Why Wasn't Looker in Sword and Shield? Pokémon Theory 

He's not there because Intelleon took his job

So, a guy wearing a long brown coat, solving mysteries and investigating, and able to travel between timelines ? Looker is the 10th Doctor

There wasn’t a real evil team so looker had no purpose.

I would have loved to see a random policeman NPC reference Looker in SwSh with a line of dialogue maybe just stating that they once worked with a man named Looker who disappeared

tbh i feel like sonia was the looker for swsh. through the whole story, sonia’s aim was to figure out galars history and the legendary dogs, kinda same with looker as he also looking into the ‘plot’ of the games, like in sun and moon where he was investigating ultra wormwholes

Honestly I think they should've had just one Doctor who references like a Normal phone box being blue since Looker wasn't in the game. Great video Hoops.

This isn’t a bad theory, but I think you’re giving Game Freak’s storytelling abilities too much credit.

For all we know, Ball Guy could be Looker in disguise (That or someone related to Kurt).

I was so confused when he didn't appear. Plus UK, Sherlock Holmes, c'mon gamefreak

He's been too busy running his RU-vid channel, UnlistedLeaf.

Why wasn't there any Cameos at all? Wtf I was hoping N would appear

it's set waaayyy in the future. that's why literally nobody makes cameos. they're all dead.

And just my personal opinion, dynamaxing is alright, but mega evolution is way better.

I agree with most of this theory, but instead of Looker harnessing the Ultra Wormholes, what if ORAS just happens later than the original Ruby/Sapphire? Not only would it simplify the Looker situation, but it would solve Wally's apparent lack of aging in Gen 7, with it only taking place a few years after.

I always assumed that SwSh did take place in the Mega timeline, sometime after SM/USUM, because of the use of Rotom in technology has become more widespread. It's been implied and basically treated as fanon that the reason for the lack of National Sex in-universe is due to Galar having strict border policies, so my assumption was that they simply hadn't imported the system of Mega evolution. Plus, I like to think they have a rivalry with Kalos even if it was never addressed in game, so they may have refused to adopt Mega evolution out of spite.

Looker had a Mega Stone on him, so doubt he came from the non-Mega timeline.

I have a theory... they didn’t care

We don’t have an official confirmation on which timeline sword and shield are in; Mega evolution could just be barred in Galar, like half of the Pokédex is for fear of, for example, how it would affect Dynamaxing and Dynamax energy, what the entire Galar region is powered by. A more realistic explanation as for why looker wouldn’t be in swsh would be that there wasn’t any reason for Interpol to send an agent there: team yell are petty thugs, and both Rose and eternatus have been dealt with. There’s no active mission to send an agent to

I have another theory: game freak was lazy

Looker cameos were becoming more and more shoved in so I don't mind at all that he was absent for once.

In the game it says The Darkest Day took place just like AZ's weapon firing in X and Y, I think that Dynamax is the mega evolution in a different timeline when the stones didn't form but rather Wishing Stars. And Eternatus could have been created by the weapon in the other timeline (non mega).

What if Sword and Shield story happens at the same time as Diamond and Pearl he was too busy dealing with Team Galactic, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum mentions a giant Gyarados at the beginning of the game the screenshot looks exactly like Dynamax.

Theory: Because the games were half baked

Honestly looker is an underrated character

England is an ISLAND! We never got a single boat ride or anything. We couldn't have a massive cruise?? Or even a gym leader who has an arena on a cruise liner?

Next HoopsandHipHop video: Why Wasn’t Youngster Joey in Pokémon Sword and Shield

Here’s the real reason why: He’s the Doctor, and is traveling in his TARDIS throughout time and different regions- to the time where the Time and Space Pokémon live: Gen 4 remakes

I appreciate that while you don't make theory videos as often they're always really well thought out in my opinion. I also enjoy the channels that do lots of theories but this approach is nice too!

