As is the case with many of the more recent Pokémon entries (especially once the series made the move to 3D with X and Y), announcement trailers have been much more cinematic and often feature subtle aspects of the game that can only be seen if the trailer is paused for a second.
With the latest release of the Expansion Pass, The Crown Tundra, the two-minute trailer races through the already announced mechanics that are going to be seen in the DLC, as well as displaying a few Pokémon that have already been confirmed to be returning, such as Dragonite and Metagross. There are also many other blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments from this trailer that open the door for new possibilities in Sword and Shield.
10 The Heavy Ball
In a very brief scene, the player character is shown throwing a Heavy Ball at a Carbink, one of the many Pokémon returning in The Crown Tundra. While this doesn’t seem like such a big deal at first, it should be noted that Heavy Balls, as one of the handful of Apricorn Balls, are quite hard to get a hold of in the main game, though they were made a little easier to get with the introduction of the Cram-0-Matic. This could suggest that players are able to obtain Apricorn Balls in an even easier way that doesn’t involve battling through the Pokémon League repeatedly or using the Cram-o-Matic over and over again just for a chance at getting them.
9 Sword & Shield League
At the beginning of the trailer, the audience is shown the gym leaders from Pokémon Shield walking into the arena and waving to the stadium. Later on in the trailer, when the Galarian Star Tournament is being showcased, both Bea and Geordie are shown, gym leaders that are exclusive to Pokémon Sword. This could simply be a way to show both versions of the game, but it could also mean that version exclusive gym leaders may be crossing over for the Galarian Star Tournament.
8 Avalugg Icebergs
In the base game and The Isle of Armor, Avalugg wasn’t seen all that often in the overworld, with its only spawn point being on the Lake of Outrage’s land areas during a snow storm. As the Crown Tundra is a vast, frozen area, it makes sense for them to return as an overworld encounter here.
Shown in an ocean area, there are Avalugg floating in the water like icebergs. This seems innocuous, but it could mean that other Pokémon which weren’t as easy to find in the overworld are going to be given somewhere to live aside from Raid Dens.
7 Legendary Bird Tree
While the focus of this scene is clearly the trainer interacting with their Dragonite, the giant tree that the legendary bird Pokémon are seen fighting in front of is clearly visible in the background. Considering how far away the tree looks and how big it appeared to be during the fight scene, though could suggest that the Crown Tundra is quite a large area, potentially even larger than the Isle of Armor. The vantage point also looks similar to the cathedral shown at the beginning of the trailer, meaning players may actually be able to explore more than the ground level of this building.
6 Dynamax Dungeon
In a very brief segment on Dynamax Adventures, the players are shown being given multiple options of Pokémon to defeat, but there are also several other aspects that are very easy to miss. For one, the silhouette of the Pokémon can be seen through the clouds of each option, giving the player some idea of exactly which Pokémon they will challenge. There are also berries shown on the ground through one of the options, indicating that there may be a chance to heal between battles if players decide they need to.
5 The Different Raid Opening
When introducing Dynamax Adventures, the reveal for Zygarde was much different than it is for regular Dynamax encounters, with it being shrouded in Dynamax energy and obscured from view before being revealed when the energy dissipates. This seems to match how they are shown in the dungeon area of Dynamax Adventures, where its silhouette isn’t able to be seen through the cloud similar to other Pokémon. This could mean that legendaries that spawn inside Dynamax Adventures are entirely random, but could also mean that it is entirely dependant on which other Dynamax Pokémon are defeated during the run.
4 Roaming Articuno
Although the main story of The Crown Tundra seems to be centered around the Galarian legendary birds, there isn’t much word on what exactly players will be doing with Peony in as they explore the Crown Tundra with him. However, there is one short scene that may paint a picture of what exactly players will be doing.
Galarian Articuno is shown flying away from the player in the overworld, indicating that the legendary birds may be the return of roaming legendaries in generation eight. Considering the change in how players interact with wild Pokémon in Sword and Shield, this could make roaming Pokémon much less of a headache than they have been in the past.
3 Route 8
In a very, very quick scene showing off the returning legendary Pokémon in The Crown Tundra, a Solgaleo is shown being brought into battle against an unknown opponent, though the background doesn’t look like it is being used in the Crown Tundra. Considering the surrounding architecture, this looks a lot like Route 8 from the base game and could indicate that these ruins may hold a greater significance in The Crown Tundra than they did in the base game, since not a lot of information is given on their significance in Galar.
2 Who Is Victor?
In Hop and Leon’s battle with the player in the Galarian Star Tournament, Hop says he “Knows Victor better than anyone.” This could simply be in reference to the player character, who was friends with Hop for a long time, but it could also be a hint at some of the other characters that will appear in The Crown Tundra, since it has been hinted at that Peony isn’t the only new character who will appear in the DLC.
1 New Customization Options
Like with the returning legendaries, there was a very fast look at some of the new character customization options that are coming to The Crown Tundra. Aside from some of the ones that have already been revealed, such as Chairman Rose and Marnie’s outfits, it looks like there will be options from past games as well, as Ghetsis’ eye patch and a Team Flare outfit were both shown being worn by the player character. This could mean that players are finally able to dress up as a member of their favorite evil team, which was only an option recently in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee.
