Pokemon SWSH Crash/Error Reports

The games are prone to crashing. These crashes and errors happen regardless of what version of the game you're playing or how, whether it be physical or digital, from SD card or internal storage, from FAT32 or exFAT card, or using an old model Switch or Switch Lite.
There are multiple serious issues seemingly related to these crashes such as data loss, strange behavior from the Switch, corrupted SD cards, and worst case scenario the Switch stops working. Details are still unknown, but it's generally theorized that the crashes and other issues are related to the game's NAND access and that you should reduce the game's access to it as little as possible. So the best way to avoid trouble for the time being is the following.
-Turn off autosave.
-Turn on airplane mode to shut down all wireless connections.
-Avoid going into sleep mode while the game is running or exiting to the home menu while it runs in the background, especially while in the Wild Area.
-Additionally, if playing off an SD card you should format it to FAT32 to reduce the chances of corruption due to the Switch's bad exFAT drivers (this doesn't totally eliminate chances though as FAT32 cards have also been corrupted after crashes)
-It's suspected that the Joy-Con controls acting strange or unresponsive is a sign that your Switch may die soon. If that happens to you and it doesn't seem to be the Joy-Con itself is malfunctioning it's probably best to stop playing Pokemon at all.

Some extra Japanese resources:
https://imgur.com/a/UchXazy - Japanese pictures informing on the issue that have been spreading on Twitter. Translated into English.
The hashtags #ポケモン剣盾エラー調査 (Pokemon SWSH Error Investigation), #ポケモン剣盾エラー問題 (Pokemon SWSH Error Problem), and #ポケモン剣盾エラー報告 (Pokemon SWSH Error Report) are being used on Twitter to gather up crash and malfunction reports and spread awareness among fans. -
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23ポケモン剣盾エラー調査
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23ポケモン剣盾エラー問題
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23ポケモン剣盾エラー報告
A Pokemon SWSH crash wiki has been made and is slowly being updated. - https://wikiwiki.jp/swsh-crash/

Orange Screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmIhtmJGGz4 - Streamer gets a crash when trying to enter a tent and then system locks up when he tries to restart the game. Playing on a physical copy.
https://twitter.com/sio0451/status/1195324334257999873 - (cont) Above streamer. His Switch got stuck on an orange screen.
https://twitter.com/sio0451/status/1195710707162943489 - (cont) He then let the battery run out and rebooted it and it seemed to be working. However after playing again for a while it crashed and orange screened again.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dwqyqp/pok%C3%A9mon_sword_bricked_my_console/ - 40 minutes into the game this guy started getting crashes, joy-con connection issues, and wi-fi issues. Eventually his Switch got stuck on an orange screen.
https://twitter.com/GianlucaGira/status/1195384285332721664 - (cont) Above's twitter. "Omg, i got the same orange screen after my game crashed... Now my switch it's bricked"
https://twitter.com/1rPfE5XdV4nIfh0/status/1195333508224303106 - "I took days off work just for this game, and right after I beat Melony the Switch itself orange screened..."
http://i.imgur.com/eGlsvE3.jpg - 5ch poster in the SWSH thread. Says after a couple hours of playing he dropped internet connection and was getting wi-fi errors. When he tried to fix it his console froze in the internet settings screen, and then the home screen started freezing. He factory reset the console but it still suffered freezing then got stuck on the orange screen. He let the battery run out and turned it back on but it still can't run anything.
https://twitter.com/takirenn/status/1195258687889100800 - Just for context that this person was playing Pokemon when it happened.
https://twitter.com/takirenn/status/1195742001972445184 - (cont) "My Switch became an orange screen."
https://twitter.com/chibikumasensei/status/1196005381429850112 - "My Switch is completely broken. It's not a Pokemon bug, it's my Switch being dumb. Whenever I turn it on it's just an orange? red? screen. All my games are digital... I'm in despair."
https://twitter.com/chibikumasensei/status/1196067726394970113 - (cont) He recovered his Switch from the orange screen and checked to make sure his other game's data was safe, found that Pokemon Sword wouldn't even run, and so he deleted both Pokemon's game data and save data to be safe. He says his system now has busted Wi-Fi and some games don't work properly.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/customer-reviews/ROTPSK52KC8MY/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07V3KK93X - "Just got it and turned it on and my Switch's screen suddenly turned orange and now it won't start up. This is the worst. I really wanted to play..."
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dxz7my/my_switch_is_just_orange_after_playing_pokemon/ - "So my brother in the other room was playing Pokemon Sword in his room on my Nintendo Switch and all of a sudden he comes to me with my switch and the screen is just pure orange and none of the buttons works apart from hard resetting it but after it turns off and back on again it is still just orange. Does anyone know why my switch is just orange and won't work anymore?"
https://twitter.com/dogkid6/status/1195740101633921029 - "Sword physical version. No SD card. I crashed at the professor's lab. After I turned on the Switch I got an error. Error code 2107-0401. I got the orange screen at one point. I don't know if this is Pokemon's fault but my friend's Switch died like this."

