Pokemon Sword & Shield cosplayer leads Team Yell as rival Marnie

Brent Koepp
Screenshot of Pokemon Sword & Shield character next to cosplayer.

A Pokemon Sword & Shield cosplayer made waves on social media after sharing her mind-blowing transformation into popular rival Trainer, Marnie. 

The Pokemon franchise entered its eighth generation with the debut of Sword & Shield in November 2019. The Nintendo Switch title whisked players away to the Galar region, and introduced new mechanics such as Dynamaxing and online Raids.

Fans of the series can’t get enough of the Gen 8 RPG’s latest rival Marnie. A talented cosplayer celebrated the character by sharing a true-to-life take on her. The adorable photo also brings the heroine’s fan club, Team Yell, to life.

Screenshot from Pokemon Sword & Shield of trainer Marnie and Team Yell.
The Sword & Shield rival is followed by her own fan club called Team Yell.

Pokemon’s Team Yell cheers on Marnie cosplayer

In the Gen 8 RPG, players face off against two rivals while competing in the Galar League. One of them is a heroine from the small town of Spikemuth named Marnie. The Dark-type Trainer has quickly become a fan-favorite.

Cosplayer mahou ‘shoujomahouu‘ brought the Sword & Shield rival to life with an incredibly accurate depiction. Photographer Marvin Hidalgo captured the artist as she posed in the character’s iconic punk outfit.

Re-creating a scene directly from the Nintendo Switch RPG, Mahou teamed up with fellow cosplayers ‘spiderjoce‘ & Alex who perfectly portrayed Marnie’s fan club, Team Yell, as they cheer the cosplayer on.

Hidalgo posted more shots on Twitter which show shoujomahouu mirroring the rival Trainer’s pose before throwing her Pokeball into battle. The artist also cleverly re-created the bonus scene from the eighth gen title where Marnie tries to learn how to smile.

Marnie fans wanting more of the beloved character are in luck as Sword & Shield DLC, The Crown Tundra, allows players to team up with the Trainer in the Galar Star tournament. If you partner up with the Spikemuth character enough times, you will get some interesting dialogue.

Despite only releasing at the end of 2019, the RPG is already the third highest-selling title in the entire franchise. Proof that Pokemon’s addicting “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” design has never been more popular.