‘Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass’ Announcement Deep Dive

What? Pokémon Sword and Shield are evolving! The eighth generation of Pokémon brought many changes to the tried-and-true formula of the beloved franchise, but perhaps none so drastic as the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass. Presumably replacing the third or sequel installment title of previous generations (ie. Platinum or Ultra Sun), the Expansion Pass will be a continuation of players’ adventures in Sword and Shield using existing save data and not a brand new adventure. 

There’s certainly a lot to be gleaned from the announcement trailer and accompanying Pokémon Direct, but, given more than a cursory glance, the Direct provided a surprising depth of information for those willing to dive for it. Here’s a deep dive into the announcement of the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Passes.

New and Semi-Familiar Faces

The footage, broken up between the two sets of new content (The Isle of Armor due out in June, and The Crown Tundra coming in the fall) begins with some very quick cuts followed by a map of Galar before the camera pans east and settling into setting concept art. If Galar were an upside down map of the UK, The Isle of Armor could be comfortably situated on the Isle of Man, a theory the title of the expansion supports. 

This is immediately followed by the reveal of the expansions’ seeming representative Galarian Slowpoke and a brief tease of a concealed Galarian Slowbro, notably with no Shellder on its tail and whose face is briefly visible just before the zoom into Slowpoke, eliminating the possibility of something on its head like Slowking. Perhaps something will have latched onto its left arm? 

Similarly, the second half of the trailer unveils the existence of a Galarian Slowking that’s also being obscured. While nothing was shown of Slowbro and Slowking beyond a few purple appendages and a cape in the case of Slowking, a lot can be inferred about the enigmatic evolutions. For starters, the existence of a poison move in Slowpoke’s movepool, Acid, might suggest the mono-psychic type will become psychic/poison when it evolves, as does the purple coloration. 

The preferred typings of the Isle of Armor’s new rivals, poison in the case of Sword‘s Klara and Shield‘s psychically-inclined Avery, further purport this assumption as both rivals could then use the new forms. What looks like a bent spike on the right of Galarian Slowking’s face already has some speculating Slowking’s new form came about by being bitten by a Mareanie in place of a Shellder, not unlike how Team Rocket’s James is frequently bitten by his Mareanie in the Sun and Moon anime series. That’s all assuming Slowbro and Slowking retain the same typing as one another like their water/psychic Kanto and Johto counterparts and Slowking’s cape isn’t in reference to, say, Lance, the dragon user from Kanto’s Elite Four. 

Speaking of Klara and Avery, they too might be hiding information in their designs. Klara’s bow, for instance, matches Dustox’s wing pattern perfectly but is colored white and black with pink circles as opposed to two shades of green and with reddish circles. This could indicate the Pokémon’s inclusion in the expansion, likely used by Klara as a bug/poison type, or could even indicate a new regional variant of the third gen Pokémon. 

There’s less to note about Avery save that he’s sporting the psychic gym uniform available to players in the game, the insignia of which is two spoons twisted together. This same icon is also on his top hat. Again, this design was already in Sword and Shield prior to the expansion, but it could implicate the presence of Alakazam, the psychic Pokémon that infamously wields two spoons.

CMYK

Some new Gigantamax Pokémon are shown off (yes, Intelleon has a sniper finger) before the first set’s title and logo are given, The Isle of Armor. There’s a lot to note about this alone. To begin, the design is very similar to Sword and Shield‘s with the central figure looking straight forward as opposed to left like Sword or right like Shield. It also concludes the armaments of a knight: sword, shield, and armor, putting Pokémon Gun to rest (though, again, sniper finger). The logo’s color is notably yellow, simultaneously representing all primary colors between both games and the expansion. This isn’t unlike the original non-Japanese titles and appropriately concludes the CMYK color model Zacian and Zamazenta started (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key). What’s particularly intriguing about this is that the central legendary, Urshifu, may not singularly complete the model.

From markings to fur patterns, Urshifu…bears…striking resemblance to Zacian and Zamazenta. Evolving from Kubfu into one of two forms depending on the player’s choices in the expansion, each of Urshifu’s Gigantamax forms seem to echo the coloration of the lupine legendaries. However, just before Kubfu and Urshifu are properly revealed, a black screen with white text describes Urshifu as “the legendary Pokémon that holds the key to the story,” with key highlighted in yellow. Following this, Kubfu is introduced with a black background and white text, how key (black) from the CMYK model is always represented. This seems to signify that Urshifu is key in the color model and the Pokémon’s coloration echoes this. Does this mean there’s another lupine or perhaps ursine legendary associated with rusted armor and the color yellow? Is there a Zazellow out there? 

Continuing this color scheme, the mentor who trains the player in this set is coincidentally named Mustard and his apprentice’s uniforms are appropriately yellow to match with the logo and this potential missing legendary and complimentary armor. That is, unless it’s all just Urshifu–both yellow and key–in which case he really Urshi-fooled me.

Regi-Ruins

Following The Isle of Armor‘s title reveal, the screen goes dark before the camera zooms through wind and snow and finally fixes on a map of Galar once more. The camera pans south, situating the next set of content, The Crown Tundra, in Scotland, this time taking heavy inspiration from the Scottish Highlands. Seemingly central to the set is a cathedral-like structure atop a mountain with an immense white tree or unrevealed Gigantamax Cursola behind it (I choose to believe the latter regardless of the fact that I just made it up). A mysterious new character and the player characters are shown wearing mountain expedition gear, alluding to the theme of exploration for the Expansion Pass’ second part.

