Pokemon Sword and Shield gives you the option to play with your friends or battle to see who is the best trainer. To do this, you must have access to the Y-Comm. This will open up for you once on Route 2. The Y-Comm will give you the option to play with friends, battle them, and trade Pokemon with them as well.
How to play with and fight your friends in Pokemon Sword and Shield
To battle your friends in Sword and Shield, follow the steps below:
- Hold down the Y button to open the Y-Comm menu.
- If you want to play with a friend online, press the + button to connect to the Internet. If you want to play locally, select Link Battle.
Be sure to set up a link code before you start playing, otherwise your session will be public and other people will be able to join. A Link Code is a four-digit code that up to four players can use to connect. Y-Comm also works directly from your Switch friends list, so your friend who plays Sword and Shield will automatically populate stamp and Y-Comm alerts for you in-game.
After entering the code, just tap "Search for players" and you will automatically be connected to friends using the same code.
You can participate in three different types of battles:
- Single Battle – Two-player battle in which each player sends a Pokémon into battle.
- Double Battle – two-player battle where each player sends two Pokémon into battle.
- Multiple combat – a four-player battle, with two players on each side. Each player sends one Pokémon into battle at a time.
And that's it, everything you need to know to start battling your friends in Pokémon Sword and Shield.
