Pokemon Sword and Shield: How the New Regis Shake Up Legendaries in Crown Tundra
When Pokemon Sword and Shield information first started leaking, there was one concern that resonated with many fans. The games' data seemed to indicate that an upsetting number of the franchise's near-thousand Pokemon would be missing from the game.
Thankfully though, even gamers who may've opted out of these new games have mostly heard by now: the missing Pokemon were a red herring. Pokemon Sword and Shield actually use a two-part Expansion Pass to finish rolling out the sheer quantities of Pokemon that fans of the series have grown so fond of, at least as many could expect from one generation.
Many fans delighted at the announcement that Blastoise, Charizard, and Venusaur would be returning in The Isle of Armor, and then word finally got out that Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, and possibly the Regis would be getting new forms in the subsequent Crown Tundra DLC. Again, a red herring. Pokemon Trainers have since realized that the two mysterious new Regi-affiliated Pokemon are actually the entirely new Legendary Titans, Regidrago and Regieleki.
The original "Regi Trio" each has one base stat set to 200, except for Registeel who splits Defense and Special Defense evenly at 150. They're all tanky, featuring admirable HP, relatively lackluster attack, and abysmal speed. Regigigas, the fourth Titan (and the creator of the original Hoenn Regi Trio), remedied the Speed problem and also entered the ring as one of the strongest Normal-type attackers. These two Regis continue the trend of the Legendary Hoenn Titans, so to speak, though instead of featuring buffed Defense or Special Defense, they feature augmented HP and Speed, respectively.
- Dragon-type
- Ability: Dragon's Maw - Increases damage inflicted by Dragon-type moves by 50 percent.
- Base Stats: HP - 200, Attack - 100, Defense - 50, Special Attack - 100, Special Defense - 50, Speed - 80
- Signature Move: Dragon Energy - "Converting its life-force into power," Regidrago attacks the opposing Pokemon (150 attack, 100 percent accuracy, deals Special damage.) The lower the user's HP, the lower the move's power.
- Lore: Regidrago's arms were once the head of an ancient dragon Pokemon, or so PokeResearchers speculate. Its body is apparently composed of "crystallized dragon energy," and it's said to possess the powers of every Dragon-type Pokemon.
- Electric-type
- Ability: Transistor - Increases damage inflicted by Electric-type moves by 50 percent.
- Base Stats: HP - 80, Attack - 100, Defense - 50, Special Attack - 100, Special Defense - 50, Speed - 200
- Signature Move: Thunder Cage - The user traps the target in a cage of sparking electricity for four to five turns. (80 attack, 90 percent accuracy, deals Special damage.)
- Lore: Regieleki is literally a cluster of electrical energy. It's entire body is composed of a singular organ that generates electricity, and the rings on its body apparently inhibit its powers. Regieleki is powerful enough to independently generate all of Galar's electricity.
Insofar as lore, the Regis have always been particularly well-developed entities. That is, players know many more specific facts about Regi history than they do most other sorts of PokeHistory. In short, Regigigas created the five Titans out of icy mountains, magma, rocks, electricity, and crystallized dragon energy. Although the lot of these titans was worshipped at one time, they were all eventually sealed away by humans. Regice, Regirock, and Registeel were sent to caves in Hoenn, Regidrago and Regieleki were sealed in Crown Tundra temples, and Regigigas was left slumbering in Sinnoh. Regieleki even got fashionable rings fitted onto it by humans (to restrict its power), so evidently, these powerful Legendaries have a history of being imprisoned.
The Regis each also feature a distinct arrangement of dots, while Regigigas features six frontal gems representative of Regirock, Regice, and Registeel (from top to bottom.) Regieleki and Regidrago's dots are formed in a sort of "X" and "Y" shape, which has only fanned the flames of speculations for fans theorizing Pokemon X and Y content in the near future.
