Pokémon Sword and Shield / Fridge

Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all entries have been folderized as a security measure. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned!

This page is for non-Gen VIII Pokémon entries regarding both Pokémon Sword and Shield. For entries regarding the Gen VIII Pokémon, including the Galar regional forms, see Fridge.Pokemon Generation VIII Families. For Fridge Logic entries, see Headscratchers.Pokemon Sword And Shield.

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Fridge Brilliance

Because of the nature of the current Nintendo hardware line, Sword and Shield are technically the first mainline Pokémon games on a home console, and it features 3D battles with animation. Appropriate that it so prominently features Stadiums.
Players often complain about the hand-holdy nature of the game, particularly in the early segments (such as being escorted down the street). However, from an in-universe perspective this makes perfect sense, The protagonist and other challengers are 14-15 AT THE OLDEST and unlike the other games the league in this is a highly televised event. Macro Cosmos would be liable for any challenger who wanders off and gets injured.
Beyond any plot reasons for showing off Leon more than previous champions (as this entry was made months before release), there is another reason to have Leon shown off more: Pokémon league battles are a major spectator sport and thus the Champion would get a lot more attention than in other regions where the leagues are less openly viewed. Leon is a bigger celebrity in Galar as a champion, more comparative to Diantha's celebrity as an actress and not as a champion.
Many commented that the 24-hour live stream of Glimwood Tangle is fairly boring, with only brief snippets of Pokémon activity. This is exactly what real-life wildlife streams are like, even in the most active areas like eagle nests. Game Freak is hardly inaccurate here, even if many would have wished they had been so.
The Premier Ball finally has a reason behind its existence; they're meant to commemorate the discovery of the Dynamax phenomenon, which turns any Poké Ball used into a large white Poké Ball with a red stripe around it.
Bede has a massive turning point in his character arc at Stow-On-Side as he gets disqualified from the gym challenge by none other than his own father figure. Fittingly enough, the resident gym is either pathetically easy to him (since Bea has few counters to Psychic Pokémon) or an absolute nightmare to him (since Allister’s Ghost Pokémon serve as a perfect counter to his Psychic team). It’s rather fitting that these two types were selected, considering the events that go down here.
- When told that he's losing his sponsorship and being disqualified, Bede cries that disqualification is a last-resort disciplinary measure and he doesn't deserve it. This is after he bullied Hop and Arceus knows how many other Challengers into severe depression or outright quitting; he was probably already reported and in trouble for his bad sportsmanship even before he ruined the Stow-On-Side mural.
- Speaking of Bede, his succession to Opal's Fairy-type Gym in the postgame seems odd considering that throughout his entire time as a Gym Challenger, he uses Psychic-type Pokémon. However, two of the Pokémon he uses in his battle at Stow-on-Side, his last battle as a Challenger, have a connection to the Fairy-type: Galarian Ponyta and his signature Hattrem both evolve into Psychic/Fairy-type Pokémon: Galarian Rapidash and Hatterene, the latter of which also has a Gigantamax form with a Fairy-type G-Max Move like Opal's Alcremie.
The Galar Wild Area is filled with raid dens, an assortment of stones in a circle shape that take the player to another realm. As an analogue to Britain, and other European countries, these are inspired by fairy rings, which in folklore are thought to take people to other worlds or realms.
The fact that the only Gym where Dynamaxing is not possible is the Dark-type gym.
- Symbolically, the Dark type is the black sheep of the Pokémon types, as evidenced by the fact that they are called the “Evil” type in Japan. Whether it be from their name or their way of fighting, they don’t conform to the standards of the other types. Likewise, it would make sense for the Dark-type gym to operate under a different set of rules compared to the gyms of the other types.
- The hallmark of Dark-types is that they are combat pragmatists, utilizing underhanded tactics and generally finding some way around what is considered fair fighting. The key word here is tactics; comparatively, utilizing Dynamax and Gigantamax effectively throws all sort of strategy out the window, as battles ultimately amount to waiting until the right moment to enlarge your Pokémon and then wreck all the opposition in the time allotted. If Dark-type Pokémon were to undergo Dynamaxing, they wouldn’t be playing to their strengths as a type!
- From a visual standpoint, even the setting of Spikemuth Gym follows the Dark-type's trend of nonconformity. All of the other Gyms take place in stadiums and include activities that are found in the daytime. Spikemuth, meanwhile, represents the nightlife culture; the lighting is perpetually dark to create an atmosphere closest to night, battles are basically unorthodox street fights, and the resident Gym Leader holds underground concerts.
