Dynamax Adventures and the journey of the endless grind

 Baby needs a new Black-scaled Rayquaza!

So now that the Crown Tundra is finally out there and the vast majority of folk have already embarked on their anime-esque adventure with the bodysnatching legendary Calyrex, it's time to talk about the real star of this final DLC; The Dynamax Adventures. Sure, the journey along the way and the hang-outs with all the different Legendary Pokemon, both old and new, get's people through the door, but it's the Dynamax Adventures which get us all to come back time after time again for that promise of the real reward; shiny Legendries. And yes I did touch on this when I spoke about the DLC as a whole, but trust me when I say that a week of constantly grinding these dungeons has painted a whole new perspective on the affair, so I shall share. Never before has there been an actual tangible Pokemon Endgame for me to sink my teeth into so fully, (Although the Isle of Armor's Watts trial did have be hooked for a bit) so forgive me if I go a little off the deep end ranting about this.

So firstly, 'Dynamax Adventures' is the name given to the new feature added practically the second you start this DLC which builds upon the Dynamax dens into 'rouge-lite'-esque dungeons. Dynamax dens being the special battles from the main game wherein you duel an inflated version of a regular Pokemon with an extended healthbar and powerful 'G-max' moves alongside three other trainers. (Either real-life other players or AI stand-ins) 'Dynamax Adventures' extends these battles into entire dungeons that are randomly generated and can be run over and over in perpetuity. (And I get the feeling that they are meant to be.) Each Adventure consists of four fights made up of three normal Pokémon and capped off with a boss battle against a Legendary from a past game, and for that entire Battle-Royale the players have but four possible knockdowns before they are knocked out of the dungeon for good. Strategy comes in the choose-your-own-route minigame between fights wherein players can vote on which Pokemon to take on next based only on a vague shadow of the Pokemon and report on it's type. (Hope you paid attention during all of those 'who's that Pokemon?' cutaways from back in the Anime days)

What makes this most interesting is that players aren't allowed into these dens with the Pokemon that they've carefully built and trained to deal with any and all situations, but with randomly generated 'rental' Pokemon that are gifted due to some lore bit about how Dynamax energy overdose would drive normal Mons insane or something. This means that the Pokemon you'll be battling with all own zero Effort Values and thus are on the same playing field as the enemy. (Whatsmore, they're all levelled to 60 except for the boss legendary who is 70, making the final fight always that bit more tougher) On top of that, Pokemon Status' are carried on through each fight, meaning HP, PP and even status effects need to be carefully managed in order to make it through all four fights without four knockouts. Right there you've got a fine set-up for some quick and repeatable Rogue-lite fun.

Of course there are some extra little quirks thrown in there to add a little more strategy, like the way that any Pokemon you defeat along the journey can be captured (With 100% rates, it's worth mentioning) and replaced with your current Pokemon is they're becoming a little worn down. There's also some randomly placed bonuses along the path that can influence the Party's choice of direction such as Scientists who have quick replace Pokemon for you, Backpackers who give every Pokemon in the party an item (Which has the potential to be an incredibly powerful boon depending on the randomly selected bonus on offer) And for those that don't want to gamble there are also the Berries which just give everyone a health boost.

Now these are just the ingredients that makeup the 'Dynamax Adventures' and ensure that they are as replayable as they are, but what about the incentives? Well for one there is the Dynite Ore which you receive for every Adventure. Every single successful expedition will net player's about 10 and the rewards which can be reclaimed from them are absolutely insane. We're talking rewards ranging from an incredibly rare Beast Ball to the brand new Ability Patch; an item with the ability to give any Pokemon it's hidden ability, something that has been impossible to do before in any fashion. Previously you just had to be given a Pokemon with it already selected through a special event or you'd have to get incredibly lucky in Dens, this marks the first time they've been so accessible. (Although as they retail for 200 Dynite each, maybe 'so accessible' is being a little strong.)

But even there we're talking about the sort of rewards that only the Hardcore players will really appreciate, you want to know about the universal appeal, huh. Well for that you have the promise that within the Adventures none of the Pokemon are shiny locked. Yep, that means any Pokemon you capture in them (You can pick one at the end to keep) has the possibility of being Shiny, even the legendaries! The rates are incredible too, with the Shiny Charm making them as high as 1/100 for every single captured Pokemon. Technically meaning that there's a 1/25 chance of getting a shiny for every adventure provided you capture all four Pokemon along the way, with a possibility of that Shiny being a Legendary. Now seeing as how previously the only way to get a shiny legendary (given the recent advent of Shiny locking) has been to attend a notoriously rare and elusive Pokemon event, this is a godsend for any Grind-happy player out there. (Finally, a Shiny Rayquaza might one day be mine!) You are only allowed to keep each Legendary once, so the pressure is on to make sure that Pokemon-to-keep is the rarest of them all.

Now this is enough to ensure that a steady stream of players are ready to tackle these dungeons practically night and day, all in the hopes that they might one day be the lucky ones. Whatsmore, the promise of Dynite Ore ensures that folk needn't worry about those who don't want go up against this specific Legendary suddenly rage quitting, and to eliminate that possibility almost completely Gamefreak have even made it so that these Pokemon aren't Shiny during the battles but only when you go to check them out at the end of the adventure, so everyone is incentivised to stick it out through the battling. Of course, with random chance being what it is, even with a 1/25 chance of getting a shiny Pokemon there's a possibility of being as unlucky as me and going a full week of grinding without getting a single pull; that's just the way things go sometimes. (I'm not bitter) In fact, I've been so unlucky that maybe I'll end up concluding that Shiny Pokemon don't even exist and that this all been a farce to convince me to play more. Yep, that's my conclusion and the hill I'm ready to die o- oh wait...

Gulp. Well I guess I'm in for the long haul then. As far as endgame activities with the promise of making players come back time and time again it can hardly be disputed, Dynamax Adventures is one of the most fun ideas that Gamefreak have ever conjured up. And in terms of ways to shiny hunt that elusive legendary goes, this is tons more fun and productive than soft-reseting in perpetuity for that one promised roll which may never come. There's also the cherry on top being the way that these Dungeons are sometimes scattered with rare Pokemon from other Gens which never made it into Sword and Shield's Pokedex, and you just have a mode brimming with reasons to come back to for months. So without further ado, I'm going right back to hunting the Shiny Weather trio.

The Crown Tundra

The frozen south? 

Here we are, after almost an entire year of waiting, the last past of the Pokémon Sword and Shield experience has finally released with The Crown Tundra, a winter themed romp through the frozen southern wastes of England-like Galar. (Note: Southern England is usually the last place to freeze over, but I guess we'll chalk this one up to creative licence on The Pokémon Company's end) Now as far as we are we aware this spells the end of the journey, (saving the surprise announcement of a second season pass, which might happen given the precedent set by Smash Bros.) so there's really a lot for this finale to live up to and achieve. As of right now I've actually played through a decent amount of it, enough to give a fairly decent account of how I think the DLC fairs with its strength and weaknesses, and that's because I think mastering this content is going to take a fair few months to truly do right.

