Pokémon Sword & Shield: 10 Gigantamax Secrets You TOTALLY Missed
3. Rillaboom
A number of Pokémon are inspired by the punk rock music scene, with Obstagoon and Toxtricity shown in Pokémon Sword and Shield's end credit sequence. Also shown in the credits is Rillaboom, who plays the drums.
The entire evolution line of the grass starter Pokémon shows Grookey making its first beats with a stick, Thwackey then owns its first set of drumsticks, and Rillaboom gets some drums. When it transforms with Gigantamax, Rillaboom has upgraded to a full drum kit, complete with symbols.
But the question must be asked: why are all three Pokémon apes, and why the connection to drums?
Well, this is a rather niche reference for some, but if you were watching TV in England across 2007, certain adverts for Cadbury's Dairy Milk showed a man in a gorilla suit playing the drums to Phil Collins' debut solo single, In The Air Tonight.
Collins himself was born in London, and though there's none of his licensed music in Sword & Shield, the very idea of an ape bashing away on a drumkit will be notably nostalgic for Englanders of a certain age.