Earlier this year, GameFreak released the Isle of Armor expansion for Pokemon Sword and Shield. Generation 8 was the first of the mainline Pokemon games to receive a paid expansion. With this new content, owners of the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass are afforded a continuation of their Galar journey.
The enlargement of the Galar region was just one of the perks that came with this paid expansion. Players are introduced to the Isle of Armor. Here, Pokemon trainers are tasked with joining a dojo and taming a legendary Pokemon. This entirely new area brought with it a new rival in Klara for owners of Pokemon Sword. A character that has become a fan favorite in no time.
10 Draw!
When GameFreak originally announced the expansions for Pokemon Sword and Shield back in January, they dropped several bombshells. Before The Pokemon Company unveiled the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, they showed off Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX. This announcement led to fan excitement, but it was Klara that tipped the hype scales. DelightfulDiamond7 captures this moment using a scene from the classic movie Braveheart. For soon to be Klara fans, this was the instant that the community lost control. The floodgates had been opened.
9 Distracted Trainer
8 Klara Rage
For those who have played the Pokemon Sword Expansion Pass, they know that Klara is one grumpy and resentful rival. She does anything in her power to obstruct the Pokemon Trainer from reaching the Dojo initially. Once beaten, she rants and raves about how unfair her loss was.
She even follows the player around complaining at one point in the story when tasked with collecting mushrooms. Ohboy_here_wego makes a meme that draws attention to the cranky side of Klara. By tweaking a famous image of Kyouko Kasodani, this rendition makes an anime-styled lookalike of Klara that captures her essence flawlessly.
7 Goodbye Marnie
Klara serves as the second lady to serve as a rival in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Originally, Marnie was one of the rivals in the base game, serving to push the protagonist forward alongside Hop. While players were satisfied with Marnie for a time, the DLC changed that. GHOSTJenkins shows how quickly some members of the fanbase traded Marnie out for Klara as their favorite girl in the game. Though the two are similar in some ways, Klara offers a unique design that some fans just couldn’t resist when choosing their favorite NPC.
6 Poison Types
After Klara’s reveal, fans took to the internet to compare her to similar characters. Skaroy makes a nod to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, a popular anime. with a fellow poison user in Shinobu Kocho. In the anime she hails from, Shinobu is known for her poison styled sword skills that deal Slow and decisive damage over time. It’s no wonder why fans of both franchises saw the parallels between the two poison professionals. Skaroy swaps the outfits of each to show just how well they would fit in the opposite series.
5 Demon Slayer Fusion
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba served as the inspiration for several Pokemon fans and their memes. In this entry, Hazurelle expands upon the Demon Slayer inspiration, adding another character to this mix. Mitsuri Kanroji, another main character from the show makes an appearance. Hazurelle makes a meme that fuses Shinobu with Mitsuri together to create Klara. This not only pairs a duo from Demon Slayer but takes replicates the iconic Fusion Dance from Dragon Ball Z. Hazurelle can meld several anime influences to recreate one of the best rival designs in recent memory.
4 Klara is Toxic
Not all memes come from outside of the game. Sometimes Pokemon unintentionally provides the community with meme-worthy content all on its own. Rad Dudesman captures this screenshot from the second DLC in the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass.
In the Crown Tundra add-on, players can challenge a set of NPCs to a tag team battle, all while selecting a computer to accompany them. If Klara is chosen, she encourages her partner to show off just how toxic they can be. With toxic having a completely different connotation in video game culture, it’s not hard to see why this phrase is comedic.
3 Get Good
Continuing with the topic of toxicity, Pipixy takes a swing at depicting what Klara would be like as a gamer. Given how nasty and vindictive this character can be when fighting in Pokemon battles, it’s not hard to imagine that she’d be the same way playing in competitive video games. This would definitely be the case if she were a fan of Pokemon RPGs. Monster Energy in one hand and joy-cons occupying the other, this is one character with a personality as volatile as the Poison Pokemon she favors.
2 Why Are We Fighting?
Almost anything sets Klara off. When she accompanies players in the Isle of Armor, she picks fights with Pokemon Trainers for almost no reason at all. At one point, players find a set of Gigantamax mushrooms before her and offer to let her have them, but she challenges them to a fight all the same. An anonymous Reddit user highlights Klara’s hair-trigger temper with this meme. She seems to be looking for a fight no matter what the situation. Her disdain for the player is only matched by her love for Poison-type Pokemon.
1 That Glorious OST
Another rival means another rival theme. This gives fans another excellent addition to the Pokemon soundtrack. Planner_Alex Highlights just how glorious the original soundtracks for Pokemon can be, and the high regard in which they are held. With so much phenomenal music already in Pokemon Sword and Shield, fans felt blessed to get their hands on another song. While Klara may be a sour rival, her theme is one that will have players grinning from ear to ear each time it swells in the background.
