Pokemon Sword and Shield Adds More Never Before Seen in the Wild Pokemon

Pokemon Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor DLC lets players catch three more Pokemon that have never before appeared in the wild. Earlier this week, Pokemon Sword and Shield opened up the Isle of Armor, a new part of the Galar region. The new region featured not only several new game features, but also added over 100 existing Pokemon species to the game. One notable addition is that players can now catch Alakazam, Scizor, Politoed, Kingdra, and Rhyperior in the wild, allowing players to catch these Pokemon in the wild for the very first time.

All three of these species evolve via trading, meaning that a player usually has to work with a friend to complete their Pokedex. However, the addition of wild encounters (similar to the ones that allowed players to catch Pokemon like Gengar, Machamp, and other Pokemon in the core Pokemon Sword and Shield games) gave players their first chance to obtain these Pokemon on their own for the very first time. We'll note that Rhyperior is also present in the core Pokemon Sword and Shield but was not available outside of trading. All five of the Pokemon listed above can also be obtained through Max Raid Battles.

There are still a few Pokemon in the Isle of Armor Pokedex that players will need to trade for. Both Porygon2 and Porygon-Z still need to be traded to obtain their evolved form, for instance, so players will have to work out an arrangement with another player. Slowking is another Pokemon that can only be obtained via trading, although players will eventually be able to get its Galarian variant when the Crown Tundra comes out later this year.

The Isle of Armor can be visited by players who purchase a Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass from Nintendo's eShop.