People are freaking out over the new starters in 'Pokemon Sword' and 'Shield'

The Pokémon Company

Pokémon Sword and "Pokémon Shield" will introduce three new starter Pokémon: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble.

• Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble are the three starter Pokémon in Nintendo's "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield," arriving on the Nintendo Switch later this year.
• Players will have to choose one of the three starters as their partner at the beginning of the upcoming games, and Pokémon fans have already started choosing sides on social media. 
• It will be awhile before anyone gets to play with the new Pokémon, but that hasn't stopped fans from creating their own art, cosplay, and jokes to welcome the next generation of starter Pokémon into the fold.

The three new starting Pokémon in Nintendo's upcoming "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" - Sobble, Grookey, and Scorbunny - have already sparked a massive response from fans, bringing waves of fan art, cosplay, and memes on social media.

Players will have to choose one of the three starters as their partner at the beginning of "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield." In every main series Pokémon game, the three starters represent the elements of fire, water, and grass.

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Read more: Everything you need to know about 'Pokémon Sword' and 'Pokémon Shield,' the newest additions to the main Pokémon series on the Nintendo Switch

As their pun-inspired names suggest, the rabbit Pokémon Scorbunny is a fire-type, the chimp Pokémon Grookey is a grass-type, and Sobble, the water lizard Pokémon, is a water-type.

Legions of Pokémon fans have already committed to their favorite new starter and started predicting what their personalities will be like in the game.

Sobble, Grookey, and Scorbunny are expected to have multiple evolutions, like past starters - that means that they will eventually turn into bigger, stronger Pokémon with different names. A few imaginative fans took the time to design their own versions of the evolutions:

Nintendo still hasn't mentioned a release date for "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield," so it will be some time before players have to decide between Sobble, Scorbunny, and Grookey.

The game is due out before the end of 2019, and Nintendo has promised more updates in the coming month. Be sure to check out our full coverage of "Pokémon Sword" and "Shield" in the meantime.