Pokemon Sword & Shield Adding Gigantamax Toxtricity This Week

Pokemon Sword and Shield players will soon have their first chance to catch a brand-new Gigantamax Pokemon. The Pokemon Company has officially revealed Gigantamax Toxtricity, which is making its debut in the titles later this week.

Starting February 6, you'll have a chance to encounter Gigantamax Toxtricity in Max Raid Battles in both Sword and Shield versions. Toxtricity will be in its Amped Form in Sword, while Shield players will encounter its Low Key Form. You'll be able to find Gigantamax Toxtricity in Max Raids until March 8.

In the meantime, a few other Max Raid events are underway in Sword and Shield. Until February 6, Sword players have a greater chance of encountering Gigantamax Coalossal and Flapple in Max Raids, while Shield players are more likely to find Gigantamax Lapras and Appletun.

Milcery with the Gigantamax factor is also appearing in Max Raids until February 16. When you defeat or capture one, you can earn two new kinds of Sweets, which can be used to evolve it into new flavors of Alcremie.

On top of that, The Pokemon Company is also offering another pair of freebies for Sword and Shield. First, you can claim 10 Heal Balls via the Mystery Gift code G1GAGRANF1NALE. To commemorate the start of the games' third Ranked Battle season, the company is also giving away another 20 free Battle Points via the code SUPEREFF1CACE. You can see all the other free Pokemon Sword and Shield gifts available right now in our roundup.

This month is shaping up to be a big one for Pokemon. The Pokemon Company will pull back the curtain on a new Mythical Pokemon for Sword and Shield on Pokemon Day, February 27. This month will also see the launch of Pokemon Home, a new cloud service that allows players to store and move their Pokemon between games. The service will be available in free and paid tiers.