History Fridge / PokemonSwordAndShield

** Alternatively, the old lady that found Fwoothy the Cosmog thinks it may have something to do with all of this. Fwoothy opened the portals to Ultra Space, and the Solgaleo/Lunala is its parent out looking for it.

[[center:[-'''Pokémon Family Species:''' [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationIFamilies Gen I]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationIIFamilies Gen II]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationIIIFamilies Gen III]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationIVFamilies Gen IV]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationVFamilies Gen V]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationVIFamilies Gen VI]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationVIIFamilies Gen VII]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGenerationVIIIFamilies Gen VIII]]-]]]

[[center:[-'''Main Games:''' [[Fridge/PokemonRedAndBlue Red and Blue]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGoldAndSilver Gold and Silver]] | [[Fridge/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Ruby and Sapphire]] | [[Fridge/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Diamond and Pearl]] | [[Fridge/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]] | [[Fridge/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Black 2 and White 2]] | [[Fridge/PokemonXAndY X and Y]] | [[Fridge/PokemonSunAndMoon Sun and Moon]] | [[Fridge/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon]] | [[Fridge/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!]] | '''Sword and Shield''' | [[Fridge/PokemonLegendsArceus Legends: Arceus]]-]]]

* Taken from a Youtube comment, but the way each of the NPCs throw their Pokeballs while Dynamaxing their ace reflect their personalities:

* It might be really shocking to many veteran trainers, but this league has no traditional Elite Four; instead, the final battles before facing off against the champion Leon are a tournament against the Gym Leaders, Bede barging in to round out the fourth match. Even the Alola region, with how different they're structured, has an Elite Four — hastily cobbled together, but it's still there. Then you remember how competitive this region is and it makes sense; everyone, especially Gym Leaders, have a claim to the title. If this was a boxing/wrestling style league, Raihan would technically be the #1 Contender for Leon's championship, a spot usually held by Elite Four leaders like Lance.

* Many players have noticed that Pokemon with high Speed stats can't catch up to their trainers when sent out in the DLC, even if the Dex entries note their fast movement. This is because caught Pokemon are calmer and no longer wild, they run more relaxed now because they're not doing it for the sake of life or death. In other words, they're domesticated.

** Team Yell also doesn't do anything ''illegal'' so to speak. Rocket, Magma, Aqua, Galactic, and Plasma all engage in ''some'' form of criminal activity like Criminal mischief, racketeering, kidnapping, holding hostages, poaching, running some kind of criminal operation... Yell is encountered on the routes and the worst they do is bother a hotel clerk and someone with the bike upgrade. Or obstruct you so a Sandaconda can pass. Obviously they're ''looking'' for reasons to inject themselves in the participants' way - because they can't actually do anything that's against the law.

** Additionally the Team Yell grunts want ''Marnie'' to become the Champion. AintNoRule saying they can't take sides because she's their leader's sister. Additionally? It's a way to drum up some cheap conflict - Sporting event the gym challenge may be in Galar, but even in professional sports, people ''love'' a good "underdog" story. If they succeed in their goal of Marnie becoming the champion? Then they win because the one they wanted to win is Champion and their astroturfing campaign was a success. If they don't succeed and the player becomes the Champion? The player is the underdog that beat the odds and can surely help give them a nice "Story".

* Raihan, being a Dragon type gym leader, [[AnimalMotifs also looks and acts like a dragon]]: from the scaly patterns on his hoodie to his mid-battle roar animation, it is obvious that he is meant to resemble one as well. He also also guards the Hammerlocke Vault, and dragons ''[[DragonHoard guard their treasure]]''.

* If you talk to her enough times, Peonia will note she was told by the scientist in the Max Lair that Solgaleo (Sword) or Lunala (Shield) was the first Legendary Pokémon spotted in the Max Lair. This in turn would suggest that Solgaleo/Lunala opening up Ultra Wormholes is what is causing other Legendaries to appear. This is explicitly confirmed for Necrozma, though in its case it made Ultra Beasts appear instead of Legendary Pokémon.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', there is a random truck. Since it is the only one in the game and due to the LawOfConservationOfDetail, people (incorrectly) associated with the Mythical Pokémon Mew. In Ballimere Lake, there is a random cooking pot on the ground, the only one in the game... and this time, the random unique object with no obvious purpose actually is tied to a Mythical, in this case Keldeo.

