Gigantamax, Version-exclusive Gym Leaders, New Pokémon Revealed

Some big news for Pokémon Sword & Shield was revealed today — including Gigantamaxing, a new phenomenon similar to the previously-revealed Dynamaxing, except specific to only certain species and goes so far to change the Pokémon’s appearance. Additionally, new Pokémon were revealed, along with several new characters, including two new Gym Leaders.

You can find out more in the trailer above, as well as by continuing reading below. The Pokémon Sword & Shield section of the site will also be updated throughout the day, along with this post to add links to the corresponding pages.

• Three new Pokémon have been revealed today, in addition to Yamper from the E3 demo finally being officially revealed.
  • Alcremie is a new Fairy-type Pokémon that can Gigantamax into the towering Gigantamax Alcremie.
  • Rolycoly is a new Rock-type Pokémon with either Heatproof or the new Steam Engine ability, the latter of which boosts its Speed when hit by a Fire- or Water-type move.
  • Duraludon is a new Steel/Dragon-type Pokémon that has either Light Metal or Heavy Metal for its ability.

• Gigantamaxing is a separate, yet similar phenomenon to Dynamaxing.
  • Only select Pokémon are capable of Gigantamaxing, while every Pokémon is capable of Dynamaxing.
  • Drednaw, Corviknight, and the newly-revealed Alcremie all have special Gigantamax forms and exclusive G-Max moves.
  • Gigantamax Drednaw‘s Water-type moves change to G-Max Stonesurge, which deals damage to the foe and also activates a Stealth Rock effect.
  • Gigantamax Corviknight‘s Flying-type moves change to G-Max Wind Rage, which removes effects of moves like Reflect, Light Screen, Spikes, and Electric Terrain.
  • Gigantamax Alcremie grows to a massive 98’5″+ and changes its Fairy-type moves to G-Max Finale, which damages the foe and while healing its allies (and potentially itself — the wording is unclear).

• The Galar region’s Pokémon League is a little different from other regions.
  • The Gym Challenge features eight Gyms to fight and eight Gym Badges to collect.
  • The Champion Cup takes place once a year in the Galar region and “exemplary Trainers throughout the region,” such as those that complete the Gym Challenge, can participate for a chance to challenge the reigning Champion for their title.
  • This suggests that badges are not the only way to vie for that title, although that will probably just affect non-player characters.
  • When taking on the Gym Challenge, Trainers must wear a special uniform and can choose three numbers to display on their uniform for this challenge.

• Several new characters have been revealed as well.
  • Chairman Rose is the chairman of the Galar League and the president of a large business. He was the first to endorse Leon for the Gym Challenge.
  • Oleana is Chairman Rose’s secretary and vice president of the Rose’s company.
  • Bea is a version-exclusive Gym Leader who focuses on Fighting-type Pokémon. She rarely shows her emotions and practices Galar karate. Bea is exclusive to Pokémon Sword.
  • Allister is a version-exclusive Gym Leader and a master of Ghost-type Pokémon. He’s young, shy, and fearful, hence why he wears a mask most of the time. Allister is exclusive to Pokémon Shield.

• There’s a Double-Pack of the game available that contains codes for Dynamax Crystals, which can be used in the Wild Area to encounter special Dynamax Pokémon in Max Raid Battles. These codes allow Trainers to face Dynamax Larvitar and Dynamax Jangmo-o, which are normally available much later in the game, and are normally version exclusives — Jangmo-o exclusive to Pokémon Sword and Larvitar exclusive to Pokémon Shield.
• By purchasing the downloadable version of Pokémon Sword or Shield from the Nintendo eShop, players will receive a code that they can redeem for 12 Quick Balls in their game.

Here are some more assorted screenshots that were included in today’s press release: