Pokemon Sword & Shield Raid Battles event adds Charizard, Garbodor, more

Game Freak have announced a brand new Pokemon Sword & Shield event that sees yet another shakeup of the Gigantamaxed forms found in the Wild Area’s Raid Battles, with Charizard on the list. 

Those who regularly take part in online Raid Battles will know they allow a team of players to come together to take down and catch powerful Pokemon. They can be seen from far and wide in the Galar Region, too, with large beams of red and purple lights showing where the dens can be found.

The last change made to Raid Battles saw Gigantamax Snorlax come back, joined by Gigantamax Machamp and Gigantamax Gengar, although all of those have now been removed. Their replacements, however, will be around for a long time, and they look like top selections.

As mentioned earlier, GMAX Charizard is part of the list and will be accompanied by Gigantamax variants of: Garbodor, Duraludon, and Copperajah.

These will be available to find in Raid Battles until April 27, giving players plenty of time to take on and catch each of them for a good stretch. It’s worth noting that they will all be available in different star levels of Raid Battle, though.

Across both games, all four Pokemon will be available in three and four star Raids. However, in five star raids, Charizard will be exclusive to Pokemon Shield along with Garbodor, while the other two will be five star exclusives for Pokemon Sword.

• Read More: Pokemon are appearing in Animal Crossing and it’s amazing

There is a workaround for this, though, and it’s quite simple. If a Pokemon Shield player hosts a five star Raid Battle, Sword players can then access exclusive Raid Battle Pokemon.

Events like these will give players enough to get on with as they patiently wait for the release of DLC. The pass will include the addition of the Isle of Armor island in June, followed by The Crown Tundra later in the year. A number of new Gigantamax details have also revealed for Nintendo Direct Mini.

• Read More: Trainer find Wailmer mystery in Pokemon Sword & Shield

We already have many details about the former, too, with the Isle of Armor map being revealed as well as details about a new legendary Pokemon, Kubfu.

In the meantime, there will likely be at least two further Raid Battle changes before the first pack of DLC hits and this shakeup is no doubt one of the most exciting yet.