The previous Pokemon Direct has shown us Pokemon roaming the overworld, however, it has also shown a random-style encounter in the tall grass. This had fans thinking whether traditional random encounters are still a thing in Pokemon Sword and Shield.

To clarify this, GameSpot, during this year’s E3, asked Pokemon Sword and Shield producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori. They have confirmed that Pokemon Sword and Shield will have no random encounters in the traditional sense. Wild Pokemon will no longer randomly attack trainers moving in the tall grass without warning as with previous games in the series.

This also clarifies the information from the official Pokemon website as well as the tweet shared by the official Pokemon PR account which says:

In tall grass or caves, battles with wild Pokémon will occur when you run into Pokémon that you can see wandering around. You can also trigger battles by running into the “!” icon that will pop up in patches of tall grass.

In tall grass or caves, battles with wild Pokémon will occur when you run into Pokémon that you can see wandering around.

You can also trigger battles by running into the ❗️ icon that will pop up in patches of tall grass. #PokemonSwordShield pic.twitter.com/UlYNOs3soh

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 5, 2019

 

Here’s the update courtesy of GameSpot:

Update: During E3 2019, we had a chance to speak to Pokemon Sword and Shield produce Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori about the upcoming games. They confirmed that Sword and Shield don’t have random encounters in the traditional sense. While you won’t see every Pokemon in the overworld–sometimes there will be an exclamation point indicating that a Pokemon is hiding–Pokemon won’t just randomly attack you from the tall grass with no warning like in previous games.