So let me start by saying that I think narratively, I really quite enjoyed what was going on with the Crown Tundra slightly more than what we saw in The Isle of Armor. Armor was a rather straight forward story with no frills that took us through the act of 'training' to be good enough to take guardianship over that DLC's legendary Pokémon, not bad by any stretch of the imagination but not earth shattering either. Whilst I can say the same for The Crown Tundra's go at DLC, I will say that the story Gamefreak showed off felt much more in line with the more interesting and elucidating post-game chapters that we've been getting out of Pokémon of late. I don't want to get into specifics because I think this particular narrative has some surprisingly funny twists to it, but I will say that we really do get in close contact with this region's legendary in a manner that surpasses even what we saw in the Sword and Shield base game. (Maybe I'll dedicate a future blog in talking about the whole story and what we can learn from it.)

The basic structure of The Crown Tundra's story leans on what was established and well-received from the Isle of Armor; open ended exploration. This time around you are paired with the doting father of a rebellious teen known as Peony, who devised a number of 'expeditions' in order to get closer with his daughter, only for her to abandon him and go Dynamax hunting. We are left behind to play surrogate child in the father-daughter bonding time, meaning that the 'expeditions' into discovering the truth behind the various legendary Pokémon living in The Crown Tundra can commence with haste. Of this there are three branches of Pokémon Legendries that you can pursue in order to make up the basic plot of the DLC (with a fourth that's unrelated) and the player is free tackle them in whatever order they so desire, making for the freedom-angle in this plot.

I've said it before but let me reiterate; this really should be the direction that all Pokémon content begins to take in the future as it finally pushes this decades old franchise into the modern age just that little bit. The amount of out-dated design mechanics in Pokémon have been a distraction for too long, let the new wave take over! The new free-camera exploration spaces makes the world feel less segmented and thus the habitats more natural, and some of the legendaries introduced with The Crown Tundra really take advantage of this new space. I don't want to spoil too much but there are some roaming legendaries introduced with this new DLC that require you to explore much further than you might have expected from a Pokémon DLC. This is the sort of thing that should be encouraged in the future!

Not everything is sunshine and roses, however, and I feel that despite itself The Crown Tundra has slipped over in one crucial area; the engagement incentives. Don't get me wrong, exploring the Tundra is a reward all in of itself with the varied environments and Pokémon you can scout of all kinds, but there's no tangible in-game reward for coming back time and time again after the main story is completed. Once you've gathered all the legendaries and solved the mysteries there's a huge part of this gorgeous map that you'll just have no need to ever return to, and this sits in stark contrast to The Isle of Armor which seemed littered with such incentives. On Armor you had the daily max mushrooms which needed players to farm dens in order to spawn, alongside the collectible Ditto's and the Apricorn trees that you could then roll in the item converter to maybe get a super rare Pokéball. (Just got my first Safari Ball from it after 5 months, that's the sort of recurrent incentive I'm talking about.) Game Freak can learn from themselves there.

The real selling point of the DLC however, aside from the promise of new adventures, is the Dynamax Adventures that don't take up as much of the main story as I would have initially assumed. Essentially these are four-fight dungeons wherein the player is tasked with teaming up with a party and battling through three Dynamax Pokémon in order to get the chance of facing a legendary from the series at the end of it all. The twist comes in that none of your own Pokémon are allowed to be used in this battle, meaning you have to select from some randomly generated mons, and that you can only be knocked down three times across all four fights, (With HP and PP carrying over from each fight to the next) so working as a team is essential. The Adventure itself is rather straight-forward, with players deciding what route to take across a board of Pokémon wherein all you can see are faint shadows and Typing to help inform your path. It's actually a really fun and exciting way to push your Pokémon skills just that little bit further (although I'd argue 'Restricted battling' from Armor is much more challenging) and it's made all the sweeter from the fact that legendaries aren't shiny-locked in this adventure, if that's the sort of thing you look out for in Pokémon.

All I really was missing from the DLC, and again I haven't finished it all so I may be a little premature here, is the explanation behind the legendaries. Yeah, I know it's a nerdy point; but why exactly are there so many legendries showing up Galar when they are supposed to be one-of-a-kind? Previous games that have tried this sort of system have established some sort of 'parallel dimension' mumbo jumbo to explain it all away, but it seems that The Crown Tundra couldn't even be bothered to do that. There's some slight shade thrown towards a Cosmog that is found in the area, which would make sense given it's ability to open ultra-wormholes, but where did that Cosmog come from to begin with? But that's just nerd-talk at this point and for the most part I'd consider The Crown Tundra to be a decent send off for the Sword and Shield world, a piece of content that is just about worth the inexpensive asking price for what's on offer here. 

Sword and Shield has been an unexpectedly big part of my year and it's a little sad to see it's journey come to an end. Being a Brit, it was fun to explore this reimagination of my homeland and really get involved with the Pokémon community in ways that I simply haven't ever before. (I even check the Reddit often now, how positively bizarre!) I still think there's room for a little more should the company choose to tell it, but that's all their own prerogative, and I'm sure there's many more out there that just want them to take what they've learned in these DLCs and apply them to a new full game in the future. For my part I just want to say that I appreciate getting the chance to spend some much time in Galar and hope that future Pokémon adventures will only get better from here on in. Now without further ado I'm going to resume the desperate hunt for my shiny Rayquaza.

Pokemon Direct: Tundra edition

I'm just another Pokemon blog; don't mind me.

It's been a hot-while since anything significant has moved on the Pokemon front, hasn't it? And for better or for worse I'm still invested in these games, I have my ludicrous-hour Sword and Shield save with whole sections of the PC dedicated to competitive build Pokemon, (Who are about to get a lot more competitive if those rumoured 'Hidden Ability Capsules' are real) so it's safe to say that I'm ready to eat up anything that Gamefreak can throw at me. Although to be utmost and honest with you, I am wondering about the longevity of a title like this going into the backend of the year. Sure, in the Summer we can joke around and make time for Pokemon, all else that's going on in the gaming world is a pandemic and Animal Crossing, there's little competition for the dedicated Pokemon scene. But we're coming into the season of Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Cyberpunk and Next-gen consoles; unless The Pokemon company are prepared to pull that secret third DLC that everyone and their mother appears to be certain is happening, I don't know how much further Sword and Shield's legs can carry it.