Blue Screen
https://twitter.com/TinTin_Zou/status/1196503135675486208 - "digital version / saved into SD card / put into sleep mode for the night, turned it on and after moving a bit it froze, turned off the power and now it's stuck on blue screen. Not sure if it was connected online."
https://twitter.com/sIXVkwz5MFXrxbN/status/1195286051826225152 - "Right now when it's the middle of Pokemon's prime time I turn on my Switch and my breath is taken away. The blue screen came to my Switch. If there's Switch doctor here please tell me what to do."
https://twitter.com/hobby_shachiku/status/1196239209234718720 - "I thought I would play some Pokemon, and when I turn on my Switch I'm hit in the face with a blue screen and can't do anything. How can you make garbage hardware that breaks so quickly, die Nintendo."
https://twitter.com/sea51480120/status/1196468925833236481 - "I was playing Pokemon and it froze and turned into a blue screen. Is this Pokemon's fault? I'm so unlucky..." They say it was an old model.
https://twitter.com/tbm_pkmn/status/1197493918893395968 - "My console froze while playing Pokemon and now it's blue screen (´｡･д人). This might be hopeless..."
https://twitter.com/moshikame1234/status/1197494597716365313 - "I was playing Pokemon and it became a blue screen! I just bought this Switch a week ago 0(:3　)～ ('､3_ヽ)_"

