A new trailer for thePokemon SwordandShieldDLC expansions, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, debuted earlier today and included the officialJune 17 release date for The Isle of Armor. One of their big selling points is the addition of Gigantamax forms for Blastoise, Venusaur, and the Galar starter Pokemon, but for those who want Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble with their hidden abilities now, there is also a campaign active through the cloud storage servicePokemon Home.
The campaign began at 1:00 p.m. UTC through the Mystery Gift functionality ofPokemon Home. To receive the starters with hidden abilities, players need to connect their console and mobile versions ofHometo the same Nintendo Account and “transfer any Pokemon” betweenHomeandPokemon SwordorShieldaccording to the mobile application.
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Starter Pokemon are only available with the abilities Overgrow, Blaze, and Torrent through normal means, so having access to hidden abilities is a boon for any trainer. The Galar starters are also particularly useful forcompetitive breeding: Grookey’s Grassy Surge activates a terrain that heals grounded Pokemon, Scorbunny’s Libero acts the same as Greninja’s Protean by changing its type to match the move it’s using, and Sobble’s Sniper boosts the damage of critical hits.
Players usingPokemon Homehave also gotten the opportunity totrade with friends onlineas part of a limited-time event to celebrate the service’s version 1.1.0 update that made it compatible with the DLC expansions. Returning Pokemon will be added into the game that can be traded fromHomeintoSwordandShield, and there will be entirely new Pokemon like a Galarian form of Slowbro.
Also being added into the game are brand new Legendary Pokemon, including Galarian forms of the trio Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, as well asRegeleki and Regidraco— two new members of the regi family introduced inPokemon RubyandSapphire. The Crown Tundra DLC will include the ability to catch the box cover Legendaries through Max Raid battles too.
Thanks to the success ofPokemon SwordandShieldon the Nintendo Switch,The Pokemon Company announced it had its second-best yearin history just behind 2016 whenPokemon GOwas released. No doubt the DLC expansions will help these games continue their dominant presence, and having hidden ability starters to mess around with is a plus for everyone jumping back into Galar.
Pokemon SwordandShieldare available now for Nintendo Switch.
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