Appendix:Sword and Shield walkthrough/Section 1
Starting Out
After initially launching the game, you’re presented with several languages of which you can play the game in, those being English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Korean, and both Traditional and Simplified Chinese. Once you select your prefered language, the game then allows you to choose both your gender, skin tone, and beginning hair and eye colors. Both the language you’re playing in and your character’s selected gender and skin tone can not be changed after they have been selected, while there are a multitude of customization options spread throughout the game to change your character’s eye and hair colors. After all of your default options have been confirmed, the introductory cutscene begins with a live feed of the Wyndon Stadium Pitch as the current head of Macro Cosmos and Chairman of the Galar Pokémon League, Rose, introduces not only the world of Pokémon but also the Galar Region of which he calls home. While his spiel may sound familiar to returning veterans of the series, it serves as a good introduction of the basics to newcomers as well. Once Rose finishes his introductory speech he then moves on to the main event of the night, an exhibition match between two life-long rivals: The current Dragon-type gym leader of Hammerlocke, Raihan and the reigning Pokémon Champion of the Galar Region, Leon. As he finishes saying that, Leon and his trusty partner Charizard appear on the pitch from a cloud of smoke and make their grand entrance for their audience. Raihan and his partner Duraludon stand battle-ready on the opposite side of the pitch, with Raihan bragging about how this will be the day that he’ll be the one to finally take down Leon’s pristine winning streak. Leon counters by saying that he doesn’t lose battles and calls for his Charizard to Dynamax causing it to grow massively in size while also changing its appearance as well. The camera then pans up revealing the logo of which version you ended up choosing and finally the game begins proper.
Postwick
For once, your journey doesn’t actually start with you waking up in your room for once. Instead, your player character is sitting on the couch in their living room and is currently watching the live feed of Leon’s exhibition match on their Rotom Phone. Just then, your next door neighbor and best friend Hop and his Wooloo both excitedly burst through the door, urging you to meet them at his house so that you can both go pick up Leon of all people! Apparently he’s got a present for the both of you, so you better get going. Afterwards, the player character’s mum tells you to go grab your father’s old hat and bag from your room before you actually head out, just to be safe of course. Once you gather up your things and say goodbye to your mum, and are finally introduced to your little home town of Postwick. It’s a small little farming town and it’s close to both the Slumbering Weald and Route 1. As you head down the hill from your home, you see that Hop’s apparently been waiting for you outside and urges you to come along to his house. He runs ahead, and you should follow him. As you enter his and Leon’s house, Hop excitedly asks his mum if Leon’s arrived yet, to which she responds with that he’s running late and that the two of you should go over Wedgehurst to meet him.
Galar Route 1 (Initial visit)
Galar Route 1 is located just to the north of Postwick and is split off into two different paths: one that’s smaller and leads straight to Wedgehurst while the other is a longer, curved path that has tall grass where wild Pokémon could potentially be encountered. Since you currently have no pokémon on your person at this very moment, Hop advises that you should probably stay clear of the longer path for safety purposes. So, just take the straight path towards Wedgehurst and go meet Leon at the train station.
Wedgehurst (Initial visit)
Upon your initial arrival in Wedgehurst, it seems that Leon’s being swarmed by his fans at the station’s entrance. While addressing his loving fans and performing his signature pose, he eventually spots his little brother waving him over and he makes his way through the crowd to meet you both. Leon comments that it’s great to finally meet you in person and that he’s heard so much about you from Hop. He then ends his little surprise meet-and-greet and then runs off towards Postwick, despite Hop commenting that “he’s pants with directions.”
A Budding Rivalry
Once you all return back to Postwick and head to the brother’s yard, Hop excitedly asks what sort of present Leon has for the both of them. Said present happens to be the Galar region’s very own Starter Pokémon, Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble! A brief cutscene then plays, showing off each of their personalities and which starter is good against which (albeit subtly), to which Leon calls the three to line up so that you can choose your brand new starter.
- Being a Grass-type, Grookey has the most weaknesses out of the trio, those being Fire, Flying, Bug, Poison, and Ice-types. Its line has good HP and Attack stats, combined with a somewhat decent Defense stat, that makes it an excellent tanky grass type that’s able to counter any Rock, Ground, or Water-types that might threaten other team members.
- As the representative Fire-type for the region, the Scorbunny line boasts high Speed, high Attack, and a diverse movepool which all lends itself well to its role in battle as a physical sweeper. Its fire typing allows it to take care of Grass, Bug, Ice, and Steel-types with absolute ease, though it should watch out for any Water, Ground, or Rock-types or any opponents who are special attackers.
- Finally, Sobble is the Water-type pick and excels at taking down common types such as Fire, Ground, and Rock with its high Special Attack and Speed. Combine that with its large movepool with lots of coverage options, which makes it an efficient special sweeper that can take care of tons of different Pokemon. Though its low Defense and Special Defense stats means it can only take a couple of good hits, especially against Grass and Electric-types, before it gets knocked out itself.
