Game Freak’s decision to introduce DLC expansions to Pokemon Sword and Shield really marked a significant turning point in Pokemon history. The Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra content that hit the games in 2020 represented the first time that substantial post-release content has been added to a mainline Pokemon game. Additional factors, like the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Arceus, all point to a more experimental trajectory for the franchise on the Nintendo Switch in general, that’s far harder to accurately predict.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to an influx of Pokemon rumors and alleged leaks, from all corners of the internet. Now that the formula that’s fueled the growth of the world’s biggest IP for the last 25 years has been torn up, people are eager to capitalize and make headline news with fake information. One rumor in particular that predicted Pokemon Sword and Shield would get two additional DLC episodes, dubbed "Cinder Citadel" and "Scepter Sea," is the biggest example of this trend in action. However, the core concept behind the rumor is interesting enough that Game Freak could certainly draw inspiration from.
25 Years of Pokemon Leaks
Both the Scepter Sea and Cinder Citadel DLC rumors can trace their origins back to the middle of 2020, between July and September. This timeframe crucially predates The Pokemon Company’s 25th Anniversary celebration event, which set out the franchise’s roadmap for the immediate future. Any future DLC plans for Pokemon Sword and Shield would have certainly been announced there, with plenty of Cinder Citadel leaks claiming the expansion was even going to be shadow dropped that day.
Whether or not a third or fourth DLC for the Galar region was ever really on the table might never be known for sure. With a host of new Pokemon games now filling up the horizon, it’s highly unlikely Game Freak will want to return to older entries anytime soon.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are about to become the focus for the franchise in 2021. When it comes to mainline entries in the franchise, every party involved with selling the games has always taken great steps to ensure that older entries don’t distract too heavily from newer games and tie-in media. Another factor to consider is the fact that alliteration of naming conventions has never really been a factor in the core Pokemon games. Unless both DLCs were codenames, the naming conventions of Cinder Citadel and Scepter Sea further point to them being fake all along.
The Cinder Citadel’s Unown Factor
In many ways, what was promised in the Cinder Citadel rumor sounded like the ultimate realization of the Wild Area concept Game Freak pushed as a core element of Pokemon Sword and Shield. Trainers would have allegedly been tasked by a new professor to uncover the secrets of the Pokemon world’s version of Wales, in a land filled with castles, ruins, and ancient secrets. Thematically, the synopsis behind the idea sounds a lot like what The Crown Tundra ended up being in practice, which at the time hadn’t been unveiled.
The added wrinkle that the episode would have heavily featured the Pokemon Unown is an admittedly exciting prospect, considering their links to the Pokemon Legend’s titular Arceus, and the general mysteriousness surrounding their existence within the universe.
The concept behind The Cinder Citadel’s cover Legendary, being a Welsh Dragon-inspired rock/dragon type, is another unique prospect as well. Even though there’s currently no suggestion that the Wild Area will return to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, that doesn’t mean that Game Freak have finished exploring that concept. Pokemon Legends Arceus’ Sinnoh region will almost exclusively be dedicated to the Wild Area, so there’s more than enough scale for elements of Cinder Citadel to crop up there. The daily castle dungeon changes that would've allegedly played a role in Cinder Citadel would also be a great way to keep any open-world space fresh.
The Scepter Sea’s Ireland Potential
When it comes to the supposed Scepter Sea DLC, there’s far fewer concrete details that indicate what the DLC was reportedly like. The concept of a "Scepter" labeled expansion was thrown around by multiple sources, each contradicting one another. The core of the leak was the idea that the episode would have involved a trip to an approximate recreation of Ireland, or Wales. Trainers would have had the opportunity to encounter a host of new Gigantamax forms of older Pokemon, ranging from Metagross to Steelix. One legendary Grounud/Water type named Mersanobra in particular would have allegedly played a significant part in the expansion’s narrative.
Despite the vagueness and lack of any substantial detail, the driving forces behind The Scepter Sea poses a couple of interesting ideas that aren’t hard to imagine as part of a real Pokemon game. The concept of an Ireland-themed region, based in Irish history or Celtic folklore, could come together to create an equally vibrant and unique corner of the Pokemon world.
Connecting the Dots
At the core of both the Cinder Citadel and Scepter Sea DLC leaks was the potential for classic Pokemon to return to Pokemon Sword and Shield. Many fans were upset that many older generation Pokemon were not present in Sword and Shield. Many fakers capitalized on this with concocted leaks, that all pointed to the missing creatures making their return via paid DLC expansions.
For this reason, the Sinnoh starters were rumored to return in The Cinder Citadel, complete with Gigantamax forms or Galarian variations, according to leaks. With Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl now being the next games on the horizon, the fourth generation starter Pokemon absolutely deserve some form of update within those games, even if supersized variations seem unlikely from a Sinnoh lore perspective.
Pokemon games are always populated with references that invoke past entries in the franchise’s lineage, which means speculation and rumors are always going to swirl amongst its fanbase. An added consequence of this is that there’s always going to be people out there willing to whip up a frenzy and capitalize on this with their own theories. The hope going forward is that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company as a whole can match the fans' imagination, and create exciting Pokemon content in the future.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now for the Nintendo Switch.