Sword & Shield **Official news only** DLC Crown Tundra 22nd October

[Worldie]

If you're the girl. Though obviously the boy gets to dress as Bede... no? Oh, right, Hop would probably be the obvious choice... also no? Leon? Piers? Okay, then who are the boys getting to dress as... ROSE?! Are the girls getting Oleana? No... that's such a strange match-up.

I will assume you haven't been around the internet enough lately to know that Marnie is probably the most ... inappropriately drawn charachter of SwSh.
And GameFreaks might have picked up on our degenerate weeb habits and wants to cash in.

(Not exactly uncommon for Japanese companies tbh, I've often seen nods at fan's favourite inappropriate fetishes in other franchises)

 

[Project_Mars]

I have decided to mark Nidoran-F’s line as confirmed even though we have not seen any of its members in the Direct. However, we have seen Nidorino and I am absolutely convinced that his female counterpart is going to appear alongside him in the Crown of Tundra Expansion.

It is guaranteed, actually, considering that both Nidos are different genders for the same species and hatch from the same eggs as a result.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I will assume you haven't been around the internet enough lately to know that Marnie is probably the most ... inappropriately drawn charachter of SwSh.
And GameFreaks might have picked up on our degenerate weeb habits and wants to cash in.

(Not exactly uncommon for Japanese companies tbh, I've often seen nods at fan's favourite inappropriate fetishes in other franchises)

Pikachu doesn't have a problem with a Marnie costume tho. The issue is that in their eyes a Chairman Rose outfit is a really weird pair-up for men when other, more fitting options exist.

 

[Kurona]

I think they might do 'mismatched' pairs between the expansions. So the first expansion will give us Marnie and Rose; and then the second will give us Bede and Oleana.

 

[Project_Mars]

Pikachu doesn't have a problem with a Marnie costume tho. The issue is that in their eyes a Chairman Rose outfit is a really weird pair-up for men when other, more fitting options exist.

Honestly though: I’ve wanted a Fancy Suit option for guys since trainer customization was announced back in gen 6. Although I do hope that it comes in Black as well ‘cus just Gray would be disappointing.

 

[Kurona]

Honestly though: I’ve wanted a Fancy Suit option for guys since trainer customization was announced back in gen 6. Although I do hope that it comes in Black as well ‘cus just Gray would be disappointing.

On the topic of formal clothing, I REALLY hope we get more dresses. There were only two types in the base game and while both were nice, it'd be great to get more

 

[R_N]

Blue and BLACK are Xerneas' primary colors. It's antlers and the detail on it's legs are an off-white/beige, not the rich yellow that is the electric Regi.

Yeah I really think people that say they match just have not seen a xerneas in a long time

 

[Pikachu315111]

BTW, for those who are keeping up with my posts, I had edited my previous post with Page 166 & 167 since at that time no one had posted on this thread. But now that some others have I've made this new post:

Page 168

So anyone else think Slowbro-G & Slowking-G will be Psychic/Poison and be the ace pokemon of both rivals? Maybe someone else brought up the idea before but there's been a lto of discussion.

I was also thinking this, though I think Slowbro-G is Psychic/Poison while Slowking-G is Psychic/Ghost.

As you said, the purple bits on Slowbro (plus it learning Acid instead of Water Gun) makes me now think its part Poison-type now. As for why, maybe the seeds it has been eating is actually subtly toxic (similar to how in real life the leafs of the eucalyptus tree is toxic though animals like the koala have become tolerant to it). Maybe that'll be its evolution item, you give it to it at Level 37 and its sort of the straw that breaks the camel back. Slowpoke can no longer tolerant the seed's toxin but, instead of dying, it overstimulates its mind awakening it from its eternal daze (while also storing amounts of the toxin on the top of its head and its front paws; you know, so it can use Poison-type attacks with). This is actually similar to how Slowking works, the Shellder biting on Slowking's head releases toxins that stimulates the brain, so maybe with Slowbro-G GF decided to cut the middleman and have a new diet of tasty toxic seeds make Slowpoke aware but have it being Slowbro instead of Slowking.

