Video Game Blog 023: The Pokémon Binge Part 2: Shield

Here we are, at Part 2 of my 4 part Pokémon series! In case you missed the previous post about Pokémon Sword, you can find it here.

There’s some cool imagery in this game. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

As mentioned last time, this part will concern my playthrough on Pokémon Shield. Since I went through all the review and setup in the previous post, this one will be a lot quicker and more focused on what I did in Shield specifically. As I mentioned last time, my method of completing the Pokédex for each Generation is to just catch and evolve the newly introduced Pokémon, their region variants, and the new forms available. Since you can only choose one of the three starter Pokémon, and each version has its own Legendary with no access to its counterpart, there was no question I would need to play Shield also. I really didn’t want to pay another $60 for this, so thankfully my brother lent me his copy. (I still bought the Shield DLC, but I did have a discount for that. More on that in Part 3.)

Since it’s easy to get attached to a certain team of Pokémon— and difficult to win without focusing on them and training them— there are typically Pokémon that I neglect on my first playthrough. Since playing both versions is the only way to get certain version-exclusive Pokémon, playing through the game again on this version gives me the chance to bond with and train new creatures and starters. The star this time around ended up being a little penguin named Eiscue.

Look at this cutie! (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

Just look at that precious little bird. It was worth the interminable amount of time it took for me to encounter and catch it. (I really really hate that some Pokémon have a 1% encounter rate. It makes it so frustrating to complete the Pokédex.) I’ve always loved penguins— mostly because of discovering Bloom County’s Opus at a young age— so it was nice to have another penguin to befriend.

Poor guy. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

Eiscue’s quirk is that his head is encased in an ice cube and he can shield himself against one physical attack with it. To get his ice cube back, he has to use the move Hail. Usually I don’t spend a lot of time on Pokémon who don’t have evolutions (Legendaries and Mythical excluded) but I made an exception for Eiscue and took him into the final battles with me. No regrets, he’s a little badass and I love him.

Anyway, in this playthrough I chose the other two starters. (Started the game and traded one to Pokémon Home and then restarted to get the third.) I also focused on all the Pokémon that were exclusive to Shield and that I didn’t take the time for in Sword. (Like Wooloo for instance. He was in my team in Sword at first, but eventually got booted off for newer, shiner Pokémon.)

How’s that for a segue? (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

Speaking of shiny Pokémon, I encountered zero in all the hours that I played Sword. However, in Shield I managed to find two! The first one was Impidimp, and I was able to train him up, Gigantamax him, and use him for most of the game. The evolved form of shiny Grimmsnarl has a familiar white and purple color scheme that reminded me of Freiza from Dragon Ball Z. Him and Hatterene were very versatile Pokémon, using fairy, psychic, dark, and fighting type moves between them.

Ooo, big turtle. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

My second shiny was Drednaw. I encountered him in post game while hunting for more 1% encounter rate Pokémon. I already had a Drednaw in Sword, but didn’t use him for too long. This one I trained up and Gigantamaxed. When you have a shiny, you have to use it, right?

Mmm, curry. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

So shiny adventures aside, much of my time in Pokémon Shield was spent exploring the Wild Area and looking for the Pokémon I still had on my list. Since my previous post went overlong, I didn’t touch on some aspects of the game, so I’ll cover some of that here. As I mentioned briefly, there is a game mechanic where you can camp with your Pokémon. I didn’t find myself using this nearly as much as Pokémon Refresh in Sun and Moon, but I did still check in on them here and there. I enjoyed the cooking minigame. This involves collecting or purchasing ingredients and cooking curry to share with your Pokémon. As you might expect, this helps them gain affection towards you. There was also a Curry Dex that logs all the different curry you created. From what I can see there are 151 different types… I got nowhere near that number! You can also attract wild Pokémon to your camp if you’re good enough at cooking, but I didn’t play with this enough to see that happen.

As a sad side effect though, I was really craving curry as I played through these games. Since I was recovering from sinus surgery I was under Doctor’s orders to avoid spicy food, so I wasn’t able to eat any. (I did have some sushi three weeks in and really regretted it.)

Haha freaks. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

As usual with the series, Sword and Shield had some postgame material to engage with. There is a story you can play through that allows you to catch the Legendary Pokémon, fight some out of control Dynamax Pokémon, and chase around weirdos with odd hairdos. I really enjoyed this part, and I think it made a good statement about putting the past in the correct context and allowing your views on history to change as new facts are uncovered. There is also a big elimination tournament. where you can rematch trainers and gym leaders from the game, but I have not tried that as of yet.

I like this guy. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

Since Shield is essentially the same game as Sword, there isn’t much to say about it that I didn’t say in Part 1. (Except for the fact that two of the gym leaders and their challenges are different in this version. I found that an interesting choice.) I did give it its own feel by dressing my character differently and training different Pokémon, but not much was changed otherwise. It was a nice surprise to find two shinies to add to my party. Since I’d already read the story and done a lot of the exploration, I was able to speed through this play and just focus on crossing more Pokémon off my list. It never got boring, even though it was the same adventure I’d just finished with. So that says something about the longevity and appeal of the franchise, that I can play through the same game twice back to back without it becoming tedious.

Haha. Yeah, I’m with weird old creepy lady. Pink for life! (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

Playing Shield so soon after Sword gave me more time to enjoy the region of Galar and accumulate the new Pokémon that I hadn’t done anything with yet. As of this writing, I have completed all I need to do with Shield and am ready to return the game to my brother the next time I see him. I have transferred all my Pokémon over to Sword so I can continue with what I have left to do there. I will talk about that and more in the next part.

My champion team. (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)

Thank you for reading Part 2 in my miniseries on Pokémon! Next time around I’ll talk about the DLC and my experiences playing through those, as well as what I have left to accomplish in the games. See you soon!

Two down, two to go! (Credit: Nintendo and Game Freak)