Appendix:Sword and Shield walkthrough/Section 1: Difference between revisions

Intro

The player is immediately given the choice of several languages- English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and both Traditional and Simplified Chinese- in which to play the game. Then the game allows them to pick a gender, default appearance, and name for their player character. These choices can't be changed later on in the game after they are selected. Once the player finalizes their decisions, the game will open with the introductory cutscene, where Chairman Rose will introduce new players to the world of Pokémon and the Galar Region. Once he finishes his introduction, Rose announces that an exhibition match between the current Galar Champion Leon and the Dragon-type Gym Leader Raihan. Just then Leon and his trusty partner Charizard appear from a cloud of smoke while Raihan stands on the other side of the pitch, taunting him. Once their banter ends, Leon uses Dynamax on his Charizard, changing its appearance while having it grow giant in size. The camera then pans up and the game's logo is revealed.

Postwick

The player's house

The player's journey starts in their very own living room, as the player character is just now finishing the opening cutscene on their Rotom Phone. Their next-door neighbor Hop and his Wooloo suddenly burst through the door, eagerly telling them to meet him at his house since Leon, who turns out to be his older brother, is coming to meet you both and he has something big in store. Afterward, the player character can head to their room and grab their parent's old bag and hat in preparation for the journey ahead.

Once they say goodbye to their mother, they leave the house and find that Hop has been waiting for them outside. He runs on ahead towards his house and shouts for them to follow him. Once you get there they find out that Leon isn't there yet, and Hop's mum tells them that Leon's running a bit late and advises them to head towards the train station in Wedgehurst to meet him there.

Route 1

Route 1 is just north of Postwick and is split into two different paths. The shorter path leads straight to Wedgehurst while the longer path on the other hand is one big curve that connects back to the shorter path. Since the player has no Pokémon with them at this moment, Hop advises that they stay away from the long path since it has tall grass where wild pokémon could potentially jump out and attack. So for now, just take the shorter path and head straight into Wedgehurst to meet Leon at last.

Wedgehurst

Upon your first visit to Wedgehurst, you and Hop see that Leon's currently putting on a show for his fans in front of the station. He eventually spots you both in the crowd and says that it's finally good to meet you since he's heard a lot about you from Hop. He then ends his little meet and greet and then runs off back towards Postwick, with you, Hop, and Leon's Charizard all following after him out of worry since he's so bad with directions.

Postwick

Upon returning to Postwick, Leon finally reveals the gift that he's brought for you and Hop. This gift happens to be the Galar region's very own Starter Pokémon: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. After a brief cutscene showing off the small pokémon's personalities, Leon tells them to line up and then offers you and Hop a choice of one of the three starter pokémon.

Grookey		Scorbunny		Sobble
Grass		Fire		Water
	Thwackey		Raboot		Drizzile
Grass		Fire		Water
	Rillaboom		Cinderace		Inteleon
Grass		Fire		Water
	Gigantamax Rillaboom		Gigantamax Cinderace		Gigantamax Inteleon
Grass		Fire		Water

• The Grass-type Grookey has the most weaknesses out of the three starters at 5, those being Fire, Flying, Bug, Poison, and Ice. However, it makes up for this by it and its evolutions having good HP, Attack, and Defense. This allows its evolutions to take a couple of hits during a battle and dish out respectable damage before potentially getting knocked out.

• The Fire-type Scorbunny is the fastest out of the three Galar starters, boasting high Speed and physical Attack. This lets the Scorbunny line go first during most in-game battles all the while hitting like a truck with moves such as Bounce and Pyro Ball. However, its low defenses mean that while it can get in a few strong hits it is able to be knocked out easily, especially by Water, Ground, and Rock-type Pokémon.

• The Water-type starter, Sobble and its evolutions are able to exploit the weaknesses of opposing Pokémon with its high Speed and Special Attack stats while having a decent Attack stat to boot. However, its poor defenses and HP stats hinder it to the point where it only takes one or two super-effective moves to knock it out, especially with its two weaknesses being Grass and Electric Pokémon.

Hop lets you pick which starter pokémon you want first since he already has his Wooloo with him. He then picks the starter that happens to be weak to your new partner Pokémon, while Leon ends up taking the starter that's stronger than yours. Then Hop and Leon's mum comes outside and says that dinner is ready, which results in Hop's family and your's having a barbeque in their backyard.

The next day you meet the brothers in their backyard and out of nowhere, Hop declares that you and he are now rivals and challenges you to your first rival battle. Hop will always send out his trusty Wooloo first, which you should be able to defeat with your Normal-type moves. Wooloo will always yield enough experience for your starter to learn its first STAB move, those being Branch Poke, Ember, or Water Gun. These new moves should be more than enough to knock out Hop's new starter, earning you the first of many victories in your journey.

First battle

If the player chose Grookey:

Pokémon Trainer Hop Postwick Sword and Shield Reward: $400
Type: Normal Unknown Ability: Run Away Held item: None Wooloo♂ Lv.3 Tackle Normal Physical   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Type: Water Unknown Ability: Torrent Held item: None Sobble♂ Lv.5 Pound Normal Physical   --       Growl Normal Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --

If the player chose Scorbunny:

Pokémon Trainer Hop Postwick Sword and Shield Reward: $400
Type: Normal Unknown Ability: Run Away Held item: None Wooloo♂ Lv.3 Tackle Normal Physical   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Type: Grass Unknown Ability: Overgrow Held item: None Grookey♂ Lv.5 Scratch Normal Physical   --       Growl Normal Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --

If the player chose Sobble:

Pokémon Trainer Hop Postwick Sword and Shield Reward: $400
Type: Normal Unknown Ability: Run Away Held item: None Wooloo♂ Lv.3 Tackle Normal Physical   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Blaze Held item: None Scorbunny♂ Lv.5 Tackle Normal Physical   --       Growl Normal Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --       Curse Unknown Status   --

Slumbering Weald

After the battle with Hop, you will hear a crashing noise from the other side of Postwick. You and Hop run there to find out the gateway in front of the Slumbering Weald has been crashed through, and find that the Wooloo who attempted to charge in broke through it. Both of you run in to save the rolling Wooloo.

You will run into three distinct Wild Pokémon along the way, but then you and Hop run into a thick fog, but not before becoming confronted by a strange wild Pokémon. You battle it, but cannot touch it as it seemingly vanishes.

Pokémon	Games		Location	Levels	Rate
Forced random encounters
Skwovet	Sw	Sh	Grass	2	One
Skwovet	Sw	Sh	Grass	3	One
Rookidee	Sw	Sh	Grass	2	One
Special Pokémon
Zacian Hero of Many Battles	Sw	Sh	Only one	???	One
Zamazenta Hero of Many Battles	Sw	Sh	Only one	???	One
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.

After this battle, you and Hop both faint. Both of you wake up eventually, and end up running into Leon, who ran in trying to find both of you. He manages to find the Wooloo and safely take it back. After this, both of you head back to Postwick.

This article is part of Project Walkthroughs, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive step-by-step guides on each Pokémon game.