One of Opal's questions during her fight asks you to tell her age, where the "correct" answer is 16 years instead of her actual age of 88 years. This is behaviour that's reminiscent of The Fair Folk — in order to avoid inciting their wrath, one had to be respectful to them.
Raihan, for being a Trainer that specializes in weather manipulation, notably lacks any means to activate Hail. This makes sense considering that he is also a Dragon-Type user, and Dragons are naturally weak to Ice.
All the Macro Cosmos employees you battle and Chairman Rose use only Steel-type Pokémon. Considering the Chairman's ambition to control Eternatus, the Dragon/Poison Pokémon, it would be in his best interest if his and his men's teams were built to counter it.
- Additionally, Eternatus having already broken free despite these precautions makes sense once you fight it and discover that it's packing Flamethrower.
- Also, a few notes on Rose’s team:
  - Escavalier: He views himself as the one who will protect Galar's future to the bitter end, and Escavalier is clearly based on typical depictions of knights.
  - Ferrothorn: Every rose has its thorns, and despite Rose's oft-times Cloudcuckoolander behavior, his battle can prove to be a challenge if you're not prepared.
  - Perrserker: Vikings are not only known for their ferocity and barbarism, but they were also one of the first peoples to utilize steel. Fitting for someone who serves as the face of industry in Galar.
  - Klinklang: The Pokédex says that its pre-evolution Klang is often used as a symbol of industrial technology across Galar. Again, what better Pokémon for the head of Galar's industry?
  - Copperajah: Copperajah and its pre-evolution Cufant are used as construction aids In-Universe, reflecting how elephants are used in similar projects. Not only that, but elephants were also used as war mounts equipped with towers on their backs, most likely serving as the inspiration for Gigantamax Copperajah.
Who is the first trainer you fight with a full team of six Pokémon? Why, that's easy — it's Leon, right? Actually, no… it's Eric — a random Macro Cosmos trainer. But wait, he only uses two Pokémon every time you fight him… except you not only fight him three times, but every time, he has two different Pokémon. He's only trying to distract you, not actually win.
The way the Galar Gym Leaders are distributed throughout the journey.
- Milo, Nessa, and Kabu represent the three primary components of the Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors trio of Grass, Water, and Fire, respectively. Aside from representing types that are directly strong or weak against the starter Pokémon, these three are viewed as the gateway Gym Leaders in-universe, with Kabu being the first major roadblock that separates the good Trainers from the rest.
- Gyms four through six start to focus on types outside of the primary elemental trio. Additionally, these three gyms in particular are the most volatile for the player as the Stow-on-Side and Circhester gyms have different Gym Leaders depending on the version they're playing. Meanwhile, Opal of the Ballonlea Gym features a gimmick that could make battles easier or harder depending on how certain questions are answered.
- The seventh and eighth Gyms, as the penultimate and final Gyms, change up how battles are fought to make sure that the player can adapt to different rulesets. Piers in Spikemuth prevents the use of Dynamaxing for the entire Gym, forcing the player to rely on their own tactics to win. Raihan in Hammerlocke, due to not having many challengers, places the focus on double battles and the ability to spontaneously change weather conditions to see how the player can react to a changing environment.
During the opening ceremony where you meet all the Gym Leaders in Motostoke all of the Gym Leaders are heralded with cheering and applause from the crowd, but when Kabu is introduced his cheering is noticeably louder and the camera cuts to show the crowd celebrating his appearance. Motostoke is his gym, so of course the crowd cheers more for him.
One of Bede's main goals is to prove his status as an elite Trainer due to being sponsored by the Chairman. The last time you face him is after you've defeated the other two rivals and entered the Pokémon League, which is immediately followed by three separate battles against the Gym Leaders, all of whom stop holding back. If things didn't take a surprising turn at the end of the finals, the player would have had to face the Champion after four grueling battles. In other words, Bede, true to his aspirations, indirectly functioned as the first member of this game's Elite Four.
Some players have found that a noticeably large number of Pokémon that originate from Unova can be found in Galar; in addition, the Unovan Garbodor is one of only two Pokémon that can Gigantamax that isn't from Kanto or Galar (the other is Melmetal, and even it made its main series debut in a Gen 1 remake). While some say it might be a Masahiro Sakurai-esque bias from James Turner (Vanillite, one of the first Pokémon he designed and one that means a lot to him, is incredibly common throughout the game), Unova is largely inspired by the USA, and Galar by the UK; considering the extensive history the two countries share in real life, it makes sense that they'd share Pokémon between them!
