Well, I was wrong about that whole “I don’t expect new Pokemon to be added to the game (paraphrasing)” thing I said a few days ago… Today during the Pokemon Direct, and expansion pass was announced for Pokemon Sword and Shield. The new Expansion Pass will include two new areas with their own adventures to be had. In these new areas, 200 previously unavailable Pokemon from past games, and a few new ones, will now be available to find and capture. Fan favorites like Garchomp and Kingdra will be included. New Gigantamax forms have also been revealed for Blastoise and Venusaur as well as the three Galarian starters. It looks pretty cool honestly! What I assume to be Galarian forms for Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres have also been revealed.

But I think what has me most interested in the Expansion Pass is the new adventures. Coming first will be the Isle of Armor set to release this June. On this island, you will mentor under Mustard the same Mentor who helped train Champion Leon. You will explore the island completing tasks and competing against other students. Depending on your game version you will have a different main rival. In Pokemon Sword, you will deal with Klara and in Shield, Avery.

A new update for the game released today will allow you to meet these trainers in Wedgehurst Station and give you a chance to catch a Galarian Slowpoke who can then be evolved into a Galarian Slowbro or Slowking from special items you find in the new areas. As you begin your journey in the Isle of Armor you will also be given a new legendary pokemon to care for, Kubfu. Kubfu can be evolved into Urshifu as you progress and it can have one of two forms: a single-strike style that is fighting and dark type or a rapid-strike style that is fighting and water.

The second part of the Expansion Pass is the Crown Tundra, a frozen mountainous area home to the legendary pokemon Calyrex. Not as much info was given for the Crown Tundra since its release is slated for this Fall. What we do know is that your character has been tasked to lead an expedition through the area. Both parts of the Expansion Pass will feature numerous new Max Raid encounters and cosmetic items to unlock. Each area will also be open and accessible as soon as you can reach the wild areas.

Pre-orders for the Expansion Pass have already begun for a price of $29.99. As a bonus for hopping in early a special Pikachu/Eevee jersey is being given out. For anyone looking to get access to new Pokemon being included with the Pass, Gamefreak has let it be known that an update will drop allowing players without it to trade for the newly added monsters. I am honestly kind of happy to see the DLC route being taken here rather than an additional game that included hardly any new material as we have seen since Pokemon Yellow. I know many won’t agree with me but hey such is having an opinion.

What side of the fence do you sit on regarding the Pokemon Expansion Pass?