The Regis have also been commonly associated with eras of human history, namely:
- Regice - Ice Age
- Regirock - Stone Age
- Registeel - Steel Age/Industrial Revolution
Regidrago and Regieleki would fit into this theory with Regidrago being emblematic of the Dark Ages, and Regieleki being a contender for the Present Day. Now, history aside, these two new Legendaries do offer some new variety to Pokemon.
Whereas Galarian Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are alternate versions of the original Legendary Bird trio, Regidrago and Regieleki are complements to the existing set of Legendary Titans. Regidrago and Regieleki are entirely new and distinct options within the set of Regis, and even shake up the traditional Regi moveset, while respecting core features like the moves Explosion and Hyper Beam.
Regieleki and Regidrago also share two other key distinctions from the original set of Regis: their weaknesses and Abilities. Regice, Regirock, Registeel, and Regigigas were unique Legendary Pokemon in that they were united by a common weakness rather than a common type. All four of them are particularly susceptible to Fighting-type attacks, while Regieleki and Regidrago don't really share a weakness. Likewise, the original Legendary Titans all have the ability "Pressure," while Regieleki and Regidrago feature abilities entirely of their own.
Given that Regidrago and Regieleki were imprisoned far off from the original three and nowhere near their creator, Regigigas, it makes sense that their compositions might differ. That being said, their base stats follow the same general trends seen in the other lesser Regis: one excellent stat, two to three decent stats, and one less favorable stat. Regidrago and Regieleki differ from the original three Legendaries in that they both feature awful Defense stats (rather than specializing in some sort of traditionally defensive stat.) That being said, they do feature specialties that help them thrive and survive all the same.
Regidrago is an HP-heavy beast, while Regieleki is actually the fastest Pokemon in the game and not just Sword and Shield, either. Regieleki is so fast that it has surpassed both Deoxys (Speed Form) and Ninjask, and now reigns supreme in the realm of speed, as the fastest monster in current Pokemon lore. Regigigas rests as champion of height (just over 12 feet,) but that's more of a cosmetic feature than Speed, which is actually used in combat.
With regard to combat as well, both of the new Regis introduce a move to the franchise. Regidrago brings in the brutal Dragon Energy, and Regieleki shows off its very own Thunder Cage. Dragon Energy is actually a bit analogous to Regigigas' own signature Crush Grip, which scales damage based off of the enemy's HP, but Thunder Cage is a bit more unique. It's basically a super powerful, Electric-type, Fire Spin.
The opponent is trapped in electricity for four to five turns, and the moves base power is 80 (whereas Charizard's Fire Spin features a comparably laughable 35). On top of the damage dealt, Thunder Cage also functions as its name implies and cages in the opponent for the length of its duration. Pokemon who've been affected by Thunder Cage are trapped in battle, just as if they'd been hit by a Golbat's Mean Look.
Dragon Energy has a whopping base power of 150, and deals decreasing amounts of damage as the user takes damage. Aside from the scaling, its fairly straightforward, like Crush Grip. Players also shouldn't forget that these Signature Moves take advantage of Regidrago and Regieleki's respective Abilities, too. Whereas legends like the crystal Regice never even got a signature move, Dragon's Maw and Transistor literally exist to boost the power of Regidrago and Regieleki's Signature Moves, respectively. Dragon Energy and Thunder Cage benefit from an inherent 50 percent damage boost whenever used by these new Regi.
All in all, these two new Pokemon are thoughtful additions to the Pokemon universe. Regieleki serves as both an official "Legendary" Pokemon, and a legendarily fast Pokemon, and Regidrago introduces a unique new Dragon-type Pokemon, Ability, and Attack. Pokemon Trainers should also keep in mind that Regigigas created the Regis to help literally shape the world, so it wouldn't be out of the question to expect further Legendary Titans with distinct typings - who knows what future PokeContinents hide?
Pokemon Sword and Shield, and The Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra DLC Expansion Passes, are available now on Switch.
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