The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo today revealed some details on new items and features coming in Pokémon Sword and Shield, as well as announcing a specific time period where trainers will have an increased chance to encounter certain Gigantamax pokémon.
As revealed earlier this year, Pokémon Sword and Shield will allow players to engage in raid battles, where up to four trainers can team up to take on a wild Dynamax pokémon. In rare instances, Gigantamax pokémon can appear instead when a raid battle is initiated, and these pokémon have increased size, power, and a different appearance from their regular counterparts. Additionally, Gigantamax pokémon have special moves, and only certain species of pokémon can assume a Gigantamax form.
To celebrate the launch of Pokémon Sword and Shield, players will be more likely to encounter Gigantamax Butterfree in Max Raid Battles from Friday, November 15, 2019, until early January 2020.
As well as giving players an increased chance to catch a Gigantamax pokémon, developers revealed a bit more detail on some new items and features for training pokémon, as well as features intended to make a trainer’s adventure easier to enjoy.
For example, while a pokémon’s nature impacts which of its stats will grow faster or slower than average, players can use a Mint on a pokémon to change these stat-growth patterns without changing a pokémon’s nature. Special supplements such as Protein and Iron which raise a pokémon’s base points will no longer have a limit on the number that can be fed to any given pokémon, and trainers will be able to max out a pokémon’s base points using only these supplements. Trainers can also earn Exp. Candy in raid battles, allowing them to grant their pokémon exp points directly rather than engage them in battle.
To make players lives easier, a new auto-save function will automatically save gamers’ progress during their adventure at various points, such as entering a town or building. This function is automatically enabled by default, but can be turned off if a player wishes to have only their own manually created saves.
As in previous Pokémon games, pokémon received via trade who have nicknames cannot be given a new nickname, however, Pokémon Sword and Shield will allow gamers to give nicknames to pokémon who have been received by trade but does not yet have a nickname already—but only once, so pocket monster fans should choose wisely.
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