Malfunctions/Bootloops/Bricks
https://twitter.com/lisona_mini/status/1195290648099741697 - "My Switch froze on the logo screen after startup. I played Pokemon, put it into sleep mode, and when I turned it on error screen. I held the power button for 12 seconds and after startup it's like this." Further below they say they were playing physical.
https://archive.li/PpRyx -  - "I played Pokemon and put it to sleep and afterwords got an error. I turned it back on but it's stuck forever on the Switch logo screen."
https://twitter.com/takkyuNh0816/status/1195187761663205376 - "Pokemon froze up and when I tried to start it again the Switch itself has started acting strangely."
https://twitter.com/takkyuNh0816/status/1195299142722973697 - (cont) "I thought it was working but got this screen."
https://twitter.com/takkyuNh0816/status/1195299230715240448 - (cont) "And got taken back to this screen."
https://twitter.com/kumamaruDMP/status/1195267615490330625 - "I got turned off from a Switch error and now it won't turn back on. Am I screwed?"
https://twitter.com/avocado_saute/status/1195346613721452544 - "Oh shit. I borrowed my friend's Switch to play Pokemon and got and error and now it won't boot up."
https://twitter.com/yuesol_fight/status/1195564383872487424 - "I knew the new Pokemon was a landmine but I bought it anyway. As soon as I took my first step after the opening is froze."
https://twitter.com/yuesol_fight/status/1195565358104530945 - (cont) "Second try, after the unskippable opening as I was gaining control the system itself froze. I can never play this kusoge again."
https://twitter.com/TCUJD3svsUFwbZX/status/1195598346955579394 - "I got Pokemon yesterday, played, went to sleep, and after waking the Switch has an error and won't work."
https://twitter.com/Rin0426_/status/1195287906941714433 - "Yay!! Time to play Pokemon!"
https://twitter.com/Rin0426_/status/1195585776546791424 - (cont) "My Switch suddenly stopped running software. Am I going to have to buy a new one??"
https://twitter.com/Ruzzlez/status/1195544800914624513 - "i got pokemon shield and it bricked my console lol" "I didn’t get a chance to I played 10 minutes of it and I can’t use my switch without it getting an error"
https://twitter.com/ssbJoo/status/1195447713501810688 - "So the new pokemon bricked my switch lmao. Sending it in cuz it's still under warranty but no switch for a month oof."
https://twitter.com/ssbJoo/status/1195449874562465792 - A picture of above's Switch stuck on a fucked up Home screen.
https://twitter.com/ciiol/status/1195640885083426817 - "It froze after putting the Pokemon game in and forcibly shut down, and now it won't work at all."
https://twitter.com/momo_net8/status/1195327623326359552 - "I'm playing Pokemon and keep getting all these errors!? I can't advance!!"
https://twitter.com/momo_net8/status/1195335387792564224 - (cont) "I'm playing the physical version and have autosave turned off so is my Switch bad...? I wanted to have fun but I'm just sad..."
https://twitter.com/momo_net8/status/1195650693157097472 - (cont) "What, even Smash Bros. is crashing...? Eh!? Eeeeh??"
https://twitter.com/momo_net8/status/1195651060754341888 - (cont) "Is my Switch dead?"
https://twitter.com/momo_net8/status/1195653069612019714 - (cont) "Got error code and my motherboard is broken. I became a guy whose Switch was destroyed by Pokemon."
https://twitter.com/non_geso/status/1195649318285234176 - "I'm gonna do rank matches"
https://twitter.com/non_geso/status/1195661991609634817 - (cont) "I think my Switch might have broke."
https://twitter.com/syuzou_dameo/status/1195699211280384000 - "I bought Pokemon Sword but... When I put into sleep mode after coming back it kicked me back to the home menu, and when I restarted and tried to enter an NPC's tent it stopped working entirely. Has this happened to anyone else?"
https://twitter.com/doraemon1128/status/1195703535578411010 - "I'm really sad, my Switch broke. I have to stop at the water gym."
https://twitter.com/kotarouZAQ/status/1195710677844807680 - "I was playing Pokemon and the screen started flickering then went black and now it won't work! I just bought this Switch and game!"
https://twitter.com/khearts_0923/status/1195724971097460736 - "Shit, my Switch won't recharge at all... Is it broken!?"
https://twitter.com/ornitier009/status/1195722032886870018 - "I went and bought Pokemon but it suddenly crashed during the opening and now can't even force boot it back up. This sucks."
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dwvwys/important_switch_system_software_bug_may_cause/f7mdwol/ - "I don’t have an SD card but crashed on entering the first gym. Now I can’t go into the game. Just crashes. Whole switch freezes and needs a restart. Redownloading now.. Update: Redownloaded and still crashes. Every game crashes except Stardew valley Update 2: my device is now BRICKED. I didn’t have a hacked device and i purchased everything I owned"
https://twitter.com/htmm1990/status/1195266971836678145 - "My Nintendo Switch seems to have malfunctioned. And thought I could continue with Pokemon. Give back my Pokemon life..."
https://twitter.com/mkmkmksun/status/1195974768677146625 - "my switch died lmao"
https://twitter.com/mai_ff7/status/1195996134801457152 - "I don't get it at all! I was playing Pokemon Shield and got an error and now by Switch is broken." They say they were playing digital without an SD card.
https://twitter.com/sao_shilika/status/1196080310489776128 - Context of them just buying Pokemon.
https://twitter.com/sao_shilika/status/1196090974159556608 - (cont) "My Switch won't turn on lol It might be broken lmao"
https://twitter.com/nemunoki17/status/1196075840703848450 - "I sent my not even 2 month old Switch Lite and Pokemon SWSH in for repairs. I hope they properly make an official announcement about this bug." "Absolutely don't put Pokemon SWSH into sleep mode! Don't got to sleep with low battery! Your system might break..."
https://twitter.com/miriria3/status/1196101966385971202 - "I think my my SWSH data crashed."
https://twitter.com/miriria3/status/1196102071172206592 - (cont) "Eh??? Wait, my Switch won't turn on, wait......"
https://twitter.com/Kuroneko__J/status/1196067646468321280 - "I was playing Pokemon and decided to reset the game, so I tried opening the home menu and an error message saying to restart the system. When I do that the Switch's screen becomes nothing. Is this what people have been making noise about."
https://twitter.com/Kuroneko__J/status/1196071788234461184 - (cont) "There was an official comment that rejected this stuff as fake so I downloaded without worry and look what happened. Isn't this the worst?"
https://twitter.com/ty_gamess/status/1196246152384937984 - "Got an error on my Switch, now it won't turn on." Same person who was suddenly having crashes in Splatoon after playing Pokemon.
https://twitter.com/NerdBlacks/status/1196414981043933184 - "I was doing a gym battle in Pokemon and got an error and now the Switch won't turn on. Thanks."
https://twitter.com/izWX8FmHj6rRhuu/status/1196424744406380545 - "Yesterday I started playing until the first Hop fight, saved in the forest, then put the game into sleep mode before bed. When I got home today I tried turning it on and found that the power was off and I can't even recharge it. This is a first model Switch but I haven't had anything unusual happen to it up until now."
https://twitter.com/YZcIsmD5xexej6Y/status/1196310858537635840 - "My niece was playing Pokemon Sword on her Switch Lite and it seems to have broke... It won't turn on. They brought it to an electronics shop but were told that three other people have had a similar problem and that 'we can't do anything about it so send it to Nintendo'. My sister was super pissed about it."