* Some have pointed out the hilarious contradictions in both versions of Kabuto and Omanyte's PokéDex entries, where in Kabuto's Sword entry stated that it was on the brink of extinction, while Omanyte was too populated that it was becoming an invasive species. However, in Shield, there was no note for Omanyte being the problem, while Kabuto's Shield's entry stated that there were reported sightings. This actually makes some sense, as they're both version exclusives!

* Hammerlocke Stadium doesn't just specialize in weather conditions, but each of its Trainers specializes in a unique one--the first Trainer uses rain, the second uses sunlight, the third uses hail, and Raihan himself uses sandstorms. Cut to the Champion's Cup, and Raihan now uses all weather conditions (except for hail). The Gym mission was almost like an {{Antepiece}} of sorts--at first, Raihan was testing the player's ability to adapt to weather conditions, but spread that test out over four battles. Now, however, he knows that they're able to best that, and thus pulls out ''three'' weather conditions at once to keep the player on their toes.
** Not only that, but it might also be Raihan compensating for the player's ability to change the weather themselves (which is easily exploitable in the first battle) by keeping Pokemon on-hand that can benefit no matter what the player does. Sun? Torkoal and Turtonator. Rain? Goodra packing Thunder. Sandstorm again? His usual Flygon and Gigantamax Duraludon. The only weather condition he can't adapt to is hail--and as mentioned in an above example, he's already weak to the type that benefits from hail. In overcompensating for the weaknesses in his weather strategy, he left a glaring weakness in his typing (evidenced by most of his team being Dragon-type in the rematch rather than only half of his team).
* The fact that EXP-Share is available from the start, and Raid Battles net you loads of EXP Candy can seem like an easy way to pick up Pokémon and level them up quickly. Looking at it another way, however, it encourages people to pick up new Pokémon and add them to their party with much less hassle - and given that with the two [=DLCs=] ''Sword and Shield'' have over 600 Pokémon to find and catch, having methods to easily level new Pokémon up to a similar level to party Pokémon would be a huge help.

** So why does he fight you prior to the battle with Eternatus then? Consider how instead of being upset or even remotely put off in the slightest upon losing, he instead congratulates you and seems genuinely happy and impressed with your ability. ''He was testing you one final time before leaving Eternatus to you''. Given Eternatus could easily dispatch his Pokémon (Flamethrower destroys Steel types, of which his entire team is typed), a trainer who could defeat his despite likely being set up in order to face Eternatus specifically would stand a chance.
* Why is Gordie considered a potential future champion in a way that other younger gym leaders like Bea or Nessa aren't? Consider his ace Pokemon which A: greatly resists Fire, B: won't take damage from G-max Wildfire, C: would hit ludicrous speed from being hit by a fire attack, D: can tank Ancient Power boosted to a Max Move, E: was probably trained by his mother Melony, one gym leader to beat Raihan (Leon's closest rival and a champion level trainer in many's eyes) and F: can hit with a G-max Rock move. Gordie is probably the Gym Leader with the best match up against Leon's Charizard in a Gigantamax on Gigantamax battle, and in a way Leon's teams even reflect this. Between Seismitoad, Inteleon, and Rhyperior Leon's carrying at least one hard counter to Coalossal to cover for it in battle.

* Among the Gym Challengers who you can later fight in Champion Tournaments, there are none who specialize in Psychic, Dark, or Fairy-types. Actually, there ''are'' - more specifically, your rivals. Marnie specializes in Dark-types, while Bede initially specializes in Psychic-types before switching to Fairy-types.
* ''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' notably has many mechanics and items to make training competitive teams easier (Ability Patches and Exp. Candies being two examples. Why is that? Because Galar is built around battling, so it would make sense for these to be common so that more vibrant battles can occur!
* Leon, Sonia, Raihan and the Player contain this mixed with shout-outs:

** Leon is the undefeated champion with Raihan acting as second best to him, even outright said to be able to become champion if he went to another region. Going with the Red parallels with Leon, Raihan would be akin to Lance, who did become champion in Red's absence as well as elements of Blue, a (self-proclaimed in Raihan's case) rival who is the 8th gym leader and Clair a dragon type 8th gym leader and is appropriate enough Lance's cousin.
** Leon is the undefeated champion who wields a kanto starter as his signature pokemon and bested by the player character who started with the region's set of starters. This brings to mind Red's defeat at the hands of the Johto protagonist. The main difference being that the battle Leon has was an official league match while Red's was more a personal bout.