And to spoil anyone who's excitement for such was raised upon hearing about the new Pokemon direct, let me ruin it for you; they didn't announce a third DLC. In fact, as far as Pokemon Directs for the year go, this was perhaps the most lackluster. (The first revealed both DLCs and what they were capable of, the second announced a Pokemon MOBA and a couple or remakes; yeah, this was barren.) All we really got was exactly what we came to see, the announcement that The Crown Tundra would be launching in a wee- month!? A month? Far be it from me to tell a multimillion dollar company how their scheduling should run, but doesn't that cut it a bit close to the death month of November? You know, the month that only the absolute heavy lifters of the year contend in, I mean I know Sword and Shield was a huge sales success, but does TPC really think they're in the same weight class as those titans? (At this rate, this revitalisation to the Pokemon Competitive scene is going to last about 8 days at best)

So, 23rd of October; no more release date speculation. But why don't I roll back a little and look exactly at what this DLC pack has to offer, now that there's been an exhaustive reveal to confirm all that we could speculate on. Firstly, this DLC pack has Absol. Yes, I know a lot of fan favourites are coming back such as Dragonite and literally 100 other Pokemon, but I used to main Absol back in the day; so that's what I care about. Indeed, this vaguely Scotland-inspired frozen northern expanse called 'The Crown Tundra' is home to a collection of Pokemon that most would consider decently adverse to cold environments. (Like a fire-breathing dragon) What's more, we have the Max-raid-adventures, which I'm sure are going to be a pain to go through with a bunch of randos who don't know how to match type advantages. (It just takes a Google search, people, what's the drama?) And then there's the new Star tournament coming to Wyndon. All of these topics are actually rather interesting so I'll go into them bit by bit.

First we have the Adventures; these are essentially Pokemon's version of Raid Dungeons from your typical MMO. They are a collection of high level max-raid bouts with various Pokemon all leading up to the final duel against a legendary Pokemon from a past game in the franchise. Now this alone is a little contentious given the fact that this very mechanic was available in previous Pokemon games for free, albeit not in such a built-up and multiplayer-accessible way. You have to judge for yourself whether you consider the systems around it enough to justify having this feature of encountering past legendaries torn from the main title and stuck behind a paywall. (I'm guessing a lot of people are going to vote 'no' on that one.) Personally I like the idea of having to really work together with folk to get our legendaries, and I really like the fact that the trailer ended on a shot confirming the appearance of my favourite (and objectively the best) legendary; Rayquaza.

Then there is the less exciting addition of the Star tournament, and I say that because of a distinct lack of any evidence pointing towards this being a worthwhile or substantial mode. Basically, after the Crown Tundra is finished, everyone's favourite Champion Leon (I hear he's never lost a match) opens up something completely unheard of in the Pokemon world! Doubles matches... he just sets up doubles matches with the main characters from the game. In their defence, I'll admit it's quite cool to team up with faces from all over the story from a thematic perspective, but how is this going to play out in terms of gameplay? Even in this Direct they just pitched this mode as a way to see different sides of the characters from the game, but unless there's some sort of limit on the Pokemon that you can bring into this mode (Such as the usual level 50 cap which, notably, isn't there for normal Wyndon tournaments) this is going to last people a couple of hours until they get bored of it. The reason why I lay in so hard to the need for level caps is because I'm still grinding away at completing the limited-type challenge from 'The Isle of Armor', and that acts as incentive to return to the game; making a mode difficult creates it's own agency if implemented right.

Aside from that there is the location of the Crown Tundra itself to explore, and I'll admit that I am curious to see exactly what it is that makes this place so weird looking. Tucked away to the north, the Crown Tundra seems to have a curious duality to it's appearance that switches between luscious green and arctic white. You wouldn't usually expect these types of colourful tree tops and deep morning hazes in an ice-tundra, so I'm curious about the geographical anomalies which births such a place. Of course, I'm not expecting a huge land to explore, maybe just something of the size of the Isle of Armor and with a couple of mysteries to poke at- that'd be fun enough for little 'ol me.

On a more miscellaneous note, The Pokemon Company also announced that they're finally getting around to adding Pokemon Home integration to their years old, though still decently popular, mobile app; Pokemon Go. As of yet we are still unclear about basics, like if this integration will work both ways, (as in, can I take Pokemon out the mobile game and transfer them into it, because I'm guessing not) and even more basic things like when this integration will even happen. ('Before the end of the year' is frightfully vague) They've also gone so far as to dangle the promise of a Dynamax Melmetal in Sword and Shield to folk who take advantage of this, basically handing out the last Pokemon hidden in the code which kept people excited for a third DLC. (Things aren't looking good for the DLC theorists out there.)

Of course I'm going to play the heck out of this DLC when it comes out, it marks the bookend of my Pokemon adventure through my digital Homeland. (Also I've technically already paid for it, so it behoves me to play it) But even with that admittance I'd be lying if I said I still felt the same excitement for it that I did 6 months ago. Maybe they just left it a little too long, or maybe I've just found one too many other games to grab my attention in the meantime. (Persona 4 Golden has swallowed me life lately; I love it) Either way, like many I'm already looking past this game and wondering what the next Pokemon will end up shaping up as, so here's hoping that whatever the denizens of the Crown Tundra have to show us is worth the wait. I just hope it ends Sword and Shield's Pokemon tenure with a little bit of justice.

Pokemon France

Let them have Kalos

You know it's been a long time since anything new has actually touched the Pokemon franchise in terms of it's actual structure. No, I'm not talking about the periodic addition of 100 or so new Pokemon, that's regular enough, nor am I talking about the odd gimmicks that the games have married themselves to now; Mega evolution, Z-moves and Gigantamax. I'm talking about a fundamental change to the way the game markets and sells itself to the fanbase, that's been static for practically ever. Of course, I've talked about it before, but Sword and Shield marks the first time that the Pokemon Company and Gamefreak have actually gone and made full blown DLC for their games to continue the adventure after the fact, and it's been a really strong way to prolong the lifespan of these games to the point where fans haven't just forgotten about the title in their hunger for the next one. The first DLC, The Island of Armor, gave a whole bevy of quality-of-life improvements which made the traditional endgame a lot more fun and the second DLC stands to offer it's own endgame entirely.

But the real question right now, for those with their heads in the future, is what will happen to the Pokemon cycle after the Crown Tundra DLC. These packs were all that was promised in the DLC bundle pack that was sold at the beginning of 2020, but as Nintendo are a company well renowned for having all their franchises be behind of the industry trends, this could just as easily be a prelude to a new DLC bundle pack at the start of 2021. (And if you don't believe that's a possibility, just look at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate wherein the game keeps getting new fighter packs announced even when some key members of the staff are reportedly eager to move on entirely from that project.) So the end doesn't necessarily mean that end and Pokemon Sword and Shield's lifespan could be artificially inflated even longer. This would definitely be in The Pokemon Company's best interest too, as Sword and Shield is their best selling game since Gold and Silver, (And the third best selling Pokemon game of all time) so they'd be crazy not to want to capitalise on that until the well runs dry.

