Pokemon Direct Reveals New Mystery Dungeon, Sword and Shield Expansion

Today’s Pokemon Direct from Nintendo was chock full of information, including a new Mystery Dungeon game and an expansion pass for Pokemon Sword and Shield. Let’s get started with the content that’s coming first.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX

Mystery Dungeon fans will be thrilled to learn that their pre-Direct predictions were indeed correct. A new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, dubbed simply Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is in the works for Nintendo Switch. 

The game will launch on March  6, 2020. A demo that offers the chance to transfer save data to the full version will be available later today. Details on Rescue Team DX are still a bit thin right now, and we aren’t really sure yet what the “DX” part of the title refers to.

Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass

As expected, a Sword and Shield expansion pass was announced. There is one for each version of the game. These expansion passes will take the place of expanded versions like Pokemon Platinum and let you dive right in using your current save data. The pass will retail for $29.99.

Development on the pass content is ongoing, but the Game Freak development team showed off an initial trailer. In it, we see a wide variety of new locations planned in the Isle of Armor, which is part one, and the Crown of Tundra, which is part two.

The Isle of Armor will launch in June 2020, and the Crown of Tundra is expected to be out this fall. Both will be available as part of the same expansion pass. The basic stories are essentially the same, but the Sword and Shield versions of the pass feature different characters and Pokemon.

Game Freak is planning on adding more than 200 Pokemon from previous games in the expansion. New updates are set for the base Sword and Shield games that’ll let players who don’t have the expansion pass import Pokemon from the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra into their base game.

The Isle of Armor

Expansion pass director Hiroyuki Tani spent some time discussing the upcoming Pokemon content expansions. The Ise of Armor is developed around the theme of growth, Tani says. It sits off the shores of Galar and has bogs, forests, caves, sand dunes, and gorgeous beach locations. There’s also a dojo on the island, run by Mustard, who is a former champion. Mustard will be your mentor. Klara, a Poison trainer, will be your Sword rival, while Avery the Psychic trainer is your rival in Shield.

The Isle of Armor has its own legendary Pokemon called Kubfu, a Fighting Type Pokemon that Mustard gives you once you reach a certain point. Kubfu evolves into Urshifu, a ‘mon with two styles.

Single-Strike style is a Fighting/Dark hybrid, while Rapid-Strike style is a Fighting/Water hybrid. Urshifu can also Gigantamax, and its G-Max move and form are different depending on which form you evolve it into. Interestingly, you can also use Urshifu in official competitions.

The Crown of Tundra

Tani also discussed the Crown of Tundra, which focuses on exploration. It’s set in the Crown Tundra (duh), an uncharted portion of the Galar region characterized by small communities and harsh living conditions. The Crown Tundra has new Pokemon not seen in Galar, strange temples, and ancient trees that don’t belong there.

Calyrex is Crown Tundra’s legendary Pokemon, a Grass/Psychic graceful Pokemon thought to once have ruled over Galar. Raids are getting expanded too, letting you explore Pokemon Dens and come across both new legendaries and Gigantamax forms of older legendary Pokemon.

Both regions are developed as seamless maps, like the Wild Area, letting you freely move around and control the camera. Both areas are reportedly larger than the Wild Area as well.

There will also be new Galar variants too, including Galarian Slowpoke (more on that in a bit). On top of the return of existing Pokemon like Blastoise and Lycanroc, it looks like the Galar starters are (finally) getting Gigantamax forms — but only on the Isle of Armor.

Other News: New Raids and Galarian Slowpoke

Gigantamax Coalossal, Gigantamax Lapras, and Gigantamax Flapple or Appletun will be more common in Sword and Shield starting today. A new software update will go live later today as well. Once you’ve updated, go to the train station in Wedgehurst, where you’ll meet Klara in Sword or Avery in Shield.

You’ll also encounter a Galarian Slowpoke that wandered in from the Isle of Armor. You can catch it, but you can’t evolve it yet. You’ll need a special item from the Isle of Armor to evolve it into Galarian Slowbro and an item from Crown Tundra to turn it into Galarian Slowking.

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That’s everything announced during the most recent Pokemon Direct from Nintendo. Be sure to keep it here at GameSkinny for more Pokemon news, including that for Sword and Shield, GO, and Mystery Dungeon: Rescuers DX, as it develops.