Guide: All the returning Pokémon in Sword and Shield’s Expansion Pass

DLC ahoy! Nintendo has announced DLC for Pokémon in Sword and Shield in the form of the Expansion Pass. The DLC will release in two parts: the “Isle of Armor” in June and the “Crown Tundra” later on in the year. Along with a bunch of new Pokémon, Galarian Forms, and Gigantamax Forms, over 200 Pokémon from past generations (some of which are definitely old favorites!) will be returning in Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Expansion Pass — over 100 in the “Isle of Armor” DLC and another 100+ in the “Crown Tundra” DLC. That’s a whole lot of expanded Galar Dex!

 

An example of some of the past Pokémon returning in the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass.

 

These old Pokémon will onlybe able to be caught in the new locations debuting in both DLC packs, but will also be made available *for free* to those who don’t own the DLC as part of a free update when each pack launches. That’s right: None of these returning Pokémon are locked behind a paywall. However, if you don’t own the Expansion Pass, you won’t be able to catch these returning Pokémon in the base game; you’ll only be able to get them as part of trades with players who have the DLC or by using the Pokémon Home cloud service and transferring them from past games. This is similar to how past Pokémon games handled Pokémon not in the regional Poké Dex. Although past Pokémon games had all existing Pokémon coded into the game, there were a significant portion of them that could not be caught in-game through normal means and would have to be traded or transferred over from other titles.

 

List of old Pokémon returning in Pokémon Sword and Shield’s DLC

 

Here’s a list of all the old Pokémon confirmed to be returning in the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass DLC so far, along with their National Poké Dex Number, Typing, what generation they hail from, and in what DLC pack they’ll be available (if known):

 

 

More Pokémon Sword and Shield guides

 

Want more help with Sword and Shield? Check out one of our other great guides to assist you through the games!

 

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