Team Yell:
- 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.
- There's a stealth Meaningful Name 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.
- 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.
- 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; 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), forcing the protagonist to take the evil team down just to get them out of his/her 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.
- Team Yell also doesn't do anything illegal so to speak. Rocket, Magma, Aqua, Galactic, Plasma, Flare, and Skull 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.
  - The hotel clerk and bike salesman could easily be in on it as well. Being that the Gym challenge is treated like a sporting event in Galar, it's a way to drum up business and get their names out. You're given a "free" bike specifically to advertise it to the people of Galar.
- Additionally, the Team Yell grunts want Marnie to become the Champion. Ain't No Rule 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".
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 Big Bad is… a Big Bad Wannabe Anti-Villain 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.
There may be an in-universe reason why half of the existing Pokémon species are effectively banned in Galar — the Ultra Beast incursion. The Ultra Beasts are essentially invasive species, and after the world saw the havoc they wreaked upon Alola, Galar decided that it wasn't taking any chances with foreign Pokémon. (Heck, you don't even need to look at the Ultra Beasts; the Yungoos and Alolan Rattata lines are both invasive species running amok and making a mess of the ecosystem.)
- Looking at the way previous Pal Park/Bank/GTS functionally affected several regions in terms of sequel/postgame invasive species, and the gradual global proliferation of previously region-exclusive species like Pikachu, the Pokédex/Pokémon Home restrictions may also be an effort to stem the impact of invasive species problems caused by unrestricted global trading and breeding of Pokémon from across the world.
- Another explanation might be how real-life UK has strict regulations about animals that can and can't be brought in. Since UK is an island, their ecosystem is much more vulnerable than that of continental Europe, for example. There's also the risk of bringing an illness like rabies, that doesn't exist in the UK, due to being isolated from continental populations of animals that can carry it, and any pets have to be vaccinated and put in quarantine.
From what we're told of it, Galar's Gym Leader system has a lot in common with Association Football; in particular, Leaders can be promoted or relegated between the Upper and Lower Divisions based on their performance against each other. Along with an NPC implying there are Gym Leaders of every type and the two versions of each generation typically being an Alternate Universe of each other, this is explains why Sword and Shield are the first games to have differing Gym Leaders — in Sword, Allister and Melony are currently relegated to the Lower Division; in Shield, Bea and Gordie started this season outside the top 8.
- Extending on this analogy: Team Yell are Pokémon hooligans.
The league cards for important characters tend to reveal subtle things about their character. Sometimes, the differences between their regular card and their rare card also reflect changes they underwent during the story:
- Hop's rare league card shows that he either has poor penmanship in general or is simply very unused to signing his name.
- Both of Bede's league cards feature a signature, but with differing handwriting. This both reflects his arrogance (signing his initial league card, before actually accomplishing anything notable) and implies that part of his off-screen time with Opal involved drilling on handwriting.
- Piers chooses to revert to a simpler, earlier design for his league card from when he first became Spikemuth's gym leader. The card has the default background and no signature. This potentially reflects both his having stepped down as a gym leader and his seemingly poor self-esteem despite his strength as a trainer.
Taken from a Youtube comment, but the way each of the NPCs throw their Pokeballs while Dynamaxing their ace reflect their personalities:
- Milo gives a gentle pat to the ball before throwing, emphasizing his kind nature.
- Since Opal is quite old, the ball is too heavy and she almost falls over. It's comedic and fitting for her personality.
- Gordie is smug as he adjusts his shades and grips the ball with one hand. He makes a cool and elegant pose after he throws the ball. Showing off is what he loves to do for his fans, after all.
- Melony shows a bout of love by cuddling her ball before energetically sending the it off.
- Raihan take a selfie for the fans and show off his greatness before throwing the ball. Moreover, his wild mannerisms are similar to that of a dragon.
- Hop's throw is a copy of how his brother usually Dynamaxes his Charizard, a reference to his love for his brother. He almost stumbles launching the ball, however, showing he still has a long way to go before catching up to Leon.
- Oleana almost DROPS the ball. This is the careless, messy nature she tries to hide for the sake of supporting Chairman Rose.