Now we know for sure this is incorrect. "Galar: A History" can be found in Naranja/Uva academy, which was written by Sonia in Sword/Shield. Also in Scarlet/Violet, Roaring Moon's occult magazine article describes it as resembling Mega Evolution. Sword and Shield are in the Mega Evolution timeline.

Theory: Maybe he was born in the galar region and had a tragedy or something and decided to pack up and leave the galar region in his past, never to return to galar again.

Looker travelling back and forth b/w the timelines? Absurd! Better explaination would be that both timelines have a Looker and he was just busy somewhere else

Because they would've needed to put soul into the game

Game freak: clap clap clap clap..... Clever theories

Looker is one of my favorite Pokémon characters esp in the game for the way he talks. It has always tickled me ever since he debuted. I was secretly hoping Team Yell’s true evil intentions would have happened in the post game and Looker would have appeared to investigate. Or something like that, but I think you make some very valid points for DP remakes!

Don't do that. Don't give me hope. For real though, I really hope Megas make a comeback in the remakes.

Well I am early Anyway I wish Looker was in the game he is pretty iconic

There WAS a detective. Go to the right hotel of Chirchester and go to the most left door on the second floor and there is a detective.

Maybe he's the SwSh protagonist's dad, 👀👀

He's dead. He went to Galar and came across a Hatterene. End of story.

I feel like there is a mega tl looker and a non mega looker and they have different lives based on different events in the respective universe so maybe instead of jumping in and out of timelines he is just in a different place in the Pokémon world. Like him not being in bw2 is probably because he is in Kalos doing looker things

I was always of the mind that there are 3 universes. One where the events of the original generation one and two games take place, one that has the events of gen 3 to gen 5, including the Kanto and Johto remakes, and the new one starting from gen 6 onward. If you look at that, the SS Anne theory could still hold up, it's just that Looker in the mega universe is from the original timeline while he continues to exist in the second timeline because that never happened

I'm the like, official Looker Expert, and I just wanna say that although Looker may have been on the S.S. Anne, he wasn't on the beach because he fell off of a ship. If you talk to a nearby swimmer he tells you that there were no flying Pokémon or ships around when Looker splashed into the ocean. This gets explained later with Sun and Moon. Looker is a Faller. He lost his memory due to going through an Ultra Wormhole which brought him to Hoenn. What his past was before that event, we still don't know, but it's likely he's from Kalos. - Looker Expert, ♡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕚♡ on Pokémon Amino. Edit: I paused the video to write this and didnt realize that you talked about Fallers like right after, my bad

I thought the parallel time lines existed to explain why previous gens didn’t have fairy types, not necessarily mega evolutions, but Sw/Sh have Gen I fairy types so I don’t agree with the conclusion. It is good food for thought though.

HoopsandHipHop: (Gives a very long explanation that makes a ton of sense) Me: I didn't really realize he wasn't there until after I beat the game twice. I mean, the ENTIRE GAME, we were investigating the Legendary Doggos and the true history of Galar. It seems very unfitting for him to even be there in that sense... (WE became Galar's Looker/Sherlock Homes) I could understand if he popped in to congratulate us on beating him to the punch, but nothing more.

How any Pokémon theory is crafted: DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKES

So my theory before watching this video is that Sword and Shield are part of yet another new universe where Mega Stones and Z-Crystals don’t exist. Furthermore, Dynamax and Gigantamax are as yet exclusive to this new universe because something as “big” as Dynamax would surely have been heard of beforehand. It’s definitely not a new phenomenon to the Galar region as there is an entire Pokémon League dedicated to Dynamax battles against gym leaders, and the Wild Area being littered with Pokémon Dens where Dynamax Pokémon can be fought and captured. Chaos would have reigned supreme back when Dynamax was first discovered. And the argument for Mega Evolution and Z-Moves not existing in the Galar region is because those events never happened in this universe. From what I know, there are no recurring characters from previous games, we’re looking at Looker here. No connection to previous games, means no Ultra Wormholes either. That surely would have been a recent event, and someone would have mentioned it, yet nothing. The only hole in the argument is the existence of Beast Balls, even if they are next to useless in the Galar region. There are no Ultra Beasts to capture, so yeah. That’s my long-winded argument for Sword and Shield being a new universe. We’ll see if our theories line up.

