Pokémon Sword and Shield players were treated to a surprise announcement last month.
Revealing their plans for the franchise in the year ahead, developer Game Freak confirmed back in January that the extremely successful Switch exclusives would be the first in series’ history to receive DLC. Spread across two major expansions, the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra are scheduled to arrive in the summer and fall respectively and introduce a wealth of new content for Trainers eager to continue their adventures in the Galar region.
Alongside entirely new areas to explore, each add-on is intended to add several new Pokémon, a number of which have already been revealed via initial gameplay. Included in the expanded Pokédex, among others, is a new Galarian form for Gen 1 favorite Slowpoke and i’s various evolutions but it seems the slothful salamander won’t be the only ‘Mon receiving an upgrade. That’s according to data miner Mattyoukhana, at least, who, having recently dug around inside files contained within Game Freak’s Pokémon Home app, has made some interesting discoveries.
Let's start out with some of my findings with Pokémon HOME.
Mysteriously within the app's sound directory, data exists for a Cry similar to Jynx's. In the video, the first Cry played is Jynx's, and the second is unknown.
Sounds like it's the same reverb a Mega Evolution would. pic.twitter.com/0rYZFK6vVR
— Matt (@mattyoukhana_) February 19, 2020
An altered version of Jynx’s Cry (verbalizations Pokémon make either when encountered in the wild or sent into battle) is among Mattyoukhana’s findings and potentially points toward a new form or evolution for the character. Assuming such speculation is correct, Jynx’s (as an Ice-type Pokémon) Galarian makeover could be the perfect fit for Crown Tundra‘s frigid-looking environments. There is, of course, an alternative possibility that the audio file pertains to something else entirely. Gigantamax Jynx, perhaps?
We’ll ultimately have to wait and see either way, though with Pokémon Sword and Shield‘s first expansion only a few months away, fans will hopefully be privy to more official details soon, so watch this space.