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Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Calyrex carries on a tradition of legendary “ fusion ” Pokemon, but does so in a way that could inspire new ideas.
Crown Tundra, the second half of Pokemon Sword and ShieldThe expansion pass is heavily focused on finding and capturing Legendary Pokémon. Every major Legendary from previous games appears in the new Dynamax Adventure feature, and the DLC story revolves around three Legends scattered across the snowy landscape. The key narrative addition is the King of Bountiful Harvests, Calyrex, whom the player must help regain his powers to revitalize the farmlands of Crown Tundra.
The gist of this journey to help Calyrex is ultimately reuniting him with his trusty steed, as the Pokémon is oppressed by no longer being able to tame them. As the players have come to discover, Calyrex and his horse are legendary “fusion”; they can be used separately in combat or joined together using the Reigns of Unity key element. However, from a narrative standpoint, the nature of this association is different from its predecessors and offers a glimpse into what could be a fun Gen 9 mechanic: Tag-Team Pokemon.
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Calyrex and the Crown Tundra
The first thing players do when they arrive in the Crown Tundra is try out Dynamax Adventures, following former gym boss Peony on his quest to “ save ” his daughter Nia. Next, the girl pledges her involvement in Peony’s quests to the player, who can now choose to help Calyrex, find the legendary birds of Galar, or access the ancient temples of the Regis. Alternatively, there is also a side quest to help Sonia research the Gen 5 Swords of Justice trio.
Choosing to help Calyrex, the player will encounter many stories about their steed, with the Pokémon no longer knowing whether the Ghost-type Specter or the Ice-type Glastrier is its true partner. This is an obvious extension of the series’ story with version exclusivity and trading requirements to complete their Pokedex, but it doesn’t matter what horse tale the player chooses. Either way, Calyrex will be reunited with his mount in the castle atop the region’s highest point by the end of the adventure.
Pokémon Fusion
While 90s properties like Yu Gi Oh! are best known for fusing monsters as a mechanic, Pokemon tried the idea several times. Many Legendaries have had alternate forms over the years, like Deoxys in Gen 3 and Shaymin in Gen 4, but Gen 5 Kyurem is able to merge with Pokemon black and White box art monsters Reshiram and Zekrom. This is done through the use of a “DNA Splicer”, which was originally tapped by Ghetsis, leader of Team Plasma, to revive an ancient unified dragon.
Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon played with a similar idea years later by asking Necrozma to absorb Solgaleo or Lunala in his attempts to regain enough energy to be able to transform into Ultra Necrozma and steal the light of the world. Calyrex’s fusion acts in much the same way mechanically, turning two Legendary Pokémon into a single entity, but in terms of lore, it feels more like a team than a fusion. This idea also has precedent in the Pokémon world, but not quite in the same way.
Some Pokémon have been found in unified forms from the start. Not only are there collectives of singular monsters, such as Magneton or Wishiwashi, there are also Pokémon featured in models of each other. Early examples include the Slowpoke line wielding transformed Shellders, or Mantine with a pair of Remoraid. However, the tradition continues in Sword and Shield, Cramorant occasionally catching a Pikachu in his esophagus and Dragapult launching his pre-evolution Dreepy like missiles.
Gen 9 and Tag-Teams
What makes Calyrex special compared to these examples, and perhaps even revolutionary, is that the player can choose to “merge” them while retaining the individual abilities of the two monsters thanks to the new ability “As One”. In terms of knowledge, Calyrex and his horse work together rather than being part of each other. If they can do that, who can say that it wouldn’t work as a future mechanic to expand the idea by allowing players to pair their Pokémon on a larger scale.
The Pokémon Team aesthetic was explored via a set of special cards released during the Sun and Moon era of Pokémon TCG: Pokémon per team. Some of the Tag-Team cards were obvious inclusions, such as Latios and Latias. Many were more unique teams, including Wailord and Magikarp; Gardevoir and Sylveon; as well as Gengar and Mimikyu. Legendaries have played a prominent role in these maps as well, with teams like Reshiram and Charizard, or Celebi and Venusaur.
In video games, letting players slap monsters together should be regulated, otherwise these teams could be heinous combinations of Legendary Pokémon that destroy any sense of challenge or competitive balance. However, the idea of Pokémon combining their skills on the battlefield is not new. Generation 3 introduced double battles, later extended to triple battles, and even quadruple coach teams for Max Raid Battles. Different attacks and abilities benefit mates rather than dealing damage, and many competitive players create teams around gadgets like Trick Room or weather effects to emphasize unity.
Even if a Gen 9 tag-team mechanic didn’t emulate Calyrex’s As One ability, it could at least give some less viable Pokémon a chance to gain relevance by improving their niche skills through something like additional statistics. The game could even be inspired by Fire Emblem: Awakening and other entries in this JRPG series, which allow units to pair up, strengthen relationships, and provide combat utility like protection from attack. Balance can be difficult to achieve, but players will likely appreciate the opportunity to take on more partners on the court at once.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now on Nintendo Switch.
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