Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass announced
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Two expansions for Pokémon Sword and Shield have been announced: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. These expansions will introduce brand-new Pokémon to the games, as well as make over 200 more old Pokémon available. These expansions were revealed in a Pokémon Direct presentation.
The expansions are bundled together in the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass. The pass, which is currently available for purchase, entitles customers to each of the two expansions once it is released. The Isle of Armor are planned to be released in June 2020, while The Crown Tundra is planned to be released in November 2020. These expansions are instead of releasing an upper version like Pokémon Platinum, as Game Freak have done in the past. The expansion for each version of the game must be purchased separately; in order to access the expansion content in both Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the player must buy the expansion pass for each game.
Players will be able to play the expansion content with their current save data. Players can access the expansion content as soon as they reach the Wild Area.
The Isle of Armor focuses on the theme of "Growth" and takes place in the eponymous Isle of Armor, just off the shore of the Galar region. This expansion includes:
- A dojo for Pokémon battles, where the player takes up apprenticeship under Mustard, who once mentored Champion Leon and is also a former champion of Galar.
- A new rival, depending on the version. In Pokémon Sword, the player trains with Klara, who uses Poison types. In Pokémon Shield, Avery, who uses Psychic-types, will be their training rival instead. Both seek to one day have Gyms and Stadiums to call their own.
- Mustard entrusts the player with a new Legendary Pokémon, Kubfu. Kubfu evolves into Urshifu once the training is complete. Urshifu has a brand new ability, as well as two different fighting styles, the Fighting/Dark-type Single Strike style and the Fighting/Water-type Rapid Strike style. Urshifu also has a Gigantimax form, having a different appearance and G-Max Move depending on the style.
- The fully-evolved forms of the Galar starter Pokémon will also be able to Gigantamax during the adventure in the Isle of Armor.
- Gigantamax forms of Venusaur and Blastoise will also be available.
- More content aside from all this is also planned in the works, such as Tutor Moves, Apricorns (returning from Generation II, and the Exp. Charm.
- New fashion items and looks for the Rotom Bike will also be made available.
The Crown Tundra, meanwhile, focuses on the theme of "Exploration" and takes place in the eponymous Crown Tundra. In this frigid winter area, with its towering mountains, people live in small communities that support and rely on each other. A certain person will appoint the player as the leader of their exploration team in the Crown Tundra.
- The Legendary Pokémon of this part is Calyrex, whom legends say once ruled over a part of Galar that included the Crown Tundra and is characterized by its graceful, regal movements.
- The Crown Tundra also comes with a new Co-op mode as well, allowing players to explore Pokémon Dens deep underground of the Crown Tundra and meet Legendary Pokémon from past games Dynamaxing before their eyes, as well as make allies with them.
- Other new Legendary Pokémon were teased as well, including what appear to be new Pokémon that appear to be Legendary titans and what appear to be Galarian Forms of the Legendary birds.
- More clothing items will also be added in The Crown Tundra, including accessories belonging to Team Plasma and Team Flare.
Both the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra allow the player to move freely and explore Pokémon Dens similar to the Wild Area in the base game. Furthermore, both parts will also add over 200 new Pokémon not previously seen in the Galar region into the game. The expansion pass is not needed in order to obtain the new Pokémon from the DLC, as players can trade with others who have them as well as import Pokémon from previous installments via Pokémon Home, planned to launch as a paid service in February 2020.
Starting today, players are more likely to run into Gigantimax Coalossal and Flapple (Sword), as well as Gigantimax Lapras and Appletun (Shield). An update was also released today introducing Klara and Avery to the game, as well as letting the player catch a Galarian Slowpoke in Wedgehurst Station, which can evolve into Galarian Slowbro with an item from the Isle of Armor or Galarian Slowking with an item from the Crown Tundra. The expansion pass is available for pre-purchase starting today. The Nintendo eShop can also be accessed directly from the game after installing the latest update. Special clothing items featuring Pikachu and Eevee are also available as a purchase bonus from launch.