*** Even so, was Cara Liss acting out of a deliberate intent with making the Galar Fossils sterile, knowing what happened in the Crown Tundra? Or did she do so by complete accident without realizing she basically gave the ecosystem a blessing in disguise?

* Pokemon Sword and Shield notably has many mechanics and items to make training competitive teams easier (Ability Patches and Exp. Candies being two examples. Why is that? Because Galar is built around battling, so it would make sense for these to be invented so that more vibrant battles can occur!

* Galar's chimera fossils are horrifying enough, but the fact that their Pokédex entries confirm that some entries are indeed made up (parodying outdated evolutionary biology explanations) makes one wonder what else they're hiding. For instance, Omastar's entry claims it went extinct because its shell became too heavy, which sounds suspiciously similar to the Galar Fossil Pokémon entries and makes one wonder if it's actually the restoration process that gave it an overly heavy shell (especially since fans had already speculated that the Fossils may not have been naturally Rock-type).
** Speaking of the previous Fossil Pokémon, they're wild and free in the Crown Tundra. Omanyte's Sword Pokédex entry reveals they were let go or escaped after being revived, meaning they are ''introduced species''. Remember how that turned out for Yungoos in Alola? Now, ramp that up with prehistoric carnivores like Tyrantrum and Aerodactyl...

* Among the Gym Challengers who you can later fight in Champion Tournaments, there are none who specialize in Psychic, Dark or Fairy type. Actually, there ''are'' - more specifically, your rivals. Marnie specializes in Dark- Types, while Bede initially specializes in Psychic-types before switching to Fairy-types.

* It is implied that the in-universe explanation for [[FanNickname Dexit]] and the Wild Area's unstable weather is due to climate change, as Galar is a rather industrial region especially in Motostoke, meaning that Galar suffered from rampant pollution problems that also made it impossible for certain Pokémon to survive there.

!! Fridge pages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff by default, so all entries have been folderized as a security measure. Proceed with caution. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!

[[center:[-'''Main Games:''' [[Fridge/PokemonRedAndBlue Red and Blue]] | [[Fridge/PokemonGoldAndSilver Gold and Silver]] | [[Fridge/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Ruby and Sapphire]] | [[Fridge/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Diamond and Pearl]] | [[Fridge/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]] | [[Fridge/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Black 2 and White 2]] | [[Fridge/PokemonXAndY X and Y]] | [[Fridge/PokemonSunAndMoon Sun and Moon]] | [[Fridge/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon]] | [[Fridge/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!]] | '''Sword and Shield''' | Legends: Arceus-]]]

* The Pokédex entries for Galarian Weezing and Galarian Corsola throw Chairman Rose's actions in another light; what if his attempts to harness Eternatus as an alternate energy source stem from a desperation to find ''any'' cleaner, cost-effective energy source due to his region's pollution problems?
** ''And'' their Pokédex entries imply that the in-universe explanation for [[FanNickname Dexit]] and the Wild Area's unstable weather is due to climate issues, meaning that Galar's rampant pollution problems made it impossible for certain Pokémon to survive there.
** However, because the ''Shield'' Pokédex specified the wiped out Cursola to be an ancient kind, the climate change could take place way back in the past and is more likely to be natural-occurring, rather than being man-made.
** Related to the above, the official site has since clarified that the reason the climate change was so extreme as to drain a sea was that it was caused by a meteor impact (presumably creating the Dusty Bowl in the Wild Area).

** So why does he fight you prior to the battle with Eternatus then? Consider how instead of being upset or even remotely put off in the slightest upon losing, he instead congratulates you and seems genuinely happy and impressed with your ability. ''He was testing you one final time before leaving Eternatus to you''. Given Eternatus could easily dispatch his pokemon (Flamethrower destroys Steel types, of which his entire team is typed), a trainer who could defeat his despite likely being set up in order to face Eternatus specifically would stand a chance.
* Why is Gordie considered a potential future champion in a way that other younger gym leaders like Bea or Nessa aren't? Consider his ace Pokemon which A: greatly resists Fire, B: won't take damage from G-max Wildfire, C: would hit ludicrous speed from being hit by a fire attack, D: can tank Ancient Power boosted to a Max Move, E: was probably trained by his mother Melony, one gym leader to beat Raihan (Leon's closest rival and a champion level trainer in many's eyes) and F: can hit with a G-max Rock move. Gordie is probably the gym leader with the best match up against Leon's Charizard in a Gigantamax on Gigantamax battle, and in a way Leon's teams even reflect this. Between Seismitoad, Inteleon, and Rhyperior Leon's carrying at least one hard counter to Coalossal to cover for it in battle.