So then with that knowledge to mind and accepted, what could the future possibly look like for Sword and Shield DLC? This is something that I'm particularly curious about, because I always imagined there would be more DLC for the pure benefit of bringing the entire National Dex into the modern game. (Which even after the Crown Tundra, they'll still be 200-odd Pokemon out from doing, not including Mythicals.) How can Gamefreak frame these DLC packs in a way that doesn't just look like booster packs for the current lacking Pokemon roster like they kinda are? So far they've offered a training island to the east and a legendary island to the north, logical reasoning would dictate two more DLC in the south and west. But what if in actuality the team were to go South of Galar, and push a little bit further? What if we were to go so far South that we were no longer in Galar anymore, but hit a whole other landmass? Why, then the question would have to be what that landmass is. What's directly South of England, the landmass that Galar is based on, afterall? Why that would be France, or as it's better known in the Pokemon universe, Kalos.

That's right, Pokemon X and Y bought players to the far away land of Kalos which was clearly based on France, and since then people have been wondering just when they'd get to return. Kalos did have some unique characters and attractions to it, such to the point where it's even directly mentioned by an NPC in Wyndon, the capital of Galar. So this is a location that Gamefreak definitely want fans to remember about, and bringing us right next door opens up the possibility for the most ambitious piece of Pokemon DLC ever to occur. (Which, again, isn't saying much as the practise literally started this year, but I'll take what I can get) Now this doesn't exactly come out of the blue or my head, rumours have started to spring up about the possibility of a trip to Unova for an extensive endgame DLC and I'm left pondering just how likely that is to be strictly from the clues left by Gamefreak themselves. So let's analyse.

Firstly, let's start by saying that it wouldn't be entirely unprecedented for a Pokemon game to feature an entire previous region as an endgame. Just look at that Gold and Silver game I mentioned. As the very second generation of Pokemon games that was a title that certainly had a lot to live up to, and they decided to handle that by introducing original Kanto region in it's entirety to this game's final act. This was complete with references, Pokemon, and adventures, all topped off with a closing climactic battle against the protagonist of the first game alongside a level 100 Pikachu (in a thinly veiled reference to the anime.) Now am I saying that I'd expect that same level of endgame content in a modern Pokemon game? No; because honestly we deserve more at this point. But I'd take another retread of an old area, especially if it's done in the style of Sword and Shield which would be vastly different from Kalos as it appeared in X and Y. (Familiar and new, a good combination.)

There is even a reference in the recent DLC itself that hints at collaboration with other regions, even if it doesn't ultimately pan out. (This is spoilers for Honey's questline in The Isle of Armor) One of the later rewards for dishing out Watts to the dojo Mom, Honey, is that she decides to get in contact with champions from other regions in order to be sparring partners with you. This sounds super exciting until she gets distracted and ends up having to reveal her own Pokemon battle competence which results in her scrapping the idea of other champions and deciding to be your sparring partner herself. Kind of a bait and switch there by Gamefreak and one which didn't really make sense to me at the time. Why imply that there'd be some connection with the wider Pokemon universe only to renege on that at the last moment? What does that benefit you, the story or the player? Perhaps it was truly meant as a prelude to the big DLC next year? Yes, I'm grabbing at straws but so help-me I don't have a choice!

Finally there is blatant speculation! And I'll admit that while the rest of my points have been things that I've thought up or had pointed out to be in the past, these tidbits are simply what's been doing the rounds recently. (And, not-so-recently, in some cases.) Firstly, Pokemon X and Y were 2 games that are infamous for being somewhat unfinished at launch, which resulted in there being a lot of unexplained threads and a whole redundant train station in the game which never led anywhere. Then there is the aesthetic similarities between caves in Kalos and Galar, to the point where they almost look like parts of the same the same cave system. (What do you mean 'creative laziness'?) And then there's some small stuff about Matsuda posting pictures with a french train or something to Twitter, I dunno the thread got a little too conspiratorial at that point.

So these are the rumors going around for the past week as speculation rises, but you wanna know the funny thing? These were the same rumors being drummed up before Pokemon Sword and Shield launched, a whole year ago. That's right, none of these points are new, and even the Reddit post that's been doing the rounds is post launch. Now people are arguing that the points were so good that plans must have been shifted for this endgame to be pushed into DLC, but this just all reeks too much of "Zombies DLC for GTA V" for me to get any level of excited for it. It's hardly uncommon for a rumor to pick up speed and feed upon itself long enough to seem like a forgone conclusion, but I personally see no solid evidence and so am forced to put this whole conspiracy of an impending mega-DLC in the 'very unlikely' folder. (Really did the full 360 on you there, didn't I? Bet that change of heart caught someone off guard.) That being said, I'd love to be wrong Gamefreak.

The Isle of Armor Review

You're on the right track!

A few weeks back the Pokemon fandom was treated to something that had never been granted to any Pokemon game before in the franchise's 24 year-long lifespan; DLC. Instead of another re-release fans can enjoy an addendum to their adventures which pick up with the same characters in the same regions with the same Pokemon. Isn't that the dream? Continuous adventure? Of course, as this was the maiden implementation there were a great many questions about how this additional content would pan out, whether it would be worth the £15 asking price (which can only be paid for in a £30 Season pass as of the writing of this article), and whether this really was just a glorified Pokemon 'Booster pack' as the droves of the Internet were so quick to claim. And these are the questions that I very much intend to address over this little DLC review right here.

Firstly, I should disclose the fact that I did have my own significant reservations regarding what this DLC would entail all the way back at the first reveal. When we first saw that small island and the way that it would all be using the same 'free-roam' camera and exploration that was featured in the main game's 'wild area' I was hit with a certain worry. I feared that the apparent minuscule size of the play area would lead to a lack of story and purpose to the content, wherein I would finish the story in one day and clean up my poke-collection in the next day to be done with the DLC on the eve of the third. In my mind; that was the absolute worst case scenario of a DLC like this; to be so incredibly undercooked. My concerns built as I learned more about the small scope of the story and in a sense they were met, whilst also being sidestepped entirely; but I'm getting ahead of myself

Following the downloading of the update earlier this year, 'Sword and Shield' fans will encounter a surprise run in with their respective version-exclusive DLC trainer at Wedgehurst Station. (That's the psychic-eccentric 'Avery' for Shield and the Poison-loving 'Klara' for Sword) Such encounter will have lumped these players with a Galarian Slowpoke that had no Pokedex number/entry and couldn't yet be evolved, giving them prime reason to anticipate the DLC. (Also, Galarian Slowpoke just happens to be a 'Psychic-Poison' Type in direct relation to the two DLC stars; who'd a thunk it.) It wasn't until the DLC, however, where fans got magically inundated with an 'Isle of Armor' pass that allowed them to return to Wedgehurst and follow the same line this Slowpoke snuck onto in order to get to 'The Isle of Armor' (A journey which immediately highlights a narrative inconsistency as this Slowpoke was said to have crawled onto the train, but the train line ends firmly in Galar with a Corviknight sky-taxi taking you the rest of the way to 'Armor'. Seems our Slowpoke is a bit a ninja.)

