Pokémon Sword and Shield to be the official games of the 2020 Play! Pokémon Season

If you’re a regular Pokémon event competitor it may interest you to learn that Sword and Shield will be the official games of the 2020 Pokémon season.

Announced at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships which kicked off today, the Pokémon company also revealed a few more details about the upcoming games, particularly about battling.

Players will be able to connect to the internet and take part in battles in both single and double battle formats within the Battle Stadium. You’ll also be able to take part in casual battles as well as ranked battles.

In ranked battles you will play against other trainers and their battle teams from around the globe, and you’ll be matched up depending on your rank, win matches and earn enough points and you’ll rank up to the next tier and face tougher opponents. In ranked battles you will not be able to summon Legendary Pokémon, so make sure that your team is ready for battle.

In casual battles all ranked battle restrictions are off so you’ll be able to play your Legendary Pokémon should you have any. While bragging rights are always nice it’s all about learning how to use your Pokémon’s moves effectively.

You’ll be able to take part in Official and Friendly Competitions online. Official competitions will allow you to participate in a variety of battle types with different rules and restrictions while friendly competitions will have their rules determined by the host of the contest.

If you don’t have a battle team you can rent them by inputting IDs from your friends, if you make a battle team you’ll be able to rent it to other players, and have up to five teams available for others to rent.

As with any Pokémon game there’ll be a host of new abilities and items and some pokémon will have hidden abilities which can be gained by catching special pokémon on your travels.

Additionally, as inevitable as one day follows the next, the Pokémon Company announced that there will be a Sword and Shield expansion for the Pokémon TCG and will feature new V cards for players to implement into their strategies along with the new Pokémon, including Zacian and Zamazenta.

More details, including a release date for the TCG expansion will be announced soon, however, Sword and Shield will release on Nintendo Switch on November 15.