Line #12 NightmareFuel/PokemonSwordAndShield


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2	%%Info on the actual Pokémon themselves should go on NightmareFuel.Pokedex.
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4	!! Moment pages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff by default, so all spoilers were removed. Proceed with caution. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eternatus_ow2.jpg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350: To give an idea of scale, this thing is 300 feet tall...]]
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8	The path to greatness that you forge in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' is going to have no shortage of speedbumps along the way, and some of them are the [[BringMyBrownPants bladder-voiding]] kind. If [[BigCreepyCrawlies bugs the size of tires]] are enough to give you the heebie-jeebies, then your Dynamaxed terrors will give you many sleepless nights, and [[FromBadToWorse that's just the start]]...
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10	For the nightmarish Pokédex entries, check [[NightmareFuel/PokemonPokedex here]].
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12	!Story
13	* The scene that takes place in the Slumbering Weald. The idea is that you and Hop go in there to save a Wooloo, only for both of you to get lost in the thick fog that rolls in not long after you enter. But that's not the scary part — the scary part is the encounter with Zacian/Zamazenta (depending on the version) at the tail end of the path after you follow cries that Hop thought were a hurt Pokémon. First off, the legendary Pokémon is presented as a "???" at level ???, [[NothingIsScarier so you don't even know how powerful this thing is]]. Also, when you try to attack it, ''it won't work''. [[NoSell All your attacks will fail to even faze it]]. You can't run away, either. And if that wasn't enough, there's also the BackgroundMusic which sets the tone perfectly; a hopeless encounter with a beast you know absolutely nothing about.
14	** Keep in mind, this is ''right after you get your starter.'' You have no other Pokémon, and nothing you do fazes this thing as it just keeps calling in more and more fog (which [[InterfaceScrew covers the entire screen in white]], ''and'' it [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou muffles the music]]) until the whole screen is covered... and Leon finds you, Hop, and your Pokémon out cold on the forest floor. That's right: the game has a plot mandated loss in it, and you genuinely black out from it. And unlike whiting out, you stay put while you're unconscious.
15	** In addition, before heading into the woods Hop casually mentions how Sonia was allegedly traumatized by something in there. Thanks, Hop.
16	** Even worse is how Zacian/Zamazenta looks in this encounter: they look sick - almost as if they're ''dying,'' in fact. Zacian's sword and Zamazenta's armor are missing, their color palette is sickly and dull, and ''[[BodyHorror they seem to have bits missing from their body, particularly their ears.]]'' If this wasn't a licensed Nintendo game, you'd almost mistake this encounter for a Pokémon creepypasta.
17	* If you thought Ultra Necrozma was scary, meet Eternatus and its Eternamax form; yes, there's a level above Gigantamax. It's a giant serpent that almost looks like a spinal cord, with a five-pronged mouth at the end and what looks to be eyes at the end of each prong. You can't even attack it — as in, your Pokémon can't use any moves — until a plot event has you and Hop summon not one, but ''both'' box legendaries. Keep in mind that this had happened before, 3,000 years ago, wherein Eternatus' mere awakening from its meteoroid prison began a calamity known as the Darkest Day, which required both Zacian and Zamazenta to seal it away again, and the two beasts still have parts of their bodies nicked off from that battle. And unlike Necrozma and Kyurem, who played similar roles and fell to earth in a similar fashion, this thing seems to be inherently malevolent as opposed to acting out of pained rage.
18	** And on that note, the Darkest Day. Imagine house-sized Pokémon, far as the eye can see, wreaking havoc all across Galar. It took two heroes — one with a sword and the other a shield — and their armies of Pokémon alongside Zacian and Zamazenta to shove Eternatus back into its cage, and only Arceus knows how many lives were lost and how devastated the region was before the conflict finally ended. Still not enough? [[LeakingCanOfEvil The cage leaked all that time]], and the occasional Dynamax Pokémon would cause havoc; it got to the point where meteorites called Wishing Stars were actually weaponized to give the land's defenders a means to fight back, which eventually changed from national defense to regional competition. [[EvilIsNotAToy And then Chairman Rose had to prod at the cage]], and next thing you know, [[HistoryRepeats it's a new Darkest Day]]...
19	** There's an alternative view of Eternatus' calamitous powers — it's not malevolent, it's [[PowerIncontinence unable to restrain its power]]. YMMV on which is worse.