https://imgur.com/3Udz2Jb - "Playing Sword/Shield and my Switch itself crashed on an error. Data was destroyed so I'm hitting a wall trying to recover it." "It seems I've drawn the worst result, my Switch has totally stopped working... Recovery seems hopeless so I've basically given up on my data... My in-game team..."
https://twitter.com/narounousagi/status/1196482278177685504 - "I think most info on the net is lies, so I figured Pokemon having a bug that breaks your Switch was fake. I never thought my Switch would break. How long is Nintendo going to feign ignorance about this? When are they going to do something? Let me play Pokemon already? If you can't then give me my money back."
https://twitter.com/GiratinaLove/status/1196392032886853632 - "I got info from someone who got the black background error then their system bricked. Old model Switch / no SD card / after beating Oleana they went back to Stow-on-Side, talked to an NPC, and when moved afterwords they got the error."
https://twitter.com/m35993897/status/1196642036796940288 - "old model Switch that's about one year old / 32GB class 4 microSD card / game data is saved on the SD card / I played for about 9 hours, beat the third gym, entered the Wild Area, and then put the game into sleep mode when I got the error." "I forget the first error code, but I held down the power button for 12 seconds like the announcement said and when the Switch came back on it froze on the Switch logo screen." "I took out the SD, waited a bit, and then tried booting it up again and it worked. The save data was safe so I tried downloading the game onto the Switch itself, after playing the game for about 10 minutes I got an error (2168-0002) and it froze on the Switch logo screen again." "I waited for the battery to run down while it sat on the frozen screen, waited a bit, charged it, and when I turned on the power I deleted the Pokemon game data. When I tried to play a different game to see how things were I got an error (2168-0002) and it froze on the logo screen again. I tried multiple times after but it always froze."
https://twitter.com/4Kalarm_kanann/status/1196062486652280833 - "I heard of of bugs in Pokemon Sword but mine seriously broke?? I tried to set up camp and while there was sound the screen was just black, I hit the home button and ended the game, and when I restarted the game it stopped working. The screen is just dark, I'm really sad(；ω；)"
https://twitter.com/JdrZqCDLMyXJzN5/status/1196339925303455744 - "I got a crash in the middle of Bea's gym battle in Sword, and I get an error on every cartridge I try" "Physical version, save on the console."
https://twitter.com/JdrZqCDLMyXJzN5/status/1196740600705372161 - (cont) "Sorry to keep tweeting about this, but anyone who hasn't started Pokemon should seriously be careful. My Pokemon game crashed and now I can't run any cartridge." "By that I mean that every cartridge game I try always crashes when it tries to go to the title screen."
https://twitter.com/JdrZqCDLMyXJzN5/status/1196788702862704640 - (cont) Videos showing the error and freezing he gets when he tries to run games.
https://twitter.com/fuji_pon_/status/1196783859217530880 - "My not even one week old Switch broken while playing Pokemon Sword. It was after I caught Zacian. I tried to do a Max Raid Battle in the Wild Area and it froze while connecting. I ended the game and went back to home, and when I touched the game icon to restart it the screen went pitch black and froze." "By the way, my play time was about 26 hours I think?"
https://twitter.com/journey3310/status/1196816163990204418 - "Mine is probably busted. Ever since I started playing Sword I've had frequent audio skipping and freezes and most games and even the home screen. I hope they come out with an update soon."
https://twitter.com/journey3310/status/1196710049302761472 - (cont) "Thinking about it, ever since I installed Pokemon I've had that audio skipping. And ever since I started playing it the freezes started happening."
https://twitter.com/journey3310/status/1196432055002791936 - (cont) Video showing his new audio troubles in other games.
https://twitter.com/chinori1024/status/1196841357093953537 - "Every time I turn on my Switch it freezes...（´-`） Is it broken... I'll have to send it for repair..."
https://twitter.com/yuuki95627/status/1195907735889465344 - "My Switch froze and doesn't work shit shit shit shit"
https://twitter.com/yuuki95627/status/1196855808841043968 - (cont) "I put in Pokemon SWSH and thought I'll play it when I go out tomorrow! Today I'll play Luigi's Mansion! and played it on my TV. Next day when I'm about to go out I turn on the Switch > won't move past the Switch logo. My data might be gone I'm gonna die."
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/78177850 - "Yesterday evening I stopped playing Pokémon and left my Switch on sleep, docked. This morning I woke up to my Switch with a blackscreen (but it was turned on, you could see the backlight).
Hard shut it down, when I try to turn it on again, it displays an Error Code: 2162-0002 and won't boot up. After several trial and error stuff, the conclusion is that whenever any game cartridge is inside the console, the entire system crashes to that error. If I insert a cartridge while it's docked, instead of giving me the error message it just freezes."
https://twitter.com/ACEisLOSER/status/1196802566853578752 - "The situation is, I played Sword on my new model Switch over two day for a total about about 5 hours, when I turned it back on after putting it sleep mode for a while I get the error in the first image, I hold the power button for 12 seconds, when it comes back on it's the state the second image shows. I've tried restarting it several times but it's stuck like that."
https://twitter.com/ACEisLOSER/status/1196807404370817027 - (cont) "Pokemon Sword / new model upgraded battery Switch / physical version / no SD card/ I've had no problems before with other games like Fortnite or Smash Bros."
https://twitter.com/0x5x0x5/status/1197124968594599938 - "Bought the physical double pack on 11/15. Started playing Shield on 11/17. On 11/20 around 12:40 AM after exploring the vault in Hammerlocke I stop at the Wild Area and then go to a Pokemon Center and get an error. After that even when I try to play other games I just get an error. No SD card used."
https://twitter.com/Yummy19xx/status/1197184298429759495 - "Physical version. Error code 2153-1542. It froze on the train during the cutscene after getting the 8th badge. My Switch Lite stopped booting up. Even if I hold the power button for 12 seconds to reboot it still just gets the same screen. I would appreciate any advice on how to fix this."
https://twitter.com/iceicebomb/status/1197363752569434113 - "I beat the champion for the sixth time so put the game down tired. And after 1.5 hours. Whaaaaaaaa I look and the director's name is there... save me... director... Can I continue like this?" Image shows their Switch frozen on a glitchy green screen with the director's name on it. After they waited they found the game was slowing moving through credits but the screen stayed glitched up and there was no sound. Further images and videos show it.
https://twitter.com/___mdhnk/status/1197475525473656832 - "A few days after I tweeted [about getting Pokemon Sword] my Switch broke lol. I went to play Pokemon and my Switch crashed, and when I rebooted it froze on the logo screen. I've tried different things but it always freezes on the logo screen so I've sent it for repair... I played for about 2 hours... I bought my Switch about 2 weeks ago."
https://twitter.com/GiratinaLove/status/1197883106558017541
https://twitter.com/hanpen__03/status/1198126131662082048

