Pokemon Sword and Shield’s 24-hour stream just started

I’ll take some fresh Gen 1 evolutions, please

This is my kinda ridiculous. Starting October 4 at 6:00am Pacific, The Pokémon Company will host a 24-hour-long live stream for Pokémon Sword and Shield not unlike those cute animal live cams you can find online. The so-called Pokémon Live Camera will run its gradual course on YouTube and Twitch.

The basic idea is that folks can casually hop in at any time to monitor a camera feed of Glimwood Tangle – a “strange” forest found in the Galar region – for a chance to spot roaming Pokémon. “Viewers may even notice things that surprise them,” The Pokémon Company teased in a press release.

Despite the carefully-worded attempt at tempering expectations, I bet people are going to strap in for the whole 24 hours and come away disappointed. I also feel like the stream chat will get rowdy.

We’ll find out soon enough. Either way, I plan on popping in. The thought of watching Pokémon in their natural habitat sure does make me pine for a new Pokémon Snap. Gosh that would be pleasant.

Who’s that Pokémon?

So far, five hours into the stream, things have been moving slowly. Glacially, even.

Given the premise, that’s to be expected. I figured the pacing would be drawn out. But I wasn’t expecting the infrequent Pokémon that do show up to appear for such short spans of time.

It really can be blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. One bathroom break later, you’re left wondering what the fuss is about. Whose tail was that? I like this fleeting approach in certain cases – the series has always excelled at fueling fans’ speculation – but I wish it was used a bit more deliberately, to greater effect.

Update: The stream was really just building to this moment: Galarian Ponyta.