20	** Just the fact that Eternatus comes right out of nowhere. There's no foreshadowing or anything as to its existence- you're told what it is just before you have to fight it, but not anything else, and then when you go to fight it, there's this freaking ''monster'' that barely looks like a Pokemon...
21	* The Policemen trainers look.... [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/fe/Y-Comm_Profile_Police_Officer.png way too friendly]]. To elaborate, their faces are extremely unsettling in appearance, their big eyes and mouths especially.
22	** They also don't appear to change their expressions; even when they lose, they retain that big wide eye smile whilst laughing.
23	* Oleana has a tendency to freak out a lot of players with the [[NightmareFace faces she makes when she's enraged.]] This is very noticeable during your encounter and battle with her in the Rose Tower, where she makes such a face while she's ranting about how she refuses to allow anyone to disturb Chairman Rose and vows to, in her words, beat you to pieces, while she's about to send out her last Pokémon, and when she's Gigantamaxing her Garbodor.
24	-->'''Oleana:''' So, you got through all of the special staff that I had ordered to stop you. I would expect nothing less of the Trainers handpicked by Champion Leon himself. But I am afraid it is now time for you to go home. Because... ([[MoodSwinger suddenly switches her normally calm face to a freaky furious one]]) I will not allow anyone to disturb the great Chairman Rose! You shall be the first, (player name)! If I beat you to pieces, then the Champion will have no one to battle and will thus lose heart. In that state, he will listen to anything the chairman says!
25	* Glimwood Tangle. It's a dark forest of mushrooms that give off an eerie light when touched, and the music is a haunting lullaby. As the name might hint, it's full of Fairy-type Pokémon. [[TheFairFolk Unfriendly-looking Fairy-type Pokémon]].
26	** [[DeathOfAChild Phantump]] can naturally be found here. Being encountered among the likes of Shiinotic, Morgrem, and Hattrem, just to name the most malignant ones, only implies the worst — take your pick whether that worst means being lured in and ''[[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice shish-kebabed]]'' by Morgrem, having one's [[LifeDrinker life-force drained by Shiinotic]], or being ''[[FelonyMisdemeanor viciously]]'' struck down by Hattrem.
27	* Venture out onto the ocean surrounding the Isle of Armor, and you'll eventually see a load of splashing heading in your direction. It's only once it gets close enough for the Pokémon to spawn that you realize you're ''actively being hunted by [[ThreateningShark a Sharpedo]]''. Unless you time your boosts properly, it ''will'' catch you.
28	** Also, if you bike out far enough, you can find a Wailord. Thankfully RuleOfFun is on your side, but a blue whale can fit an entire ship in its mouth in RealLife. It's basically a fisherman's worst nightmare.
29	* Crown Tundra makes some of the scariest Pokémon such as Necrozma and the Ultra Beasts even scarier in Dynamax Adventures.
30	** Necrozma in particular looks ''very'' intimidating due to its Dynamaxed appearance looking eerily similar to its appearance in the opening of ''Ultra Sun'' and ''Ultra Moon'', where it captured the already sizeable Nebby in its palms.
31	* Calyrex from the Crown Tundra expansion can come off as surprisingly creepy. He has legs far too thin for his body and head, so instead of walking he floats through the air in a creepy way. After meeting him he [[DemonicPossession possesses]] Peony so he can speak to the player which causes Peony to float in the air with his head thrown back. After Calyrex leaves, Peony is unharmed other than being a little shaken and can't remember it, but Calyrex didn't even ask permission first. And there are legends that Calrex apparently does the same thing to misbehaving people. He comes off as a tamer one of TheFairFolk, even more so than the actual Fairy Pokemon. There is a reason his ability is Unnerve (which means Calyrex is also nightmare fuel in universe as well).
32	* The first cutscene with the Galarian legendary birds. Moltres is just eating from a large tree when Zapdos charges at it and attacks it. Then Articuno shows up and joins the fight as well. The fight is cut short when the player’s Rotom Phone rings and the birds all glare at them. While fortunately none of them attack, it’s unnerving to think that the player might have been dragged into a fight with three powerful Pokémon, especially if the player was unprepared for such a scenario.
33	* Be careful with Zarude. If it sees you, it will lunge at you!
34	* The way some Pokemon come after you in the Wild Area. Notable examples are Liepard which is so fast it will always catch you if you're not on your bike, Sneasel and Tyrogue, which are quick like Liepard but also small enough that it's effectively a jumpscare when they run into you, and the way Grapploct ''crawls towards you if it sees you'' is downright spine-chilling.