SD Card Issues
https://streamable.com/4hj9a - Streamer's game crashes and his SD card data is corrupted, forcing him to redownload.
https://twitter.com/DeathChaos25/status/1195207032531554304 - "Game crashed on an attempted autosave (or at least I assume so), I then the game crashed on boot to I put in my smash cart to test, smash crashed on boot too, so I rebooted my Switch. Now everything on my Switch looks like this, even the cart games are asking for a redownload..."
https://twitter.com/scarlet_house/status/1195392844921356288 - "I tried to play Pokemon but my SD card is spitting out errors."
https://twitter.com/jiko_games/status/1195591623431733248 - "My Switch can no longer load my SD card... My save data is safe in the cloud but my game data is gone..."
https://twitter.com/aj_naoki/status/1195636065765212165 - "I got an error when I tried to download Pokemon Sword! The rest of my game data also broke. My save data is safe but I'll have to buy a new card."
https://twitter.com/yukito_v/status/1195639617535397888 - "While I was thinking about how the Wild Area was as laggy as I heard my game crashed 'no game data found' > redownload > can't access SD card. Can't boot up other downloaded games either."
https://twitter.com/sin1110/status/1195638308405010432 - "A Pokemon error broke my SD card..."
https://twitter.com/champagniece/status/1195386803248742400 - "Immediately after downloading Pokemon I can't access my SD card, does anyone have a solution??"
https://twitter.com/pochikou_dog/status/1195398134349758465 - "When I closed Sword to check my name in Let's Go Eevee it broke..." "I'm crying... It doesn't recognize my SD card." "I can't play my Splatoon 2 cartridge unless I remove the SD card."
https://twitter.com/koni_x2/status/1195208998074470401 - "My SD card data loss was like this, install digital version > turn off Switch's power > after turning it back on got a "SD card was removed to rebooting" error. (I've never removed the SD card) And so my SD card is broken and I can't run games with it put in."
https://twitter.com/_shiotsuki_/status/1195621006095745024 - "When I tried to play Pokemon I got a message saying the data was broken lol"
https://twitter.com/tyaemon_orca/status/1195606497402556416 - "My SD card is only 16GB but it still occurred."
https://twitter.com/2banseki/status/1195712965858578432 - "Yep. While I was playing Pokemon SWSH my game was forcibly closed, my digital games were gone, and it said to redownload them. And now the SD card I was using won't work in the Switch and I have to reformat."
https://twitter.com/Milly_Balguerie/status/1195500207342940160 - "When I played Pokemon by SD card broke. Only rescue is that my save data is on the system."
https://twitter.com/PMFyrus/status/1195212852853977091 - "Pokemon Shield instantly corrupted my SD card, and not even partition wizard is able to fix it. the entire card is straight bricked, so i'm out 40 bucks for a replacement. was really looking forward to streaming the game, but guess i can't now."
https://twitter.com/Muguwus/status/1195583847762554880 - "Pokemon sword crashed and now my sd won't work when formatted in exfat RIP."
https://twitter.com/carkinos1122/status/1195834998172991488 - "I save a Pokemon video > freezes and after reboot it's stuck on the logo freeze so I factory reset > SD card is damaged. You serious???"
https://twitter.com/carkinos1122/status/1195850017996623872 - "I gave up and tried to reformat the SD card and it froze again so now I'm redownloading and stuff. Stop making my blood pressure rise."
https://twitter.com/arthurkiku_02/status/1195921315854606337 - "To summarize my experience with Pokemon SWSH (digital download), error crash > check for corrupted data > corrupted data found > spend an hour redownloading > save data is still there"
https://twitter.com/kick_ra_/status/1195939863020728323 - "SWSH destroyed my SD card!!! When I tried to take a screenshot after the ending the game crashed and my Switch wouldn't boot up!!! When I took the SD card out it booted up!!!"
https://twitter.com/asng25/status/1195944664274096129 - "When I downloaded Shield onto my SD card for some reason it wouldn't load from the SD, and it gave me errors about Let's Go Eevee being broken. I thought to redownload it onto my Switch itself but what if that will just brick the console? I'm too scared to turn it on."
https://twitter.com/EaOhg/status/1195337268132663296 - "I downloaded Sword yesterday and when I turned my Switch on a couple hours later it said that the microSD couldn't be loaded or was removed. Is this just me? The microSD is one officially licensed by Nintendo. I didn't lose any data but now I have to buy a new SD card. Is it just a coincidence?"
https://twitter.com/tucano478/status/1195858911611408384 - "I downloaded Pokemon for Switch and there's some problem with the SD card? It won't start up... What should I do... Even pulling it out and reinserting it doesn't do anything..."
https://twitter.com/phylliumxxx/status/1195587700507561984 - "My friend's Pokemon SWSH data and picture data got corrupted and when he went to the net about it he was called a liar, he's in pissed off mode right now."
https://twitter.com/rikoria_game/status/1196086184155332609 - "That phenomenon people are talking about happened... Got a crash and now this..." "Like they say, my SD card data is gone."
https://twitter.com/rikoria_game/status/1196089415807860739 - (cont) "It had a message saying it can't read the SD card please reinsert it > message saying it needs to be formatted. So I thought I hit format but maybe hit cancel? > It now doesn't even recognize the card is inserted." "Looks like the SD card itself is busted..." "When I choose to format it I get this message and can't format. I'm gonna have to buy a new card..."
https://twitter.com/L_v1a/status/1196421776365907968 - "My Pokemon game data on my SD card got corrupted > Can't even redownload the game. Error code 2002-0001. I think the SD card data is corrupted. I've decided not to buy more digital games."
https://twitter.com/toppoitoppoi/status/1196362247947210753 - "Error Code : 2016-0641 Can't access SD card. ??? I was excited having just caught a Dreepy and then this shows up..."
https://twitter.com/k0pengu1n/status/1196414559185068032 - "I got a crash in Pokemon and my SD card went kaput. It went back to before it was formatted right after the crash happened so I feel there's no mistake."
https://twitter.com/k0pengu1n/status/1196415603235414021 - (cont) "I saw an article saying that Pokemon didn't work well with 64GB format, but mine was 32GB..."
https://twitter.com/marihaumi/status/1196422309747163137 - "Pokemon Shield crashed..."
https://twitter.com/marihaumi/status/1196422407025594370 - (cont) "My legit 32GB SD card is dead..."
https://twitter.com/ruko0_9/status/1196461197559660544 - "Wait, my Pokemon data died...?"
https://twitter.com/ruko0_9/status/1196466631158853633 - (cont) "My SD card is gone."
https://twitter.com/oichanmusi/status/1196109478019485696 - "I tried to play Pokemon was told the data was broken, now I have to download it again..."
https://twitter.com/_robiiiii/status/1196641317159354368 - "By the way, I put the SD card I was using into my smartphone and it worked normally, so the problem is likely on the Switch's side."
https://twitter.com/rokii000/status/1196976424541814785 - "Eeeeh seriously?? This real?? My SD card broke just yesterday. This it??"
https://twitter.com/airair_human/status/1197361787676442624 - "Digital version. Around the time I hit 12 hours of play, autosave on. When I entered the far right room in Hotel Ionia the game went black and I got message about corrupted data and it recommended I redownload. But my SD card wouldn't respond and it recommended I format it. So I redownloaded the game onto the console. I'm relieved my save data is still there, but even when after formatting my SD card it still can't access it. Now I'm scared my Switch with stop working at all and haven't touched it."
https://twitter.com/edion_yy/status/1197728754312740864
https://twitter.com/pokesuko_/status/1198085964968497153
https://twitter.com/kick_ra_/status/1198117706307760128
https://twitter.com/igatchikisan1/status/1198474622728957958

