Last year, a tournament was held in South Korea for Pokemon Sword and Shield known as the Pokemon Trainers Cup. It ran from July 26 to August 9, with the winner being Jeong Sang-yoon, who took home the championship with an unconventional team that had two members of the Porygon evolutionary line. Due to the pandemic, this year's tournament had to be pre-recorded, then broadcasted over a livestream. During the tournament livestream, a code was given out for all players of Sword and Shield to redeem, which will net them a Pokemon based on last year's winning Porygon-Z.
Porygon itself is a rather infamous, but still beloved Pokemon. Its infamy spawned from the Pokemon episode "Computer Warrior Porygon" which contained explosion animations that created bright flashing lights that caused seizures to many children across Japan. Since then, the digital Pokemon hasn't made any appearances outside of the games, though one upcoming Pokemon anime episode may indicate Porygon's return. The evolutionary line for Porygon still is popular, as it is a Pokemon based on cyberspace, evidenced by Jeong Sang-yoon's team, and the fact that the Pokemon being distributed is Porygon-Z.
The Porygon-Z is based on the same one used by the champion, where it can be obtained with the code that was shown in the livestream "1STPTCCHAMP." To redeem this code, players must go to Pokemon Sword and Shield's Mystery Gift option in the main menu. From there, they can choose the option to receive a gift via code, where they can then input the aforementioned code to obtain this Pokemon. This Mystery Gift event is running for a very limited time, as it will only be available until August 22 at 14:59 UTC.
The Porygon-Z is quite champion worthy, based on its build. It comes with a Timid nature, which increases its speed stat while decreasing its attack stat, max Effort Values, and a sweeper specialized moveset. This will surely bring a smile to many Porygon enthusiasts in the fanbase.
With this code now out for players to redeem and the time frame for fans to claim it being made clear, this release continues the tradition of limited time mystery gifts. Last year, The Pokemon Company was giving away a shiny Amoongus for free, which was also released during a Pokemon tournament in Korea. With these periodic Mystery Gift events, The Pokemon Company seems to be kindling interest in the competitive scene, with free Pokemon like these giving fans possible ideas of how to build their teams.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now on Nintendo Switch.