Pokemon Sword and Shield are releasing on November 15, legendary Pokemon and co-op raids revealed

by Bryan Vitale on 05 June, 2019

During today's Pokemon Direct, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company dropped a ton of information about Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, the first traditional games in the long-running series to arrive on Nintendo Switch after last year's more experimental Let's Go Eevee and Let's Go Pikachu. Not only did we learn that Pokemon Sword and Shield will release on November 15, we also got information on a handful of new Gen 8 mons as well as an interesting new co-op raiding system.

As with the launch of any new generation of Pokemon, the most interesting part are the new mons themselves, obviously. Starters Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble kicked off a frenzy of new fanart with their initial reveal back in February, and now we have a few other companions to start complementing our battle rosters.

New Gen 8 Pokemon Wooloo, Gossifleur, Eldegoss, Drednaw, and Corviknight

The white fur that covers **Wooloo**’s body grows throughout its life and will fully grow back in three months even if it has been completely shorn. The fur is used for clothing, carpets, and other goods and is very popular as a specialty product of the Galar region. Wooloo live as a herd and mimic the actions of their Trainer or herd leader. They dislike conflict, and if they need to escape from enemies, they will simply roll away.

**Gossifleur** prefers land with clear water and air. Its pollen has a healing effect and is commonly used as a folk medicine remedy and made into a tea given to children in the Galar region when they are ill. Gossifleur travels over long distances by getting blown along by the wind. It controls the direction of its travels by twisting its body and petals.

When Gossifleur evolves into **Eldegoss**, its head becomes covered in thick cotton fluff. This cotton fluff serves as a cushion that helps to protect Eldegoss’s head from damage. The tiny seeds attached to the cotton fluff are said to be highly nutritious and beneficial to both people and Pokémon. Eldegoss spreads these seeds throughout the region, making the soil of the Galar region rich in nutrients.

The jagged fangs of the Bite Pokémon **Drednaw** are strong and sharp enough to bite through rock and iron. Though it has a heavy shell, its well-developed muscles allow it to move quickly. Drednaw is known to be extremely aggressive, so it takes a skilled Trainer to tame and handle this Pokémon. It seems that some Trainers will release Drednaw back into the wild once they discover they can’t handle it.

It is said that **Corviknight** is the strongest Pokémon living in the skies of the Galar region. It can often be seen fearlessly soaring through the air. Many say that any Pokémon foolish enough to challenge Corviknight are sent running with just a sharp glare and cry from this fearsome Pokémon. Because Corviknight possess superb flying skills and high intelligence, many of them work for the company called Galar Taxi and help transport people from town to town.

New Gen 8 Legendary Pokemon Zacian And Zamazenta

As with pretty much every Pokemon release, Sword and Shield each come with a distinctive new legendary. In this newest pairing of legendary Pokemon, we have dog-like creatures that are each representative of their respective titles. Pokemon Sword features the blade-wielding Zacian, while Pokemon Shield has the armored Zamazenta instead.

**Zacian**’s attacks are so graceful that its movements captivate opponents. Holding what appears to be a sword in its mouth, Zacian’s shining blade can cut through anything.

With majestic movements and what appears to be a shield covering its body, **Zamazenta** can turn back any attack and overwhelm any opponents that dare face it.

Pokemon Sword and Shield Dynamax Band and Max Raid Battles

New to the Galar region is the Dynamax feature, a phenomenom where a Pokemon can become gigantic during battle. Only trainers who hold a Dynamax Band can Dynamax their Pokémon, and this can only be done once per battle -- the effect ends after three turns. Dynamaxed Pokemon will use attacks simply called Max Moves, which can have additional effects compared to their tiny counterparts. For instance, the Normal-type Max Move Max Strike, can lower the Speed stat of an opponent it hits. This doesn't really sound too different from some normal move effects, so maybe it'll become more clear later how exactly these Max Moves set themselves apart.

Related to Dynamaxing are Max Raid Battles. Sometimes, wild Pokemon will be Dynamaxed, and unliked their trained counterparts, these ones will stay buffed throughout the whole battle. Players will be able to party up with three other trainers in order to battle these wild giants, and support characters will tag along to help out even in the case of solo play.

Who needs a Thunder Stone when you can do this?

Check out a trailer featuring the new Dynamax feature below:

Pokemon Sword and Shield Wild Areas and Gym Battles

One last highlighted feature of Sword and Shield are Wild Areas -- regions of Galar that will hold unique monsters nearly every time they are visited. They seem a little bit like a traditional Safari Zone of sorts, but trainers will be given extra control over the in game camera to locate unique Pokemon and items. Maybe this is the next best thing we'll ever get to Pokemon Snap, alas.

Pokemon Gyms return in the Galar region, where trainers will battle fierce Gym Leaders in the hopes of becoming the regions Champion. It's a well-worn progression at this point, but it seems to suggest a sort of return to normalcy after Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon bucked the trend with their island trials instead of conventional Gyms.

Along with Gyms come a slew of Gym Leaders, as well as the usual Rival and Champion. In Sword and Shield, we are also introduced to Sonia, the granddaughter of the region's Pokemon expert, Magnolia. Sonia is a childhood friend of Leon, Galar's Champion.