The importance of NPCs in Pokémon Sword & Shield is a major difference from past games in the series. Previously, the most influential NPCs included in a game's narrative were the player's rivals, and the antagonist team causing problems in the region. In more recent games, however, the Pokémon series has given NPCs bigger personalities and roles in the narrative. In Sword & Shield, the player works together with numerous NPCs while traveling through Galar, and none play as big a role as the Dark-type Gym Leader Piers.
Piers is a musician, and the seventh gym leader players take on when working through the Galar League. He specializes in Dark-type Pokémon and is the first Dark-type gym leader of the Pokémon game series. Piers' Pokémon Gym battle is unique, in that his Gym in Spikemuth isn't in a stadium, and doesn't possess a Power Spot, preventing players from Dynamax or Gigantamaxing during battle. To add to this, he is also the leader of the rowdy red-herring antagonist group Team Yell, which he created to act as a cheer squad for his little sister Marnie as she took on the Galar League challenge.
Piers introduces a number of changes in how Gym Leaders interact with the narrative of a Pokémon game. The first is that Piers doesn't stay a Gym Leader. After the player defeats Piers, he approaches Marnie and announces that he wants her to take his place as Gym Leader of Spikemuth. She initially declines, stating that she can't be his replacement if she becomes Champion. However, after losing to the player, she returns to Spikemuth and relieves Piers, who is then free to travel as a trainer and pursue his successful career as a musician. This narrative choice gives players an idea of what happens to Gym Leaders when they choose to retire from their positions.
Pokémon Sword And Shield Brings Piers Back After The Championship Cup
Piers also plays an important part in the post-game narrative involving Sordward and Shielbert. Following the Galar Championship Cup, after the player has become Sword & Shield's Champion of Galar, the player can team up with Hop to return the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield to the Slumbering Weald. In doing so, the player will be confronted by Sordward and Shielbert, who steal one of the relics before running off to cause trouble at Gym Stadiums all over the region. To help take the brothers out, Piers joins up with Hop and the player, giving fans of the cranky Ex-Gym Leader the ability to battle together as a team. This content in Sword & Shield allows fans to develop new relationships with NPCs, and potentially opens the door to deeper NPC involvement in future games.
Piers' character is an important step forward in the long-running Pokémon game franchise. His involvement in the narrative as the leader of Team Yell, as a gym leader, and as an influential part of the story's plot shows (hopefully) a desire on the part of developer Game Freak to create a more character-driven story. While previous champions and rival characters have always played at least a minor role in how the story progresses, the inclusion of other NPC characters gives a more narratively rich experience. It is these changes that help Pokémon games like Pokémon Sword & Shield stay relevant after 25 years of similar plotlines and mechanics.