Surprise cheering feature discovered in Pokémon Sword and Shield

It is pretty rare for players to discover new features in a game nearly after its release, but sometimes they get lucky. A stream recently uncovered a previously unknown feature in Pokémon Sword and Shield. Pixel artist and streamer “TAHK0” accidentally discovered that they were able to perform the cheer animation during a Max Raid Battle.

https://twitter.com/TAHK0/status/1326665864519643136?s=20

Three cheers for Pokémon Raid Battles

While streaming, TAHK0 casually shook his Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons back and forth waiting between turns. That’s when he noticed that his character seemed to be waving their arms as well. TAHK0 soon realized that his character was making the cheer animation. It appeared that waving the Joy-Cons during battle caused them to cheer on their allies. “I might have just stumbled on a brand new discovery in pokemon sword and shield while I was bored grinding,” he said on Twitter after the stream.

Players believed that cheering during a Max Raid Battle could only happen once your Pokémon was knocked out. Being able to cheer not only gives players something to do as their Pokémon recovers, but it can grant bonuses to your allies. Cheering can randomly add the effects of Reflect or Light Screen, raise the stats of your allies, or fully heal an ally, amongst other effects. Generally though, cheering doesn’t do much of anything. After a turn, your fainted Pokémon recovers and gets back in the battle.

While it is not yet confirmed whether or not cheering this way will still grant players these bonuses, it would definitely add a new dynamic to the game. It is also unconfirmed if shaking the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller or a Nintendo Switch Lite would recreate the cheering.

I obviously knew wooloo rolled around like a ball, but I just realized the pokemon it evolves into, dubwool, is now just an actual soccer ball pic.twitter.com/YhdjxujSuk

— TAHK0 ☕️ (@TAHK0) November 2, 2020

Are there more unknown features in Sword and Shield?

TAHK0 is no stranger to Pokémon discoveries. His Twitter contains a number of fun Pokémon observations that others might miss if they don’t take a second look. One of his more recent discoveries is that the Sheep Pokémon Dubwool looks suspiciously like a soccer ball. It’s always fun to find little bonuses and surprises in games. With one in a game as big as Pokémon Sword and Shield, there are likely more out there.

Have you found anything cool or unique in Pokémon? Let us know in the comments below!