Pokemon Sword And Shield Pokedex Completion Event Unlocks Version Exclusives

Modern day Pokemon games tend to offer a ton of in-game events after they launch, but we're about to see one that breaks one of Pokemon's long-standing mechanics. Apparently, a new event in Pokemon Sword and Shield will make exclusive Pokemon obtainable in the version they typically aren't available in. For instance, Pokemon Shield players will be able to obtain Pokemon that are normally only available in Pokemon Sword and vice versa.

The event is officially called the Pokedex Completion Event and was revealed today by the folks at Serebii. The Pokedex Completion Event kicks off today and runs through March 26th, and since it's designated as a Max Raid Battle event, it sounds like you'll want to head off to the Wild Area in order to catch these Pokemon.

Pokemon Sword players will be able to catch Pokemon like Ponyta, Corsola, Oranguru and Mandibuzz. Shield players, on the other hand, will find Pokemon like Farfetch'd, Darumaka, Passimian, and Braviary. In both versions, there will be a number of Pokemon up for grabs, including Snorlax, the Gastly line, and the Machop line. For a full list of the Pokemon available during this event, check out Serebii.

Version exclusives are a Pokemon tradition that date back to the very first games in the series. Ostensibly implemented as a way to get players to trade with one another, there have always been certain Pokemon that have been exclusive to one version.

That makes this Pokedex Completion Event a fairly big deal, because there usually isn't a way to obtain version-exclusive Pokemon without trading with other players. Thus far, Nintendo hasn't confirmed this event (which is strange because it seems like something Nintendo and The Pokemon Company would want to make a big deal about), but head over to the Wild Area and see what kind of Pokemon you can find there.