In Pokémon Sword and Shield, trainers will encounter Pokémon as they explore the Galar region and its “wild area.” Similar to Pokémon Let’s Go’s encounters, players will be able to pick and choose which Pokémon they’ll battle with in the field. In some cases, those Pokémon will be visible, but sometimes they’ll be random. Players will also have the option to creep up on timid Pokémon that might run away, or whistle at them to grab their attention.
And sometimes, an angry Machoke will simply chase your ass down in the most terrifying Pokémon encounter yet.
On Tuesday, Nintendo showed off new gameplay from Pokémon Sword and Shield during a Treehouse Livestream at E3. There were cute Wingull floating about and adorable lil’ Machop running through tall grasses. But then this one Machoke showed up and freaked people the hell out.
in the new Pokemon Sword & Shield, a wild Machoke will chase you down in an open field and beat the shit out of you pic.twitter.com/2MOylm72Xo
— Quentin (@Quentin_136) June 11, 2019
Machoke is disturbing for a variety of reasons unrelated to its massive bulk. For one, it’s not actually wearing any pants; those are just markings on their bodies that look like pants and a belt.
Being chased down by a buff, five-foot humanoid Pokémon is made more terrifying by Pokémon Sword and Shield’s free-roaming, ground-level camera. Pokémon Let’s Go restricted the view of the field to a top-down perspective, and Pokémon in that game weren’t as aggressive as ol’ Machoke here.
The one thing to take away from Treehouse demo.
— Luxx (@LuxxArt) June 12, 2019
Machoke is coming for you#myart #PokemonSwordShield #SwordAndShield #pokemon #meme #Machoke pic.twitter.com/5rmHK5NC0W
Machoke isn’t the only Pokémon guaranteed to induce nightmares in Sword and Shield. Based on this screenshot of Vespiqueen, it seems that any human-scale Pokémon is going to be a terrifying encounter. And for a game that’s all about big Pokémon, it’s going to make some people uncomfortable.
— Out of Context Pokemon (@OoCPokemon) June 11, 2019
Pokémon Sword and Shield are coming to Nintendo Switch on Nov. 15.