As for Slowking, no idea. The evolution item is definitely that new cowl it's wearing but what it is I got no idea. Like, maybe it is a Shellder shell though that would mean this version of Shellder evolves eyes all along the inner rim of its mouth. Since we get this item from the Crown Tundra, a mysterious location lost to time, I'm wondering if maybe its like a possessed cowl and this time around Slowking isn't smart because a Shellder is poisoning it but its smart because its being possessed or at least having access to memories of a ruling figure who used to wear those cowls as a sign of leadership. Also gives it Ghost-type powers.

Eitherway, that'll let Slowbro-G being Klara's Signature Pokemon while Slowking-G would be Avery's.

Doubt it. The rivals are both in part 1 of the DLC while Galarian Slowking only becomes obtainable in part 2.

Eh, I still feel like it's a move GF will do. One rival uses a Pokemon you can get right now but the other gives you just a sneak peak at one you'll need to wait to use (you know, unless someone hacks in having it). But until then you can LOOK how COOL it is and wish you had it! *6 Months later and Crown Tundra is released* Oh, look, Crown Tundra is released meaning you can now get that cool Slowking you've been wanting for 6 months!

To me, it seems like the Shellder has completely swallowed the head of the Slowpoke and is calling the shots. There was sprite art for a similar concept in Gold, and as we've seen with Sirfetch'd and Alolan Exeggcutor, GF is not above revisiting unused ideas.

View attachment 217745

Actually I think that's just an alternate Shellder evolution based on the transformation Shellder goes through when it attaches to a Slowpoke's tail. Considering in GS they introduced the Slowpoke Tail item which is nothing but money fodder, I wonder if the original purpose of that item was you could give it to Shellder to evolve it into this form...

Page 169

Well if there are two(?) new Regis, maybe there's something for Regigigas coming...

...wait for it....

please don't kill me

Regigigamax

Now, I know you're joking... but at the same time I can see it. If they give Regigigas a Gigantamax it actually creates an interesting scenario because of Slow Start. Do you choose to activate its Gigantamax while Slow Start is active hoping the Max Moves power increase offsets the decrease in Power, or do you find a way to wait it out so its at full power when Gigantamax. Or, they could make its G-Max move de-activate Slow Start, thus making Regigigas possibly viable if you're willing to give up your Gigantamax slot for it.

Though I'm still going to quit being a hardcore player, but I guess that's a bit ironic since getting DLC feels very much like a thing for hardcore players.

Having had a look at the information about the new legendaries, I'm actually thinking that in all likelihood, neither of them have a BST over 600, for one simple reason: their height. Urshifu is 6'3" and Calyrex is 3'7".

With the exception of some mega evolutions (and even those nearly always get a significant size buff) and Ash-Greninja, every >600 BST Pokemon has been significantly taller than the average human. Mewtwo itself is 6'7" in its base form, shared with Slaking, and even that is a significant outlier -- every other base form Pokemon with a BST over 600 is at least 9 feet tall. Conversely, legendaries and mythicals have always been under 9 feet, with the singular exception of Therian Thundurus.

I don't think that would be a deciding factor, but I do agree at least Urshifu probably will be 600 since you're just given it plus it has two forms and both being 680 would make it feel a bit broken. However Calyrex I wouldn't be against being 680 being it was said to be the former ruler of Galar and has omniscience & probably omnipresence, why not give it omnipotence to complete the package?

Page 170

Calyrex once being the king of Galar brings up some... VERY questionable things about Sordward and Shieldbert's heritage that I'm really not sure I want answered.

I think Calyrex's reign probably goes further back then when the SwSh Twins ancestor's began their reign. Calyrex ruled over Galar when it was nothing but wide landscape of nature... then humans came and took it all away.

Waiting for the inevitable Pokémon Sword and Shield Gold Edition or whatever once all the DLC has been out for a while

I would have gone with Gilded Sword & Jeweled Shield myself. But, yeah, I can see that happening, though maybe just as a digital only game and maybe only once when the new gens are on the horizen (thus they're no longer making any money on the Gen VIII games; I don't think would be much different from all the Kingdom Hearts collections they pushed out before KH3).

