Pokemon Sword and Shield's Expansion Pass comes jam-packed with content in the form of two major expansions, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. As it stands, The Isle of Armor is set to release some time in June 2020, whereas The Crown Tundra will become available later this year, in fall 2020. As such, there's been more info revealed about the Isle of Armor than The Crown Tundra, but fans certainly didn't walk away empty-handed.
The Crown Tundra takes players to a winter wonderland, complete with its own legendary Pokemon, Calyrex. Yet this new Psychic- and Grass-type Pokemon isn't the only legendary Pokemon Sword and Shield players will encounter in this DLC, as it's been confirmed that it'll introduce a new feature that allows players to catch legendaries from past games.
This DLC allows players to join up in a new co-op mode and explore a vast, underground Pokemon Den. These dens, as many-a-Pokemon Sword and Shield player will know, house Pokemon in their Dynamax state in the Wild Area. This new area is incredibly similar in a number of ways but with one huge difference: the Pokemon den in the Crown Tundra is home to a plethora of legendary Pokemon. It stands to reason that they'll be more difficult to catch than the standard dynamax Pokemon, but the idea of facing off with Dynamaxed Legendaries may make it worthwhile for those irked by their initial exclusion from the Galar Pokedex.
This begs a ton of questions, but there's few answers: will there be a set amount of legendaries available at once and/or dependent upon weather? Will there be Gigantamax Legendaries that can be caught? How much stronger will they be and how much harder are they to actually catch? Are they an exception to the Pokemon Home trading rule? While there's plenty of time for these Pokemon Sword and Shield questions to be answered prior to the fall 2020 release, there is one question that can be somewhat answered now: which legendaries can be caught via this method?
While this new exploration area was being described, legendaries flashed on the screen of the Pokemon Direct, with some going by faster than others. The voiceover states that some can be made "allies," and then shows some that can specifically caught. While what an "ally" means remains to be seen, it would stand to reason that it has something to do with catching them. However, it does specifically confirm some legendaries that can be, at least, can be caught in Pokemon Sword and Shield's Crown Tundra via this method:
- Mewtwo (Ally - Catchable)
- Ho-Oh (Ally - Catchable)
- Lugia (Ally - Cathcable)
- Raikou (Ally)
- Entei (Ally)
- Suicune (Ally)
- Latios (Catchable)
- Latias (Catchable)
- Groudon (Ally - Catchable)
- Kyogre (Ally - Catchable)
- Rayquaza (Ally - Catchable)
- Mesprit (Ally)
- Uxie (Ally)
- Azelf (Ally)
- Dialga (Ally - Catchable)
- Palkia (Ally - Catchable)
- Giratina (Catchable)
- Cresselia (Catchable)
- Tornadus (Ally)
- Landorus (Ally)
- Thundurus (Ally)
- Zekrom (Ally - Catchable)
- Reshiram (Ally - Catchable)
- Kyurem (Catchable)
- Xernas (Ally - Catchable)
- Yveltal (Ally - Catchable)
- Zygarde (Ally - Catchable)
- Tapu Koko (Ally)
- Tapu Lele (Ally)
- Tapu Bulu (Ally)
- Tapu Fini (Ally)
- Solgaleo (Ally - Catchable)
- Lunala (Ally - Catchable)
- Necrozma (Catchable)
While time will only tell what this distinction means, if anything, there are a handful of exclusions: Mew, the legendary birds (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres), Celebi, the legendary titan trio (regirock, regicce, registeel), Regigigas, Jirachi, Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, the Swords of Justice trio (Virizon, Cobalion, Terrakion), Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Diancie, Hoopa, Volcanion, Cosmog, Cosmeom, Magearna, Marshadow, Zeraora, Meltan, and Melmetal.
For these Pokemon, there are a handful of understandable explanations. The mythical Pokemon make sense, as they have always been special legendaries. The legendary birds might be getting Galarian forms, the titan trio is getting two new additions and are likely to appear elsewhere, and this leaves plenty to perhaps be added to a raid battle rotation later. Ultimately, it remains to be seen, but it's clear that Pokemon Sword and Shield are going legendary heavy in the Crown Tundra.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.