The Isle of Armor itself is quite what one would expect from a small island with the exception that it's variation of atmosphere's seem rather extreme. (And to think I was criticising 'Breakpoint's Auroa for the same thing.) You have sandy beaches, (an impossibility in England) archipelagos, a swamp, caves, a dense forest, (nothing like Glimwood but still pretty overgrown) and even some desert area. All this variety is crammed within a relatively small play space compared to the base title with one key standout; it can all be explored at the player's own pace. From the second that you arrive at Armor, you have freereign to explore where-ever you want to and come accustomed to their new land, and you'll really want to because if you've any sort of attachment to the Pokemon endgame; you'll likely be spending a lot of time here.

Once you arrive, however, you are presented with a bit of a story hook in that you are immediately mistaken to be the new recruit from the 'Master Dojo'; the only piece of infrastructure on the entire island. Klara (or Avery) is tasked with escorting you to the Master Dojo, however they loathe competition and after a brief bout (In which you presumably wipe the floor with them as you'll have finished the game and have a ludicrously overpowered team by this point; right?) they'll come to the conclusion that you are too powerful and will undermine their reputation. This calls to the return of a classic Pokemon trope that has been missing for the past few entries; the rival. For a while now Pokemon games have been replacing their traditional rivals with 'companions' who 'join you for the adventure'; but this lacks that drive to prove yourself in their sneering face as one might experience with old-school rivals like Gary. Klara's mean-girl competitiveness did sort of gleam with that same spark and I hear Avery has a similar dynamic with the player, which I find to be a welcome return to form.

As it turns out; The Master Dojo is an Asian-style training facility built on this island by a sweet old man named Mustard who is adamant in discovering the utmost excesses of Pokemon trainer strength. This means training folk to be better trainers, as well as pushing Pokemon to their peak performance. In fact, Mustard is even credited to have been the one who trained Leon, and I think I heard something about him becoming Champion of something somewhere. So to enter under his tutelage is certainly quite the daunting task; until you arrive and find out that it's all pretty ramshackle and these people mostly just do their own thing. (As one would expect from a laid-back Pokemon game.) But there is one important take away.

The crux of your training under Mustard, and the main framing device of the DLC, is the training of a cute legendary bear Pokemon named Kubfu. This is perhaps the first time, since Yellow at least, that a Pokemon game has focused so heavily around the relationship that the player has with a single Pokemon; but I must admit that the team did pull it off decently well in execution. It isn't the most daunting task in the world, raising Kubfu, but under the guise of 'training' the building of your relationship takes on a whole new dynamic. Should the player be willing to partake, this can be rather the endearing montage of grinding and levelling. (as the story requires the player to build the hidden stat of 'friendship', alongside normal levels.) Personally, as an endgame lover, I took this opportunity to personally EV train Kubfu with this rewarding sense of purpose whilst doing so. I've never had a Pokemon game actively encourage this sort of free-form gameplay and I was pleasantly surprised. (Of course, that won't stop some players from just dunking some EXP candy, cooking a few curries and skipping through all this; but thus is the nature of free-form gameplay: it's as fun as you make it.)

Keep up this training regime and you'll eventually be met with a choice; you'll have to take Kubfu through one of two towers of the island in order to determine his course after graduating the Dojo. There is the tower of Water, which favours the path of the multi strike attack pattern; and the tower of Darkness, which caters to the one strike knockdown path. These towers present another unique Pokemon challenge, as you must face them in their entirety with only Kubfu in your party, which might genuinely prove a challenge if you didn't do a me and train his EV's to a point where he can cut through almost anyone before they can so much as blink. Your reward is an ultimate battle at the top of the tower with the Dojo master 'Mustard' himself (in which he reveals his 'True form') and the chance to evolve your Kubfu to a unique form of 'Urshifu', the Wushu Pokemon. (Who's appearance, type and move-set is determined by the tower you picked for the final exam.)

But that's pretty much all she wrote when it comes to this DLC in terms of story. There are some finer points that I passed but, much as the advertising suggested, the journey of collecting and earning your Urshifu is the main point of this adventure, just as I feared. So does that mean everyone was right and the rest of the DLC is characterised as a collectathon of the 100 Armor-unique Pokemon that litter the land? A chance to get all the Pokemon that they scrapped from the game at a premium? Actually no, there is a little more to it than that. You see, 'the isle of Amor', in it's very nature, represents something that the Pokemon formula has been long overdue; evolution. (That's in terms of gameplay and presentation, by-the-way.) Whilst graphics have improved in the years since the beginning, the core of Pokemon has always remained the same; you go on a very linear journey and fight through very specific gyms through towns that you have no incentive to really ever visit again once the journey is over. It was a completely fine formula to have at the time, but nowadays it feels a little hollow and was part of the reason why I, and some others, saw the jump to console as a missed opportunity for Pokemon to reinvent itself a little bit. The Isle of Armor makes up that opportunity by presenting the Pokemon formula in the shape of something it's never been before; an exploration-based free-roam adventure.

Now, this wasn't what I thought I wanted from Pokemon until I played the Isle of Armor; but after a week of being practically glued to the place; I understand the appeal fully. Besides the raid dens that little the island and shoot out to the sky (they were in the wild area for the base game) you have the Apricot trees that drop items which can be shoved into the new Cram-o-matic in exchange for a random pool of rewards, (a pool which contains some ultra-rare and unique Pokeballs), Mustard's wife: 'Honey's upgrade requests for the Dojo which requires an incredible amount of Watts (I've been at the game amassing Watts for months and I still didn't have enough to finish it),a Diglett scavenger hunt which will reward milestones with regional-variations of SWSH Pokemon (A reward that I actually appreciate and want) and various scattered NPCs that impart the player with everything from region-variant trade opportunities to the chance to completely clean a Pokemon's EVs for a nominal price. (Something that's absolutely invaluable for endgame Pokemon building.) All these little additions to this island make me want to explore and come back to this location that I've seen a hundred times already; which is something that Pokemon has never been capable of before!

I don't think I'm alone in saying; this is the sort of blueprint that future Pokemon titles should be following in order to add more replay value to their games. Building their worlds to be exploration-reliant, full of secrets, reasons to return to old places and free-to-explore should be the design philosophy of the entire franchise and I'm entirely sold on that concept. Whatsmore; I appreciate Armor's new mode that is built for endgame players who have already built that perfect team which can wipe through the 'Battle Tower'. 'Limited Battles' does the exact same thing as the 'Battle Tower' with the exception that your team of three has to all be of the same type, (dual type Pokemon are allowed as long as there's still one common type between them) you have to fight 5 consecutive rounds and are only allowed to restore Pokemon between rounds 2 times and there are no restorative items beyond those you literally put in each monster's hold slot. It's a brutally gruelling challenge that awakens that desire to improve in a manner no other mode from the game quite so perfectly encompasses. (Not even the battle tower to be honest) As a lover of challenges, I look forward to spending the next few months building and testing the right teams for literally every challenge type; because that's the sort of min-maxing play that this DLC encourages.