Wasn’t that Zacian and Zamazenta were the royals actually?

R_N explained it, though the game was very obscure about it and confounded things by having that strange singular "Hero of Galar" statue in Budew in, then going "psyche, there were TWO people!" with the murals in Hammerlocke, then from there on they only focused on the wolves after discovering statues of them.

The game does make it sound like Sonia thinks there weren't any human kings but the rulers were the twin wolves, especially with what the twin descendants say. It's partly why I can see the twin descendants being angry if that's true as, they're half right, there were two human kings who called upon the twin wolves for help. It's why I want to see what Sonia's book says because its the difference between her being an actual researcher and discovering the truth (the twin kings summoned the twin wolves to aid them) or her jumping to a conclusion ignoring previous evidence (the wolves were the true kings all along with no humans). Now the twin descendants are still wrong no matter what, any argument they had immediately goes out the window as soon as they started Dynamaxing wild Pokemon to cause massive destruction, plus they're insistent there being no Pokemon when there obviously was.

I'm more curious about things like:
-Eternatus originally came down about 20,000 years ago. It presumably started absorbing energy at that point, but we don't have a lot of context as to what caused it to "overload"; if it just naturally happens then doesnt that make Eternatus a walking, eternal disaster where the Darkest Day is just always going to happen? That's fine if so but maybe like...acknowledge it....please.
-What happened to Eternatus after its defeat by the wolves. It appeared to be in an egg of some sort, why'd that happen then but not now? Because we caught it? Again, fine if so but please acknolwedge the weird giant egg , game, it's a nice set piece.
-Where was Eternatus post-defeat? Considering it's the crux of Rose's plan I feel like finding where this thing came from is pretty important. Even XY had some throwaway lines about Xerneas's tree resting in a forest and Yveltal's cocoon resting in the mountains.
-Wishing stars are still part of Eternatus which is probably why it reacts so strongly when getting overloaded but uhhh why are wishing stars still falling 20k years later?

1. Wait, does this mean Eternatus is Pokemon's version of Lavos?
2 & 3. I think the egg we see is something that Rose built to contain it. But I would like to know how Rose discovered it and learned how to drain it for energy. Now its mentioned that in Rose's youth he was a miner so maybe he just stumbled upon the resting Eternatus while digging?
4. Maybe the Wishing Stars pieces are actually extra pieces that broke off and flew into the higher atmosphere when it was defeated during the first Darkest Day. Like it landed 20k years ago, absorbed the planet's energy for 17k years, awoke and started the Darkest Day by Eternamaxing, Twin Wolves defeat it causing it to break apart, that flings millions of small pieces of it (or billions upon billions or particles) up into the higher atmosphere which eventually combine together to form Wishing Stars that fall back to the planet (so Wishing Stars only existed for 3k years), meanwhile Eternatus becomes inactive again because it lost all the energy it had drained until Rose gave enough of it back via Wishing Stars.

Wait a second, I've heard something like this before...

Hide

Haven't really played Hollow Knight, are you agreeing with me that it sounds like a plothole or that Hollow Knight showed how even an omniscience ruler can't prevent the decline of their own kingdom?

And with nothing I hadn't already responded to on Page 171 I'm all caught up! Now for the current page:

I will assume you haven't been around the internet enough lately to know that Marnie is probably the most ... inappropriately drawn charachter of SwSh.

She's the most? Even with Nessa who I kind of felt GF was trying to make the "fetish target" (probably so the Rule 34 people would at least focus on the female character of legal age) like they did with Olivia in Gen VII (I have a feeling someone on GF staff has a thing for dark-skinned women).

Pikachu doesn't have a problem with a Marnie costume tho. The issue is that in their eyes a Chairman Rose outfit is a really weird pair-up for men when other, more fitting options exist.

Right, to me seems like the obvious clothing pairings would be Hop/Sonia (the two friendly characters you meet early), Bede/Marnie (additional rival characters), & Rose/Olivia (the two antagonist characters). I'm saying that Marnie clothes should be paired with Bede, not that they shouldn't have done Marnie.

