Missed the Pokemon Direct? You can (re-)watch the Pokemon Direct for January 9, 2020 here!
We have also included all the details for Pokemon Sword and Shield, their Expansion Passes and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Team Rescue DX.
Pokemon DLC – A First
The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo announced new downloadable content for the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield video games. The Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and the Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass will contain The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions, two separate adventures that will enable fans to meet new characters, catch newly discovered Pokémon, and explore new areas in the Galar region.
Available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch™ systems, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield are the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch titles of all time and had the highest-grossing launch of any Pokémon games, with more than six million units sold worldwide during launch weekend.
More then DLC
During a Pokémon Direct presentation, The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo also unveiled Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. The game revisits the classic Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, which were originally released in the US in 2006.
Now on Nintendo Switch systems and with updated visuals and a stunning picture-book art style, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX launches on March 6, 2020.
POKÉMON SWORD / SHIELD EXPANSION PASS
Trainers will be able to jump right into their new adventures with the same save data they have been using to play Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield. They will also be able to begin exploring the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra at almost any point in the main games.
Whether a Trainer has just recently started their adventure in the Galar region or is well along the path to becoming Champion, they will be able to enjoy the new content as soon as it’s released.
The Isle of Armor is scheduled to be released by the end of June 2020, and The Crown Tundra in the fall of 2020. The Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass, which include both sets of content, will be available for pre-purchase for a suggested retail price of $29.99 starting later today, January 9, 2020. Both expansions will include a new area to explore, newly discoverable Pokémon, clothing items, handy features, and more.
In addition, fans can receive a special bonus when purchasing the Expansion Pass: a Pikachu Uniform and an Eevee Uniform. Fans will be able to receive the Pikachu and Eevee Uniforms in Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield by using codes that they will receive after they purchase the Expansion Pass.
The Isle of Armor
In this expansion, Trainers will head to the Isle of Armor, the stage of a new adventure in the Galar region. The Isle of Armor is a giant island full of environments not seen in Galar before. There players will find wave-swept beaches, forests, bogs, caves, and sand dunes.
There are also plenty of Pokémon that make this island their home, living freely amid the lush natural surroundings. There’s even a dojo here that specializes in some very particular training styles. Trainers and their Pokémon will take up an apprenticeship under the master of this dojo and train hard to become even stronger.
The Crown Tundra
This expansion is set in the snow-swept realm of the Crown Tundra. The Crown Tundra features a beautiful shining, silvery landscape. In this frigid area, with its jagged winter mountains, people live in small communities where they support and rely on one another.
A certain person will appoint the player as the leader of their exploration team in the Crown Tundra, where Trainers will be tasked with investigating the reaches of this frozen land. Here, Trainers will be able to explore the full depth of Pokémon Dens, which they’ve so far only been able to glimpse in Max Raid Battles.
MORE PAST POKÉMON AVAILABLE TO OBTAIN
Many Pokémon that didn’t originally appear in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield make their homes on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra. Trainers will meet a lively array of diverse Pokémon, from newly discovered Legendary Pokémon and new regional forms to familiar Pokémon that have been seen living in other regions. Free updates are also planned for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield to coincide with the release of these expansions.
Updates are scheduled for the same days that The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions are released. Each of these updates will enable players who haven’t purchased an Expansion Pass to receive Pokémon that will be added via The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions through means such as trading.
Players will also be able to bring over past Pokémon to their games from the cloud service Pokémon HOME, scheduled to launch in February 2020, as long as the Pokémon appear in The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions.
NEW OUTFITS
Fans will be able to obtain a special training uniform in The Isle of Armor. In The Crown Tundra, Trainers can don exploration gear to prepare themselves for researching the many intriguing destinations the tundra holds. They might find a strange temple where they least expect it or a mysterious giant tree growing in a place it doesn’t seem to belong.
NEW CHARACTERS
During their adventure, Trainers will run into many interesting characters.
A man named Mustard will appear in The Isle of Armor and will be responsible for the player’s training. He’s a legendary Trainer who held the seat of Champion for an astounding 18 years, back before Dynamaxing was incorporated into the battles of the Pokémon League. His record has yet to be beaten. In fact, Champion Leon himself trained under Mustard, and Mustard was the first one to recognize Leon’s latent talent.
There are two new rivals that can appear in The Isle of Armor: Klara and Avery. They’re skilled Trainers of Poison-type Pokémon and Psychic-type Pokémon, respectively, and they’re training hard so that they can someday set up a Gym and stadium for their own type.
Trainers will face a different rival depending on which game they’re playing. Klara specializes in Poison-type Pokémon and is training hard at Mustard’s dojo. She’ll do just about anything to appear adorable and cute, as popularity is what she admires most of all. She goes about her days with a smile on her face, but hiding behind it is a calculating nature that she puts to very good use. Avery is one of the Trainers who strive to become stronger at Mustard’s dojo, and he is a proficient user of Psychic-type Pokémon. He is gentlemanly and well-mannered but also very proud.
NEW FEATURES ADDED IN THE ISLE OF ARMOR AND THE CROWN TUNDRA
There will be over one hundred new clothing items added in The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. In The Isle of Armor, Trainers will also find new items that will help them along their journey, like an Exp. Charm that’ll come in handy when leveling up their Pokémon. New tutor moves that have never been available in past Pokémon core series games will appear in The Isle of Armor expansion along with Restricted Sparring, where Trainers will be limited in what types of Pokémon they can use and forced to battle under set conditions.
In The Crown Tundra expansion, Trainers and their friends will be able to enter and explore Pokémon Dens in a new gameplay feature. Deep inside these dens, they’ll have a chance to encounter Legendary Pokémon from previous Pokémon core series games.
