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

[Vengeance417]

M-Evos are permanent, but that was obvious since day 1. They were a big mechanical change in the game's basis. Z-Moves are just a shenanigan with comparatively no impact and can be removed at any point. No one is going to worry about losing Sinister Arrow Raid, but getting rid of a Mega, which is not only an attack but a total redesign of the Pokémon (to the point they got their own entrydex), with substantial changes in his combat capabilities, ye, that isn't happening. Just don't compare Abilities, Hold Items, Natures or Mega-Evo to Z-Moves, which we've yet to see if are coming back to 8th gen.

Z moves are permanent now because of this fella.

Either way, this argument is stupid. We barely know anything about Dynamax, and we're already treating it like it's the apocalypse. Let's wait for more news on the mechanic before we lose our minds for no reason.

 

[Martin]

I can call whatever I want the apocalypse lol. There’s plenty of cause to lose our minds; you don’t need mathematical data to tell that something is going to be powerful and centralising. But I digress; there’s other stuff I’d rather talk about now, and I’ve ranted about dynamax enough.

What do people think of the box legend designs? Personally I think they’re pretty cool; the shield one reminds me of a monster from Kid Icarus Uprising and the sword one is just kinda funny to me. I’d need to look at the pictures a little more to decide which is my favourite but I have a tendency towards “first” versions so it wouldn’t surprise me if I ended up preferring the swordie. Also as a side note, I find it kinda funny that the lead art dude is a brit.

I’m also interested in the wild area. I’ve not read up on any specifics if there’s anything about it on the website, but just based on the trailer it seems to be on much more of an open plan than traditional routes are. Not hugely keen on it jumping onto the open world bandwagon bc im getting sorta fed up of every game being open world in 2019, but depending on how it’s layed out/sectioned it could be a cool way of dropping linearity in places in favour of encouraging exploration. I want it to retain a certain amount of linearity though—the biggest problem with nonlinear games is that they tend to feel directionless, which itself is a time and energy sap. Really just need more info about this to make my mind up about it.

It’s insane to me that we’re actually getting anime gyms!!!! Seeing people watch big Pokémon battles on TV has always been an anime mainstay and gyms are always presented as stadiums, so seeing the games match that for the first time… well, ever is a weird feeling. I wonder if we’ll get cool pre-rendered cut scenes of battles featuring the champion or whether we’ll only get the stiff overworld cut scenes that we’ve always had.

Co-op that’s not shitty LGPE multiplayer it awesome too. Depending on how they integrate this I’m really excited for it.

 

[Skore]

Really not a fan of the legendaries. Shield is too much Lion not enough wolf and the Sword is just lol. Someone taught their dog to fetch but they haven't mastered giving the stick back yet.

 

[Theorymon]

To be honest I'm less worried about Dynamax a whole (I feel like we really need more info to know wtf is going on), and more worried about future generations having a problem with "gimmick bloat" making the battle system more complicated than it needs to be.

Gamefreak has been surprsingly been paying a lot of attention to competitive play if Sun and Moon's balance changes for battle spot are any indication, so I'm curious if Gamefreak has a plan in mind to prevent things from getting too confusing.

 

[GG Unit]

Z moves are permanent now because of this fella.

View attachment 178576

Either way, this argument is stupid. We barely know anything about Dynamax, and we're already treating it like it's the apocalypse. Let's wait for more news on the mechanic before we lose our minds for no reason.

I think it's safe to say the mechanic is designed mostly with simplified MMORPG boss raids a la Pokemon Go in mind, so whether you like a carefully balanced competitive metagame or a single-player experience with a lot of different stuff to do outside of the main storyline, it's probably not the greatest thing that this seems to be one of the main innovations they've focused on.

The other thing is that this is the first main series game in like 7 years that will require a new console, so it's understandable to expect a higher standard when the game is $60 rather than $40 and the console is $300 rather than $150.

 

[PsychicAcademic]

Preexisting encounter. Finally, they actually do the right thing on wild 'mon.

Alright, from what I read, Dynamax... I don't know, from it alone, that sounds off. Maybe it'll take much more time to adapt to the gimmick, especially when Z-moves weren't so dividing like Mega-Evolution. The initial information we have sound gamebreaking, but there may be more technical things we don't know yet, so I'd say that this is probably too early to judge the gimmick.
But they actually throw a lot of Pokemon GO here. Raids, wild areas affected by weather and being open world....