Hop says that he’ll let you go ahead and pick your starter first, since he’s got his partner Wooloo with him already. All three starters are respectable in their own rights and all three are all eager to meet you. Just keep in mind that whoever you end up starting your journey with, Hop will always pick the starter that has the type disadvantage to your own, leaving the one that is advantageous against yours with Leon. Once you both pick your starter Pokemon, the brother’s mum comes out and says that dinner is ready and invites you and your mum to have a barbeque in their garden. After a long day of surprises and events, you head off to bed not only tired, but excited for your first real day as a Pokemon trainer. The next day, Hop meets you outside and tells you to meet him and Leon at their house. He comments on the Wooloo that’s trying to break through the gate keeping it from entering the Slumbering Weald, and then runs off towards his house. Right as you arrive, Hop gets done talking to his older brother and suddenly declares that you and him are now rivals and challenges you to your very first pokemon battle!
Hop will always lead with his trusty Wooloo first, and it shouldn’t be that big of a problem to take down. Just use your starting normal type move (Scratch for Grookey, Tackle for Scorbunny, and Pound for Sobble) to deal enough damage to knock it out. One interesting thing to note about this battle, is that Hop’s Wooloo will always yield just enough experience for your starter to level up. Said level up grants them the first of many moves that apply a same type attack bonus (or STAB for short), with Grookey learning Branch Poke, Scorbunny learning Ember, and Sobble learning Water Gun. With these new moves in hand, you should be more than capable of taking down Hop’s new starter.
First battle
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If the player chose Scorbunny:
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Once you two finish your battle a loud crash comes from the other side of town alerting both you and Hop. You both run over towards your house to see that the gate that keeps whatever’s in the Slumbering Weald from coming into Postwick. What’s more, is that the Wooloo that was trying to break down the gate is gone. These two facts cause you and Hop to panic, as nobody is allowed into the Slumbering Weald, but the safety of that Wooloo who broke that gate down is more important. With nothing else left to do but give chase, the both of you run into the Slumbering Weald.
Slumbering Weald (Initial visit)
Once Hop and you enter the Slumbering Weald for the first time, he’ll wonder where in the world that Wooloo went off too, and that since the fog is starting to thicken if you don’t find that Pokémon quick, there might be trouble. As you’re trekking through the weald you’ll run into two of the regional normal type Skwovet, and the regional bird Rookidee as forced encounters. Just use your attacking moves to defeat these three encounters and continue on through the Weald. Once the first Skwovet and the Rookidee have been defeated you’ll both hear what sounds to be a Pokémon’s cry, so keep this in mind as you continue through the Weald. After the second Skwovet has been dealt with, you’ll hear that same cry has gotten louder, and Hop urges you to head on into the fog as he’s worried for Wooloo's safety. He runs ahead and once you meet up with him, the fog has become so thick that you can barely tell where you are anymore. As you both are looking for the Wooloo, a mysterious Pokémon emerges from the fog, startling you both with its sudden appearance and a howl. You two are then launched into battle against this mysterious foe, and there’s a couple things to note about this battle. First and foremost, you’re unable to run from this foe. Secondly, every single attack you use against this Pokémon will not hit its mark. Hop will comment on this fact as the battle continues, and the opposing Pokemon will cause the fog to thicken even more as Hop worrily calls out to you to see if you’re okay.
| Pokémon | Games | Location | Levels | Rate | ||||||||||
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| Forced encounters | ||||||||||||||
| Sw | Sh |  |
2 | Forced | ||||||||||
| Sw | Sh | |
2 | Forced | ||||||||||
| Sw | Sh | |
3 | Forced | ||||||||||
| Mysterious Pokémon | ||||||||||||||
| Sw | Sh |  Only one
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??? | Forced | ||||||||||
| Sw | Sh | Only one
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??? | Forced | ||||||||||
| 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. | ||||||||||||||
As the battle draws to a close, the fog becomes so thick that you’ve basically become blinded and the mysterious Pokémon leaves as the two of you end up blacking out. Once you both come too and pick yourselves off the ground, Leon calls out to you both as he’s come looking for you since he’s worried sick. It turns out he’d been waiting for you both and since you never showed up, he went out looking for you two. Regardless of that, Hop realizes that you still haven’t rescued that lost Wooloo but it turns out that Leon and his Charizard have made sure that the rowdy Pokémon was safe and sound. Leon then comments that you both know that the Slumbering Weald is off-limits, but acknowledges your courage to come in here and understands your reasoning for your actions. Then, Hop is relieved that the Wooloo is alright and was worried for you both when the fog started rolling in and that Pokemon attacked you both out of nowhere. His older brother then asks about the Pokémon you two battled, and Hop comments that it was incredibly stronger than any Pokemon he’s seen. Not to mention its commanding and eerie presence, and the fact that any moves the two of you used against it seemed to pass right through. Leon then speculates about the legend of the Pokémon residing in the Slumbering Weald and if they actually are illusions, but then tells you both to get strong enough to maybe be the ones to reveal the truth about this someday. Before you all leave Hop comments on this experience the two of you shared, and that it’ll make a fine first page in the tale of his legend.
| Sword and Shield walkthrough |
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This article is part of Project Walkthroughs, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive step-by-step guides on each Pokémon game. |