So yes, from the eye of a minimalist one could look at the short storyline and conclude that this DLC was an empty waste (for the story is incredibly short); but for those take the time to engage with the larger and harder Pokemon systems (which, admittedly, aren't for everyone) there's undoubtedly something special about this isle. To the point where I am honestly excited about the Crown Tundra and the extra concepts it'll introduce when it comes around. (Such as the franchises' first regional-variant legendaries!) With that in mind, I can say that if you are a lover of the Pokemon world and games then the Isle of Armour is easily worth the asking price and a must-have for no other reason than to take a glance of what potentially peak modern-Pokemon game design can look like. But if you enjoy Pokemon on a purely casual level (just there to play the story and experience that alone) you won't be around long-enough to find anything near your investment's worth here. So in that sense I do heavily recommend Armor, but on a provisional basis. And, one must take into account how you currently cannot buy the DLC separately and must pay for another DLC as well just to try this one. Therefore, I must will say that the curious should wait until a sale, as unless you've the heart to commit, you may be left slightly out-of-pocket by The Isle of Armor.

So a mixed bag with a lot of hope thrown in there. (some of which, I'll admit, might be self imparted.) As such I'll stick this review with my very first rating (because I've decided to do that now) and label 'The Isle of Armor' as a C-rate DLC. I know, that seems a bit strange given my applause but I rationalise it like this; as the potential requires significant investment from the player, the DLC is capable of disappointing a lot of people. Go in invested and you can expect a B experience, don't and you'll get a D experience; cut the difference and you get a C. In summary; The Isle of Armour is a bundle that is brimming with potential and may just be the blueprint for a bright future for the franchise. But it's short narrative length will undoubtedly leave some wanting.

Pokemon: The saga of DLC

The adventure goes on.

It's been such a long time since I've spoken about Pokemon, now hasn't it? And that's been because I've actually been in a holding pattern with my playthrough of Sword and Shield until the new DLC launches and my journeys can resume. Afterall I did the thing, I caught them all, they only thing I hadn't achieved was the coveted acquisition of every single Gigantamax form Pokemon, but that's no biggie. It's not like I've developed a resounding complex over the sheer number of times that I have tried, and failed, to catch Gigantamax Sandaconda. (That'd just be silly. And petty.) That pattern is about to break, however, because in a few short weeks the first ever Pokemon DLC will land and usher some long lost mons to the land of Galar. (And I am so here for it.)

Now, one might react something along the lines of "You're doing a blog about freakin' Pokemon? Really?" but this is my blog and nobody reads it anyway; I'll do what I want! In truth, there's just so much chaos going on right now, both in the real world and that of gaming, that I want something wholly wholesome and removed to keep me sane. Is that so much to ask? Is it so weird to just want something playful and comforting to keep out the dark thoughts?! I don't need a psychiatrist- YOU DO! But with that all said and done, how about we look at that new expansion pass trailer that Nintendo dropped the other day, eh?

The trailer started off with a customary look at the one Pokemon who has, inexplicably, become the face of this impending DLC storm, and that's Galarian Slowpoke. (Or, to be more accurate, on of his evolutions; Slowbro) This is because he was the first 'new' Pokemon to be added to the game after launch in the teaser episode for the Isle of Armor, and as such this Slowpoke has connections to both of the impending DLCs. Both chunks of content will open a potential evolution path for Galarian Slowpoke and thus it makes sense for Gamefreak to show off Galarian Slowbro today and leave the reveal of Galarian Slowking to a reveal before The Crown Tundra in the fall. This particular iteration of Slowbro is actually somewhat unique to earlier Slowbro's as he wears his shell on his arm rather than his tail. This mega-man-esque attachment is thus used to channel his Galarian specific poison abilities, a unique twist on an old favourite Pokemon. Of course, with this sort of lead in you'd be forgiven for thinking this trailer would thus focus on other features coming in the impending release of The Isle of Armor, but Gamefreak know how to keep people hooked and there's an abundance of details on the Tundra too. (Damn you for making me hope, Gamefreak!)

One of the big selling points of these DLCs is the fact that they will herald in the return of up to 200 Pokemon in their wake, something that's also been the source of ridicule from some folk. (Although the most vocal detractors of this practice are usually those with an innate lack of understanding for how Pokemon games usually work.) In order to paint this draw in the best possible light, Gamefreak decided to focus more on unique features in this trailer whilst peppering in montages of returning Pokemon, and let me just say now that I'm currently liking the 200 they've picked. In the trailer we get to see Absol, (finally!) Kingdra, Eexggutor, Lycanroc and so many others that I plain cannot place off the top of my head. (Try to remember that my last Pokemon game was 2004's Emerald, I'm a bit rusty)

A lot of the trailer is comprised of quick flash-shots of features that are better explained in press releases. One such one being a mechanical Cramorant which is apparently known as a 'Cram-O-matic'. This is essentially just a way of mulching useless items into potentially useful rare items, so your usual looter-game affair, although I hope there's an influx of rare items being added in order to make this worthwhile. (I've already grinded the artefact store to the point where I have every item I could currently want.) Perhaps more sustainably experience-changing is something else we get a glimpse of in this trailer; a dinner table sporting the ominous red swirls of Gigantamax. What could it mean? Well apparently it's a meal which the player can partake which will- grant the present Pokemon it's Gigantamax forms? Nani! So you're telling me that those incredibly uber-rare shiny Gigantamax Pokemon that people have been lording about with for the past forever are about to become entirely obsolete? Good, I'm sick of watching people play show-and-tell during den matches. I know a lot of people are going to whine about 'ruined meta' for this one but I'm personally celebrating. (Besides, we have no idea just how readily available this meal will be. Gathering it might be an endgame all on it's own.)

The rest is much of what we've already seen or know about the Isle of Armor. Players will be granted the adorable teddy-bear legendary Pokemon known as Kubfu and will be expected to raise it throughout the duration of the DLC's mini-campaign. At the end the Pokemon will evolve into a unique form of Urshifu depending on the battle tower that you decided to train it through, symbolising the player's growth into a trained Pokemaster. (Although seeing as how I've already saved the world twice in this game, Sensei Mustard, perhaps you can cut me some slack and give me that black belt off the bat? No? Okay.) We also known there will be some form of Pokeball crafting in these DLCs and the implication is that it will also accompany the Isle of Armor, but it seemed entirely absent from this trailer (or I just saw it and didn't know) so it's hard to know if that's still a thing. (I hope so, though. There's nothing more gratifying than capturing a Pokemon in an inherently unsuited Pokeball like a dick. Actually, don't tell PETA that I said that.)