- Bede gives an elegant and refined toss, befitting of the Fairy-Type Gym Leader. It also contrasts Opal almost falling over.
- Rose is very confident in what he's about to do until he notices how heavy the ball is. He hasn't battled in a long time as you can see.
- Klara's adorable, charming mannerisms turn fierce as she aggressively throws the ball as her headband flares up.
- Avery smugly and proudly uses his levitation to show off. But the camera shows that he's straining and struggling to throw the ball far enough (it doesn't fly very far compared to other trainer animations).
- Peony gives a crooked yet confident grin (he was a delinquent) before giving the ball a manly shot put throw.
In the Wild Area, wild Rhyhorn will charge at you, but you can walk past them and they will continue running until they outright stop. This plays into several Pokédex entries where it is said that Rhyhorn only run in a straight line and are dim to the point they eventually forget why they started running.
It's originally thought that there was one Galarian hero, when in reality there were two. Cue the climax of the main story, where Leon — the heroic unbeatable Champion — is unable to stop the Darkest Day, but the duo of Hop and the protagonist are able to summon the legends and solve the crisis!
The symbolism for the players and Hop. If the players choose Sword, that means Victor/Gloria is the star of the story as the Sword represents power (the Champion is respected) while Hop who wields the Shield, got Victor or Gloria's back since Hop really does have the player's back despite being rivals. If the players choose Shield, that means Victor/Gloria is the new defender of Galar (akin to Leon's status as the Undefeatable Champion) and Victor/Glora will now be the one continuing to defend their Champion title while Hop who wields the sword still represents power and also the star. In Hop's case, the power to surpass his older brother Leon and become the new Champion but because he focused too much on wanting to win than properly finding out the best strategy in order to win and thinks he knows everything from top to bottom which includes on doing things like perfecting a throw which even Leon said that it's not of importance, Hop lets the power get to his head, causing him to hit and miss which results in his loss. Additionally, the fact that Hop sees himself as a guaranteed new champion, believing that he is the star of the story as if a foregone conclusion in a meta sense. And the fact that Hop thinks just because Victor/Gloria could defeat Bede, Hop felt that he could also easily defeat Bede. Lastly, when the Sword or Shield gets stolen in the post-game which Hope lost against one of the weirdos, Hop's "sword" in a sense became dull, broken or rusty or Hop's "shield" as in his guard was down or broken since he no longer has a goal as Leon lost against Victor/Gloria, leading to Hop realizing that he likes helping people which made him learning to become a Pokemon Professor in his own right and as they say, "knowledge is power".
Leon's theme when fought as the Champion is an upbeat remix of the Hall of Fame theme that has been present since the first Pokémon game. While some view it as underwhelming, remember that Leon has had a flawless winning streak since becoming the Champion and that the Galar Hall of Fame likely hasn't inducted a new member in a long time. Because of this, the theme that usually plays whenever a new Champion is crowned has instead become synonymous with seeing the current Champion rack another win under his belt. In other words, the reason Leon's theme is the Hall of Fame is because the audience expects that you're going to lose, but by beating the unbeatable Champion, you instead seize the theme for yourself and take your place as the new Champion.
- On a related note, the title screen music starts with a remix of the Hall of Fame music. When you complete the main story, the title screen shows you and the party that you used to defeat Leon. In other words, the title screen is the Hall of Fame.
The Starter Pokemon segment. Regardless of which Starter Pokemon you chose, Hop will always choose the Pokemon who is weak against the player's Starter Pokemon. Hop breaks the tradition, right? Where the rival always chooses the Pokemon that has the type advantage against the player's? Technically yes, because one has to keep in mind that Leon chooses the remaining Starter Pokemon which is actually the player Starter Pokemon's weakness. And because the player is going for the Champion of Galar title, Leon is also considered the player's rival in that regard. A bit different from Hau in Ultra Sun/Moon who chose the type disadvantage because Hau wanted to surpass his grandfather, not the player's character.
Hop's name foreshadows his decision to become a professor, in keeping with the series tradition of naming professors after plants and flowers. Hops are a type of flower used to make beer.
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, has 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.
Sordward and Shielbert could be taken as scathing commentary about the nobility and how they view themselves. The pair act as though merely being of blue blood makes them a celebrity despite there being no hints to their existence until the post-game, where they actually appear; their actions are terribly devastating to everyone else around them — but not to them directly — which they acknowledge while also adding that they don't care as long as they get what they want; and their "punishment" for all the terror they've caused is a slap on the wrist "apology" to everyone, which they're apparently talking about as seriously as they were anything else — not very. They're a shining example of It's All About Me and how the rich and powerful can do what they like, no matter how much it harms others, and get off the hook essentially scot-free (assuming, that is, that their apology tour is the extent of their punishment, given that Piers seems to be acting as some kind of parole officer monitoring them).