The footage then reveals several ruins themed after Hoenn’s “titan” trio Regice, Regirock, and Registeel, who are presumably catchable here and are the first of many legendary Pokémon shown to be returning. This isn’t too remarkable by itself save that the titans are integral to the appearance of Regigigas, a Sinnoh native Pokémon notably absent here. Sinnoh remake confirmed! Well, not really, but fans can hope.

Connections to Kalos

A fourth ruin is, in fact, shown, though not representative of Regigigas. Instead, there are two all-new Regis who appear to be an electric (Regilectric?) and a dragon-type (Regivern? Regiwyrm? Regidrake? Arceus forbid, Regidragon?). This is exciting in and of itself–especially considering the sensational designs–but there is a lot potentially hidden here. The dragon Regi’s design, for example, seems like a call back to the enigmatic dragon of Hammerlocke’s past, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Gigantamax version of the Pokémon shaped like a more traditional dragon, perhaps with wings matching Hammerlocke’s unique central structure. 

Even more curious, the Pokémon’s coloration is not only identical to that of Yveltal, Pokémon Y‘s cover legendary, but the formation of its eyes–again, identical in color to Yveltal’s–are in the formation of a “Y.” Conversely, the seemingly electric-type Regi’s coloration might not be exact, but it’s vaguely reminiscent of Xerneas, the cover Pokémon from X, albeit with a more electric hue of yellow and a distinct “X” formation of the eyes. With X and Y taking inspiration from France, it’s understandable that Sword and Shield–based on the UK–would have ties back to the Kalos region and the sixth generation of Pokémon. 

In fact, that’s far from the only call back to Kalos in the announcement trailer. Talonflame, a fan favorite and iconic Pokémon from Kalos, is prominently featured on a monitor at the very beginning of the trailer and again featured in some of the concept art, potentially simply informing the Pokémon’s return (though that hardly seems coincidental). Further, the mysterious individual wearing mountain climbing gear from The Crown Tundra expansion bares resemblance to Grant, the rock type gym leader from X and Y known as a proficient rock and mountain climber. 

What all of this amounts to has yet to be seen, though many fans have clamored for the opportunity to return to Kalos, the only generation of Pokémon to not receive a third or sequel installment. Perhaps Game Freak is teasing such an opportunity via Sword and Shield, perhaps in an additional Expansion Pass, or it could simply be establishing the regions and melding them together.

Stuff of Legend

The footage quickly flows from one legendary trio to another, this time with the reveal of Galarian forms of the original trio, the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Since Gigantamax transformations don’t alter a Pokémon’s typing, it’s fairly safe to assume these are Galarian forms and not Gigantamax transformations. As to those new typings, the appearance of each Pokémon and the animation during their reveal gives a pretty good indicator of what to expect. 

The screen visibly darkens as it focuses in on Moltres, whose new fiery black and red design further suggests a dark/fire typing. Articuno’s new soft purple and black coloration with blaring blue eyes and an accompanying glare animation brings psychic/ice typing to mind. Finally, Zapdos’ ostrich-esque appearance with strong legs and shocking accents, paired with its clashing animations, is presumably fighting/electric. This would not only allow each bird to retain its signature elemental type, but also create a proper effectiveness triangle for the birds courtesy of the dark, fighting, and psychic typings. 

At the center of The Crown Tundra and featured in the logo’s artwork is Calyrex, the psychic/grass type “King Pokémon.” Interestingly enough, the revealed form of Calyrex doesn’t perfectly match the logo, likely meaning the new legendary has a Gigantamax form or some other alternative form in the expansion. And, no, that isn’t the Triforce prominently featured in Calyrex’s design (Pokémon is merely published by Nintendo and not actually developed or produced by them, after all). 

The symbol is actually Mitsuuroko, translated as “three scales” and the family crest of the Hojo clan. Nintendo repurposed it in The Legend of Zelda way back in the day. Calyrex isn’t the king of Hyrule or even a promotion for Breath of the Wild 2. I’m not sure what the implications of this are (perhaps a tie-in to the three birds?) but it’s still worth noting. 

The People Behind the Pass

Speaking of Game Freak, the developer behind the Pokémon franchise has overlapped the production of its games since the days of the Japanese Pokémon Blue, Gold, and Silver. This is still the case. Sword and Shield‘s director, Shigeru Ohmori, is not working as the director of the Expansion Pass; that title has been passed to Hiroyuki Tani. Instead, Ohmori and the main team are likely hard at work on the next main series title and/or remake. What that is remains to be seen, though one would think a Diamond and Pearl remake is in order for 2021 as that marks the titles’ fifteenth anniversary. Sword and Shield producer Junichi Masuda has previously professed to enjoy surprising players, though, so there’s truly no saying. 

What’s emphatically clear is that there is a lot to look forward to with the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Passes. With so much going on in the brief trailer and the Pokémon Direct, I don’t doubt that there are countless secrets I missed and many others waiting to be unveiled when the first half of the Expansion Pass, The Isle of Armor, launches later this June. Be sure to let me know if you catch something I didn’t, and I’ll see you in the far reaches of Galar as our adventure continues!