Pokemon Sword & Shield DLC Crown Tundra Coming In October

With all the attention paid to next-gen consoles lately, you may have entirely forgotten that Pokemon Sword and Shield are due for their second big chunk of expansion DLC. We haven't heard much about The Crown Tundra since the Pokemon Company released the first half of its DLC season pass, The Isle of Armor. But that changed with a special livestream presentation outlining release details and more.

Pokemon Sword and Shield - The Crown Tundra Release Date

The Crown Tundra will come on October 22 as the second part of the expansion pass. On November 6, Nintendo will release retail copies of Sword and Shield that come bundled with all of their DLC. The announcement did not detail whether the DLC content will be on the Switch cart or if it simply includes download codes.

The Crown Tundra Raids And New Tournament

The setting is a snowy landscape, and the story revolves around an explorer named Peony putting you in charge as his expedition chief. Those expeditions will take you to Pokemon dens, where you can team up for "Dynamax Adventures" with up to three other players. The raid dens will take you through a series of Dynamax battles, which also house many of the rare Legendaries. The presentation promised that all of the Legendary Pokemon from previous games are returning for The Crown Tundra.

Once you've finished the story content in the Crown Tundra, you can take part in the Galarian Star Tournament. This 2v2 competition feature battles against recognizable gym leaders from the main story and some DLC characters.

Special Pikachus Up For Grabs

To celebrate the impending release of The Crown Tundra, Pokemon Sword and Shield are offering special Pikachus wearing adorable hats. You'll have to input codes from the various Pokemon social media channels to claim your Pikachu. The first is available now, with the password "PIKACHUGET."

The presentation also detailed the upcoming Pokemon Go and Home functionality, which it promised before the end of the year.

The first DLC, the Isle of Armor, was a sweet little encapsulation of the greatest parts of the full game, including a much-expanded wild area. The story centered around a single new Legendary, the adorable Kubfu. The Crown Tundra story will revolve around a new legendary called Calyrex, but not many details have been shared yet.