** ''And'' it throws another light on [[FanNickname Dexit]]; while the official explanation (climate issues) baffled many, what if they meant that Galar's rampant pollution problems made it impossible for certain Pokémon to survive there?

* Gym Leaders Bea and Allister are exclusive to ''Sword'' and ''Shield'' respectively. Bea uses Fighting-type Pokémon and has a tough personality, and swords are a weapon that can be used in combat. Allister is shy and timid, and prefers to hide himself; he '''shields''' himself from the world.

* It may seem weird that Marnie has such a loud and forceful fan base after just starting out on her journey. That's because ''it is''; Team Yell are in fact paid employees of Piers'. In other words, they're him {{Astroturfing}} his sister.
* Speaking of Team Yell, there's a stealth MeaningfulName if you consider the team name's definition in a Japanese dictionary, specifically the Katakana spelling エール which is used. It's defined as a "''yell'' of encouragement" or "cheering", the latter which is especially for sports teams. And it's no surprise what they're doing for Marnie.
* In most games, the Villain Team stops being a threat after the 7th gym. Sure enough, you don't really battle any more Team Yell grunts after the 7th gym. In this case, it actually makes sense — Team Yell is essentially one extended gym challenge. By this point, they have no reason to go after ''you'' — much like how other gym trainers won't challenge you once you have defeated the gym leader.
** Additionally, they are the gym trainers for the seventh gym… the Dark-type gym. Dark is known for being underhanded and pragmatic. And what can be more underhanded than challenging you ''outside'' the gym? It also helps to fit in with the theme — it's the oddball of the gyms.
** Galar, if one thinks about it, is actually the ''nicest'' region in the world of Pokémon. The local team is actually just a bunch of hooligans who are ''admittedly'' an extended Gym challenge and thus technically ''aren't'' doing anything illegal — whereas other teams are doing much more sinister things. Thus it makes sense that the apparent BigBad is… a BigBadWannabe AntiVillain who creates his own villain. Because it's just a sporting event, nobody's cheating or doing anything illegal here (just underhanded things that are technically within the rules, at worst). Apparently, Poké-Britain is very polite.
*** The nature of Team Yell also takes on a new layer of brilliance when you look at how the evil team subplot went down in all of the prior main-series ''Pokémon'' games. In each game in the main series up to this point, the player character never sets out on their journey with the explicit objective of taking down the resident evil team; [[ToBeAMaster they just want to challenge the Pokémon League and become the Champion]]. The evil team just happens to constantly get in the way as the protagonist travels around the region and challenges the region's Gyms (or Island Trials in Alola's case), [[HeroicNeutral forcing the protagonist to take the evil team down just to get them out of his/her way]][[note]]and ultimately to save the region from whatever catastrophe the evil team is cooking up so that there will still be a Pokémon League to challenge, but, again, the protagonist doesn't ''set out'' to do that; it just kind of ''happens'' due to the evil team getting in the protagonist's way[[/note]]. Galar appears to have noticed this trend and ran with it, working an "evil team" of sorts into their official Gym Challenge as an obstacle for challengers to overcome. Piers, the "leader" of Team Yell, even happens to be the seventh Gym Leader, and the evil team plot in most previous games reached its climax between the seventh and eighth Gyms of their regions[[note]]the exceptions being Team Rocket, who get stopped for the last time in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedBlueAndYellow'' just before or after taking on the Saffron City Gym, but before the player reaches Cinnabar Island, only to unexpectedly resurface when Giovanni turns out to be the eighth and final Gym Leader, and Team Plasma, who hijack the player's first challenge against the Pokémon League in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' due to N defeating Alder just before the player can challenge the Pokémon League, which causes Reshiram/Zekrom, N, and Ghetsis to serve as the {{final boss}}es rather than the Elite Four and Champion as usual; notably, both of these teams resurface in the next main series games in conventional evil team plots where they make their big power play and get stopped for the last time between the seventh and eighth gyms, and ''Sword & Shield'' actually combines ''both'' twists (along with the twist from ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' where there are two villain teams, with the second team being more evil than the first) due to Piers being a Gym Leader (like Giovanni in ''Red/Blue/Yellow'') and Rose & Macro Cosmos (here being an analogue to the Aether Foundation) waking up Eternatus and interrupting the Gym Challenge during the championship (like how N just ''barely'' beat the protagonist to the punch of defeating Alder in ''Black & White'', causing the Team Plasma finale to occur after the player defeats the Elite Four)[[/note]].

