Free Special Pikachu Available Now For Pokemon Sword And Shield

In celebration of the Pokemon series' 25th anniversary, The Pokemon Company is giving away a free Pikachu for Sword and Shield. The Pikachu is being distributed via Mystery Gift for a limited time, and what makes it different from other ones you can obtain in the games is that it knows Sing, a move it's normally not capable of learning in mainline Pokemon titles.

The free Pikachu is level 25 and comes equipped with a Light Ball, an item that boosts Pikachu's Attack and Special Attack stats. The Pokemon also knows the moves Encore, Celebrate, and Electro Ball.

To claim the free Pikachu, fire up your copy of Pokemon Sword or Shield and follow these steps:

• Select Mystery Gift from the menu screen
• Select Get with Code/Password
• Follow the prompts to connect online
• Input the code P25MUS1C

Pikachu isn't the only free Pokemon that Sword and Shield players can grab right now. To celebrate the launch of Pokemon TCG's Shining Fates expansion, The Pokemon Company is also giving away a free Shiny Toxtricity at GameStop and EB Games in the US and Canada, respectively. You'll need to head to a participate store and use the Pokemon Pass mobile app to receive a download code for that free monster.

Finally, Sword and Shield players still have a few more days to claim a free item bundle. As a reward for defeating a ton of Gigantamax Pikachu during a recent Max Raid event, The Pokemon Company is distributing a bundle of free Armorite and Dynite Ore via Mystery Gift. Those freebies will only be available to claim until March 14.

The Pokemon Company has other events planned for the series' 25th anniversary this year. On February 27, it streamed a virtual concert featuring Post Malone. Before that, the company aired a Pokemon Presents video broadcast where two new Pokemon projects were announced for Switch: remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and a brand-new open-world adventure titled Pokemon Legends: Arceus.