What you might have missed in Pokemon Sword & Shield Crown Tundra reveal
Game Freak / The Pokemon Company[jwplayer w6N6N6rI]Game Freak finally revealed the full details on Pokemon Sword & Shield’s second DLC, The Crown Tundra. The jam-packed trailer was full of new content, as well as ultimately giving fans a release date. Here is everything you might have missed during the big event.
The Pokemon series entered its eighth generation with the release of Sword & Shield in 2019. The Nintendo Switch title introduced players to the Galar region for the very first time, and included new game features such as Dynamaxing, Gigantamaxing, and Max Raid battles.
The RPG will be getting its second major expansion, The Crown Tundra, in October. On September 29, developer Game Freak finally revealed all the details on the DLC – and there is a lot to take in. Here is everything you might have missed during the announcement.
5 things you might have missed in Pokemon Crown Tundra reveal
Unlike past generations, Game Freak opted out of a third game in favor of an Expansion Pass for Sword & Shield. In June, the Switch RPG’s first add-on, The Isle of Armor, made its debut.
On October 22nd, players will finally be jumping into the second DLC, The Crown Tundra. The expansion will bring Legendary monsters from past generations into the Nintendo Switch title.
During its final reveal event, Nintendo showed off many new features in an “explore the Crown Tundra” trailer. Here are a few things you might have missed.
Galarian Slowking finally revealed and its moves are insane
After being teased in The Isle of Armor, Slowpoke’s secondary evolution, Slowking, finally had its Galarian form revealed. And, well, it sure looks interesting, to say the least.
Design aside, Game Freak also announced on their website that the monster has some pretty incredible special moves. Eerie Spells, for instance, is a Psychic attack that takes away 3PP from your opponent’s last move.
The ‘mon also sports a second ability called Curious Medicine, which resets your other Pokemon’s status change back to normal. This makes him extremely useful in double battles, as well as in competitive.
You might be able to finally change your Pokemon battle uniform
One the more annoying aspects of Sword & Shield is the game doesn’t let you change your jersey during battles. Despite offering custom jerseys, you can only wear them in the overworld.
However, that might change in the upcoming DLC, as a segment of the trailer showed protagonist Gloria sporting an all new jersey during a stadium battle with other Gym Leaders.
It’s not confirmed whether this change will take effect in the entire game, or whether its just in the Star Tournament mode. Still, it’s about time they let us ditch the ugly default Galarian jersey.
Hidden Ability Patch officially confirmed
While dataminers originally leaked this months back, the Hidden Ability capsule has finally been confirmed on Pokemon’s official website, which provides an explanation for how it works.
“In The Crown Tundra, you may get new items called Ability Patches. They’re hard to come by but worth the effort. If you use one on a Pokémon, its Ability will change to its species’ Hidden Ability, if it has one!” it reads.
This is pretty big news, as Trainers will often spend hundreds of hours breeding and training to get the ability and stats they want. This will now make the feature more accessible.
The new Dynamax Raid mode is actually interesting
The trailer briefly gave us a glimpse into Dynamax Adventures, however Game Freak went into more detail on their site about how they are shaking up online Raids with this new mode.
Similar to the Battle Tower in Sword & Shield, players will be using rental Pokemon before entering a cavern with three other Trainers. You will then take on various Raid battles, and make your way deeper into the level.
While you can’t use your own Pokemon, you can swap out with monsters you catch in the dungeon. The caverns will also feature legendary ‘mons as well as Alolan forms. The new twist brings more depth to Max Raids.
If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, it looks like you'll be able to catch Alolan Forms through Dynamax Adventures!
From left to right: Seadra, Vanillish, Altaria, Alolan Sandslash pic.twitter.com/b6WVoxzAw6
— Matt (@mattyoukhana_) September 29, 2020
Pokemon GO can now transfer to Sword & Shield – but it’s complicated…
During the Crown Tundra event, it was revealed that Pokemon GO can now fully connect to Sword & Shield by the end of 2020. However, over on the r/PokemonSwordAndShield subreddit, keen-eyed fans pointed out that there might be a catch.
According to the notes on the Home App, it states “in order to bring certain Pokemon that were caught in Pokemon GO and then transferred to Pokemon HOME into a Pokemon Sword or Shield game, the Pokemon must either be registered in the Pokedex of the game or have been obtained at least once in that game.”
Based on the text, if, for example, you have a legendary monster in Pokemon GO, you must first capture that Legendary in Sword & Shield using the Crown Tundra DLC before you can transfer that same Pokemon from your GO account. Complicated, we know.
The Crown Tundra will officially be hitting stores on October 22. Those that have already pre-ordered the Expansion Pass will get 100 Pokeballs for free, as well as a snazzy Pikachu and Eevee jersey.
Sword & Shield’s upcoming DLC will not only bring hundreds of new monsters for players to catch, it also looks to expand Galar in a big way with new features and modes.