New Expansion Pass coming to Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield
In the Pokemon Direct from today, The Pokemon Company has announced an Expansion Pass coming to Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.
The Expansion Pass introduces two new areas, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, which will be released by the end of June 2020 and in the fall of 2020 respectively. Each area will allow Trainers to catch new Pokémon, explore new areas and meet new characters. In addition, players can allow some of their Pokémon to gain the ability to Gigantamax, such as Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon.
The Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass will be available later today for pre-order for $29.99, and players will receive a code for new clothing items: a Pikachu Uniform and an Eevee Uniform.
The announcement trailer as well as details on the expansions can be found below.
The Isle of Armor
In this expansion, Trainers will head to the Isle of Armor, the stage of a new adventure in the Galar region. The Isle of Armor is a giant island full of environments not seen in Galar before. There players will find wave-swept beaches, forests, bogs, caves, and sand dunes. There are also plenty of Pokémon that make this island their home, living freely amid the lush natural surroundings. There’s even a dojo here that specializes in some very particular training styles. Trainers and their Pokémon will take up an apprenticeship under the master of this dojo and train hard to become even stronger.
The Crown Tundra
This expansion is set in the snow-swept realm of the Crown Tundra. The Crown Tundra features a beautiful shining, silvery landscape. In this frigid area, with its jagged winter mountains, people live in small communities where they support and rely on one another. A certain person will appoint the player as the leader of their exploration team in the Crown Tundra, where Trainers will be tasked with investigating the reaches of this frozen land. Here, Trainers will be able to explore the full depth of Pokémon Dens, which they’ve so far only been able to glimpse in Max Raid Battles.
Gigantamax and regional forms of first partner Pokémon
The Isle of Armor expansion will allow Trainers to help some of the Pokémon traveling with them gain the ability to Gigantamax. This has led to the discovery of the Gigantamax forms for Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon, the Evolutions of the three Pokémon that Trainers could choose as their first partner in the Galar region.
Regional forms of certain Pokémon are also found in Galar. These forms have adapted to the unique environment of the Galar region and look different than the same species might look when found in other regions. These adapted forms are known as the Galarian forms of those Pokémon, and it seems their behavior also differs from that of their species’ previously discovered forms.
Past Pokémon now available to obtain
Many Pokémon that didn’t originally appear in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield make their homes on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra. Trainers will meet a lively array of diverse Pokémon, from newly discovered Legendary Pokémon and new regional forms to familiar Pokémon that have been seen living in other regions. Free updates are also planned for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield to coincide with the release of these expansions. Each of these updates will enable players who haven’t purchased an Expansion Pass to receive Pokémon that will be added via The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions through means such as trading. Players will also be able to bring over past Pokémon to their games from the cloud service Pokémon HOME, scheduled to launch in February 2020, as long as the Pokémon appear in The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions.
New Outfits
Fans will be able to obtain a special training uniform in The Isle of Armor. In The Crown Tundra, Trainers can don exploration gear to prepare themselves for researching the many intriguing destinations the tundra holds. They might find a strange temple where they least expect it or a mysterious giant tree growing in a place it doesn’t seem to belong.
New Characters
A man named Mustard will appear in The Isle of Armor and will be responsible for the player’s training. He’s a legendary Trainer who held the seat of Champion for an astounding 18 years, back before Dynamaxing was incorporated into the battles of the Pokémon League. His record has yet to be beaten. In fact, Champion Leon himself trained under Mustard, and Mustard was the first one to recognize Leon’s latent talent.
There are two new rivals that can appear in The Isle of Armor: Klara and Avery. They’re skilled Trainers of Poison-type Pokémon and Psychic-type Pokémon, respectively, and they’re training hard so that they can someday set up a Gym and stadium for their own type. Trainers will face a different rival depending on which game they’re playing.
New features added in the Isle od Armor and the Crown Tundra
There will be over one hundred new clothing items added in The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. In The Isle of Armor, Trainers will also find new items that will help them along their journey, like an Exp. Charm that’ll come in handy when leveling up their Pokémon. New tutor moves that have never been available in past Pokémon core series games will appear in The Isle of Armor expansion along with Restricted Sparring, where Trainers will be limited in what types of Pokémon they can use and forced to battle under set conditions. In The Crown Tundra expansion, Trainers and their friends will be able to enter and explore Pokémon Dens in a new gameplay feature. Deep inside these dens, they’ll have a chance to encounter Legendary Pokémon from previous Pokémon core series games.
Many Pokémon not found in Galar’s Wild Area make their home on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra. Trainers will have their Galar Pokédexes updated so that they can register even more Pokémon as they discover them. In The Isle of Armor, players will aim to complete the Isle of Armor Pokédex, while in The Crown Tundra, they’ll be working on the Crown Tundra Pokédex.
Free update available today
Starting later today, January 9, 2020, an update will be distributed for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield players that will allow them to experience a small slice of the Expansion Pass’ new content. Once they’ve received the update, players will need to head to Wedgehurst Station. There, they’ll meet a Trainer who will appear in the Expansion Pass content. In Pokémon Sword, Trainers will encounter Klara, while in Pokémon Shield, they’ll run into Avery. Players can even add a Galarian Slowpoke to their team. It doesn’t matter whether players have purchased the Expansion Pass or not—anyone who’s playing Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield will be able to experience the beginning of the Expansion Pass’s story.
