Pokemon Sword and Shield Guide Beginner's Guide

This Pokemon Sword and Shield Beginner's Guide has everything a new player or a lapsed fan needs to know to enjoy their time in the Galar Region.

byJanet Garcia  

 Posted Dec. 26, 2019, midnight

This Pokemon Sword and Shield Guide Beginner's Guide is meant for you if this is your first Pokemon game, or if you haven't played the series in ages! Here you can find everything from types advantages and battle stats to EV training and shiny hunting tips.What IS Pokemon Sword and Shield? Summary, Version Differences, and More.

Pokemon is an RPG. Pokemon Sword and Shield will likely take you 35-45 hours to beat. Of course, if you spend more time catching Pokemon, training, and exploring the Wild Area, it can easily take you longer.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are mostly the same game BUT there are some Pokemon, items, and even gym leaders that exclusive to each version. Look at our Version Differences page to pick the one for you! You can still get the Pokemon that aren't in your game by Trading (we'll get to that later) but if you love Galarian Ponyta, for instance, you may want to get Pokemon Shield.

There are 400 Pokemon in Sword and Shield. Every Pokemon falls into 1 or 2 "Types." There are 18 Types in total. Every type has type(s) it's Weak and Strong against. Battling Pokemon involves getting to know your Type match ups.

While Pokemon have Types they ARE. Their moves have their own types. For instance, a Water Pokemon might be able to have a Rock move. This can affect the moves you select or the Pokemon you use.

Your goal is to battle and beat all 8 Gym Leaders then win the Galar Championship. Each Gym Leader has their own Type specialty. For instance, the first Gym Leader specializes in Grass Pokemon. You can either build a balanced team that's ready for any type OR you can change your team a bit to give yourself plenty of Type Advantages.

