A new trailer has been released for Pokémon Sword and Shield, revealing a new gameplay mechanic, more Pokémon, and two characters I’ve got my eyes on as the game’s villains.
Pokémon Sword and Shield have been taking a lot of heat lately for the decision to remove the National Pokédex, but as someone who has never transferred my Pokémon from generation to generation, it doesn’t bother me personally (although I understand a lot of people do and dislike this change).
Anyway, the big feature introduced with the new trailer is “Gigantamaxing.”
While we already knew about Dynamaxing, where your Pokémon becomes huge and more powerful, certain Pokémon can instead take on a Gigantamax form, where they also gain a special G-Max Move specific to their species. It sounds to me like a cross between Mega Evolution and Z-Moves.
Drednaw and Corviknight were revealed as two Pokémon with Gigantamax forms.
The trailer also introduces some new Pokémon: Alcremie, Yamper, Rolycoly, and Duraludon. Of these, the only one that really stands out to me is Alcremie, which looks delicious cute.
From the Pokémon Nintendo Direct, we already knew the Pokémon League in this region is a major deal, and the battles to become Champion are broadcast on TV.
The new details explain that you must be endorsed by someone to enter the Gym Challenge, and then trainers who beat all eight Gym Leaders can compete in the annual Champion Cup.
In addition to the Champion, Leon, who was shown previously, we’ve now gotten to see some more key people. Chairman Rose manages the Pokémon League and also runs a large business, his secretary/vice president Oleana manages the company, and I’m calling it right now that these two are villains.
They also introduced a couple more Gym Leaders, a Fighting-type specialist named Bea and a Ghost-type specialist named Allister.
Update: I missed this the first time, but apparently Bea is exclusive to Sword and Allister is exclusive to Shield.
Finally, if you get the Double Pack, you’ll get Dynamax Crystals that let you face Dynamax Larvitar and Dynamax Jangmo-o in Max Raid Battles regardless of version. Larvitar is normally a Shield-exclusive Pokémon while Jangmo-o is Sword-exclusive. Digital copies of the game purchased before January 15 will also get 12 Quick Balls.
How do you feel about Gigantamaxing and the new Pokémon? Do you think Rose and Oleana are villains? Share your thoughts on the latest Pokémon Sword/Shield news in the comments!