I think I'll see people's reactions on these new things.


I'd like to know how they handle the League in-story though. Gen7 pampered us so much by making us the reigning champion (SuMn - LGPE).
They also can't seem to throw out the Trials and now make it gym gimmicks (instead of whatever death traps they throw at you in traditional gyms).

One thing I want to know is... as someone trapped in ballitism, what are the Pokeball used to catch the raid'mons and how pretty it'll look like. And if it is passable to breeding children (my gut feeling says this is special stuff like Master Ball).

Z moves are permanent now because of this fella.

View attachment 178576

Either way, this argument is stupid. We barely know anything about Dynamax, and we're already treating it like it's the apocalypse. Let's wait for more news on the mechanic before we lose our minds for no reason.

I hate to say this, but sparkling stones and Z-crystals are thanks to it... provided it actually visits your dimension. Z-move is easily droppable in theory. That said, I recall the staffs actually prefer Z-moves than Megas and I myself do for its less-exclusive nature. Z-move is less gamebreaking compared to Megas.




Oh, and if Dynamax really affect a mon's height and weight, they won't like Grass Knot. On the upside, they might withstand Celesteela-grade Heavy Slam.

 

[PokePoindexter]

All I'm saying is Corviknight better have good enough base stats to warrant usage in-game.

 

[BP]

What do people think of the box legend designs? Personally I think they’re pretty cool; the shield one reminds me of a monster from Kid Icarus Uprising and the sword one is just kinda funny to me. I’d need to look at the pictures a little more to decide which is my favourite but I have a tendency towards “first” versions so it wouldn’t surprise me if I ended up preferring the swordie. Also as a side note, I find it kinda funny that the lead art dude is a brit.

Yo okay so the shield one is awesome and I love it a lot. The sword is lame as fuck and its only because in the trailer the sword is just in its mouth. It's not body integrated which really rubs me the wrong way. I'd be cool if it were its tongue or something but I highly doubt that being the case. Because of this, I'm definitely getting Shield.

I’m also interested in the wild area. I’ve not read up on any specifics if there’s anything about it on the website, but just based on the trailer it seems to be on much more of an open plan than traditional routes are. Not hugely keen on it jumping onto the open world bandwagon bc im getting sorta fed up of every game being open world in 2019, but depending on how it’s layed out/sectioned it could be a cool way of dropping linearity in places in favour of encouraging exploration. I want it to retain a certain amount of linearity though—the biggest problem with nonlinear games is that they tend to feel directionless, which itself is a time and energy sap. Really just need more info about this to make my mind up about it.

Definitely looking forward to this aspect of the game. Especially because I didn't get LGPE due to them being hella lame. I do want to be able to explore in Pokemon sword and shield so I would like some sort of open world aspect. I threw up in my mouth when I played through SUMO and it held my hand through the whole game. So I really do hope they encourage some sort of exploration this game. I really don't think the game will be completely directionless which I appreciate since as Martin said they tend to feel directionless at times. This will never be the case with any Pokemon game as there is always an end goal. I understand the concern though.

It’s insane to me that we’re actually getting anime gyms!!!! Seeing people watch big Pokémon battles on TV has always been an anime mainstay and gyms are always presented as stadiums, so seeing the games match that for the first time… well, ever is a weird feeling. I wonder if we’ll get cool pre-rendered cut scenes of battles featuring the champion or whether we’ll only get the stiff overworld cut scenes that we’ve always had.

I agree 100% with this. It's actually super dope that this is happening. I feel that this makes the game more immersive and makes gym battles more important to succeed with them the 1st time.

I would like to add that so far I'm not impressed with the released Pokemon. I was super hyped when I saw Dreadnaw because I thought it would be a Water / Steel due to its name resembling the ages-old revolutionary battleship made by the British in WW1 called the Dreadnaught. The grass Pokemon look kind of lame and remind me a lot of Florges. I mean I'm not surprised that I'm not impressed as they are likely the first few dex entries. I can't wait to see what else is to come!

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

might be a weird take but I'm actually gonna predict Corviknight to be a pseudo-legend.



The Pokedex likes to exaggerate, but it's definite that it will be very strong, and the only screenshots of it are at level 50+. Steel/Flying would be too strong for a generic regional bird, and most said regionals are under four feet (except Noctowl at 5'03" and Pidgeot at 4'11"). This dude is a seven-foot frickin' steel bird. Even if it seems to be somewhat common based on its role in the game, it certainly looks like it could fit the part.

