An expansion DLC has been announced for Pokemon Sword and Shield – The Isle of Armor. Here’s everything you need to know about the first of the two expansion DLCs.
The hugely anticipated Pokemon Direct revealed the new expansion pass, something that will grant you access to both Pokemon Sword and Shield add ons – The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra.
Trainers will have their eye on the first one though, The Isle of Armor, as that will release first in June of this year. Pokemon Directs have been known to disappoint in the past but it’s safe to say fans are loving the massive content drop this time around.
What new content is there?
The Isle of Armor will bring about a new adventure in Pokemon Sword and Shield, taking you to a never before seen area of the Galar region. Interestingly the trailer suggests its located off the east coast of the Galar mainland.
- Read More: Rewatch the January 9 Pokemon Direct
It looks like there will be plenty to do, too. “Players will find wave-swept beaches, forests, bogs, caves, and sand dunes,” The Pokemon Company’s press release reads.
Gigantamax Galar starters
Gigantamax forms each of the Galar region’s starter Pokemon have been revealed. That means Rillaboom, Cinderace and Inteleon will have more powerful forms to look forward to using.
Their details are as follows:
| Gigantamax | Rillaboom | Cinderace | Inteleon |
| Category | Drummer Pokemon | Striker Pokemon | Secret Agent Pokemon |
| Type | Grass | Fire | Water |
| Height | 91’10″+ | 88’7″+ | 131’3″+ |
| Ability | Overgrow | Blaze | Torrent |
Bulbasaur and Squirtle included after all
Avid Pokemon trainers will have known the two missing Kanto starters inclusion – Bulbasaur and Squirtle – was more a matter of when than if. An earlier leak revealed 35 more Pokemon that weren’t include in the initial release.
Among those was, of course, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and their respective evolutions. The Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion pass trailer strongly hints that these iconic ‘mons will be added and will even have Gigantamax forms for good measure.
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Kubfu and Urshifu
Two completely new species have been confirmed for the first Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC, too. These aren’t just any old Pokemon but brand new legends.
Kubfu is a dual fighting and dark-type and will evolve into Urshifu once it has had sufficient training. Urshifu has two forms, or “styles”, Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style. It’s the classic fighting philosophy of volume versus precision.
Both of these forms have their own separate Gigantamax Pokemon as well. It looks like their Gigantamax forms will play an important role in the lore of The Isle of Armor…
Expansion price and other details
There are naturally a lot of questions about how these new expansions are going to work. Firstly, you will need Pokemon Sword and Shield in order to access them.
They are not free and it will cost $29.99 (£26.99) for the expansion pass. The pass entitles you to both parts of the expansion – The Isle of Armor (Part 1) and The Crown Tundra (Part 2). They cannot be purchased separately. So, you only need to purchase it once to get access to both expansions.
It’s also important to note that the expansion pass is separate for each game. That means if you have both Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield and you want the expansion pass on both copies, you’ll need to purchase it twice.