Honestly though: I’ve wanted a Fancy Suit option for guys since trainer customization was announced back in gen 6. Although I do hope that it comes in Black as well ‘cus just Gray would be disappointing.

Well we do quickly see in the Expansion Trailer that they switched the colors of a few of the clothing and hair (albeit concept art of the clothing and hair) which I think is a hint that not only will the clothes come in different colors but also we'll be getting more hair color options (so you can make your character really look like an anime character).

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Haven't really played Hollow Knight, are you agreeing with me that it sounds like a plothole or that Hollow Knight showed how even an omniscience ruler can't prevent the decline of their own kingdom?

The latter.

 

[pkmfan]

Two questions/things to speculate. Will Rockruff or Lycanroc see the Dusk version return? Maybe as an event? Or special give away by an NPC in game?

And does anyone think we may still see a mainline game in Fall 2020? The second expansion comes in "Fall", which can still give around 2 months between the release date and the typical release date of new games which are typically mid November. If another game I would assume it would be a remake of an older game.

Seems a bit close in terms of release dates, but at the same time I would think a whole year without a mainline Pokemon game is a big gap. Expansions are nice, but being half priced plus a lower attachment rate probably means they'd make less money even if the development cost is noticeably less.

 

[Wishy]

One of the things I'm most looking forward to with these expansions is that there seems to be an emphasis on lore and exploration (the Crown expansion literally has you on an exploration team). Sword & Shield definitely lacked true exploration and lore building. There weren't many cool optional areas to check out or locales that were tied to local legend that weren't just formations or whatever you simply look at. Crown Tundra appears to be a kingdom buried in snow, with that giant cathedral-like building, ancient Regi ruins, and some mysterious tree tied to the birds.

Also fuck yeah give me more parka and winter clothing options.

 

[R_N]

Two questions/things to speculate. Will Rockruff or Lycanroc see the Dusk version return? Maybe as an event? Or special give away by an NPC in game?

And does anyone think we may still see a mainline game in Fall 2020? The second expansion comes in "Fall", which can still give around 2 months between the release date and the typical release date of new games which are typically mid November. If another game I would assume it would be a remake of an older game.

Seems a bit close in terms of release dates, but at the same time I would think a whole year without a mainline Pokemon game is a big gap. Expansions are nice, but being half priced plus a lower attachment rate probably means they'd make less money even if the development cost is noticeably less.

I would be flabbergasted if they annoucned a new game at this point. They directly compare this DLC to third versions of the past and it jsut seems weird to schedule a brand new mainline title alongside dlc like that. You need to give at least SOME breathing room just for marketing purposes.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is the B Team's main focus, even.

 

[Project_Mars]

I would be flabbergasted if they annoucned a new game at this point. They directly compare this DLC to third versions of the past and it jsut seems weird to schedule a brand new mainline title alongside dlc like that. You need to give at least SOME breathing room just for marketing purposes.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is the B Team's main focus, even.

Not only this, but they usually would be announcing the third game or remakes in May, which would be a month before the first part of the expansion pass is supposed to drop. They aren't going to cut into the hype around that launching by announcing a new game to buy if you are still on the fence about getting the DLC.

Not only that, but part 2 of the DLC is going to have access to all the legendaries, which is typically what they did with ORAS and USUM. Because of that, it really seems doubtful we'll get another game announcement this year unless it is after Part 2 of the DLC hits and is for next year.

 

[Rarycaris]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get no more games this generation, but rather a steady trickle of DLC that eventually introduces (almost?) every Pokemon, and they just use the time to develop gen 9. Other games in a generation are always third versions or remakes, so I think we'll either get Sinnoh remakes in late 2021 or they'll just use SwSh as their base for the whole generation like they did in gens 5 and 7.

The massive DLC legendary dump makes me think no more main series games are coming this gen -- they pretty much always do that in the last game of a generation. And in all honesty I'm okay with that, if it means gen 9 gets a non-rushed dev cycle.

