The Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass is going to work like DLC for the games’ story, letting players enjoy new adventures across unexplored areas using their already-existing save data.
Since there’s going to be additional story elements in both The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra DLC, that means Game Freak needed to create new characters to breathe some fresh life into the games so it doesn’t just feel like a recycled cast.
The first character you’ll meet in The Isle of Armor is the legendary trainer, Mustard. He held the title of Galar’s Champion for 18 years during a time before Dynamaxing was incorporated into the Gym Challenge.
On top of being a respected trainer and former Champion, he was also the person who trained Leon before he became the undefeated Champion he was throughout the main story. He still holds the record for the longest time spent as Champion.
In the DLC, Mustard will take you on as an apprentice and you’ll spend time training with him just as Leon did before you. He’ll also be the reason you obtain the Mythical Pokémon Kubfu and are able to help it master its powers.
Along with Mustard, you’ll be facing one of two new rivals depending on which version of the game you’re playing the DLC on.
In Sword, you’ll be rivals with the Poison-type expert Klara as she trains in Mustard’s dojo. She focuses on appearances and cares a lot about what others think of her. Her goal is to become popular and she’ll use her looks and calculating nature to get what she wants.
If you’re playing Shield, Avery will be your main competition. He strives to become stronger through training with the legendary Mustard and is a powerful Psychic-type trainer. Unlike Klara, who’s very outgoing, Avery focuses more on being gentlemanly and well-mannered with others.
Like most DLC, there will likely be returning characters like Hop, Bede, or Sonia who are also included in the story to flesh out the cast and provide touchpoints to the original plot. That will help tie things together and might give Sword and Shield a more cohesive narrative overall.
There are also characters we don’t know anything about yet, including this hardy looking rock climber or exploration specialist who we saw concept art of during The Crown Tundra DLC showcase. But because that part of the expansion isn’t due to be released until the fall, we likely won’t learn more about him until the first part is out.
The Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass is available for pre-order now for $29.99. The Isle of Armor portion of the expansion is set to release in June.
