Step up Interviewers Gillian and Cam! Yes, we’re back with more Pokemon Sword and Shield! Having taken on the first Gym that this game had to offer, we’re now moving on to Route 5 and pastures new! We’re looking forward to some new challenges and more importantly, plenty of new Pokemon to capture! Let’s get into it!

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

Interviewers Gillian and Cam

Location: Route 5

Well, they didn’t exactly make us wait very long to find some more action now did they? We’re only just out of Turf’ and we’re already being ambushed – by a double battle of all things! If we’re honest though, it’s excitement we’re feeling more than anything. The chance to get our teeth into another Route and it’s trainers is just what we need after the formulaic Gym process!

Pokemon:

KLINK – Steel Type – Level 18

• Weaknesses: Fighting, Fire and Ground Type.
• Resistances: Bug, Steel, Grass, Normal, Flying, Rock, Dragon, Fairy, Ice and Psychic Type.
• Immunity: Poison.
• Notes: Pretty high defences for this early stage in the game. You’ll need to hit a weakness.

HELIOPTILE – Normal & Electric Type – Level 18

• Weaknesses: Ground and Fighting Type.
• Resistances: Electric, Flying and Steel Type.
• Immunity: None.
• Notes: High speed and special attack.

Guide

Sometimes the stars just align for you, and the day that we decided to take on these two, they did just that. You see, upon leaving Turffield we had decided that our Pokemon needed some more experience – our starter was getting a little too far ahead of the pack at level 24. So we picked out a few interesting ones – Pancham and Pikachu – and decided that we’d let them get the main chunk of experience whilst we captured whatever Route 5 had to offer.

To say that Pancham made this battle easy would be a bit of an understatement. Each of their offerings were swiftly dispatched by a few Fighting Type abilities, whilst Pikachu lent some assistance in the form of a few Quick Attacks.

Our first recommendation might not be much of a surprise…

Recommended Pokemon

Machop – Fighting Type

Location: Route 3, North Lake Miloch Wilds Area

Info: Plenty of Fighting Type attacks from this guy too! Low Sweep will do huge damage.

Diglett – Ground Type

Location: Galar Mine, Route 4

Info: Ground Type attacks, like Mud Slap and Bulldoze, will do great against both opponents.

Well, that’s the first Route 5 trainer down! We were actually pleasantly surprised, and not just because we lucked out by having a Fighting Type already in the first position. It’s nice to see some variety straight away.

Still, much as we love fighting new trainers, we’ve got a job to do: Thoroughly scout out Route 5 and see what new Pokemon are on offer!

Oh wait, we’ll happily take that extra cash before we go..

REWARDS

• £3,600