Raihan's gym number (241) can also be seen as something of a reference to the fact that his gym battle is a double battle, "two for one".
One of Leon's Pokémon is an Aegislash, no matter what your starter is. It's fitting that the Pokémon Champion uses a Pokémon that is literally a Sword and Shield.
Some of the Macro Cosmos employees that battle you on the way to the top of Rose Tower have dialogue that solely consists of advertising the organization's subsidiaries and the technology of the elevator. In other words, each one of them is giving you their elevator pitch.
After each Gym victory, the player shakes hands with the Gym Leader. It's sportman-like, befitting the sports theme of the Gyms, but with Bea in particular, she shakes with her right hand while her left hand is under her right elbow. Various martial arts shake hands in a similar fashion before and after sparring, which fits Bea's theme and Fighting-type specialty.
Each Eeveevolution can be found in the wild area under weather-specific conditions that fit their respective typing. But Umbreon can only be found in a sandstorm. This might seem strange, as it has no connection to the desert itself nor does it have a typing usually associated with sandstorm, but this also references a tale that takes place in the night at a desert, the Arabian Nights.
- Similarly, Espeon is only found in Cloudy weather. Rather than typing, this is more to do with Espeon's category specification, as Espeon is known as the Sun Pokémon. So Espeon itself represents the sun that shines through the day above the clouds in the sky.
There's actually a good in-universe reason for the level cap in what Pokémon you can and can't catch at any given time, and it ties into the lore of the Pokémon-Human relationship that started back in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. To quote another page on this site (paraphrased): "Each route and gym is planned according to how most trainers would travel, with the most dangerous being the final stop." This being an open area, you can't expect everyone to be fixed to a certain route. Perhaps the Pokémon picked up on that and decide that if you have yet to overcome that barrier yourself, you have no right to command them.
There are a couple interesting things one can notice about Raihan's Duraludon:
- Firstly, in both fights with Raihan, Duraludon runs a strictly physical moveset. Its physical attack stat is pretty decent, but it still pales in comparison to its special attack. From its owner's perspective, this may have been a conscious decision. Considering how unconventional Raihan's gym is and how strong he is as a trainer, he could be trying to give challengers a fighting chance by holding his Duraludon back somewhat.
- Secondly, Raihan's choice in Signature Mon is very appropriate due to the species' unique hidden ability, Stalwart, which allows the dragons to ignore redirecting moves entirely. In fact, the ability is only useful in doubles matches. However, his own Duraludon has Heavy Metal instead, with no way to directly capitalize on it. In this case, he could be following the same principle he did for the physical moveset.
Beyond typing, Gordie having a Coalossal as his Signature Mon may seem a little odd due to their contrasting personalities. Gordie is pretty smug and cocky, while Coalossal are generally known to be docile and friendly. Perhaps his mother's preference for the gentle Lapras rubbed off on him somewhat, so he wanted a Pokémon with such a personality that could also fulfill his type preference.
During the Champion Cup, Hop uses a different set of animations, specifically the ones that Leon uses. There is one animation that is different between the two, though; their defeat animations. Because Leon was undefeated, Hop couldn’t copy his reaction to losing, as he had no way of knowing what it would be.
Deino and Larvitar being version exclusives makes sense when you consider their final forms having a thematic rivalry, one being a spiky bipedal dinosaur and the other being a three-headed dragon: they're basically played off to be Expies of sorts to Godzilla and King Ghidorah!
- There is a real life Godzilla sandstorm. Tyranitar's Ability is "Sand Stream" which can summon a sandstorm.
In Motostoke, there's a Macro Cosmos employee who offers to escort the player to the stadium, despite it literally being a few feet away from them. This, along with similar options to be escorted somewhere throughout the game, may actually have an In-Universe explanation: Leon's legendarily bad sense of direction. Clearly, no one wants to risk finding out if one of the challengers has a similar problem.