Personally I don't like this theory. According to your theory, Looker is in the Mega timeline Diamond Pearl during the events Non-Mega Sword and Shield, because he's "Got business to attend to where it all started for him, in Sinnoh for the remakes of the games he debuted in." and you state this makes perfect sense "with the way that the two timelines in the Pokemon universe operate." Except that it doesn't, the Mega timeline does take place in an alternate dimension, but every remake no matter the dimension takes place at the same TIME. Brendan and May still go on their quest at the same time as Mega Brendan and May, so why would the Sinnoh events suddenly take place in the future compared to their originals? It just doesn't make sense.

Looker would have been so perfect. Who would have guessed this Doctor isn't in the game

as someone from the future, sad to say that your much cooler idea did not come to pass :(

Maybe SwSh takes place at same time as either OrAS, Pt, BW, XY, or SM/UsUm. I mean, he didn't appear in the Kanto and Johto games which took place during the same time as the Hoenn and Sinnoh games.

One of the hotels has a detective who wonders who ate the berries in the lobby -you question three npcs and then try to figure it out

Everyone is like "where's looker? There must be a reason!" Meanwhile me and my mans are sitting here theorizing that gamefreak killed him because gamefreaks kills everything we love these days. Fr tho good video and interesting theory!

or... he just travels from region to region like most of us do and he is still in alola trying to fully understand where ultra beast really do come from . this was just my thought 🧐

the developers don't keep track of timelimes, prioritizing the 'current' story and 'interresting' features over story consistenty. so the best way to explain things is that every game has their own timeline with past/future events similar but not the same of other games.

I hope that the D/P remakes merges the timelines. That’ll be awesome!

The way I see it. Looker wasnt in this game because it was the most rushed game thus far. I dont know how many people actually missed him. But if they were too busy to include the entire DeX. Looker was probably the last thing on they're minds

I recall, In one of the hotels in Circhester, there was a room where you can find a man claiming to be a detective and trying to find out who ate all the fruits from the fruit bowl in the lobby. He... wasn’t a good detective finding ridiculous, far-out deductions like a dancer eating them because she needs energy to dance. I’m not sure if this is looker though...

Maybe you just didn’t notice him. He wasn’t much of a looker.

Pokémon company will probably find some way to fit dynamax into the next remake or game by saying something like “When the postgame was happening, the dynamax anomaly spread through the world.”

The franchise guys said sth like these days people (kids, teens) prefer immediate gratification. I'm not teen or kid anymore. It did thrill me quite a bit to catch Gengar, Machamp and a whole lot other evolved pkm in the wild area. It is still a good idea. But it could also mean I am already doing it too fast (I am still way below 200 dex entries). Galar doesn't have to be larger but if only the map could have got more post game areas to explore, have more sea and so on. (underlying assumption: I am not shiny hunter.)

The worst part about the no returning character conundrum was that Honey in the Isle of Armor was calling for the champions...But then GameFreak decided that wasn't about to happen for some reason. Some shit about being to far away or whatever😒

Honestly, I just thought they were lazy and forgot about him-I was so upset that Looker wasn’t in sword and shield

The real question is "When DOES Sword and Shield take place?" It could very well both NOT take place in the Mega Timeline and take Place in it as well. Maybe Sword and Shield come before red and blue, when Dynamaxing was the most researchers could do with Key Stones? What if the Wishing Pieces that allow pokemon to Dynamax are Key Stones, and they don't mega evolve because the pokemon needs to hold the respective mega stone? This might also be the reason why Sword and Shield doesn't have any cameos, since if it took place before all the rest, there wouldn't be any cameos to make.