If Corviknight does end up being the pseudo-legendary of Gen 8 it'll be really cool. It'll also be the first time we've had a non Dragon-type pseudo since the likes of Metagross (Metagross will also be delighted to have company with another Steel-type joining the 600 club). After five Dragon-type pseudos in a row it'll be nice to have a non-Dragon join the club for once: Corviknight would be pretty cool if it is in fact the pseudo (and if it is, Leon better use one). Of course, nothing is guaranteed and we don't know if it is the pseudo and has 600 BST (and part of a three-stage evo line), but it would be a welcome addition to the 600 club imo if it ends up being the pseudo.

All I'm saying is Corviknight better have good enough base stats to warrant usage in-game.

The Pokedex exaggerates but it says that Corviknight is apparently the most powerful bird in all of Galar, and is an incredibly formidable opponent in battle. Maybe it will in fact have rather high base stats, and the screenshots of it are at very high levels. As for availability, however, that is another story. Many Pokemon who have high stats are not particularly usable in-game because they are either obtained very late or have very high evolutionary levels, so even if Corviknight ends up having high stats, its usability in-game could be hindered if it has a very high evolutionary level (especially if it ends up being the pseudo as some have theorized), and thereby limiting its capability by relegating it to a weaker evolutionary stage for most of the game. We will see how it is built both stat wise and evolution wise as well as when it's obtainable, which will determine how good it is in-game.

 

[Cataclyptic]

Initially, I believed that due to the similar designs of the icons for SS, we’d actually only have one mascot legendary with two different forms, as opposed to the two we usually get. It made sense at the time, especially given how form crazy gamefreak is nowadays.

This new information... both confirms and denies my initial hypothesis. On the one hand, the legendaries are far too similar to each other, which makes sense if they are different forms of the same thing. Both start with Za- and both are clearly related to one another. On the other hand, we have no indication of a pre- evolution or base form, and seeing both at once in the trailer somewhat dashes this idea.

Thoughts on this? I’m still hoping for either a prevo or them turning out to be two different forms for story and aesthetic reasons.

I threw up in my mouth when I played through SUMO and it held my hand through the whole game.

Someone finally gets me. I actually enjoyed SuMo a lot, but this up here was what I absolutely hated. Here’s to hoping that the Dark Souls reference in the legendary means the games will be harder, or at least not insultingly easy.

(Yes, I’m aware it’s based on a wolf from Norse mythology)

 

[737373elj]

I would have liked Zaman (going to start calling them by name to get used to it) to have the swords a bit like Fracture, one sword on each side of its mouth, I think it would look more aesthetically pleasing.

I seriously find the names a bit lame. Zaman and Zamanzenta?

Initially, I believed that due to the similar designs of the icons for SS, we’d actually only have one mascot legendary with two different forms, as opposed to the two we usually get. It made sense at the time, especially given how form crazy gamefreak is nowadays.

This new information... both confirms and denies my initial hypothesis. On the one hand, the legendaries are far too similar to each other, which makes sense if they are different forms of the same thing. Both start with Za- and both are clearly related to one another. On the other hand, we have no indication of a pre- evolution or base form, and seeing both at once in the trailer somewhat dashes this idea.

Thoughts on this? I’m still hoping for either a prevo or them turning out to be two different forms for story and aesthetic reasons.



Someone finally gets me. I actually enjoyed SuMo a lot, but this up here was what I absolutely hated. Here’s to hoping that the Dark Souls reference in the legendary means the games will be harder, or at least not insultingly easy.

(Yes, I’m aware it’s based on a wolf from Norse mythology)

Seeing how Gamefreak introduces legendaries that can evolve, I’m hoping for a pre-evolution. They look similar enough that they can be on the same legendary line but different enough for them not to be forms (see how they made Zamanzenta bulkier that Zaman? And the wings?)

Edit: or was the Sword Pokemon Zacian? Can’t remember

 

[Scorpio]

Well, three months of waiting haven't disappointed. Here's some of my opinions and speculation:

Wooloo: Well we haven't gotten a sheep Pokemon since Gen 2 and Mareep, so this one has an excuse. I'm thinking it'll evolve into a ram Pokemon, we haven't had a proper one of those yet.

Gossifluer and Eldegoss: Everyone's complaining about how their rehashes of the Cottonee line, but I did research and realized: I believe Cottonne and Whimsicott are based off New World (Americas) cotton, while these two are Old World cotton.

