Nintendo has given us a solid release date for Pokemon Sword and Shield's upcoming Isle of Armor expansion.
It has been announced that Pokemon Sword and Shield's first expansion, Isle of Armor, will release on June 17th. The second expansion, The Crown Tundra, will follow this fall. A trailer for the expansion pass was released, giving us a look at what to expect when the expansion come out, and can be seen here.
This first expansion takes players to the Isle of Armor, where they will be able to experience a new story line. There will also be a number of older Pokemon being introduced into the two games, as well as new Galarian forms. Pokemon shown in the trailer that will be found on the Isle of Armor include Scyther, Tauros, and Exeggutor. It was was revealed that Slowbro will be receiving a Galarian form, and will now be a Poison/Psychic type. Venusaur and Blastoise will both gain Gigantamax forms in the Isle of Armor expansion. The trailer also shows a number of new trainer and characters that players will come across, as well as some areas of the region that will have to be explored.
A brand new Legendary Pokemon, Kubfu was also shown off. This Pokemon is a pure Fighting type, and can evolve into Urshifu. Urshifu has two forms, one that is Fighting/Dark type, and one that is Fighting/Water type. Each type of Urshifu has its own unique Gigantamax form, with each one learning its own unique move.
Other new features in Isle of Armor include new clothes to pick out, new tutor moves, and the Cram-o-matic. Players are able to feed the Cram-o-matic four items, which it will then combine into a new item. Players will be able to receive items such as Poke Balls, with some combinations forming a rare item. Players will be able to create Max Soup, which can grant a Pokemon with hidden potential the ability to Gigantamax. Isle of Armor will also add a new way to battle: Restricted Sparring. Restricted Sparring will limit what types of Pokemon players can choose, and will force them to battle under set conditions.
Some features for the second Sword and Shield expansion, The Crown Tundra, were also revealed for its fall release. Players will be able to go into Pokemon Dens, where they can run into Dynamax Pokemon. The expansion trailer showed a good number of Legendary Pokemon from previous games in the series that can be encountered in these dens. Players will also be able to take part in the Galarian Star Tournament. In this tournament, players will battle a number of trainers that they encountered in Sword and Shield. They will also be able to team up with them to take on the tournament together. The trailer also showed off the new Galarian forms of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Articuno will now be a Psychic/Flying type, Zapdos will become a Fighting/Flying type, and Moltres will be a Dark/Flying type. The trailer briefly shows these three Pokemon fighting, which could hint at a conflict between them. There will also be two new Pokemon joining the Regi line of Legendaries. They are Regieleki, which will be an Electric type, and RegiDrago, which will be a Dragon type.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now for the Nintendo Switch.