More details lie in The Crown Tundra section of the trailer which teases the content that's still a few months off. For one we get to see Absol (Goddammit! Guess he's not as imminent as I though..) but we also see a whole slew of new creatures, Pokemon and even regional legendary variants which I'm sure has never been done before. This trailer shows off the Den exploration areas and the expansive overworld exploration, as well as a new tournament mode for two-on-two AI battles that promises to be a curious shake-up. Dark type Moltres steals the show for me here, but that doesn't mean I didn't spy that split second shot of Groudon that the team teased. (That brings me one step closer to my Rayquaza)

Say as you can likely deduce if you took the plunge to read this all, the trailer was pure fan service and that made folk like me eat it up like nobodies business. I do still some few reservations about how much content this DLC will actually hold, essentially as it seems everyday Gamefreak keep announcing new features to their second pack, (Making it seem like The Isle of Armor is going to be almost bare) but I'm hear the literally any excuse to jump back into the world of Anime animal enslavement. (REALLY don't tell PETA I said THAT.) But I can talk about things from the trailer I noticed all day, but there's no point when the DLC itself is dropping in a literal couple of weeks. (Finally, something to look forward to in this crappy year.)

Who's the best Gym leader in Galar?

Who battles the cute furry death-machines the hardest?

Ah nuts, it's only a handful of days until Pokemon Sword and Shield drops it's first big expansion and I've yet to compile my exhaustive list of whom I believe the best Gym leader to be. (Refer to the pictured Jojo "Oh noe!") That gives me just a smattering of days! (Quick, scramble formation!) Now I know this is an incredibly stupid and irrelevant topic of quite literally no feasible consequence to the world, but I penned it down on my 'blogs to write' list so it's getting done, damn it! Besides I think it might be fun to go over those characters who bring their flavour to the Pokemon Sword and Shield World and rank them from worst to best. (Yeah, maybe I'm the only one in the world that this will be fun for but I'm also the only one who reads these so bite me.) So rules are basically no rules, it all comes down to personal preference and- yeah, that's pretty much all there is to it, let's get started. (And thanks to Bulbapedia for all the lovely reference images that I assume are open source. Let's find out!)

Milo is the first Pokemon Gym leader that you happen across in your adventures, hailing from the very English town of Turffield, Milo, according to his official lore, started out life as a farmer. (Which apparently means you'll grow into a seven-foot giant who looks like he's unable of comfortably functioning in society. If you say so, Gamefreak.) As such, a lot of who this character is as a person can be summed as, 'He's a country kid'. Grass type trainer? He's a country kid. Literally has challengers herd sheep for their 'Gym Challenge'? He's a country kid. Big buff fella, large hat, looks like he wouldn't be out of place with a straw of wheat between his teeth? (Hmm, I'm starting to suspect that Gamefreak are mixing their American farmer stereotypes with the English ones...) Milo's key defining characteristic is his obsessive niceness which might also be somewhat to blame for the fact that he's the lowest ranked trainer in the region. (He just doesn't have the heart to work those Pokemon right) Even his own official fact sheet spends more time talking about how much he can bench rather then how decent his team is. Yet even with that flaw he is still a fan favourite amidst the Pokemon community due to his amiable person, but not with me. I don't know what it is, I just feel affronted by excessively nice people. It's like "You can't be that positive about literally everything, you must be hiding so deep dark secret!" So yeah, might be because I'm a dick but I rank Milo low. (Although you can't argue that he isn't a bad trainer. Even for a grass trainer, his team is a bad joke.)

Nessa is probably one of the most well known trainers from the Galar region, and to be fair it is her job to stand out. Based in the sea-side town of Hulbury, Nessa is one of the few trainers in any game to actually have a real paying job besides battling small furry creatures to death; she's also a model of some renown. Because everyone has to have backgrounds that thematically match their adulthood (That's how all lives turn out in the realworld, right?)  Nessa is the daughter of fishermen and thus boasts her very own Water-type gym. Of course this means that, as I am a fire-starter-for-life scrub, she was always destined to be the first trainer to really give me the works, and that's exactly what she did. (I mean, I still won. But it was close.) Nessa is actually one of the few characters who actually has a tie to the main cast, being Sonia's buddy during her gym challenge, and so that little personal-able fact alone gives her points in my book. However, as she we placed so early in the competition her fight wasn't much of an 'opponent for the ages' like some other gyms. Maybe of she were given the chance she'd have more legs. Nessa goes on the maybe pile.

Kabu is one of my favourite enigma's to discuss, because like I mentioned in my review; he's the first character I've ever seen from a Pokemon game to be specifically designed to look Asian. That may seem inconsequential to you but try to understand, all the original Pokemon games were set in regions based on places in or around Japan, so why didn't everyone look Asian then? To confuse matters even more, Kabu is said to hail from the Kanto region, proving that Kanto is definitely supposed to be an Asian region. (What a headscratcher!) In terms of backstory, Kabu is someone who has tried, and failed, to top the Galar circuit all of his life from a young man to an old one. (Which means it must suck to watch a 15 year old prance up and do it first try.) To his credit, I do admire that sort of determination and certainly admit that he was one heck of a tough opponent to best. Honestly, given his positioning; I'd say that Kabu is one of toughest fighters for his particular leg of the tournament, and if his partner Pokemon was just a little more- well, decent, he may have become a contender.

As part of the second ring of the competition you have Bea, the fighter-type, who lives in the Galar town with the single most English sounding name yet not English looking location: Stow-on-Side. She's the no-nonsense hard-as-stone trainer who seems to be like a female version of Johnathon Joestar in her convictions. (With the whole "Go into a fight even if you know you're going to lose" mentality) She's another fan favourite and given her great design I can understand why, alongside Nessa she has perhaps one of the most iconic silhouettes in Pokemon, and given the number of characters that this series has, that's saying something! Unfortunately, for all her talk of strength I find it hard to make a bout against her last for any substantial amount of time at all. Fighting type Pokemon are only really powerful when min-maxed, and the lack of resistances means that her team can go down fairly quickly in practically any match-up. Big points for the character, little loss for the actual fights.

In an alternate version of reality, wherein we have Shields instead of Swords, the Stow-on-Side trainer is really the mysterious Allister, and he fills the role of 'creepy ghost trainer' in this generation. He's a little kid with a mask over his face and a stable of decent ghost-type Pokemon to pick through. Generally, Ghost types are more deadly than the physical table of Pokemon so that alone makes his team more opposing than Bea's, but he also boasts his partner Pokemon as one of my favourite Ghost types of all time, one of the first two Pokemon ever shown; Gengar. (Big points in my book.) Allister doesn't quite hit the iconic 'creepy' heights as some others from the series, however, like Hex Maniac and Sabrina, and his Sword counterpart is more recognisable at a glance. Additionally, Gamefreak broke the cardinal rule of mysterious characters and showed the face under the mask! (Boo. Party foul!)