The ham-fisted nature of the story makes sense when you take into consideration one detail we've all grown accustomed to over the years: the protagonists are kids! Of course Hop and the protagonist are going to be kept in the dark about Rose's plan to use Eternatus as a living battery for Galar. It's one thing to give a kid a fire-breathing lizard or an electric mouse as a pet. It's another thing entirely to pit them against an alien dragon! Sure, it's a weak justification, but it's one that contextually makes the most sense.
Remember Team Rainbow Rocket from Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon? The absence of Galar's villainous counterparts would obviously be chalked up to each game's respective release date, but even if Giovanni were to attempt to bring Galar's worst into his team, he'd have no luck. Piers and Chairman Rose definitely would have turned his invitations down, as Guzma did before them.
Bea is known to like sweets, as mentioned in her league card, and she was seen snacking on a chocolate bar in Pokémon: Twilight Wings. Her town, Stow-on-Side has some of Latin or Indigenous American elements in its design. Which civilization created chocolate?
Chairman Rose's theme is misheard a lot. Two common ones are "Go Rose! Save everyone!", but the Ominous Latin Chanting can also be heard as "Rosa seda credo" or "Rosa seta credo", which means something like "Rose's thorned belief" or "Rose's calm belief". Rose would hear "Go Rose! Save everyone!", as he thinks of himself as a hero, but you're hearing that his plan is massively flawed.
Raihan, being a Dragon type gym leader, 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 guards the Hammerlocke Vault, and dragons guard their treasure.
In Isle of Armor, you are given the choice between Bulbasaur and Squirtle, but not Charmander. That's likely because the Charmander Mustard had is the same Charmander Leon gives you in the post-game, since Leon was formerly trained by Mustard.
- Speaking of which, the fact you have to choose between Bulbasaur and Squirtle is a Mythology Gag to the original Pokémon games. In all initial releases both in Japan and internationally, there was Pokémon Red (Charizard), while the other version was either Green (Venusaur) or Blue (Blastoise).
Mustard's decision to resign from the league instead of winning in a clearly rigged fight makes a lot more sense considering that he was a Fighting-type specialist in his prime, and Fighting-types fight with honor. A rigged fight is a dishonorable/cheating method of combat, which goes against his code and the codes of most Fighting-types.
In the Isle of Armor, one of the Master Dojo students notes that Mustard is constantly hogging the TV, preventing them from seeing the region's Gym Challenge. In addition to Mustard greatly enjoying Pokémon Quest, this might be due to his opinion of the League being soured by his loss of the Champion title as a result of his partner Pokémon's death, and being offered a rigged match by the Chairman at the time.
Overlaps with Fridge Horror: why do the returning Legendary Pokémon in the Max Lair play a Dark Reprise Boss Remix of the normal Max Raid theme, and not a remix or the original version of their own theme? Because they're most likely Not Themselves! Much like effluvium, Galar particles are said to corrupt Pokémon from overexposure, and it gets thicker the deeper into the Lair you go. These guys are holed up all the way at the back of the Lair, where the Galar particle readings are likely off the charts. At that point, you're effectively fighting the power of the Max Lair itself rather than the Legendary Pokémon corrupted by it. There's a reason you have to use specially prepared rental Pokémon.
NPCs not Dynamaxing their 'mons when given the chance during raids isn't just Artificial Stupidity — they literally can't, as none of them have Dynamax Bands.
- However, due to the adventures' NPCs being randomly generated, we will sometimes see Peony as part of the player's group. He can be seen Dynamaxing in the Galarian Star Tournament, for instance, but he never does so in the Dynamax Adventuring segments.
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.
- Alternatively, the old lady that found Fwoofy the Cosmog thinks it may have something to do with all of this. Fwoofy opened the portals to Ultra Space, and the Solgaleo/Lunala is its parent out looking for it.
In Pokémon Red and Blue, there is a random truck. Since it is the only one in the game and due to the Law of Conservation of Detail, 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.
It's long been implied that a Pokémon's Speed stat is not actually its ability to cover a distance in a given amount of time, but rather how quickly and agilely it can react to things, hence why priority moves (attacks that naturally boost reaction speed, i.e. priority) go first unless a opponent with higher Speed and equal priority uses such a move, and why various Pokémon with low Speed stats are noted for fast flying/running speed in dex entries and other lore. Glastrier's official lore supports this idea by noting how it can enhance its speed over land by sliding on ice it creates, but that nimble movements are not its strong suit.
Rose being both the Chairman of the Pokémon League and the president of his own company sounds a little strange at first. However, having a businessman as the head guy of an athletic organization makes sense, as all of the heads for the major athletic organizations in Real Life are like that. For example, Rob Manfred (the head of the MLB) was a lawyer before joining the MLB organization.