Save Data Loss/Console Wipe
https://twitter.com/Pooh__Kiti/status/1195602401916416001 - "My Pokemon data is gone." "It seems to be because of Pokemon like people say, but that was supposed to be game data not save data."
https://twitter.com/Pooh__Kiti/status/1195603253813137408 - (cont) "kusoge" "Was all of your Switch data deleted?" "I can't check Splatoon because I sold it, but my Dragon Quest 10 data is gone."
https://twitter.com/Pooh__Kiti/status/1195613955680423937 - (cont) "Even though the data is gone it happened again. What's causing it."
https://twitter.com/Pooh__Kiti/status/1195745278084542464 - (cont) "Nintendo, can you please make an announcement about this? This is the second time my data has vanished. How many hours do I need to waste on this?" "To add: I don't have an SD card and I'm playing on the physical version. After this error I tried again and the screen just faded in and out on the Switch logo. After I thought it final came on I found that the system's date and settings had been reset to default."
https://twitter.com/ganbarouzeeee/status/1196125996425990144 - "My Switch froze! When I tried to fix it it came back factory reset!! I'm done with Gen VIII!!!"

Game Doesn't Even Start
https://i.imgur.com/uMhIyH2.jpg - A 5ch poster put his physical copy in his Switch and was greeted my an error message saying it needed to check for broken data. After attempting the check three times it finally said there was nothing wrong and changed the icon to the normal one indicating an inserted game. When he tried to play it it wouldn't load.
https://twitter.com/EH95JM/status/1195864371555028993 - "My Pokemon didn't close in an error, it won't even open because of an error haha. Before this the screen was getting pretty glitchy so that may be bad? I can still play other games so the system itself is fin but what should I do?"
https://twitter.com/962_269/status/1196058119589122048 - Physical version. Save data is on the system. I went back to the home screen and kept resetting and got this error and now Pokemon won't start up at all. It starts up on a different account. I can't confirm if data has been loss."
https://twitter.com/hiro61178655/status/1196383750512185346 - "I reinserted the game like it told me after an error but is this my fault? Did I not insert it properly? I'll try again in 10 minutes. Sword physical, old Switch, no SD card"
https://twitter.com/kure71wolf/status/1196272588483252224 - "Got that Pokemon error. On the wolf too. I redownloaded it but got an error as soon as I start the game. Looks like I can't restore it. I want to hide away and cry. Everyone be careful."
https://twitter.com/pikachi_777/status/1196762558297858048 = "My sister's Pokemon error... Physical, no outside SD, the system was bought this year, old model? The error code is often 2002-4153 (something wrong with the data or game) and sometimes it's 2110-2003 (connection error), but most of the time there's no error code. Have confirmed Builders 2 (physical) still works." Has video showing it.
https://twitter.com/ryu9zap/status/1197251381356187648 - "I wanted to play Pokemon so even went out and bought a Switch, but the game won't work properly. What's up with that."
https://twitter.com/neco_saiore/status/1198215763783323653

Joy-Con Issues
https://twitter.com/whimsicome/status/1197120386527219714 - "As soon as I finished the Zamazenta storyline my left controller stopped working... It works on the home menu, and my right one works. And the left one works if I disconnect it. Even after using Fly it doesn't work." Has video.
https://twitter.com/kabotya84/status/1197527251484631040 - A video showing their controls becoming unresponsive in a shop menu. "By the way, the same thing happens when I enter the Pokemon status screen. It fixes itself after a few minutes in that case, but for the shops it never starts working again. If anyone else is suffering from this then tell me. I've sent Nintendo an e-mail about this, but when will it be patched."
https://twitter.com/GasnhnsU/status/1195281515363495936 - "Fix my left joy-con!"
https://twitter.com/john8_0530/status/1195598498130882560 - "The controller's buttons are bugging out again. It's only for Pokemon... what could it be."
https://twitter.com/dokuNDK_nawa/status/1195503725588013056 - "I had been playing on the TV and switched over to playing on the console, but now the left controller won't work. I can't move around the map"
https://twitter.com/tok071069/status/1195398882299011072 - "I still haven't gotten an error or anything playing Pokemon, but is the buttons not working because of my system? It started working normal again after putting it to sleep though."
https://twitter.com/shine_enokinoko/status/1195656463152140289 - "I only use my Switch once a week or so but my Joy-Con is broken??? Are you screwing with me??"
https://twitter.com/Dareyanen_koitu/status/1195385004357931008 - "My A and B buttons work normal at the home screen, but they don't work in Pokemon when I'm making curry or viewing Pokemon status?"
https://twitter.com/neko_tora_/status/1195711692916682753 - "I tried booting Pokemon back up after eating but the controller won't connect for some reason (it's fully charged). I turned it off and tried reconnecting but now the Switch is spitting out errors. This pisses me off."
https://twitter.com/rat_spla/status/1196117606823944192 - "I got an error while trying trying to enter a rank match in Pokemon, and when I quit back to the home screen the controls became really sluggish. Has this sort of thing happened to anyone else? This is the first time I've had something like this happen on my Switch."
https://twitter.com/lovesarrytan/status/1195276459742359552 - "I can't move here. The controller doesn't work. Even resetting doesn't help. What should I do?"
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dydssn/swsh_potentially_using_nand_as_virtual_memory/f8168m2/
https://twitter.com/akuman_YOU/status/1197944525915705344