Drednaw: Remember this guy?

Turns out they finally got into a Pokemon game... and got a nasty set of chompers in the process (though if Drednaw gets a prevo, which looks possible, that'll probably have a stronger resemblance to the proto-turtle above)

Corviknight: ...not what I expected a raven Pokemon to look likem but cool nonetheless.

The legends: They look... alright. I came up with some theoretical base stats for them (both are probably Steel/Fighting btw):

Zacian: 90/160/90/140/90/110

Zamazenta: 110/90/160/90/140/90

Holding out on judging Dynamaxing's competitive implications until we get more info. Looks like a cool gimmick for ingame though.

Speaking of which, how much do you guys wanna bet the box legends will be a big Max Raid?

 

[Tmi489]

Speaking of which, how much do you guys wanna bet the box legends will be a big Max Raid?

raids are multiplayer so i wouldn't think they'd depend this much of the story to that
unless its 3 scripted npcs no

 

[Vengeance417]

So I actually really like Zacian.

I know people like to meme on Zacian for the fact that it holds a sword in its mouth, but idk, I think it's kinda badass, and it was well-represented in its teaser, in my opinion. I know there's a lot of comparisons being made to Keldeo with its design and color palette, and that's a fair criticism, but I feel that if its sword was simply another horn-like protrusion attached to its head, it would have resembled Keldeo a LOT more than it already does, and it would have made it way less original. To me, a Pokemon being able to masterfully pull something off like wielding a two-handed weapon designed for human hands with nothing but its jaws sounds fire.

I don't mind Zamazenta, either. I actually think the pose it has for the Shield box art is phenomenal. I just personally find Zacian to be a more interesting Pokemon. Not much else to say tbh

One feature that I really like about the upcoming games is the ability to rotate your player camera in a full 360 degrees. Not even the Colosseum/Gale of Darkness games had that. With how gorgeous this game looks, being able to see the overworld in all of its glory at nearly ever angle is a huge plus, and I can also see it being useful to find hidden items, rare and hard-to-see Pokemon, or maybe even easter eggs.

 

[Chloe]

A few things to do with Pokemon names I haven't seen here that I've noticed:
- Zacian & Zamazenta seem to come from Za-Cyan and Za-Magenta which are 2 of the 4 colours in the CMYK colour model. I'm unsure if it's reaching to assume that this means there will be a yellow legendary and a black legendary but the colours of cyan and magenta definitely correspond to Zacian and Zamazenta respectively.
- I assume Eldegoss's name comes from elder + gossypium plant genus so it's probably not going to get an evolution. Its Japanese name contains 白髪 (shiraga) which means white-hair / grey-hair so that's another point in the camp of it not having an older sibling / evolution.
- Corviknight in a few languages seems to have armor in its name in some form, I don't know if this has any implication on the defenses of the Pokemon but given its relatively decent HP stat that I addressed earlier, there's perhaps stronger evidence that it is in fact defensive. This is way too early to say anything definitive though and is probably reaching.
- Everything else pretty much doesn't give away anything other than minor hints to Wooloo's growth in future evolutions, and Gossifleur's/Eldegoss's gender probably being locked at female.

Edit: Eldegoss's gender is male in one of the images I stand corrected there.

 

[Oglemi]

To be honest I'm less worried about Dynamax a whole (I feel like we really need more info to know wtf is going on), and more worried about future generations having a problem with "gimmick bloat" making the battle system more complicated than it needs to be.

Gamefreak has been surprsingly been paying a lot of attention to competitive play if Sun and Moon's balance changes for battle spot are any indication, so I'm curious if Gamefreak has a plan in mind to prevent things from getting too confusing.

I think this was the point of LGPE and what they said about that being for the more casual crowd and SS being for the more advanced players. No need to worry about making it too confusing if you supplement it with a baby-grade version every other game.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Initially, I believed that due to the similar designs of the icons for SS, we’d actually only have one mascot legendary with two different forms, as opposed to the two we usually get. It made sense at the time, especially given how form crazy gamefreak is nowadays.

This new information... both confirms and denies my initial hypothesis. On the one hand, the legendaries are far too similar to each other, which makes sense if they are different forms of the same thing. Both start with Za- and both are clearly related to one another. On the other hand, we have no indication of a pre- evolution or base form, and seeing both at once in the trailer somewhat dashes this idea.