35	* Wild encounters in general run on ParanoiaFuel, most predominately in the Wild Area. There are quite a number of Pokémon that will actively chase you down once spotted, only stopping once you manage to get far enough away. What especially makes it worse is that they can ambush you from off screen, adding an extra layer of paranoia of getting attacked by something you didn't even see coming. Some of these Pokémon in the Wild Area are pretty strong too, meaning that there's a decent chance that your whole team will get wiped out, simply because you were not prepared.
36	** For players who are [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes scared of spiders]] running into [[GiantSpider Galvantula and Araquanid]] as overworld encounters can be unsettling, especially if the latter start chasing you. They can also spawn as Raid dens, which are at least optional, where they'll tower over the player character.
37	*** Even though it's not a spider in and of itself, Durant can invoke a similar reaction in combination with JumpScare due to the way its kind behaves in the overworld: They're located in tall grass areas, and they're small enough that the grass almost completely camouflages them. They're also among the species that actively hunt down the player once they're spotted. While bothersome, it's not so much running into and encountering them by accident that makes them especially disturbing, it's when you wait outside the grass as they indicate they're about to hunt you down, with you possibly not knowing what's about to come out of the grass, only to see this creature emerge in a fluid movement eerily similar to an actual real life spider.
38	** A special mention goes to the [[BearsAreBadNews Bewear]]. The Wild Area has several areas where they like to hang around, and they will chase after you when they spot you. Their sheer size, combined with their unusually stoic expression, is somehow pretty unnerving. Especially when more than one start chasing you down. Keep in mind that they're very strong to the point that [[TheDreaded they're feared across the Alola region]], so this effect was likely intentional.
39	*** Bike out to the little island that is Axew's Eye. If the weather is Normal or Overcast, odds are a large group of Bewear will pop out of the grass as you approach, and will likely start chasing you down as a group if you are on land.
40	** If you manage to catch the attention of a Liepard, you may as well just give up escaping from them. You can't outrun them, and if you aren't on your bike already in the time it takes for you to get on it, you'll get pounced on the split-second before you can actually begin pedalling. This is even worse early on, as a high-level Liepard always spawns near the bridge between North Lake Miloch and Motostoke Riverbank that will always outspeed your Pokémon, resulting in at least one casualty on your side when you try to run from it.
41	** To a lesser extent, those who are afraid of dogs should always carry a Water, Ground or Rock-type Pokemon with them at all times. In ''Shield'', Arcanine appear at the Lake of Outrage during bouts of intense sunlight, and just like Liepard, if you're not already pedaling when it decides to "get friendly" with you, you're not getting away. Boltund also appear post-game and unlike its pre-evolution, Yamper, it will ''chase you''. Those hunting for rare Pokemon in that region should take such precautions just to be safe.
42	** The aforementioned Durant is found only in ''Sword'', but ''Shield'' gets a counterpart: Sableye. Sableye is not just small like Durant, it's stupid fast in the overworld for something with a base 50 Speed. They will give chase ''immediately upon spotting you'' and are as fast as ''the bicycle can go''. You need a Rotom boost to truly get away, provided you're not spotted by another Sableye in front of you! The one saving grace is that they show up only in Dusty Bowl and only in the fog, so they'll only exist in-game on rare occasions. However, that same fog can add another layer of fear as it'll be harder to see one coming from afar.
43	* If you find the real Galarian Articuno, it will sneak attack you without hesitation.
44	* The Galarian fossil Pokémon. While past fossils only require one to revive an ancient creature, this region has you hand over two different fossils to a scientist who mixes them together to create a different Pokémon. This becomes horrifying when you see what you have done. Arctozolt looks like it’s always shivering, has an hard time moving around, and can barely use its tiny arms, which are attached to a larger body. Dracozolt, while it looks happier than its cousin, still has the problem of its smaller upper body being on a larger lower body. Arctovish has a pretty miserable design with its head being upside down, thus making it difficult to eat. Finally, Dracovish, which has its head right side up, now suffers from having an inverted dragon tail as its lower body and it can’t breathe unless it’s in water. While these designs can be humorous with how ridiculous they look, players still feel bad for creating these miserable creatures, especially since they would not realistically survive in the wild if they were released.

Context NightmareFuel / PokemonSwordAndShield