 

[Worldie]

And in all honesty I'm okay with that, if it means gen 9 gets a non-rushed dev cycle.

I agree, though remember there's a near 100% chance that if this model (game + several DLCs) ends up working, and we know it will because we're all sheeps and will buy both games + twice the season pass , then it will be repeated for gen 9.

Not saying gen 9 main title might be a rushed stuff like SwSh obviously (after all, even assuming that there's no other DLC after those, they'd still have over 700 of the already existing 900ish pokemon ready this time), but the chance is there.

 

[Coronis]

Two questions/things to speculate. Will Rockruff or Lycanroc see the Dusk version return? Maybe as an event? Or special give away by an NPC in game?

And does anyone think we may still see a mainline game in Fall 2020? The second expansion comes in "Fall", which can still give around 2 months between the release date and the typical release date of new games which are typically mid November. If another game I would assume it would be a remake of an older game.

Seems a bit close in terms of release dates, but at the same time I would think a whole year without a mainline Pokemon game is a big gap. Expansions are nice, but being half priced plus a lower attachment rate probably means they'd make less money even if the development cost is noticeably less.

Since Lycanroc is in the game you can transfer Rockruff and Lycanroc from Gen 7 through Pokemon Home.

 

[doipy hooves]

So Fairy Lock is still callable via Metronome, even though it's not available on anything. I haven't experienced it myself, but apparently using it crashes the game. Watch out? Accelerock is also in a similar situation (usable but unavailable). Tweets on the topic have only surfaced since the update's dropped, so maybe the move data or metronome logic was changed to make this possible.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1215838638971531264

https://twitter.com/x/status/1216084045827842051

 

[Dialganet2]

Gigantamax Venusaur and Blastoise to me are the the most compelling evidence that at least certain parts of these DLCs were directly conceived as responses to fan criticisms, in their case to complaints about Charizard receiving special attention. Now this is admittedly very subjective, but when I compare these designs to Gigantamax Charizard I get this feeling not of less effort, but of a greater struggle to create something unique compared to their Mega Evolutions and less inspiration/creative drive to do so, as if they were something that was never originally planned and they were kinda "forced" to make it happen. Again, I know this is a bold assumption to make off of purely subjective thoughts, and I don't expect anyone to change their minds off this, but that's the vibe I personally get.

I would tend to agree, even though had they not planned at least a contingency solution after all the Charizard favoritism, that would speak volumes about their blindness. But it's GF so I would not cross that off.
Now, it is indeed very subjective as you say, but it's a good hint that some of the things we're getting were not planned to begin with. Which is somewhat encouraging, since they apparently never seemed to listen.

If I were to point to something that in my opinion was more egregious: very few minutes into the direct, they showcased Kingdra, Volcarona and Lycanrock's models being worked on a PC. Now, since they afterwards stated that 200+ old mons were coming back, there was little to no reason to showcase those 3 (I might have missed some more, I can't recall right now), especially not in a game environment.
There was no need for that if it wasn't for feedback. Let me explain: legends for Crown Tundra were shown in typical marketing sprites, and themselves were proof that mons not in the original code are now planned to return. We had in-game footage (somewhat) of Slowpoke-G, hinting that Regular Slowpoke will have similar texture and moves in game as well.

No, they clearly had no battling/catching/roaming footage of returning mons ready (if they have and it's a gambit, they're way more shrewd than it appears - but that would clash with their rock-dumb level PR) and they preferred to show that they were working on models because of the infamous "duh, models are hard" excuse. Now, this makes them look bad no matter how you spin it and from which angle you take a look at the situation but it appears to me as clear evidence of not planned. Which is a pity, because a lot of people, myself included, would have bought the game, handholding flaws and all, with no seconds thought had they stated "on a pitch count, will release other mons later!".

Two questions/things to speculate. Will Rockruff or Lycanroc see the Dusk version return? Maybe as an event? Or special give away by an NPC in game?

And does anyone think we may still see a mainline game in Fall 2020? The second expansion comes in "Fall", which can still give around 2 months between the release date and the typical release date of new games which are typically mid November. If another game I would assume it would be a remake of an older game.