@Hoops Birdkeeper Toby pointed out in one of his vids that the Galar region and the events that unfolded in the games most likely take palce far in the future because there was a bit of lore on iirc, one or more of the backs of the league cards u get. I think it was Opal's card? Basically, she took over for her mom 70 or so years ago. Here is where it gets interesting as IIRC Toby said Prof. Oak had invented the Pokeball and that was ofc, time wise not that far into the game's time line of the OG RBY games. Mean whiole Galar take place SEVERAL (decades even?) years later. Its not just Looker whose not in the games. No one is, no mention of them either.

Kabu is from the hoenn region and looker was there so I'm thinking that looker changed his name to kabu and went to the galar region

8:08 Looker Has a Reverse Mullet. Business In The Back, Party In The Front.

I love Looker. I miss him 😭

I just had a crazy thought. What if the “certain character” who aids you in the Crown Tundra part of the DLC isn’t the unnamed hiker guy, but instead it’s Looker. I mean a lot of Galar’s history was shown to have been covered up in the main game, and Calyrex seems to have ties to Galar’s history. What if the story is about uncovering the full truth of Galar? I could be completely wrong, but it would be cool. If my theory is right, I’m going to guess the Hiker guy is a Ground type Gym Leader from the minor Legaue (I forgot about Gordie, so I initially said Rock)

I believe Sword and Shield takes place a lot more years later then the alola games, due to the presence of rotom technology and Type:null. But exactly how many years later is actually unsure. Absence of returning characters just makes me think that it may be several decades after, so the old charaters are to old to return.

Excluding platinum where he was a part of the main story, Looker was always there to follow up on the evil team's loose ends. There was no evil team in sword and shield. Team yell didnt really count in my opinion. Yes he couldve looked into the aftermath of the chairman's plan. But what could he have really looked into? I just dont think it would've made much sense for him to be in the game at all considering his purpose from previous games and how it just doesnt really correlate with the ending of sw/sh

Thank you! It seems like no one has been talking about this!

He could also just be really unlucky falling through ultra wormholes, but after the first time his brain stopped getting scrambled

Looker and Nanu are keeping an eye on giovanni, as he jumps wormholes.

What about the Looker that was originally born in the mega timeline, other characters like Maxie and Archie have counter parts.

I like how you say later, that looker debuted in the gen 4 games. After saying he was in rby. Because he wasn't. There are more secret police than looker. For all we know, the guy in rby could be Nanu. Also mega universe was mainly just a 3ds thing.

Thing you present is not possible. If Looker is a faller due to the Ultra Wormhole, he is a faller and needs to regain his memory every time he jumps back and forth, meaning he cannot remember the Wormhole or his events instantly and it takes years for him to remember them. Another thing you need to take into consideration is that Sun and Moon are set 2 years after the events of Black 2 and White 2 as well, which makes it connected to the Black 2 and White 2 universe (Which means that Grimsely also needs to be a faller, which seems impossible with all the knowledge he had, same goes for Cynthia btw). Exactly: They are remakes XY - Introduced Mega's. ORAS - Had Mega's (Took the newly introduced Mechanic). If we would like it or not, D/P remakes get the same mechanic as Galar, since they ain't gonna introduce a Mechanic to ditch them in the same generation. You are really reaching here. I still haven't heard your explaination why Looker would be on the S.S Anne in the Non-Mega timeline (In chase of Team Rocket), but he isn't there in the Lets Go games to do the exact same thing. You cannot explain this, since it takes whole your theory down instantly (Consdering Lets Go wasn't a remake, but a reboot, Looker had to be there, since every other character in the game was there). Lets Go confirmed it wasn't Looker on the S.S Anne in the Originals either.

good theory,however l have a few counter points/theorys. 1 both timelines have a prof oak,so why would they not each have a looker. or he is in a blue box somewhere in a ultra wormhole with a ROSErade.

I don't even have to watch to know Looker retired from investigations back in X & Y. He was shown in Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire having lost his memory. End of story.

