You will need to transfer these forms from previous games in the main series, but they are 100% playable in Pokémon Sword & Shield. There's only one problem - the Pokémon you breed in the Galar region always hatch in their form. If you breed an Alolan Raichu in, he will naturally become a normal Raichu - if you breed a normal Farfetch'd, he will become a Galarian Farfetch. It's a confusing mess, but there's a way to keep these (relatively) rare alternate forms on the Nintendo Switch. You will just need a rare item for your Pokémon to be in possession.
Check out the full list of new transfer-only Pokémon you can play with.
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To breed with alternate shapes that are not normally found in, you will need a special item called Everstone. These are not easy to locate in the Galar region, but you can acquire them in two ways: talk to the Digging Duo in the wilderness and pay the brother focused on endurance 500 watts. There's a chance he digs up an Everstone. You can also acquire for free Everstone de Turrfield - it's a hidden object, located southeast of the stadium.
Once you have an Everstone you can start breeding alternate shapes in the Galar region - while holding an Everstone, some Pokémon will still retain their nature and shape when breeding.
- How to breed non-Galar Pokémon forms in Sword & Shield:
- Find a Everstone - found in Turffield or from the brother of the Stamina Digging Duo.
- Give the Everstone to Female pokemon ou Idem before placing them in the Pokémon nursery.
- Wait for your Pokémon to spawn. If a female Pokémon or Ditto holding an Everstone spawns, it will always retain its original form.
There is a big downside to this. Alolan Raichu et Original smog cannot reproduce alternate forms - their offspring will become Standard Pikachu and Standard Smogo, and will not become their Alolan / original forms.
There are a whole bunch of version-exclusive Pokémon that you can now use in Pokémon Sword & Shield. If you want to do more and start trading, you can now. Here's a complete list of all the alternate forms you can now access with Pokémon Home.
You can breed all of the new Transfer Pokémon only, but only a few will change shape if you don't prepare properly - an Everstone equipped as a sustain item will do for almost anyone.