After beating the game, many players like to complete their Pokedex (this means you've, at one point, had every Pokemon in the game), do the post-game, get into breeding, shiny hunting, and more. If these terms seem intimidating, don't worry! We'll break all of these down in the Advanced help section. And you don't need to do any of these things to have fun with Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Below, we've divided some key pages into sections. But keep in mind you can always mix and match these a bit. Just because this is your first Pokemon game doesn't mean you can't breed or hunt for shinies!The Basics pt.1: What You Absolutely NEED to Know Types: There are 18 Types in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Some of them seem obvious: ex. Water is Strong against Fire. Others are more complex: ex. Dragon has no effect on Fairy. Luckily, when you encounter a Pokemon in battle its information is added to your Pokedex so the game will tell you some of this info directly, while in battle, if you've fought this Pokemon before. BUT if you want to plan ahead you'll need to get to know these Type Advantages or have our section on type advantages handy! And don't forget: looks can be deceiving! For example Galarian Ponyta is pretty like a Fairy Pokemon but is actually a psychic Pokemon. And Galarian Weezing looks totally poisonous but is actually a Fairy Pokemon.Evolutions: Not every Pokemon evolves. Not every Pokemon has 2 Evolutions. Most Pokemon can evolve just by leveling up BUT some Pokemon have specific kinds of evolutions that require Stones, certain Items, being Traded, having a certain level of Friendship, etc. Som e of these evolution methods are a bit "Advanced." Check out our page on all the evolutions and evolution methods! This is essential if you want to complete your Pokedex but even if you don't this could help you figure out your team. Evolved Pokemon are stronger than their unevolved forms so you'll want to take Vileplume or Blossom into a gym battle over Gloom (if you can).Tips for Catching Pokemon: generally, a Pokemon with low HP is easier to catch than a healthy one. But there are also Poke Balls and even certain moves that can make catching them easier. Walk up to the vendors in the Wild Area and check out what Poke Balls they're selling! Quick Balls are great for catching Pokemon so if they're selling some stock up!The Wild Area: More of the Wild Area will open up to you over time. Pokemon that are walking outside of the grass are stronger than those in the grass. The level of Pokemon you can catch is limited by the badges you have but you can see this info by ope ning the menu and looking at your League Card. There are only 2 times the game makes you go through this area and you can definitely just spend time on the routes, following the main campaign, to beat the game. However, this is a great place to train, catch Pokemon, do Max Raids, and more.The Basics pt. 2: Taking Your Game to the Next Level Many things in this section are big parts of Pokemon but none of this needs to be understood, used, or done to beat the game. But knowing all this will make life a lot easier and, hopefully, make Pokemon more fun for you.Trading Pokemon: Trading is a great way to get more Pokemon, especially the ones that aren't in your game version (i.e Sword/Shield exclusives). And some Pokemon only evolve through trading. You can trade over the internet or locally. Regular trades require both parties to agree to what's being traded while Surprise Trade involves both parties putting in any Pokemon they want. You can read about both kinds of trading in our How to Trade Guide.Weather: Weather Effects can effect the battle! And certain moves (such as Rainy Day (Rain)) and abilities (like Pelipper's Drizzle (Rain)) can cause a Weather Effect. Check our Weather Guide for details. Certain Pokemon only appear in certain Weather Conditions. To see this info, you can hover over Pokemon name in your P okedex and press "X" to see their Habitat. For instance, Corsola's Habitat is limited to one area of the Wild Area when it's Overcast/Cloudy.Base Stats and Battle Stats: Pokemon have Base Stats such as HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Attack, Sp. Defense, and Speed. But they also have Battle Stats such as Accuracy and Evasion. By paying attention to these stats you can train your Pokemon to excel in one area over another. You can change the stats by EV training, read our guide for more details. Speed can be one of the most important stats because it determines which Pokemon attacks first.Natures: Each of the 25 Natures, with the exception of five, will increase one Base Stat by 10% while decreasing another Base Stat by 10%. You can change a Pokemon's Natures with Mints. For more information, check out our Natures guide.Different Moves and How They Relate to Stats (i.e Special Move, Physical Move, Status Move, Max Moves): All Physical attacks use the Attack stat to deal damage, while the Defense stat is used to resist that damage. Just the same, all Special attacks use the Special Attack stat to deal damage, while the Special Defense stat is used to resist that damage. There may be select moves that crisscross the stats, but they're rare.Status attacks are moves that modify stats or inflict Status Conditions on other Pokemon. Types may not play a role when using these kind of Attacks. Sand-Attack (a Ground-type move) can hit a Flying-type Pokemon, but Thunder Wave (an Electric-type move) cannot hit a Ground-type Pokemon. For everything you need to know about moves, check out our Move Dex.Pokerus: When a Pokemon has Pokerus, it will earn double the EV points from any method - whether during a battle or Poke Job. This desirable virus is extremely rare. Your best chance of getting it is through trading. Jump to that section of our EV training guide for more.Abilities: These Abilities can grant various powers, such as a Type boost when the Pokemon's HP i s low, or automatic Rain. Some special Pokemon can have Hidden Abilities that can only be obtained from Event Pokemon or from Pokemon caught during Max Raid Battles. Check out the new abilities added to Pokemon Sword and Shield.TMs vs TRs: Both of these items teach moves to your Pokemon. TMS and TRs can't be used on just any Pokemon (there are type restrictions) but it's always clear which you can use them on when you select the item. TMs can be reused over and over again, unlike TRs (Technical Records). Here are all the TM locations. TRs are one-time use items. There's no surefire way to find or obtain a particular one, but there are things you can do in the Wild Area to find them. Here's a list of TRs.Friendship: Friendship is a hidden Pokemon stat that is required for some Pokemon to evolve. Friendship has other benefits. For instance, Pokemon with High Friendliness towards you are more likely to avoid fainting (keeping at least 1 HP when enduring what would've been a final blow so that you "won't be sad"). Friendly Pokemon may even give you items when you're camping! But just because friendship is "hidden" doesn't mean it's impossible for you to figure out. There's a friendship checker NPC you can talk to to figure out your Pokemon's friendliness level. Friendship can be increased through feeding them certain berries, feeding them curry, playing with them, and much more. For all the ways to increase Friendship and everything else you need to know about this stat: check out our Friendship guide.Cooking Curry: While camping you can cook curry. Feeding your Pokemon curry can restore their HP, heal status conditions, and make them Friendlier towards you! And completing your CurryDex can give you rewards such as extra ingredients and more toys to play with your Pokemon in Poke Camp. Everything you need to know about Curry can be found on our Curry Tips, Curry Ingredients Locations List, and Complete Curry Dex page.Poke Jobs: In the Galar Region, it's common for people and Pokemon to work together to the point where you can send Pokemon out on jobs to earn XP. You can send any Pokemon out on a job but you want to send ones with the preferred type for the job. It will often be clearly labeled on the job listing. However, sometimes the job doesn't explain what type is needed but for those we have you covered in our comprehensive Poke Jobs Guide.Max Raids: Max Raids occur in the Wild Area by walking up to dens. They're a great way to get extra rewards, Pokemon with good stats, and sometimes Pokemon who can Gigantamax (different from Dynamaxing). For more, check out our Max Raid Battle Guide.Advanced Help: Becoming the Very Best Like No One Ever Was While some of these topics have been discussed above you can dig into all the details by jumping to the following pages:

For more help with Pokemon Sword and Shield be sure to check out our wiki guide which includes a full walkthrough.