Seems a bit close in terms of release dates, but at the same time I would think a whole year without a mainline Pokemon game is a big gap. Expansions are nice, but being half priced plus a lower attachment rate probably means they'd make less money even if the development cost is noticeably less.

Lycanroc-Dusk is no exclusive, just a convoluted evolution method. It's time-exclusive (last time I checked you still have night/day in SwSh, right? RIGHT?) and ability exclusive (Rockruff needs Own Tempo - and it's breedable). It is sufficient that all Lycanroc variants are coded and you can get any of them (maybe the Midnight and Midday form will be versions exclusive, but not Dusk).

If they plan a release for November, two months after what appears to be the major DLC, they're nuts business-wise. Which they are, no question about it, but to that point it would be self-sabotage. Not to mention, I see at least one or two other DLCs for early and mid 2021, to then be followed by a holiday 2021 game.

 

[Matleo]

I'm actually thinking that the biggest challenge in designing those gigamax was differentiating them from their Megas. Expecially Venusaur...

seriously, Gigas can be, they would still need secondary megas like Charizard... Blastoise with part steel and Venusaur as grass/ghost special attacker and spirit of the forest or grass/electric power plant would be quite well.

Interesting will be their G-moves, feel that they should be more then damage like G-max has... Blastoise looks like it could eliminate entry hazards, screens and hit everything on the field... Venusaur looks like it could use maybe petals, spores, vines, maybe a grass type draining move that also traps the foe, a better leech seed version?
____________________________________________
Regigigas with it's move Crush Claw will get 1,5x or 2x boost from Dynamaxed targets... Maybe Slow start will last 4 and not 5 turns...
If You self Dynamax Regigigas with 110hp You get 220hp and after 3 turn get back Drain Punch again.
If it gets a G-max form and move then... holy...

The birds are quite nice... why psychic if ghost would fit in better with ice weakness? articuno and moltres could gain levitate actually.
Ice/ghost is still weak to fire/dark but at least gains against other typings.
Imagine Zapdos with Bolt Beak. Terryfing but should be a option.

Slowpoke now pure psyhcic without water,
Slowbro and Slowking with Pincurchin ??? psychic/electric?
making Slowbro and Slowking have diffeerent typing from each other would make sense this time

and maybe slowking and slowbro getting different typings instead? Galarian Stunfisk(psyhic/ground or psychic/steel) and Toxapec(psychic/poison?) also possible this time, even Polteageist(psychic/ghost). Centiskorch pre-evo with fire? taking that Slowpoke is psychic then with electric or poison we would get new type combos. Not counting Alola Raichu.

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

Just FYI: Dexit isn't gone. The number they gave for Pokemon being added back in was a bit over 200, which depending on if the currently shown oldies are part of that or not could mean anywhere above or below 600 Pokemon. Better than before, but still not the complete Pokedex.

Other than that, I agree with everything you said, this is absolutely a huge step in the right direction and hopefully it succeeds so we can finally gut the archaic 3rd version for good.

I see. Well, that's a shame. I misunderstood the situation because I misread the information about old Pokémon being coded into the games as all old Pokémon being coded into the games, not just these 200 that will be added with the DLC. Now this makes me unsure about whether I should quit Pokémon or not... at this point I think it is just best to accept that I'll probably never quit. But everything else I said still stands, just forget what I said about Dexit and the National Dex in my previous post. And because of all this, I'm not making a post in the Dexit thread at all. I'm still very happy about the DLC and I think that ~600 Pokémon in the games is way better than just 400, so this is a huge step in the right direction.

I also hope this means we'll never get another third/alternate version. Despite the fact that I liked all past ones, I would definitely prefer it if they could make the first pair feel as complete as possible from the beginning (I think B/W did this the very best) or update them with DLC. I think this is also tied to how I'm becoming more of a casual player now, buying a third/alternate version doesn't feel quite as interesting as it did in the past. Overall, I think I'm going to prefer DLC over third/alternate versions, though I'll wait to give a final opinion until it has been released and I have played through it, but this is what it looks like right now.

