Level Pokemon from previous games to prepare for Sword & Shield

With Pokemon Sword & Shield being released on Nov. 15, it provides a bit of a hole for Pokemon trainers who are anticipating the game’s release.

This post may upset some folks, especially those who plan on boycotting Pokemon Sword & Shield due to the limited number of importable Pokemon. For folks who plan on buying the game, they may want to think about looking to the previous games before the next generation’s release.

While many trainers will complete their first Sword/Shield playthrough with their team they caught in Galar, they may decide to import Pokemon from the games into their Sword or Shield and use those partners to plow through their subsequent playthroughs.

One of the ways I have been preparing for my copy of Shield is to go through my Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu game and level my Pokemon through battles and catching Pokemon. I have also done this for Pokemon that I brought from Go into Let’s Go Pikachu.

The following Generation I Pokemon have been confirmed for Sword & Shield: Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree, Pikachu, Raichu, Clefairy, Cleable, Vulpix, Nintails, Diglet, Dugtrio, Growlithe, Arcanine, Machop, Machoke, Machamp, Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Onix, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Rhyhorn, Rhydon, Goldeen, Seaking, Magikarp, Gyarados, Lapras, Eevee, Vaporeon, Joleton, Flareon and Snorlax.

I have pretty much all of these Pokemon in my storage and plan on leveling them, at least my favorites.

If you have already won the Pokemon League the first time, you can challenge gym leaders, the Elite Four and your rival once per day. You can also battle Green, once you’ve caught Mewtwo and Red after defeating six Master Trainers. Folks can also battle and catch Pokemon in the wild to earn experience. The higher level of Pokemon, the more experience – especially if it is an evolved Pokemon.

Folks who have logged over 999 hours into their Let’s Go games can download a patch that will fix communication errors and a bug that prevents Mystery Gift entry after 10 attempts, even if the time has lapsed.

If trainers complete all these battles each day leading up to Sword & Shield’s release, they will reach level 100 with their Pokemon before the games drop for the Switch.

Folks who have Pokemon Sun, Ultra Sun, Moon and Ultra Moon can level up the Pokemon from those games. Before the games went to Nintendo Switch, I imported Pokemon from my Y party into Omega Ruby, earned them the Hoenn ribbon, then transported them to my Sun game.

I did the same thing with my Omega Ruby Pokemon team. I would always bring new Pokemon into the game at around the mid-50s, unless it was a low level Pokemon I needed to evolve and complete my Pokedex. The similar principles of Let’s Go can be applied to the Generation VII games, especially when it comes to catching and battling wild Pokemon.

If the previous games are any indication, trainers may have to wait until after they complete their first playthrough – or have a badge that allows them to command all Pokemon. Imported Pokemon are usually treated as being traded from a new trainer and may not listen to the player if they don’t have the appropriate badge.

With Sword & Shield and its emphasis on battling, I wonder if trainers who win the championship will receive a ribbon for their Pokemon, or if it will be a trophy of some sort, especially with the inclusion of the Champion’s Cup into the story.