The Pokemon Company International and Nintendo announced new downloadable content for the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield video games. The Pokemon Sword Expansion Pass and the Pokemon Shield Expansion Pass will contain The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions, two separate adventures that will enable fans to meet new characters, catch newly discovered Pokemon, and explore new areas in the Galar region.
Check Out the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass Announcement Trailer and Pokemon Direct Presentation:
Trainers will be able to jump right into their new adventures with the same save data they have been using to play Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield. They will also be able to begin exploring the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra at almost any point in the main games. Whether a Trainer has just recently started their adventure in the Galar region or is well along the path to becoming Champion, they will be able to enjoy the new content as soon as it’s released.1
The Isle of Armor is scheduled to be released by the end of June 2020, and The Crown Tundra in the fall of 2020. The Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokemon Shield Expansion Pass, which include both sets of content, will be available for pre-purchase for a suggested retail price of $29.99 starting later today, January 9, 2020. Both expansions will include a new area to explore, newly discoverable Pokemon, clothing items, handy features, and more. In addition, fans can receive a special bonus when purchasing the Expansion Pass: a Pikachu Uniform and an Eevee Uniform. Fans will be able to receive the Pikachu and Eevee Uniforms in Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield by using codes that they will receive after they purchase the Expansion Pass.
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 expansionis 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.
The Isle of Armor expansion will allow Trainers to help some of the Pokemon 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 Pokemon that Trainers could choose as their first partner in the Galar region.
Here’s Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass’ image gallery. Click on any of these image thumbnails to see the full-size screens:
Regional forms of certain Pokemon are 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.
Many Pokemon that didn’t originally appear in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon 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 Pokemon and new regional forms to familiar Pokémon that have been seen living in other regions. Free updates are also planned for Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield to coincide with the release of these expansions. Updates are scheduled for the same days that The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions are released. Each of these updates will enable players who haven’t purchased an Expansion Pass to receive Pokemon 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 Pokemon to their games from the cloud service Pokemon HOME, scheduled to launch in February 2020, as long as the Pokemon appear in The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions.
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.Â
During their adventure, Trainers will run into many interesting 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 Pokemon 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. Klara specializes in Poison-type Pokémon and is training hard at Mustard’s dojo. She’ll do just about anything to appear adorable and cute, as popularity is what she admires most of all. She goes about her days with a smile on her face, but hiding behind it is a calculating nature that she puts to very good use. Avery is one of the Trainers who strive to become stronger at Mustard’s dojo, and he is a proficient user of Psychic-type Pokémon. He is gentlemanly and well-mannered but also very proud.
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 Pokedex.
There are Pokemon Dens on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, just like in the Wild Area. When Trainers check out a Pokémon Den that has a pillar of red light coming out of it, they’ll be able to participate in a Max Raid Battle. These are battles where the player will team up with three other Trainers to take on a Dynamax Pokemon. In the Pokémon Dens on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, Trainers will be able to encounter Pokémon that aren’t found in the Wild Area. They’ll be able to invite friends to join these Max Raid Battles—and not just friends who are playing using the Pokemon Sword Expansion Pass or Pokemon Shield Expansion Pass. Players will be able to have even friends who are playing Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield without an Expansion Pass come and join them.
If Trainers purchase the Expansion Pass, they’ll be able to receive a Pikachu Uniform and an Eevee Uniform as a special purchase bonus. They’ll be able to wear these outfits in the expansions but also in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.
For more information about the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield Expansion Pass, please visit Pokemon.com/SwordShieldEX.