And now that I finally have a bit more time, I'll write some more thoughts on the DLC and what we are going to get from it.

After thinking about it during the weekend, I have decided that I am going to get the Expansion Pass. I am just so interested in everything about it that I have to get it. As someone who really liked Sword despite all of its flaws, this really feels like it can breathe new life in the game. One thing I wanted from Sword was more content and that's exactly what the DLC is going to add, so I'm happy about that.

I'm not sure if I'm going to get and start playing both packs on their release dates, but it looks like that will be the case. I usually find new Pokémon games to be the most fun to play when they are the newest since that is when most others are playing them as well and the online fandom is the most active and centered on the new games. Though this is DLC so it is a bit of a different situation but I expect it to be mostly the same in the end. Before the Direct, I had planned to consider myself done with Sword once I had "beaten" the Battle Tower (which will likely happen very soon, at some point this month at the very least) but I guess I'll just be taking a break and play XC2 again, then go back to Sword once the Isle of Armor releases. This also makes Sword the third Switch game I own which has DLC that I'm interested in, and I have yet to get the DLC for either BOTW or XC2... now I wonder which DLC I will be getting first? I'm also not sure how much I'll look into the pre-release material for the DLC, going into Sword mostly blind was very enjoyable and I might do the same for the DLC packs to try and hopefully get the same feeling from them.

The DLC packs will each have their own specific Pokédex. This is good, though I'm not sure if I will complete these Dexes. I did complete the main Galar Dex but if the Island and Tundra Dexes also have version exclusives, then I don't know. Maybe. We'll have to see. It might happen though since I recently learned that a yearly subscription isn't the only alternative for NSO, it has a monthly alternative as well and that is something I might consider getting if it turns out I will need it in order to complete the DLC Dexes. Though there's the chance I also need to get Home as well as renew my Bank subscription (which I'm unsure about at the moment since I'm more or less completely done with Gen 6/7 and haven't planned to do any transfers to Gen 8). So I don't really know yet.

I saw some people discussing the Pokémon that are returning for the DLC, and I'm also unhappy about Zubat returning. This is one line I was very happy about not being in the regular Galar Dex, I'm glad they went with Woobat and Noibat instead. I'm tired of seeing Zubat or its evolutions in every single game, Golbat also became my third least favorite Pokémon when I played Moon, so I'm not happy about it returning. This also means that all three of my least favorite Pokémon will be in S/S once the DLC has been released, which feels a bit meh. I could also have lived without the Magnemite line returning since it has been in every single regional dex except for D/P Sinnoh and B/W Unova. Even if I really like Magnezone, it doesn't need to be in every regional dex. I don't mind most of the others though, I am also happy about the Chansey line returning since it could give S/S epic training spots if they do it right. Not expecting that to happen though. I also noticed that Amaura and Aurorus are reappearing and it made me wonder if we will just get their fossils or if we will be able to catch them in the wild? I hope for the latter, catchable fossil Pokémon would be something almost completely new and a very welcome addition

Some other Pokémon I also like but aren't quite my favorites but that I still like from those that are returning are these: Talonflame, Kingdra, Electivire, Walrein, Metagross and Cryogonal. And of course Slowbro and the legendary birds, even if they get Galarian forms. And many legendaries, not 100% sure which ones have been confirmed though. It also seems like the Abra line is going to reappear based on two Twistedspoons appearing on Avery's hat. This would make me very happy since Alakazam is my favorite Kanto Pokémon and I was missing it in Sword even if it is kind of an overused gimmick as an early-game Pokémon.

I also read the following on Bulbapedia: "In the upcoming The Isle of Armor expansion, there will be a way for certain Pokémon to be trained to Gigantamax." They don't have any source for it though, and I don't think I have seen it being mentioned anywhere else, so I don't know if it is true. But I really hope it is. If you can "train" a Pokémon to Gigantamax, that would fix one of my issues with the concept, so that's excellent. I wonder what they mean with "certain" Pokémon though. Will it be all of those that can potentially Gigantamax, or just some of them? If so, which ones, and why just those? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Also, regarding Gigantamax, I'm happy that the Galar starters get Gigantamax forms. They are the ones that should have gotten them in the first place, not the Kanto starters which I feel have already gotten way too much attention throughout the years.

