Pokemon Sword & Shield: What To Do When You Beat The Game
GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.
A Champion Time!
In Pokemon Sword and Shield, your journey isn't quite over when the credits roll and you've become Champion. You still have some fun surprises in store, a legendary to catch, and a whole post-game quest to embark on--plus, if you're so inclined, some high-level battles to participate in. There's actually quite a lot you can (and should) do when you finish the story, so if you aren't sure where to start, start here! There are minor spoilers in this guide, though, so proceed with caution.
If you haven't yet beaten the game, we have plenty of other guides that might help! Check out our quick list of rare and cool Pokemon and where to find them, plus our explainer on Watts. And if you're trying to complete your Pokedex but running into some roadblocks, we have guides on how to evolve the trickiest Pokemon, including Milcery, Sinistea, and Applin. Stay tuned for more guides in the coming days as we dig into specifics, like how fossils and raids work.
In our Pokemon Sword and Shield review, Kallie Plagge (that's me) wrote: "The vibrant Galar region is a consistent delight to explore, incentivizing and rewarding collecting and battling in equal measure, and grandiose battles add an exciting dimension to the familiar Gym formula to deliver an engaging adventure beginning to end. But most notably, Sword and Shield cut down on the tedious and protracted elements from previous games in favor of amplifying what makes Pokemon great in the first place. This is the most balanced a Pokemon game has felt in a long time, and with that, Sword and Shield mark the best new generation of Pokemon games in years."
The Post-Game Quest
Once the credits are over and you reload the game, you'll be at your house in Postwick, where Professor Magnolia will give you a Master Ball. Once you have that, head outside and turn left to go into the Slumbering Weald, and travel all the way to the very back, where you found the rusted sword and shield earlier. Hop will be there, and this will kick off the quest. All you have to do from here is follow Sonia's instructions, which will take you to each of the Gyms (aside from Spikemuth's) to do some hero stuff and catch either Zacian or Zamazenta.
Rare League Cards
During the post-game quest, you'll collect some rare alternate League Cards for various characters. You'll have to go out of your way to get some of them, though. To get Marnie's, you have to go to Spikemuth and beat her in a Pokemon battle. She'll be right outside the Pokemon Center there. To get Rose's, find Oleana in the Galar Mine. You can get Leon's by battling in the Battle Tower, which we'll get to in a bit, and you can even get one from the Ball Guy outside the Motostoke Gym.
Catch More Pokemon In The Wild Area
Once you're the champion, every Pokemon in the Wild Area will be above level 60, and of course you can capture all the powerful Pokemon you've yet to catch. Try doing Raids, too, if you haven't in a while--the five-star ones are super hard, but you can get some excellent Pokemon from them. Check out our guide to finding cool and rare Pokemon if you're trying to complete your Pokedex, too.
Gift Pokemon #1
Make sure you stop by Hop's house and go upstairs to Leon's room. You'll find a Poke Ball on the floor containing a Charmander that will be able to Gigantamax, just like Leon's Charizard. It also has some perfect stats! (If you want to see its stats for yourself, see details on the judge function below.)
Gift Pokemon #2
You can now go to the Battle Tower, which is located in Wyndon--it's easy to just fly there. Once inside, go to the left, where you'll see a League staff member with a Pokemon called Type: Null. This staff member will give you Type: Null, a legendary chimera introduced in Sun and Moon, and a bunch of "memory" items of various Pokemon types. Type: Null evolves into Silvally with high friendship, at which point it gains the ability RKS System, which changes its type based on the type of memory you have it hold.
The Battle Tower - BP
While you're there, you can try your hand at the Battle Tower! Instead of experience points, the Battle Tower nets you Battle Points, or BP, which can be used to purchase battle-related items. These include the new Mint items, which can be used to change a Pokemon's nature! There are two BP vendors on the left in the Battle Tower, plus a BP shop in the main Hammerlocke Pokemon Center. You can only earn BP in the Battle Tower, and there are some items you can only buy with BP, so be sure to check out what's for sale and what you might need.
The Battle Tower - Renting
On the right, there's a man who will rent teams to you. This is a great way to get started at the Battle Tower without fussing with a team of your own or worrying about which Pokemon are good. He has five teams available for rent--three singles teams and two doubles teams. I recommend starting with the Rain Team for double battles, because it's much easier to use than the Slow Team, and the Skill Team for singles.
The Battle Tower - Battling
You can use rented teams, your party, or teams you register from your boxes for Battle Tower matches. For double battles, you bring six Pokemon but only select four; for single battles, you bring six and select three. You can either return to the entrance after every battle to switch up your teams, or you can keep going until you lose. You will be kicked out from time to time as you level up in the ranks, at which point you'll get rewards like extra BP, Mints, and Rare Candies.
The Judge Function
Sun and Moon introduced one of the best features for competitive players: the judge function. It allows you to view a Pokemon's base stats in the PC, displayed in various degrees from "no good" to "best." Sword and Shield's judge function is even easier to use--you still have to go into the Pokemon Boxes, but rather than click into a Pokemon's summary and toggle it from there, you can toggle it on while scrolling through the boxes to more easily find the high-stat Pokemon you're looking for. To unlock the judge function, you just have to win six battles in either singles or doubles in the Battle Tower.
Hyper Training
Also in the Battle Tower, there's a guy who will Hyper Train your Pokemon for you. All you need is a Level 100 Pokemon and some Bottle Caps--which you can buy at the BP shop in the Battle Tower. For one Bottle Cap, this guy will max out one base stat of your Level 100 Pokemon. It's a surface-level change, so it won't affect the stats of Pokemon you breed with this Pokemon, for example, but it'll improve its performance in battle. It's worth doing if your Pokemon is almost perfect.
Important Charms
Aside from the Battle Tower, there are two people you definitely want to talk to in the post-game, and both are at the hotel in Circhester. Head to the building on the left and go up in the elevator. The first is behind the second door from the end--defeat him in battle to get an Oval Charm, which increases your chances of finding eggs at the nursery when breeding Pokemon. The second person is behind the last door, and he'll ask you to come back when you complete the Pokedex. Like in previous games, he'll give you a Shiny Charm, which increases your chances of finding shiny Pokemon.
A New Move Tutor
There are a few Move Tutors scattered throughout Galar, but there's one in Motostoke who will only talk to you when you're the Champion. Go up to the Gym level of Motostoke, then head left. When you're able to, go forward (towards the screen) until you pass some shipping containers and come to a set of stairs. Head down the many, many stairs and talk to the guy standing there, who will teach a qualified Pokemon the move Steel Beam. This special steel-type move does 140 base damage and also damages the user.
Random Rewards
Becoming champion also comes with some random bonuses found throughout Galar. For example, one of the merchants at the Stow-on-Side marketplace will give you a Beast Ball, which was used to catch Ultra Beasts in Sun and Moon. There aren't any Ultra Beasts in Sword and Shield, though, so this is probably just for your personal Poke Ball collection. Travel around to see if there's anything you missed!