Thoughts on this? I’m still hoping for either a prevo or them turning out to be two different forms for story and aesthetic reasons.



Someone finally gets me. I actually enjoyed SuMo a lot, but this up here was what I absolutely hated. Here’s to hoping that the Dark Souls reference in the legendary means the games will be harder, or at least not insultingly easy.

(Yes, I’m aware it’s based on a wolf from Norse mythology)

I remember when the logos were first revealed, people were saying that they were getting Romulus and Remus vibes. Two brothers that were raised by wolves. It's very likely that these two legendaries are simply rival siblings, explaining why they look so similar.

 

[Pikachu315111]

*SIGH* Of course they had to release the trailer on a Tuesday...

Well for right now all I can do is just post my initial thoughts on stuff shown in the trailer. The following days I'll give more thoughts on the Pokemon, Characters, and other features shown and on the site:

(Link to Direct Video)
0:25: I wonder if we'll get to ride on those trains? As we'll find out later they have another way to fast travel town to town, but they could make the train ride take you to someplace first, a place where you can't normally access, and make it a different travel experience like let you talk with the other passengers (maybe even battle, not the first time you'd battle in a moving train).
0:32: The first Rival Battle. We'll talk more about Hop later, but looks like we continue with the new tradition of the Rival starting with the Starter weak to your's. A bit sad about that, though understandable as they now start with a STAB move (then again they could program it so they don't but after the first Rival battle they'll level up and then learn the STAB move that way they can have the rival having the Starter super effective against yours).
0:44: Aww, when you pick your starter they'll fist bump you! :D
1:32: WOOT! Bike is back... and you can turn it into a water bike! YES! They're finally giving us cool items to replace HMs!
2:07: First Pichu got a special form, then Pikachu got 5 special forms, then they made a new Raichu and gave it and Pikachu exclusive Z-Moves. Well now normal Raichu gets it's revenge!
2:24: I like how even the Poke Ball shaking causes the ground to shake, lol!
2:42: Well, I guess that explains why the Gyms are big stadiums now... I hope the audience stands have some kind of forcefield around them.
3:56: "Your journey will take you through vast & lush grasslands, towns which you'll find people and Pokemon working together, and many other locations filled with rich personality". Mind going into detail cause that sort of describes every region.
4:43: James Turner is the art director for SwSh? Neat! Also if you're wondering why he's talking slowly, on his Twitter he was instructed to do so for the translators. Being most of the time we're hearing the translation for the Japanese staff members, it's funny to now realize they may also be speaking slowly for the same reason.
6:04: Continuing on the Bike being a Surf replacement, this is an interesting way of replacing Fly by just having a flying taxi service. Though does that mean if you want to fast travel you'll need to find one of these taxi perches or will you maybe get an item that can hail these taxi's from anywhere (like maybe a handheld light beacon)?
7:56: Wide open area, constantly changing environment, controlling the camera, we Breath of the Wild now! :P
9:58: Lol, the way they shot Weavile's idle pose makes it look like it's confused it's big now. "Um, isn't this suppose to wear off after three turns?".
10:25: So I'm guessing all participating players get one of the Dynamax Raid Pokemon? How does that work? Are you splitting the Pokemon's soul apart due to being permanently big? Was it just a freak accident of multiple of the same Pokemon fusing together and you're just splitting them apart?
10:40: Oh, great, some Pokemon are exclusive to these Raid Battles. Being I'm only seeing fully evolved Pokemon I'm hoping you can still at least catch the Pokemon's base evolution in the wild, or at least the exclusive Pokemon aren't required for the dex.
11:10: And oh yes, thank you for reminding us we need to pay for the online to even use this feature that has exclusive Pokemon... straddling the line right...
12:06: ONE of your rivals, you say? Hmm.
12:13: So, yeah, many have pointed it out but we see the characters speaking yet no text boxes. And they're not just opening and closing their mouths, they're actually making different lip movements. While they could have taken out the text boxes for the trailer... well, Legend of Zelda just started doing voice acting and Pokemon Company has an entire anime department of voice actors...
12:42: Whoa, wait, now that we're seeing Leon from the back I'm noticing a few things. First he's not wearing a crown, he's wearing a normal baseball cap which had a crown design on the bottom of the brim. Also are those sponsor logos on the back of his cape? That's just too funny... and suspicious...
12:45: And yes, we see their family quirk of playing with something dangling from their head, Magnolia her glasses and Sonia her hair.
14:58: Like with Xerneas and the VII Legendaries (and I guess also Kyurem in its fused forms), guessing these are going to be "activated" forms these Legendaries take when they do their Signature Move in battle.

