Sword & Shield's Latest Raid Event Features Popular Competitive Pokemon

Pokemon Sword and Shield's Gigantamax event has ended, but a new event is now underway in the games. For a limited time, some of the most popular Pokemon in competitive battling will be featured in Max Raids, and you're guaranteed to get some great TRs for defeating them.

Throughout the event, Pokemon like Tyranitar, Dragapult, Togekiss, Whimsicott, Excadrill, and their pre-evolved forms will appear much more frequently in Max Raids in both titles. On top of that, you'll also be able to encounter the Heat and Wash forms of Rotom.

This Max Raid event runs until May 11. To refresh your Raid dens, you'll need to connect the game online either by activating the Y-Comm or going into Mystery Gift and selecting the option to Get the Wild Area news. Be sure to also check out our Sword and Shield Max Raid guide for helpful tips on battling Raid Pokemon.

There's a lot more content on the way to Pokemon Sword and Shield later this year, including two big expansions: Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. The former arrives this June and takes players to the eponymous Isle of Armor, where they'll train under a former Pokemon League champion named Mustard and receive the new Legendary Pokemon Kubfu. The Crown Tundra, meanwhile, launches in fall and takes place in a new arctic region, where players will be able to explore Pokemon dens together.

A new Mythical Pokemon named Zarude will also be introduced later this year. As we recently learned, Zarude is able to learn a brand-new, exclusive move called Jungle Healing, which restores HP and cures status effects for Zarude and any ally Pokemon on the field. Fans in Japan fans who pre-order tickets for the series latest film, Pokemon the Movie: Coco, will receive download codes for Zarude and Shiny Celebi, but The Pokemon Company has not yet announced how these Pokemon will be distributed overseas.