Pokemon Sword and Shield to Bring Back Roaming Legendary Pokemon

Pokemon Sword and Shield will bring back the Roaming Legendary concept experienced in past Pokemon games. Later this week, the Pokemon Company will release the new Crown Tundra DLC pack for Pokemon Sword and Shield. Several websites ran previews for the new DLC content which provided readers with a brief overview of what they could expect from the new content. Game Informer's preview confirmed that the Galarian variants of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres will all be "roaming" Pokemon that players will have to locate, chase down, and capture. The Game Informer preview noted that a player had to use their bike to track down the Galarian Zapdos as it ran through the Crown Tundra region.

Roaming Legendary Pokemon first appeared in Pokemon Gold and Silver, as Entei, Suicune, and Raikou randomly moved throughout the Johto region, daring Pokemon players to follow them. Roaming Legendary Pokemon appeared in just about every Pokemon game from Pokemon Gold and Silver to Pokemon X and Y, although the concept was dropped in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and hasn't been seen since. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are among the three most frequent roaming Pokemon, so it makes since that the trio would come back in some format.

Luckily, the Pokemon franchise has come a long way when dealing with finding Pokemon in the wild. Many (but not all) Pokemon appear in the overworld map, and players can either try to sneak up on the Pokemon or use their bike/running abilities to chase the Pokemon down before they get away. While Roaming Legendary Pokemon has traditionally been frustrating for some players, this is the first time we'll see how it works with the brand new format of the Pokemon overworld map.

The Crown Tundra DLC pack comes out on October 22nd.