Today's Pokemon Sword and Shield announcement was largely focused on new Gigantamax Pokemon, although there were a few twists in what we learned today. There is Gigantamax Pikachu and Gigantamax Eevee for people who owned Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee!, and a Gigantamax Meowth is only going to be available to people who purchase the game early. Gigantamax Charizard and Gigantamax Butterfree have been added to the roster, too!
Kicking things off is the addition of Charizard and Butterfree to the list of Gen 1 Gigantamax Pokemon that will be available in Sword and Shield. Butterfree and Charizard were both pretty popular in the animes heydey, playing second fiddle only to PIkachu himself. Now, they're all set to get even stronger in the newest game of the franchise.
Gigantmax Butterfree is a Bug/flying type, of course. Our favorite flappy boi has his Bug-type attacks change to the G-Max move "Befuddle" which will deal damage and scatter scales around the enemy which inflicts them with poison, paralysis, or sleep. On the other side of the coin, Gigantamax Charizard's G-Max ability is Wildfire — any of his Fire-type attacks will deal instant damage and cause additional damage over four turns to any Pokemon who aren't Fire-type creatures.
The addition of Butterfree and Charizard is sure to be a welcome sight to longtime Pokemon fans, but that's not all that was announced today: there are also two version-specific exclusives for Pokemon Let's Go owners and one timed exclusive up for grabs.
Gigantamax Pikachu, Eevee, and Meowth Are Special Bonuses
In addition to Butterfree and Charizard, a Gigantamax Pikachu and Eevee have been revealed as exclusives for Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! owners and Meowth has been revealed as a timed exclusive. Here are the quick facts on these three special Pokemon!
Gigantamax Pikachu
- Gigantamax Pikachu's G-Max Move is Volt Crash, an attack which paralyzes all opponents.
- Available to people who have play records from Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! on your Nintendo Switch.
- Received at the Wild Area Station in the game, located about two hours into the game.
- Cannot evolve.
Gigantamax Eevee
- Gigantamax Eevee's G-Max Move is Cuddle, which causes any opposite-gender Pokemon to fall in love with Eevee. D'aww.
- Available to people who have play records from Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! on your Nintendo Switch.
- Received at the Wild Area Station in the game, located about two hours into the game.
- Cannot evolve.
Gigantamax Meowth
- Gigantamax Meowth gets G-Max Gold Rush, which deals damage to opponents and gives you a "considerable" in-game cash bonus following the conclusion of the battle. It will also confuse opponents.
- You'll need an Internet connection to get Gigantamax Meowth, although you won't need a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
- Acquired by going to the Mystery Gift option and selecting "Get via Internet" from Friday, November 15, 2019–Wednesday, January 15, 2020.
- Cannot evolve.
And that's it for today's new Pokemon! You can see the new additions in motion in the trailer below. Pokemon Sword and Shield arrives for the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.
What do you think of the Gigantamax Pikachu, Eevee, and Meowth exclusives? Which of the five new Gigantamax Pokemon is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
