Pokemon Sword and Shield introduce a variety of new features to their series, but one of the most exciting is Max Raids. Much like in Pokemon Go, you can team up with three other trainers (either locally or online) and take on supersized Dynamax Pokemon together in cooperative battles.
The Pokemon you encounter in these Max Raids are special in a few different ways. First, there's a chance the monster will have its Hidden Ability. Regular wild Pokemon you come across in Sword and Shield will never have these, making Max Raids the only way to obtain Hidden Abilities in the games (outside of breeding, and in that case one of the parents would need to have the Hidden Ability in order to pass it down).
Depending on the level of the Raid, the Pokemon will have a couple of perfect IVs (base stats) as well, making them useful for breeding if you're trying to put together a competitive team. You'll also receive an assortment of rewards for clearing Max Raids, including Exp. Candy and TRs, which can otherwise only be purchased with Watts (and are quite costly). Finally, Max Raids are the only way to encounter Gigantamax Pokemon; unlike standard monsters, these Pokemon take on a different appearance when they Dynamax and all have a unique G-Max move.
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