status of some of the once-leaked information that is now being treated differently by the Crown Tundra and Isle of Armor DLC packs.

10 True - Charizard would be the only starter

GameFreak’s love of Charizard seems to be endless, and it can often rustle some feathers. It seems this fiery friend gets more love than the other starters, often in very brazen ways, such as giving it two mega evolutions, and a Gigantamax form. Many have started rolling their eyes over the favoritism.

But, in the days leading up to Sword and Shield’s release date, rumors began to circulate that Charizard (and its evolutionary family) would be the only previous-generation starters to make it into the game. Turns out, that was correct, which really peeved a lot of people amid a post-Dexit scandal.

9 False - Armoured Pokémon

One rumor about new Pokémon forms turned out to be completely false. This is the oft-mentioned armored Pokémon — large, metal-clad defensive version of some of the fan favorites. From Gardevoir to Charizard, this rumor insisted that these armored monstrosities would be making an appearance in Sword and Shield.

What further moved this rumor along was leaked images of armored Mewtwo from the Mewtwo Strikes Back reboot film. Then, Pokémon GO announced armored Mewtwo would be in raid battles in-game, further adding to this rumor. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bunch of hogwash, and there are of course no armored Pokémon in Sword and Shield.

8 True - DLC

As the reality of Dexit set in and people realized it was worse than they thought, others started to grow desperate for a way to rationalize the decision. Many began to think that Game Freak would add the missing Pokémon in eventually, while others joked that they might do at a cost.

Sure enough, this turned out to be somewhat true. With the new Crown Tundra and Isle of Armor DLC packs, over 200 missing Pokémon will be added to Sword and Shield. Many rejoiced that their favorites would be returning, while others are somewhat peeved that Game Freak did end up locking missing Pokémon behind paid DLC.

7 False - Starter evolutions

Some of the most sought-after info when a new generation of Pokémon is announced is the designs of the starters and their evolutions. Starter Pokémon are often many people’s favorite Pokémon, and one is given to each player at the start of the game. This means their evolutionary designs can be of the utmost importance, and GameFreak is never eager to reveal them early.

After the announcement of Grookey, Sobble, and Scorbunny as the Gen VIII starters, it’s no surprise new design predictions and dream fan art began to circulate. And of course, with so much art circulating, rumors will fly about which ones are “real.” Spoiler alert: none of them are. This time around, though, some were taken very seriously before being revealed as fakes.

6 True - Shiny locked starters

Another disappointing rumor that turned out to be true comes in the form of shiny-locked starters. What this means is that the starter Pokémon given to you at the beginning of the game cannot be shiny. The only way to obtain these species’ shiny variants is by breeding them.

Shiny hunting is a huge part of modern Pokémon playthroughs for countless people, and the starters are often very popular targets of these hunts. “Soft-resetting” (restarting your game over and over for a shiny starter) is very common, and this rumor basically said this wouldn’t be possible. Sadly, it turned out to be true.

5 False - No Previous Legendaries

Similar to the “Charizard is the only available starter” rumors, this one predicted something that would be very frustrating when it turned out to be true. With the onset of Dexit realities, people began to theorize and guess which previous-gen ‘mons would be making their appearance in Galar.

Of course, many were concerned we wouldn’t see some fan-favorite legendaries. At first, this seemed to have turned out to be true, with only Zacian, Zamazenta, and Eternatus being in the game. But now, Game Freak has announced that a new double-pack of DLC will be coming, In it, there are new legendaries for Generation VIII, as well as Galarian forms of the Legendary Birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Furthmore, what seems to be two new members of the Regi trio will be appearing, one of which seems to be Electric-type and another that could be Dragon-type.

4 True - Galarian Forms

GameFreak has apparently locked themselves into an obligation to provide new regional variants for older Pokémon after the much-beloved Alolan forms were so successful. This was shown in the overwhelming demand for Galarian forms in the same vein. It was predicted and rumored that the world would receive new regional variants for this generation.

From there, the developers revealed Galarian Weezing. This would, of course, lead to many more Galarian forms, like Ponyta, Meowth, and Corsola. Furthermore, many Pokémon like Yamask and Farfetch’d received new evolutions as well.

3 False - Galarian Forms

However, along with Galarian forms that were released, countless rumored ones never came to fruition. For every new Galar form, there were probably a thousand false rumors of species that would get a variant.

Some of the most popular rumored Pokémon to be coming to Galar with a new look were Luxray, Gardevoir, Lapras, Bisharp, Noctowl, and many, many more. Of course, fans were completely surprised by some of the species that received new forms, like Stunfisk, Mr. Mime, and Darumaka.

2 True - Dexit worse than expected

One of the most infamous developer decisions in Pokémon history was what fans have called “Dexit,” the complete removal of hundreds of previous Pokémon from the franchise. Early in Sword and Shield’s life, it was said that several Pokémon would not be making an appearance in the game.

Of course, fans revolted and expressed their fury immediately. The controversy has yet to calm down, and the games’ release has made the situation worse. This is because fans spent months predicting how many Pokémon would be cut. Many said it would be worse than they were expecting, and they turned out to be right. More than 400 previous ‘mons were cut, and will apparently never be seen in Sword and Shield.

1 False - 18 gyms

One of the most well-received announcements about the games before release was that they would have 18 gyms to compete against as you ventured through the Galar region. Fans took this news with excitement and thrill, especially given that the gym system, to some, had become stale before being reinvigorated by Sun and Moon’s trial system.

But, it seems this announcement was misinterpreted from some wording from GameFreak. In Galar, the powers-that-be decide which eight gyms will be fought as the gym challenge. This is the “major” league. However, there are a series of “minor league” gyms that can vie for these spots. However, unlike what fans heard, these gyms cannot be faced in battle. Pity.

NEXT: Pokémon: 5 Ways Sword & Shield Moves The Franchise Forward (& 5 Why It’s Stuck In The Past)