Honestly, the fairy-type gym leader Opal is unironically one of my favourite trainers just for the uniqueness of her predicament. As a particularly old individual (I believe her age is mentioned to be over 100) she's actually looking to get out of the Gym-game when you meet her and is using the gym challenge as an interview opportunity to scout her replacement. This leads to situations wherein you're battling her staff whilst answering questions, careful to be right were necessary and tactful where appropriate. I honestly can't think of any other game that has devised a concept quite like a job-interview-turned-duel. Outside of her Gym, Opal wins points with me yet again for taking the incredibly annoying Bede out of the story and tourturi- I mean 'training' him for the second half of the campaign. (If only someone did that to Gary back in the day, I may suffer less headaches whenever I hear that stupid name. No offence to any Garys out there.)

In the frozen reaches of Circhester, Gordie rules the roost with his very own brand of Rock-Type domination. Now one might look at the icy surroundings of Circhester, compare them with the rocky crags of Stow-on-Side, and conclude that Gordie must have got off on the wrong bus; and that would totally be the case if it wasn't for one factor; his much more thematically appropriate Mum, Melony, stands to take over this gym in his absence so he's honour bound to sit here. I'll be honest, I don't like this man. Maybe it's his self-absorbed faux-'laid-back' fashion sense, his bleach-blonde f-boy tips or his general demeanour of being an ass; whatever the golden formula; it creates a man that I cringe to look upon. Gordie, In just about every way inferior to his Shield counterpart and the only redeeming factor about him whatsoever is his namesake; that's a funny pun, Gamefreak. Good job.

When the boy is away, Melony will come up to Circhester gym to play, as she is the Ice-Type mum-who-could that has apparently been holding onto her position as head of that stadium since her twenties. (Who says that you have to grow up eventually?) With a Lapras leading her team, Melony is leagues above her son in terms of the actual game; and her elemental choice is actually in harmony with the chilly north. (I find that cohesion soothing to the soul.) In the lore this whole elemental debate was actually the cause of quite some friction within the town, as Melony and her son Gordie fought over who should lead the gym and what element it should hold, leading to rift between the mother and son that has them rarely ever see each other. As for Melony in terms of popularity, she may not be quite as recognisable as some of this generation's mainstays but she's perhaps my favourite to hang around with; at least she's the only trainer who seemed pretty chill about the championship bout. (That's the sort of calm that can be greatly appreciated in those stressful moments. Thus I rate Melony.)

Piers has something of a lamentable situation on his hands when you meet him during the course of his game. Firstly, him home town of Spikemuth is rundown and poor, Secondly, his stadium doesn't even boast a Dynamax site (Literally the biggest appeal of Galar Pokematches), Thirdly, his entire fanbase have formed a harassing gang that worship his kid sister, and finally, Piers just isn't quite feeling the trainer life anymore. As a punk rocker/ Gym leader, he's quite a confused symbol anyway; representing anti-establishment whilst being an integral cog in the single most organised establishment in the region; although even then he still managed to win a place in the hearts of fans. Maybe it's his striking White-black and purple aesthetic that he and his Gym rock, or the Dark type Pokemon that he- Okay, it's not the Pokemon. Whatever the impetus, the Poke-community clamour for this faux-punk/rock hybrid wash-out, and I'll admit I'm quite fond of the man too. (But that's just because he was the only Gym leader in the story who actually helped push the plot forward.)

But the one male trainer who seems to have become the favourite of the community is undoubtedly the Dragon-type Gym leader Raihan, who is based in the misplaced Westminster-allegory; Hammerlocke. I'll be honest with you, I don't like Raihan; there's something about his very being that just repulses me on a base level. (I can't explain it.) I don't like the vague bird theme he has going on, with the flaps coming out of his bandanna or the way he stands on one foot like a Crane every now and then. I don't like that he's an apparent English citizen who walks around exclusively in shorts and a baggy jacket that stops short of his wrists, and I don't like the feral hunch he falls into everytime he battles. Everything about him just screams 'wrongun'. (I'll bet the man keeps half-eaten bodies under his Gym or something, he's got that sort of vibe to him.) All that being said, cards on the table, he was the hardest Gym leader to fight. Was that because he hit the player with weather effects and dual battles at the same time, yes, and was that a bit of a cheapshot, double yes, but it was still effective and I have to rate a tough contender.

Finally we have Leon. What is there to say about this dude? Older brother of the protagonist's Childhood friend, awkward with directions, completely oblivious to Sonia's mild infatuation with him, (Yes, even I picked up on those undertones) oh, and I think he's the champion of something... That's right, number one in the Pokemon championship and entirely undefeated due to his flawless strategy of... I literally have no idea how the guy was so successful, I literally beat him first try. Although Leon does put on a big show and play the part of famous Champion very well, he's also a bit of a pushover and seriously one-track-minded. The guy becomes so obsessed with the Pokemon Championships that he completely misses the steady metal degradation of his closest business partner until the literal skies are bleeding red and everything's going to hell in a hurry. So do I like Leon? Not really. But for his presence alone I can't completely lambaste the man, so he gets a little credit.

Honorary mentions go to the two Gym leaders who take their place after the events of the main game; Bede (Who absolutely had no chance of being my favourite) and Marnie. (Who absolutely would have won my favourite slot for no more reason then her having the single best line in the game: "Oi, Shut it!") What that leaves me with is a smattering of colourful and interesting Gym folk who I have to choose from on grounds of personal preference as well as genuine strength. Of course, that qualifier right there immediately disqualifies Milo, who sucks, but leaves the playing field wide open for the others. Gordie rubs me the wrong way, so he's out; and Opal worships fairy-types, so she's gone. Leon was kind of a push over, so I'm cutting him out the running, and Bea and Piers both didn't prove much of a challenge, so I'm rubbing them out. And as much as it hurts to say, Kabu's history of a decades long contender who never got a break is pretty embarrassing, so I can't in good conscious let him have it either.

That just leaves Melony, Allister, Raihan and Nessa; all folk who I rate roughly equally, (even if Raihan makes my skin crawl) making my final choice hard. If I had to place them all against each other in a battle to the death, however, I think our water queen Nessa edges out just barely with her variety of options to choose from (Although a battle against Melony would quite a slog to win. I'd like to see that.) So ultimately that means I'm crowing Nessa as my personal pick for best trainer in Galar, based on entirely subjective qualifiers that I conjured on the spot. All hail our water bender overlords, praise to Korra, Katara and Sok- wait, wrong franchise. But at the end of the day this was all just fun and games and ultimately meaningless, I was just looking for a way to get the base Pokemon Sword game out of my system before the DLC lands in three days. With that admitted, consider my system fully drained and ready; to the Isle of Amore we go!