Pokémon fans have last chance to claim free download before its gone

At the risk of sounding like an impossibly ancient boomer, I remember when catching every last Pokémon involved blood, sweat, and tears.

Growing up with the original Pokémon games, you'd better hope you could find a friend with a link cable so you can get every last one of those version exclusives and evolutions that could only be unlocked after trading.

And as far as legendary Pokémon went? They were the stuff of playground whispers. The thought of Nintendo just handing us Pokémon for free was laughable.

Fast forward to Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and the kids of today are spoiled for choice when it comes to free downloads that offer exclusive new monsters. Then again, I'm also spoiled since I never actually stopped playing Pokémon.

As such, let this serve as your reminder than you have until 30 June to jump into Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and claim a very special Gyarados.

Now, I love Gyarados, but it's a fairly common Pokémon these days. So what makes this one so special? It's actually based on the very Gyarados Melvin 'Shaman' Keh used to become Singapore National Champion in 2023, which is really cool.

The Gyarados will be level 50 when you claim it, and its special alternate Tera type is Steel.

To get your hands on this Pokémon, simply navigate to the Mystery Gift option from the menu once your save has loaded, and select the option to get your gift with a code.

Assuming your Switch is connected to the internet (a step you really shouldn't have missed), you'll be prompted to enter a code. Simply input the following: GYARAD0S2023SG.

There you have it: your very own Gyarados without having to catch and raise a Magikarp first. Maybe not as rewarding, but who can turn down such an angry fish? Not me.