Internet/Wi-Fi Connection Issues
https://twitter.com/kigi_kigi_kigi/status/1195613318607589376 - This guy was having a lot of issues with the net connection, with the the internet-related menues in-game immediately closing when he tried to access them. He managed to fix it my removing his SD card and moving the game's save data location.
https://twitter.com/BerryBearSweets/status/1195629002389475328 - "I'm sorry but can you do something about it forcibly switching to local connection when I start the game. Whenever I use a local option and it cuts the connection my system and router's connections really suffer. It's really inconvenient please fix it." "In update please add a way to cut local connection! A lot of people are troubled by this!"
https://twitter.com/rokugatsuryu/status/1195671400243007489 - "I keep getting a DNS error on the Pokemon digital version."
https://twitter.com/sue_neru_asobu/status/1195670986139435008 - "I'm getting a connection in Pokemon and I can't connect."
https://twitter.com/neko_tora_/status/1195711936719011840 - "And now it won't connect to the internet for some reason."
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dx8keb/so_my_friend_cant_play_sword_and_shield_in/ - "So my friend got pokemon sword and shield as a digital copy and for some reason when he isn't connected to the internet the game say oh you need internet connect to play this game. The game doesn't even open. Has anyone else had this problem and has one found out why this happens?"
https://twitter.com/abaku05999/status/1196072914790993920 - "I'm suddenly getting connection errors in Pokemon. Error code is 2-ALZAA-0047, I can play Smash Bros. fine so is this that rumored bug." "i can casual battele. i cant rank battle"
https://twitter.com/tanut_main/status/1196079681855836160 - "When I try to enter rank battles in Pokemon SWSH I get a 2-ALZAA-0047 error, someone help!!
https://support.roku.com/article/115012351368 - Pokemon SWSH is having some adverse effect on Roku devices, causing them to crash or get stuck in bootloop when the game's wireless is turned on. You have to play the game in airplane mode to avoid the issue.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dxc5yg/psa_pokemon_swordshield_causes_roku_devices_on/
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dxc5yg/psa_pokemon_swordshield_causes_roku_devices_on/f7p647t/ - The game's wireless can even kill the framerate on nearby PS4's remote play.
https://twitter.com/rakuboko_spla/status/1195923476281876480 - "In Pokemon ever since I turned the wireless on the Switch has started to freeze and crash more easily. Good thing for autosave."
https://twitter.com/NAGU77777/status/1196062318188060673 - "About my SWSH errors, I keep getting errors while connected to the internet, but I can play normally when it's set to local connection."
https://twitter.com/Rain_tsuttyan/status/1197157246032941056 - "I can't use Y-Comm or anything, is this a bug?"

Screwing With Your Other Games
https://twitter.com/felarne4457/status/1195876334485917696 - "New info from 5ch, after they played Pokemon they played Legend of Zelda and the game would now crash every time they tried to enter the Trial of the Sword. If the random access is the reason behind this then it's possible that even if you have no problems while playing Pokemon that it's secretly overwriting other data."
https://twitter.com/ty_gamess/status/1196031031159091200 - "After I got an error on my Switch, now when I tried to play online matches in Splatoon the game always freezes or crashes. I've had no problems like that before."
https://twitter.com/mist20881_mist/status/1196066453339795457 - "!!!? My Cross Rays saves are gone!!? Is this because of Pokemon!?" "In my case after I played Pokemon I started up G Generation and the unit icons wouldn't display, then it kicked me back to menu, went dark, and froze. Then when I tried to look at my units it crashed and when I tried to load there was no data."

The Rotom Crash
https://twitter.com/Pmang_V/status/1195084169392508928 - The first recorded crash. The place it happened, when Sonia calls for Rotom, seems to be particularly vulnerable to crashing.
https://twitter.com/aces_GF/status/1195517499778961408 - Different streamer crashing in the same place.
https://streamable.com/1bio9 / https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm35955670 - Another streamer crashing there.
https://youtu.be/14o5p4eEuKw?t=390 - Youtuber crashing at the same place.
https://twitter.com/irfanf_/status/1195223087400095745 - "Welp, Pokemon Sword just crashed on me during Sonia's introduction (and no, I dont have Autosave turned on)" "The crash was at the part where sonia asks you to bring out your rotom phone" This has multiple responses from people saying they crashed in the same place.
https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?p=10088140#post10088140 - "My game (cartridge copy of Shield, auto-save turned off since I'd have done that anyway) crashed in the Pokemon Lab while talking to Sonia. Specifically, it happened while the Rotom phone was emerging from my pocket or wherever it's kept. The crash might have something to do with the game rendering the phone on the overworld (well, the lab)."
https://twitter.com/ooosusii/status/1195453643459137536 - "Hey Rotom seriously"
https://twitter.com/perotanfenix/status/1195384960691011585 - "I crashed right at the Rotom part at the Pokemon Lab lol. Looking into it it seems that other people also got and error at the Rotom part. I had autosave turned off so I'm gonna have to start from the beginning."
https://twitter.com/FunkyTownCat/status/1195233896708874241 - "Omg wowwwww, Pokemon Shield fucking crashed????? I was literally only talking to Sonia and she goes Hey Rotom and it CRASHED" "That's exactly the moment where my game crashed too. Thankfully there is the autosave function."
https://twitter.com/BoneZoneJones2/status/1195442079670919168 - "I’d like to report that in my attempt to play Pokémon sword my game crashed the second the rotom phone attempted to appear"
https://twitter.com/sukosuna/status/1195431512591613954 - "Got to Sonia in Pokémon Sword, and then the game crashed. Guess my switch has a crush on her or something."
https://twitter.com/_GANONDOROHU_/status/1196268881108586496 - "Met the professor's assistant, she says Hey Rotom! and the game closes on an error lol"
https://twitter.com/syaku_gaming_ID/status/1197906587500728320
https://twitter.com/muchi_level3/status/1198492570390679554

The Zacian/Zamazenta Crash
https://youtu.be/kM0gKutILWk?t=6615 - Streamer's game crashes after catching the legendary Pokemon.
https://twitter.com/koron_lv5/status/1196447480184836096 - "Eh? Every time I catch Zamazenta I get an error and can't advance, what's up with this?"
https://twitter.com/DabottIe/status/1197180411174150145
https://twitter.com/zyudo_/status/1198210172876816387
https://twitter.com/karen254869/status/1198193721428176896
https://twitter.com/sayonara_planet/status/1198517596183621633
https://twitter.com/colop_1/status/1198431367312232448

