After Pokemon Legends Arceus and remakes of Diamond and Pearl, it feels strange that it’s only been three years since Pokemon Sword and Shield released, pre-pandemic, in November 2019. Back then, the only virus sweeping civilisation was the online eruption over the removal of the National Pokédex, or the bizarre concerns about Yamper’s ass wiggle. Despite the cynicism around its release, the first mainline Pokémon RPG on a home console carried expectations of catapulting the franchise’s competitive branch to new heights of popularity.
As we’re all aware, that script was flipped in a way nobody anticipated. The Pokémon World Championships, originally scheduled to take place in London in 2020, were delayed two years in a row due to COVID-19, along with the respective tournament circuits. The Pokémon Company offered an admirable online replacement in the Pokémon Players Cup events, while corners of the Video Game Championship (VGC) community staged their own tournaments to fill the void.
The changing VGC rulesets and the release of two expansions, Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, maintained enthusiasm for Sword and Shield during lockdown. Online tournaments too meant a wider net of players could compete without travel expenses – like other esports during the pandemic. For a game pitched on stadium-sized battles and ballooning Pokémon through Dynamax, however, the big stage and in-person crowds felt like a key ingredient more so than any preceding Pokémon title in fulfilling its potential as a spectator event.
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