 

[Siggu]

I have to possibilities about Corviknight's stat distribution, both depending on how its "taxi" service is like. Either it's "as fast as possible" (implying a stat distribution reminiscing of the likes of Dodrio, Mega Pidgeot or Swellow) or it's "reliable even on long distances" (that would make me think of a stat distribution more like Celesteela).

(That being said, it would be the greatest of ironies if it ended up becoming an Uber)

 

[Theorymon]

I think this was the point of LGPE and what they said about that being for the more casual crowd and SS being for the more advanced players. No need to worry about making it too confusing if you supplement it with a baby-grade version every other game.

Yeah to be clear I'm really not that worried about it right now (I don't think 3 gimmicks to deal with is all that bad depending on how Dynamaxing turns out), but if they keep introducing a new battle gimmick like this per gen now, it could get overloaded sometime. I guess to be fair, we're a good decade off until you can have an entire team where each Pokemon uses one battle gimmick though, so it's probably not a huge issue yet.

 

[yourDeadGrandad]

Two things about the legendary wolves:

1) They might be based on Alphyn.
2) I get the vibe they might be able to combine into a single, more powerful probably humanoid form (with a sword AND a shield!)

As for what we've seen, I love the legendaries, and I love the rock turtle, and the raven is cool, and there's really nothing to complain about at all.

If the area based on Manchester isn't constantly raining I will be sorely disappointed

 

[Sirya]

Z moves are permanent now because of this fella.

View attachment 178576

Either way, this argument is stupid. We barely know anything about Dynamax, and we're already treating it like it's the apocalypse. Let's wait for more news on the mechanic before we lose our minds for no reason.

You can maintain Necrozma's Z-Crystal and wipe everything else, making it even more special in the same way they wiped all of the gems except for the normal one.

I know enough about Dynamax at the moment. I know that, if not all the Pokémon, at least a bunch of them don't change their designs. I know that they don't keep their moveset, but instead every attack is replaced with a common-generic attack of the same type. I know that the mere concept of giant Pokémon, coming out of nowhere, gives me AIDS, and I know that having a change in a Pokémon evolution, its design, its ability, its typing, is far more interesting as a concept that taking a 1.60m Greninja and make it 8.70m Greninja with more damage.

 

[ReadTheMango]

So, nobody is talking about the music? Full vocal ost, bagpipe gang, nice rendition of the gym theme etc.

I'm hype as anything. Dynamaxing will be... interesting. Surely you can't dynamax and hold an item / z move / mega.

In other news, that one leak mentioning almost everything shown was correct! Looking forward to meeting the other two rivals.

NOVEMBER HYPE

 

[Kanburi]

10:40: Oh, great, some Pokemon are exclusive to these Raid Battles. Being I'm only seeing fully evolved Pokemon I'm hoping you can still at least catch the Pokemon's base evolution in the wild, or at least the exclusive Pokemon aren't required for the dex.

You can battle Steenee in raids so it's not just fully evolved Pokemon.

Regarding raid battles, it seems like a shameless cash grab for more people to buy their online service since in the Direct they state that you have to beat certain raid pokemon for other normal pokemon to appear in the wild world.

I think it was mentioned somewhere that you can accomplish Dynamax Raids with NPCs. The wording on the site also hints to this: "Additionally, some things you can do in the Wild Area, like Max Raid Battles, can become even more fun by connecting with other players."

Can confirm via the Japanese website that you can participate in raids with NPCs.

もしも、マックスレイドバトルで4人のトレーナーが集まらなかった場合は、サポートトレーナーが、いっしょに野生のダイマックスポケモンと戦ってくれるぞ！

If you can't get 4 trainers to aid you in Max Raid Battles, you can take on Dynamax Pokemon with support trainers!

 

[Worldie]

You can maintain Necrozma's Z-Crystal and wipe everything else, making it even more special in the same way they wiped all of the gems except for the normal one.

Kommo-O and other pokemon with unique moves: *Am I a joke to you*

12:06: ONE of your rivals, you say? Hmm.

To be honest the presence of potential extra "rivals" a-la XY looked pretty clear the moment you see the Rival takes the pokemon *weak* to the starter. :)