Many Pokémon not found in Galar’s Wild Area make their home on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra. Trainers will have their Galar Pokédexes updated so that they can register even more Pokémon as they discover them. In The Isle of Armor, players will aim to complete the Isle of Armor Pokédex, while in The Crown Tundra, they’ll be working on the Crown Tundra Pokédex.
There are Pokémon Dens on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, just like in the Wild Area. When Trainers check out a Pokémon Den that has a pillar of red light coming out of it, they’ll be able to participate in a Max Raid Battle. These are battles where the player will team up with three other Trainers to take on a Dynamax Pokémon.
In the Pokémon Dens on the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, Trainers will be able to encounter Pokémon that aren’t found in the Wild Area. They’ll be able to invite friends to join these Max Raid Battles—and not just friends who are playing using the Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass or Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass. Players will be able to have even friends who are playing Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield without an Expansion Pass come and join them.
SNEAK PEEK AT POKÉMON SWORD / SHIELD EXPANSION PASS AVAILABLE VIA UPDATE
After the January 9, 2020 update will be distributed for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield players that will allow them to experience a small slice of the Expansion Pass’ new content. Once they’ve received the update, players will need to head to Wedgehurst Station. There, they’ll meet a Trainer who will appear in the Expansion Pass content. In Pokémon Sword, Trainers will encounter Klara, while in Pokémon Shield, they’ll run into Avery.
Players can even add a Galarian Slowpoke to their team. It doesn’t matter whether players have purchased the Expansion Pass or not—anyone who’s playing Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield will be able to experience the beginning of the Expansion Pass’s story.
SPECIAL POKÉMON SWORD / SHIELD EXPANSION PASS PURCHASE BONUS
If Trainers purchase the Expansion Pass, they’ll be able to receive a Pikachu Uniform and an Eevee Uniform as a special purchase bonus. They’ll be able to wear these outfits in the expansions but also in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield.
For more information about the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass, please visit www.Pokemon.com/SwordShieldEX
POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: RESCUE TEAM DX
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is set in a world inhabited only by Pokémon. When players first open their eyes, they see a Pokémon in front of them, and they can understand what it’s saying. Upon closer inspection, players will realize that they themselves have become a Pokémon.
According to the Pokémon they meet, natural disasters have suddenly started occurring all over this world, causing all kinds of problems. Players and their partner Pokémon decide to form a rescue team to go help Pokémon that are in trouble.
Players will answer a few questions that appear at the beginning of the game to help determine which Pokémon they will be. Next, they will decide the Pokémon that will be their partner on this adventure. The main character and their partner can be chosen from 16 different Pokémon. Players will get job requests in various forms—like on the Bulletin Board at Pelipper Post Office or from letters that will be delivered to the mailbox at the player’s rescue team base.
As players complete jobs, their rescue team’s rescue points will increase. When they collect enough points, their rescue team’s rank will go up. When they first form their rescue team, they’ll be Rookie Rank. Players can gain experience as a rescue team on their way to what all rescue teams aspire to—the Gold Rank.
In this world, Mystery Dungeons can be found in various places, such as mountains, canyons, forests, and more. Each time players enter a Mystery Dungeon; the layout is slightly different. They’ll need to adventure through these dungeons to complete the jobs they will receive requests for one after another.
Inside dungeons, players will find various useful items—such as Seeds, Berries, and TMs—which will help them on their adventure. As with the layout of the dungeons, the kinds of items and their locations will change each time players enter a dungeon. Players will need to use the right items at the right time to help out Pokémon that are in trouble.
Dungeons are inhabited by many Pokémon that will attack the main character. Inside dungeons, battles are turn based, meaning that for each move you make, your opponents will also make a move. Since opponents won’t move unless the player moves in these turn-based battles, the player will have plenty of time to think about what their next move should be. If the player panics and presses a button or walks a bunch of steps carelessly, they could find themselves in a scrape they weren’t anticipating. Making decisions calmly and carefully considering how the opposing Pokémon are moving are the keys to successfully navigating a dungeon.
This title can be played in any mode on the Nintendo Switch—TV mode, tabletop mode, or handheld mode. In addition, the following features have been added that can assist players with controlling their Pokémon and progressing through the game, so even if it’s their first time, they can easily adventure through a dungeon.
POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: RESCUE TEAM DX FEATURES
- Auto mode: Starting with this title, an auto-mode feature has been added that lets players progress through their adventures more easily. By just pressing the L Button, the main character and their team will move efficiently. When a player approaches an enemy, auto mode will turn off automatically.
- Unleash moves automatically with the A Button: Ordinarily the player would select from one of four moves to use on an enemy. When players aren’t sure which move to use, they can get the enemy right in front of them and press the A Button to automatically unleash the best move to use on that foe.
- Up to eight Pokémon can travel with you: When Trainers depart for a dungeon, they can have three members on their team as usual, but in this title, they can also add Pokémon they encounter as they go through dungeons to get up to eight teammates walking through a dungeon with them.
- Fainting in a dungeon: If a player is defeated in a dungeon, they can ask for other players to rescue them, or they can rescue themselves with another of their own rescue teams. Then they’ll be able to resume their adventure from where they fainted.
- From 7:00 a.m. PST on January 9, a demo version of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX will be available for download at no cost from Nintendo eShop. Aside from being able to play the early part of the story in this demo version, players will also be able to carry demo save data over to the full version when it releases on March 6, 2020. Fans can also pre-purchase and preload Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX from Nintendo eShop starting at midnight on January 9.
For more information about Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, please visit www.Pokemon.com/mysterydungeon
Pffew that was a lot of Poke-info. Let’s conclude this one with the note that we will roll out various Pokemon related items going into thing specifically over this weekend.