There wasn’t much criminal activity in Galar as opposed to Kalos, Sinnoh, or Unova. Team Yell wasn’t causing “trouble” as opposed to the other evil teams and Chairman Rose’s intentions didn’t raise any red flags until he was dealt with by the Galar region’s justice system. Inter pol wasn’t needed because the situation in Galar wasn’t formed in conspiracy to rule the world.

How do you explain Red and Blue’s existence in both timelines then?

I’m surprised they STILL haven’t resolved the thing with him coming from and alternate world and ending up in Hoenn

Maybe because Team Yell wasn't a sinister-evil-organization? Edit: Ya know, cuz you don't have to look too deep into things?

The man from the S.S. Anne is not Looker, since his sprite was updated to a model in Pokémon, Let's Go! and he's clearly not him.

Actually the simple answer is that there was no reason for him to be in Galar. What would he be investigating? Rose never gave anyone a reason to think that he was up to something. Team Yell are just rowdy fans. After Rose started his plan he was stopped and arrested so quickly that Looker wouldn’t even have time to show up. Every other appearance he has a reason to be there investigating (other than the one in Hoenn which is just him showing up to show up). Hopefully in the Max Sword/Shield (that’s what I’m betting them being called) we get an actual story and actual evil team to go through and have a reason for Looker to appear.

Probably cause the game was rushed....

cause they sacrificed him, as over half the pokemon, the gts, soft reset , etc

He could always make an appearance in Pokemon Ultra Sword/Ultra Shield (or whatever they choose to call them).

I would really enjoy a miniseries like Pokemon Origins based on Looker's adventures.

Hoops: "Interesting stuff, interesting stuff, ooh that makes sense, more interesting stuff..." Me: "Heheh, Pokemon Trainer Arse"

A year late, but there is no z moves in swsh, but still the Tapu, Necrozma, and Ultra Beasts appear. The infinity energy can leak out as well as the z power into the Galar we experienced. Crowned forms are essentially Mega evolutions so there is merit to that.

Yup brilliant diamond and Shining pearl are coming out November

There's theory that the radiation form the great weapon ,that's responsible for Mega's, also resulted in the introduction of the fairy typing, hence why it's none existent in the non mega timeline yet it is in X&Y and onward. However just as Dynamax is exclusive to Galar, Mega's should be exclusive to Kalos, but ppl have been found to bring the mega stones outside to other regions like Alola and Kanto, while Hoenn in ORAS independently got it's own mega stones. I believe GF will likely come up with a reason to introduce Dynamax in Sinnoh, don't think they would drop the feature while still in the same gen. Hence why Megas were continued for ORAS since it was still in the same gen as X&Y

I am really surprised he's not there as Looker looks a lot like the doctor and doctor who is from britain which is the inspiration for galar.

I always figured that Galar was his home region and he's just off exploring the world or something.

As Looker isn't in BDSP, he might be busy in Gen 9's games, which may take place at the same time like B2W2 and XY.

This theory is really good and makes sense but it's only one problem with it that npc in ss Ann is not looker in firered leaf green and let's go Pikachu and eevee that npc is actually an old man

Well the new games have been announced and I feel like his theory holds some ground

Or Looker is in Sinnoh remakes while SWSH is going on. Edit: I made this comment before reaching the end of the video lol

Sword and shield is in the mega timeline. The non mega timeline hasn't been explored since Gen 5. All future games will be in the mega timeline. But You are right about one thing, there is no longer a Looker in the non mega timeline. This means the mega timeline has 2 Lookers. One who has amnesia in the battle resort and the regular Looker.

Alternative theory: He was killed trying to stop the dex cut. Alternative theory 2: he is ball guy Realistic reason: They didn’t have enough time to get him into the game. The post game is (scroll down a couple lines to see the rest; spoiler warning) literally just a bunch of raid battles. If that doesn’t say last minute content, I don’t know what does.