Nintendo Announced ‘Pokemon Sword’ And ‘Shield’ Expansions, But Everyone’s Talking About One Pokemon

Pokemon Sword and Shield are getting bigger, with more Pokemon and even more Gigantamax battles in new expansions coming later in 2020. Nintendo announced on Thursday that two expansions to their Nintendo Switch Pokemon games — Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Shield Expansion Pass will expand the Galar region and allow you to keep playing new stories with your existing Sword and Shield save data.

Nintendo shared the news with a video that showed plenty of new Pokemon and some details on what trainers will see — The Isle of Armor is slated to hit in June 2020 and Crown Tundra is expected later this fall. The legendary Pokemon Kubfu will apparently be in Isle of Armor, and new Gigantamax forms of starter Pokemon will also be in the mix. Crown Tundra, meanwhile, will feature legendary Pokemon Calyrex and teases a new co-op play type.

New outfits, battles and rivals are sure to hit the expansion, which is $30 in the Nintendo store. But the big news is that more than 200 Pokemon will be added to the game, further filling the game’s Pokedex. What most people took away from the announcement, however, is that a Pokemon has a really big gun now.

This isn’t news, really, as Sword and Shield starter Pokemon Sobble’s final evolution — Inteleon — was already in the games and holding what’s basically a water gun during some attacks. But fans noticed the Gigantamax version of an Inteleon attack in the trailer, where he uses his tail to essentially make a sniper’s nest and fire a water gun at his enemy. Very quickly, fans had a lot of fun taking that image and making a quick gaming meme out of it.

Still, adding to what was an enjoyable journey in Sword and Shield is great news for everyone, and adding 200 Pokemon to the mix will certainly help with some fans who were upset the full Pokedex wasn’t available in the game.