* Compared to the majority of Gigantamax forms, Gigantamax Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon all appear to have a more similar size to their base form, with the growth being concentrated on a specific area; Rillaboom's drum, Cinderace's fireball, and Inteleon's tail. This may be because, according to [[https://swordshield.pokemon.com/en-us/expansionpass/pokemon/#firstpartners the description of the Gigantamax starters]], the Isle of Armor gives them the Gigantamax factor externally, rather than inherently having the factor.

* Galarian Slowpoke and the items to evolve it into the regional variants of Slowbro and Slowking are this and MythologyGag. For Slowking, it's rather obvious; the item to evolve it is found in the Crown Tundra and Slowking wears its Shellder like a crown. As for Slowbro, its item is found in the Isle of Armor, and this seems to be just a way to push the expansion until one also recalls that Kantonian Slowbro's Shellder became armor for it in its Mega Evolution.

* Some of the traits of the Galarian Legendary Birds stand out and could reference ''Pokémon Go''. G-Moltres is described as a very haughty Pokémon; such arrogance would very likely contain a lack of fear and incredible bravery in danger, I.E. Valor. G-Articuno moves in a very "refined manner" and has an otherwise graceful appearance and its Psychic-typing makes it quite Mystic, while G-Zapdos is said to pick fights with Pokémon who it might see as potentially challenging to itself out of an act to prove superiority, acting very likely out of Instinct.
** Their behavior while roaming are also referencing to their abilities. Articuno is Competitive and plays games with you to see if you're worthy of battling it. Zapdos is Defiantly running through the plains, not really giving up until it starts to slow down. Moltres will go Berserk if you intercept it and blow your whistle or ring the bike's bell.
* Dragapult's WeaponizedOffspring would come off as appalling and irresponsible to the uneducated viewers, but there's really little to nothing to worry about: By virtue of being Ghost-type, Dreepy can physically slam into a target with any amount of kinetic force and it would never be fatal. Granted, the hardest slam would probably end up being uncomfortable for it.

* Perhaps more Fridge Humor, but the fact that Galarian Zapdos is Fighting Type is this when you remember that out of the Kantonian Legendary Birds, Zapdos was the only one who didn't have a four times weakness to Rock.
** It's also a reversal of the previous trend. Original Zapdos, with its Electric type, has a type advantage against the other two (Articuno has an advantage on Zapdos but not Moltres). Here, being a Fighting type means it is weak to both of the other birds.
* Calyrex's mounts, Glastrier and Spectrier, fit with two of the horsemen of the apocalypse, as well as the steeds of King Arthur. This is appropriate due to the designations of those horses:
** Pestilence/Conquest: In ancient times, Calyrex conquered the horse that plagued the Crown Tundra. In the present day, its complacency born of its successes has led it to lose most of its power, and it must reconquer its steed once more to reclaim its power.
** Famine: Calyrex's loss of power makes it unable to restore the lands of the Crown Tundra to their fruitful glory. In ancient times, fixing this was Calyrex's way of thanking the people for nursing it back to health.
** Llamrei and Hengroen, the mare and stallion of King Arthur, respectively. Spectrier (with its more feminine appearance as well as being the steed more clearly depicted on the wooden sculpture in Freezington) is Llamrei, who has an association with a stone that has a hoofprint in it. In contrast, Glastrier is more masculine — and cool — in design.

* Unlike Moltres, Galarian Moltres loses Roost from its level up moveset. Regular Moltres will land (roost) both in camp and as a following Pokémon when you talk to it; however, Galarian Moltres does not willingly land on the ground for ''any'' of its animations.

* According to the Pokédex, Dubwool never uses its horns for battle, only for display. Of course it does; it couldn't do any damage with its horns even if it tried. Its larger horns are facing backwards and its smaller horns are located in an awkward position where it couldn't use them to jab or stab anything. They're also curved upwards, rather than facing out.
* Wooloo doesn't learn Rollout despite the Pokédex stating that it rolls away to escape enemies. Well, getting run over by a big, fluffy ball of wool with hooves probably wouldn't hurt very much.