When Piers is paired up with Raihan during the Galarian Star Tournament, instead of giving a Badass Boast, he sings about... how they're both afraid of Fairy-types. However, seeing as they each have a Pokémon on their team that actually has a type advantage over Fairy-types (Duraludon for Raihan and Toxtricity for Piers), it's possible that Piers is doing this to lull the opponent into a false sense of security, which would be in keeping with a Dark-type specalist.
Why is Klara so fond of Poison-type Pokémon? Well, she has a bit of a toxic personality.
Piers doesn't Dynamax his Pokémon and introduces every single member of his team, not only his ace. Piers is likely based on punk singers. Punk music is inherently linked to anarchism, an ideology that rejects unjust hierarchies and promotes collectivism. Piers likely doesn't view his team as "ace that can Dynamax + the helpers", but likely more as one unit where everyone is equally important. This can also be another reason why he doesn't like Dynamaxing: because he feels like it places the Pokémon that will Dynamax "higher" in the hierarchy of the team.
There are three Dynamax raids, and one Legendary raid. That makes up four, and then at the beginning, the scientist gives you a rental Pokémon, raising the amount to five. Lastly, if possible, there's another scientist that gives you a second rental Pokémon, totalling up to six. In other words, you're battling with a full party nearly every single time in Dynamax Adventures!
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 entry stated that there were reported sightings. This actually makes some sense, as they're both version exclusives!
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. On a similar note, Gordie's ace Pokemon is Coalossal, whose G-Max Moves continuously harms the enemy after use (sword) while his mother and counterpart Melony's reduces damage she takes after use (shield).
Ever notice how you only ever see Shellos and Gastrodon's East Sea forms and never the West Sea ones in-game? The Galar region is analogous to the United Kingdom, which is east of the Atlantic Ocean. If said "sea" is analogous to the Atlantic, then Galar would be located east of the sea, hence the Pokémon's East Sea forms.
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.
Rose awakening Eternatus and beginning the Darkest Day is criticized heavily as mere impatience by everyone, including Leon himself, but think back to the fact that Rose takes a particular interest in how rapidly you rise through the ranks of the gym challenges, to the point that he starts the Darkest Day before it's time for the player to finally face Leon. Leon wasn't the champion Rose was counting on to catch Eternatus; YOU are. Releasing Eternatus before you can face off against Leon ensures you being around to aid in the coming battle, whereas doing it after may not guarantee your cooperation or even presence.
- 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 team 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 Pokémon 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.
Why does Dynamaxing Cramorant render it unable to use Gulp Missile? Because now its throat is big enough to swallow its prey all at once!
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 Fairy-types (previously Psychic-types) whereas Avery is Psychic-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 a hot-blooded, nice cap wearing undefeated champion who earned the title at a young age while Sonia his childhood rival is the red-haired grandchild of the region's most well-known professor and is noted to have been on par with Leon back in the day. Their relationship dynamic is similar to Red and Blue's back when Red's characterization was that of a hot-blooded spirited competitor instead of the heroic mime we know of today. Appropriately the two wear red and blue respectively.
- 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 appropriately enough Lance's cousin.
- Leon is the undefeated champion who wields a Kanto starter as his signature Pokémon 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.
- Sonia and Raihan end up representing different incarnations of Blue. With Sonia's path to become a Pokemon Professor paralleling that of Gary Oak and Raihan taking on elements of the game's incarnation who became a gym leader.
Many players have noticed that Pokémon 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 Pokémon are calmer and no longer wild, they run at a more relaxed pace because they're not doing it for the sake of life or death. In other words, they're domesticated. Additionally, it's also because their human trainers are not as fast as they are so they deliberately slowed themselves down to match their trainers' pace.
Bede becoming Opal's successor as the Fairy-type Gym Leader was foreshadowed by his outfit's color scheme from the start. Obviously his coat is mainly pink, which Opal mentions looking for in her successor... but it's also got purple accents—Opal's actual favourite color, and the one she uses to accessorize her outfit as well.
Opal rather forcefully chooses Bede as her sucessor, without him having much say in the matter. She's a Fairy-type specialist, and what are The Fair Folk known for? Stealing children to raise as their own. Yeah, that's right, you watch Bede get kidnapped by the fae.
