A New Series of Legendary Pokémon

Those who have played the Sword and Shield games with the Expansion Pass, up to the Crown Tundra where many old Legendary Pokémon join or rejoin the fray, will have noticed a few new Legendary Pokémon that may not be exactly new due to having relations to a few older Legendary Pokémon from other regions. More so to the point, the new Legendary Pokémon complement or supplement the old Legendary Pokémon they are connected with. Based on that fact, they could be construed as a "new Legendary Pokémon series".

The series of new Legendary Pokémon involves a series of three birds that are familiar to many Pokémon fans: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, but in their Galarian forms. Their types are also quite different: Articuno is Psychic and Flying instead of Ice and Flying, Zapdos is Fighting and Flying instead of Electric and Flying, and Moltres is Dark and Flying instead of Fire and Flying. Overall, the three birds also have a much "darker" appearance compared to their Kanto counterparts. It is a significantly wilder flavor of Legendary Pokémon than the original three birds - if their types don't already suggest as such - though there are still traces of their original characteristics.

Along with the new take on the three birds of Kanto, there is also a new take on the well-known "Titans" or "Regi" series; more specifically, it's an expansion of them with two new "members": Regieleki and Regidraco. As can be expected from their names, they are respectively of the Electric and Dragon types. Appearance-wise, the two seem to take after the spherical body of Registeel, only with appendages of electric arcs and dragon parts respectively. The expansion of the series makes them - the new ones from Galar as well as the previous ones from Hoenn and Sinnoh - more akin to a family such as that of Eevee and its evolutions, and as such they may be expected to develop further at some point in time.

Both of these had been known since the early days that the Expansion Pass had been known, but I chose to discuss them at this point in time after the second part, the Crown Tundra, became relevant. As above, thanks to the Crown Tundra, old Legendary Pokémon become available for play, and that's significant for the Sword and Shield games. Yet even with that, I suppose that they may not be so much "new" as much as they are a "renewal". The birds have been known for ages as part of the initial batch of Legendary Pokémon, and the titans have been known for their cryptic enormity, not to mention their type representation. The new forms lend something different but still lively to the body of Legendary Pokémon.

The Crown Tundra added something new-though-not-so-new in the form of the inclusion of old Legendary Pokémon, and that new-though-not-so-new thing also applies for the three Kanto birds in Galarian form and two new titans in its group. In that way, they're emblematic of the Expansion Pass (being that it itself is "expansive", after all) and particularly this part of that Expansion Pass as something both old and new. Plus, their designs are wilder than their previous associates which they relate to and/or follow up from. For a "new Legendary Pokémon series", their additive quality is dazzling.

One year ago: (Out of) the Mainstream

Two years ago: Local EX Raid (vs. Rain), 11/7/2018

Three years ago: Closer and Farther PokéStops