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Today's Pokemon Direct was a surprising one. Not only did The Pokemon Company announce a new Mystery Dungeon game for Switch, but Pokemon Sword and Shield will also be getting more content. For the first time, there is now a DLC for a Pokemon game.
The Expansion Pass for Pokemon Sword and Shield will be priced at $30. Instead of releasing a "third" version such as Crystal, Emerald, Platinum, Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, etc. there is going to be an expansion where you can use your existing save data for Pokemon Sword and Shield.
There were some really interesting and surprising announcements in the Pokemon Direct stream, including one about Pokemon Home, the new trading system for the Nintendo Switch which will be releasing by the end of February 2020.
Here are the new features being released in Pokemon Sword and Shield's Expansion Pass.
#1. Two new expansions
There are going to be two expansions in the Expansion Pass: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. The Isle of Armor will be releasing by the end of June 2020 and The Crown Tundra will release sometime after August or September 2020.
They will both feature two new regions which have the same names as the expansion. You will get to explore new parts of the Galar region and there will be new storylines in each of them. For example, you will meet a trainer called Mustard who was responsible for training Leon and for your journey in the Isle of Armor.
#2. Sword and Shield will have exclusives in DLCs
Just like how there were exclusive Pokemon, characters and fossils in Pokemon Sword and Shield, Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra is also going to feature many new characters, items and exclusive Pokemon that will be available only in their respective versions.
You can trade Pokemon and items with a friend or by connecting to the online trading system. The regions will largely be the same with the exception of some minor exclusives. In Pokemon Sword, you meet Klara and in Shield, you meet Avery in the Wedgehurst station.
#3. Many old Pokemon will be returning
There are going to be 200 more Pokemon returning with the new Expansion Pass. While it is not an exhaustive list of all the Pokemon, it's still progress to see many old faces return. One such Pokemon is the Galarian Slowbro, which can evolve into either Galarian Slowbro with an item from Isle of Armor or Galarian Slowking with an item from The Crown Tundra.
Not only that, but we will also see the return of the Kanto Pokemon starters, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and their evolutions. There was a leak earlier which found these Pokemon in the game files but as it turns out, there were much more than just 35 Pokemon.
We don't have a full list of all the Pokemon that will be returning to Pokemon Sword and Shield, but as we inch closer to the Expansion Pass release dates we will find out a lot more. Here is an image of some of the older Pokemon that's been confirmed.
#4. New Gigantamax Forms
There will be plenty of new Gigantamax forms of some Pokemon. Starting with the final evolutions of the Galarian starters; Rillaboom, Cinderace and Inteleon are going to be receiving new Gigantamax forms with the Isle of Armor expansion.
The last Pokemon to get a Gigantamax form was Snorlax and you needed to meet certain requirements before you could Gigantamax it. By default, the Pokemon will just Dynamax and that is true even for the starters. We don't quite know if there are special requirements to Gigantamax the new Pokemon but that will soon become clear.
Blastoise and Venausaur are also going to receive a Gigantamax Form, just like how Charizard did. We could also get Blastoise and Venasaur from the Isle of Armor expansion.
So far, only the concept art has been released and we don't know how they will look in-game.
There are also going to be Gigantamax forms of some Legendary Pokemon. Check out the next slide to find out more.
#5. New and Old Legendary Pokemon
In The Isle of Armor, you will encounter Kubfu, who you can train alongside. Kubfu is a Fighting Type Pokemon that evolves into Urshifu. Urshifu has two styles: Single Strike Style (Fighting/Dark) and Rapid Strike Style (Fighting/Water). Kubfu can be evolved into either of these forms depending on the choice you make during your adventure.
In the Crown Tundra, you will encounter the Legendary Pokemon Calyrex. Calyrex is said to have ruled all of Galar and is a "King Pokemon". It is a Psychic/Grass Type and does not evolve into any other Pokemon.
Regi Golems - old and new
The Legendary Titans or the Regi Golems will also be returning to Sword and Shield. Regigigas does not seem to make the cut though. There are also two more new Regi Golems being added, but we're not sure if they are Galarian Forms.
The Legendary Birds
Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos are back but in what appears to be a really sweet-looking Galarian form. It is possible that they will have new types but we don't have that information yet.