Why does Melony's entry on the official website say she always beats Raihan despite his various counters for Ice-types (e.g. Torkoal and Turtonator)? Well, her team, particularly in the Champion's Cup completely counters Raihan's team in every way! Her Ice-types handle Flygon, Goodra and Sandaconda, Eiscue and Lapras know Hydro Pump and Surf to wash away Gigalith, Sandaconda and Torkoal, Mr. Rime knows Energy Ball for Gigalith and Sandaconda and Galarian Darminitan knows Earthquake to take down Gigalith, Turtonator and Duraludon. With an opponent that can literally counter all of your team members in every way, Raihan is always beaten.
Why can you find Metagross in the Crown Tundra? Well, the Crown Tundra is based on Scotland, and the Scottish flag (and thus the part of the UK flag representing Scotland) is a white saltire (X shape) on a blue background. Metagross is blue and has a whitish-silver X shape on its face.
Why can you find Keldeo in the Crown Tundra? That would be because it references the Scottish mythical creature known as the Kelpie, a creature that's said to be a water horse that is said to appear by lakes. Keldeo happens to be not only a mythical Pokémon that happens to be part Water-type, but in the Crown Tundra is found inside a lake. Keldeo also has a horn like a unicorn. What is Scotland's adopted national animal? The unicorn.

Fridge Horror

You can get a Type: Null in the post-game. And no, it's not the third leftover brought over from Alola after those experiments; they created a brand new one in Galar. And still slapped the mask on it, despite it being very possible for it to keep its powers in check if it's treated well.
- It could be that the directions for creating Type: Null includes making the helmet as well, so they followed those directions to the letter, headgear included. If the directions came from before Gladion learned how to harness its full power, then it would make sense to have instructions on making the Power Limiter as, at the time, it was deemed necessary to keep Type: Null stable.
One Trainer class, the Model, wears a fancy fur coat that's dark purple with yellow ring-like markings. It looks disturbingly like a Liepard's skin…
- Well, if someone were to assume it's real and not just a dress with a pattern inspired by a Liepard's fur.
From the rare card, someone managed to take a photo of Allister under his mask, publicized it, and got away as people think it's done by one of his Ghost-type Pokémon. Whether it's supernatural works is unanswered, but even otherwise, Allister is still not safe from his privacy.
- Worse still, the card mentions that the picture was specifically taken in his dressing room. Keep in mind that Allister is probably younger than your character is.
- Allister's normal league card mentions that he has the ability to see dead Ghost Pokémon after an accident he had at the age of four. It can be considered that the number four is an unlucky number especially in Japanese culture.
The Glimwood Tangle is actually fairly disturbing when one thinks about it. It's a dark, labyrinthine area that someone could easily get lost in, and the Pokémon that inhabit the place include the Impidimp line (who would probably make you even more lost, just to feed off of your frustration), Hattrem (which is likely to attack you if you feel any kind of strong emotion, including said frustration), and Shiinotic (who put unsuspecting victims to sleep before draining the life from them). Not helping is the fact that it's also the only place in the game where you can find Phantump, which are said to be created from the souls of children who died while lost in the forest… yikes. That said, the people of the town within seem to be at peace with the Fairies and other forest Pokémon, sharing space with them and viewing them as pranksters at worst.
Per the Isle of Armor expansion, it has been confirmed that Rose's predecessor did offer Mustard a rigged match after he fell into a funk with his first partner's death. Mustard retired on the spot when that was offered. Good on him and all… but such a thing really does open up some concerns. Like "what sort of scandal did that create when it got out?" and "good job, you gave Rose the job after you screwed up that royally".
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...
- 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?
The Galarian Fossils’ dex entries are implied to be fabricated. Can this apply to the more exaggerated dex entries?
Of the two new Regis in the Crown Tundra, the one you don’t choose is probably doomed to be sealed away forever.
- One way to look at it, since Gordie and Bea "do not exist" in Shield whereas Allister and Melony "do not exist" in Sword, the player cannot fight two out of these four Gym Leaders no matter what. So, in a sense, depending on whether one chooses Regidrago or Regieleki, the one not chosen is technically considered the "version exclusive".
Imagine a Pokémon that is minding their own business and suddenly they get infected with several Galar particles that makes them Dynamax without having a say in it and then starting to rampage everywhere. And they have no control on their actions.
- Particularly some wild Gigantamax Pokémon are stated to be basically out of control.

Fridge / Pokémon Sword and Shield

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