Seems like some of the new characters are version exclusive, again according to Bulbapedia. It seems like the pink-haired girl is named Klara and is exclusive to Sword while Shield gets Psychic-dude named Avery. That means I get to see Klara when I play through the Isle of Armor and I'm fine with that. I'm surprised it isn't spelled Clara but I guess the reason Bulbapedia gives for her name origin makes it make sense. And it seems like she's a new rival, so that's cool. I wonder how she will measure up to Hop, Marnie and Bede? It will be hard for them to make her a better rival than Hop but she still has the potential to be pretty good in the end.

Lastly, I want to say some slightly more detailed opinions about all the newly revealed Pokémon and forms (not including Gigantamax forms since I don't care much for them):
- Galarian Slowpoke is a little disappointing since I think it looks too similar to regular Slowpoke, but it is still Slowpoke and it is still awesome, so I think it is okay even if it is probably my least favorite Galarian form so far. Looking forward to how its evolutions will look though!
- The birds are all pretty cool, they all look a bit shadowy or darker compared to the regular forms. Made me think of the Shadow birds from XD. I also wonder if they will drop the Flying-type or not.
- Kubfu and Urshifu are both pretty cool, Urishifu's both forms look pretty similar to each other though.
- Calyrex is still extremely weird and that's actually okay because that's how I usually feel about new Pokémon. But this is almost weirder than usual. That's all I have to say about it.
- New Regis... that was very unexpected. They look a bit weird as well. I wonder what they will be named and how they will be connected to the other four.

And I guess that's all I have to say for now. Sorry for rushing this post a bit but I just wanted to get this done so I could leave this whole thing for now and focus on other stuff.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Guys... I just realized the best part about the DLCs bringing back more Pokemon.


EVEN.

MORE.

REVAMPED.

MENU SPRITES!!!!!!!!

More of these works of art... I drool at the thought.

"Come join us in high-resolution, incredibly detailed glory, brothers!"​

 

[R_N]

Guys... I just realized the best part about the DLCs bringing back more Pokemon.


EVEN.

MORE.

REVAMPED.

MENU SPRITES!!!!!!!!

More of these works of art... I drool at the thought.

"Come join us in high-resolution, incredibly detailed glory, brothers!"​

I thought most of the menu sprites weren't changed at all. I know some were for lets go but others remain the same just...bigger.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I thought most of the menu sprites weren't changed at all. I know some were for lets go but others remain the same just...bigger.

On the contrary, pretty much every fully evolved Pokemon got a new sprite, even Gen 6 and 7 mons got a makeover. There are some exceptions like certain Alolan forms, but it's pretty consistent. However very few of the NFE/LC sprites got revamps, so that's probably why you got confused.

 

[Steel With It]

Since everyone seems confused as to what's up with Calyrex's giant head, I should probably explain it:

It's a cross between the calyx of a flower, the calyx of a brain (represented as the whole brain, presumably because synapses aren't easy to draw) and a crown.

(I thought the double calyx was a clever bit of wordplay, but I guess I'm on my own there...)

 

[Zowayix]

I also read the following on Bulbapedia: "In the upcoming The Isle of Armor expansion, there will be a way for certain Pokémon to be trained to Gigantamax." They don't have any source for it though, and I don't think I have seen it being mentioned anywhere else, so I don't know if it is true. But I really hope it is. If you can "train" a Pokémon to Gigantamax, that would fix one of my issues with the concept, so that's excellent. I wonder what they mean with "certain" Pokémon though. Will it be all of those that can potentially Gigantamax, or just some of them? If so, which ones, and why just those? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I believe they said during the Direct that the player's starter that they picked at the beginning of the game could "learn" how to G-Max. Otherwise getting a G-Max starter would require ditching your previous starter and getting a new one which would be very weird gameplay-wise. They've left it ambiguous as to whether non-starters etc. can learn G-Max.