Some Other Crashes - This is just a sampling of the crashes. They're common enough that searching for "Pokemon crash" or "Pokemon error" or equivalent in other languages will get you a shitload of results.
https://twitter.com/shofu/status/1196328301385650176 - Poketuber crashes on stream. Autosave was off.
https://www.openrec.tv/capture/mldj5134nk8 - Streamer suffers a crash after a battle and loses progress.
https://twitter.com/fuziez08/status/1195561030421598209 - Shows the game freezing onto a flickering screen they use the Pokemon Center.
https://twitter.com/_sinzo/status/1196685151687692289 - Video of the game crashing during a cutscene.
https://twitter.com/teamdeltaone/status/1195357273247363072 - "Pokemon Sword. Super early before I even got a Pokemon the game froze when Hop left the house... What..." Has video.
https://twitter.com/priusshota/status/1196819034664140800 - This person started having major graphical issues after a crash, shown in a video. "There's no problem in menu screens, but the field and battle screens look like above. If I open my League Card and try to look at the back of it the game almost always crashes. There's no problem at all with my other Switch games. Worst thing is it affects both Sword and Shield."
https://twitter.com/CN4eY5XxN4FcuKo/status/1196548470947008514 - "It crashes when I get the Bag. Every time I try it always happens."
https://twitter.com/CN4eY5XxN4FcuKo/status/1197127472560529411 - (cont) Video showing the above happening.
https://twitter.com/pokemon_tcg/status/1197304955566080001 - "Game randomly crashes in the Wild Area and my 3 hours of raids are all gone, keep your autosaves on"
https://twitter.com/non_tetego/status/1195661221741023235 - "When I tried camping in Pokemon the screen went black and there was nothing but the sound..."
https://twitter.com/autumn1o1q/status/1195667651030159360 - "What. My screen went black all of a sudden and now I can't move...? What? Did it crash???"
https://twitter.com/Mikaros_Reun/status/1195667823458058240 - "I keep trying to evolve them with an EXP Candy M but it crashes every time." "I evolved them with a Candy S! Is the M glitched?"
https://twitter.com/teamdeltaone/status/1195364875762954242 - (cont) "Pokemon Freeze. Second time in one hour." "This is a brand new Switch model... No matter how I look at it its' the game's fault."
https://twitter.com/teamdeltaone/status/1195370842508554240 - (cont) "Froze again... I feel like it's gonna crash every time I enter a house, enter a battle, or it starts to load... This is horrible... Freezing 3 times in a couple hours, what were the debuggers doing?"
https://twitter.com/xxamyclarkexx/status/1195727601140162560 - "Went to start Shield this morning and got this after taking 2-3 steps. I have a physical copy of the game, don’t have a SD card, and my Switch is not homebrew. I was able to restart the Switch but I’m scared. "
https://twitter.com/JRankJustJRank/status/1195554481724899329 - "In the middle of a battle with a wild Pokemon and the game goes "error has occurred" and resets me to title screen. I'd turn off autosave to avoid the issues some people were having, so now I lost an hour of progress"
https://twitter.com/SaltysharksYT/status/1195587184603983872 - "Just lost an hour of progress.. #PokemonSword well looks like I legit have to save after every conversation and battle :/ crashed while leveling up Pokémon."
https://twitter.com/nanasi_tear/status/1195801560170692608 - "All I did was turn Shield on and it's giving me errors. What's the cause of this? Is my SD card bad?"
https://twitter.com/itsa_me_gameboy/status/1195649384731619328 - "Save your Pokémon game regularly folks. Mine has crashed 3 times now :/"
https://twitter.com/haremondev/status/1195232203334176768 - "I used to think I was a shitty developer because my game has some crashes in it. Then I played Pokemon Sword and it literally crashed less than 20 minutes in. GG, Game Freak."
https://twitter.com/usernameV9001/status/1195412279094759424 - "Anyone else’s sword and shield games crashing? Mine just crashed 3 times in the last 30 minutes"
https://twitter.com/aho_IRORI1217/status/1196035702607118338 - "I got an error in Pokemon and now don't feel like playing. Shield physical version. Error code 2162-0002 then died. Please help."
https://twitter.com/OPYKYr6gPQWcuy6/status/1196047596554346498 - "I suddenly got an error in Pokemon and was sent back to a previous save. I saved in between those points so why did that save disappear?"
https://twitter.com/LapisOfJewel/status/1196071778382073859 - "Pokemon digital version is spitting out errors, can't play it."
https://twitter.com/pukunekopiru/status/1196287203334184960 - "Before the first gym I went to the place with Diglett and tried to catch one and the game crashed when the Pokeball was shaking. Got sent back to the home screen and returned to my last save. Now sometimes the screen goes static-y. No SD card."
https://twitter.com/fuyupass/status/1196645352767492096 - "Every time I try to give a nickname it freezes..."
https://twitter.com/hecantshutup/status/1196536848857915392 - "this is the 3rd time I’ve got errors playing the new Pokémon shield game setting me back to my last save spot . I’m literally saving after each catching of Pokémon now . Or screen change . What’s going on ?"
https://twitter.com/iggly_letter/status/1197145073495891971 - "It froze and won't move..."
https://twitter.com/todandeli/status/1197854420551159813
https://twitter.com/UM_Arisno/status/1197807053873373185
https://twitter.com/i_leik_mudkip/status/1196602047879172099
https://twitter.com/StrangerMoist/status/1197673868325875712
https://twitter.com/joshmallaripsd/status/1197776394190614528
https://twitter.com/CokaPoke/status/1197982168326098944

Mystery Zone
https://twitter.com/flatsyndrome6/status/1195657292617699328 - "When I selected Continue I got a bug where I was loaded into the Mystery Zone and can't escape. (digital version)" Has video showing it off.
https://twitter.com/flatsyndrome6/status/1195999966319108097 - (cont) "I walked around the Mystery Zone and found some objects, so I'm going to adventure through this world." Has video showing them finding a mine area they can walk around without anything to interact with.
https://twitter.com/jackZ_tt/status/1197490088235524097 - "I went to play Pokemon and when I turned it on it froze. I repeated reboots and kept track of the timing. Also, when I start a battle in the wild, when the wild Pokemon plays it's cry the BGM stops. Has this happened to anyone else?"