Favourite New Pokémon in Sword & Shield?

I'd have to say Hatterene, she's cute and a rival to Gardevoir in that they are both psychic/fairy and one protects it's trainer and is all motherly while the other will beat the crap out of him for having feelings.

Close second is Snom, gotta love the little baby snow bean.

 

Snom but my cinderace kicks some pretty good ass

 

Corvinight (I might have spelled it wrong)

 

Yet another vote for Corviknight, and the Scorbunny family. Cinderace as a pure Fire was a nice surprise, even though its soccer star look might make you think it is yet another Fire/Fighting type.

I also have a soft spot for the Galarian Ponyta--pity it's a Shield exclusive.

 

My favorites from this gen are Duraludon, Hatterene, and Clobbopus, third to first.


Duraludon I like mostly from its use in raid battles. I caught one in the postgame because I needed it for the Pokédex right after I beat the game, then started using it because its typing seemed pretty useful. Sure enough, I find myself using it for almost all raid battles where I actually want to try my best because its typing, physical bulk, and special attack make it pretty strong. Its design is nice too but not really the reason why I like it.

When I saw Hatterene in the leaks, it looked like the region's really feminine Pokémon and not really like much else to me. Its color scheme looked nice, and I remember first thinking it was based on some sort of mannequin which was a little interesting but not enough to make it stand out. Then I saw its 3D rigging and the fact that it's actually tiny and the hair kinda hides that and that made me like the design so much more. It's like the "kids in a trench coat" cliche from all those kids movies and it fits the rapunzel thing they were going for so nicely.

My current favorite Pokémon this gen is definitely Clobbopus. As soon as I saw Clobbopus and Grapploct from the leaks, I knew they'd be some of my favorite Pokémon in this gen thanks to their nice designs on top of their fantastic color schemes, and sure enough, Grapploct is probably in my Top 5 as well. I used to like Grapploct more but I obviously don't anymore because Clobbopus has such a cute personality in ways that are really tough for me to explain. I guess if I were to try and explain, it looks super clueless and carefree all the time. I've had both Hatterene and Clobbopus as my avatar in the last two months, and if I start drawing those two will be the first I get to, other than maybe like Poipole or something.


Also on a different, yet still related note - I asked my friend group Discord to make tier lists on how much they like each Galar Pokémon, and nine people responded. I decided to average them to see the group's general opinion and there were five clear favorites. Clobbopus and Snom were tied for first, then Toxtricity, Dragapult, and Corviknight. I've seen a lot of talk about all of those except Clobbopus which I've never heard anyone say anything negative about, so that doesn't surprise me, and this might be some idea of the general fan favorites. Probably not because of the small sample size, but maybe.

 

Eiscue. Honestly, look at it, it's got an icecube head! What's not to like?

 

Corviknight is pretty damn cool. I've always wanted them to make another crow/raven Pokémon besides the Honchkrow family.

Sizzilpede & Centiskorch. Bug and fire is one of my favorite typings.

Dragapult. Seriously. It's ghost and dragon...another of my favorite type pairs thanks to Giratina and it's based off a B2 stealth bomber! Arguably the coolest looking pseudo-legendary and I've heard it's super OP in comp.

 

Snom, Frosmoth WHY DO WE NOT HAVE MORE GOOD ICE TYPES NINTENDO! I love these two the first time I laid eyes on them. Too bad their quad weak to fire just like so many others. Just another one to throw in the fire. However, there design may just beat Froslass as my second favorite looking ice type (because looks are the only thing ice types have going for them ).

My next favorite is Corviknight. Cool bird of prey that's big, but not huge. Very well designed. Its intimidating, a steel type, bulky and has enough attack to be amazing. Its everything I love in a Pokémon (except the ice typing).