Watch the first episode of Pokemon: Twilight Wings, a short anime based on Sword and Shield

The Pokemon Company just released the first episode of a new animated short series called Pokemon: Twilight Wings

The series is set in the world of Pokemon Sword and Shield and "will show in detail the dreams of Galar's residents, the realities they face, the challenges they must overcome, and the conflicts they must resolve." Twilight Wings will span seven episodes, with a new episode coming each month. In other words, the final episode will arrive in July, right around the time of Sword and Shield's first DLC, The Isle of Armor, which was announced as part of the Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion pass last week. 

The first episode, simply titled "Letter," features some familiar faces like Chairman Rose and his assistant Oleana, but its protagonist is a new character named John. According to the episode description, John has been hospital-bound since he was young, but that hasn't stopped him from falling in love with Pokemon battles. I won't spoil the rest of the episode - it's only six minutes, and you really need to see it. 

It's unclear whether the rest of Twilight Wings will exclusively focus on John's escapades, but judging from the finale of episode one, many other Sword and Shield characters and Pokemon will make an appearance. It'll be interesting to hear these characters speak for once, even if they do inexplicably have American accents despite living in a region based on the UK.

You can already try out the first part of the Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion pass and claim a free Pokemon.  

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.