Up steps Poke Kid Shane to challenge our progress through Pokemon Sword & Shield, and through Route 4 specifically. We’ve really built a nice and diverse party of Pokemon now so we’re feeling pretty confident if we’re honest, though when we think about it, we’re not too well equipped to defeat Electric Types… Why Electric Type you ask? Well, take a look at this next trainer battle intro screen and see if you can guess what Pokemon he’s going to bring out to face us…

Don’t forget to check out our full archive of Pokemon Sword & Shield trainer battles here!

Poke Kid Shane

Location: Route 4

We’re used to trainers spinning, but running around in a circle in the middle of a field whilst dressed as your favourite Pokemon…? That’s a new one on us. We were momentarily surprised to see a Pikachu running around when we emerged into Route 4, only to immediately realise that it had a human face..

Now either that breeder we just faced did some truly disgusting experiments, or we best prepare for a battle… Turns out it’s the latter, so let’s have a look at what Shane brings to the fight.

Quick Tip: If you want your own Pikachu, we found one in the western fields of Route 4.

Pokemon:

Pikachu – electric Type – Level 15

• Weaknesses: Ground Type
• Resistances: Steel, Flying and Electric Type
• Immunity: None
• Notes: Very fast, but quite low Defence.

Guide

Is it just us, or does the Sword & Shield Pikachu look a bit chunky? Oh well, best get to the business of defeating it.

Upon starting the battle we found ourselves in an unusual situation – we had plenty of defensive options but very few, if any, that could hit it’s weakness. Sure, we’d caught a Ground Type or two, but hadn’t considered putting them in our team yet given that we were heading through a mine filled with Pokemon against which they’d be useless.

Recommended Pokemon

Diglett has to be the absolute best option here. Not only is it immune to Electric, but it’s also very fast, so unless Pikachu uses a priority attack you’ll likely strike first. We managed to find one in the Galar Mine, but if you’re struggling there – we will admit they seemed rare – you can find them on the west side of Route 4 in a patch of ground.

Drilbur is another option, available for capture in the Galar Mine, though at this level it will only have a single Ground Type attack that isn’t too powerful. It is also immune to Electric.

Otherwise we’d recommend throwing your most powerful physical attacks whilst using the best options you have available to you – happily it’s Shane’s only Pokemon!

It’s hard to feel sorry for the lad now isn’t it. If bug catchers have taught us anything, it’s that committing to one single type of Pokemon isn’t good for your trainer career. We love nostalgia as much as the next player, but this is taking it a bit far!

Looks like the salary scaling is continuing to work here. Good to see that mine workers earn more than kids, though we’ll admit the difference isn’t exactly huge now is it.