How much can I progress in Sw/Sh DLC before beating the main story?

Question

I know that:
- In The Isle of Armor, the wild and trainer Pokemon's levels scales depending on whether you explore the Isle of Armor before or after beating the base game story (e.g. the first battle with Klara/Avery is Lv. 12 before beating the game, or Lv. 60 after beating the game).
- In The Crown Tundra, the wild and trainer Pokemon's levels do not scale and are always in the range of around at least Lv. 60-65, and the first battle with Peony is Lv. 70.

From these factors, at which points of the DLC stories that I can't progress before completing the Sw/Sh base game story?

Comments

I'm pretty sure for the Crown Tundra, you can do all the story up to the point of catching the Pokemon, where you will need all gym badges to do so. I'm not sure if you need to become Champion or not, but I don't think so.

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Raihan's badge lets you catch any pokemon. I caught a lvl 60 Gengar and Kommo-o before taking on Leon

Answer 1

Everything in the DLC is obtainable before beating the game except catching Calyrex.

According to this Reddit thread, you can get a Kubfu and evolve it into Urshifu without beating the game. Since trainers on Isle of Armor have lower levels before becoming Champion, this is actually a pretty easy task.

The Crown Tundra, however, does not have level adjustment. Fortunately, the very first battle with Peon does not require you to win to progress. This means the entire level 60 Crown Tundra is available to you from the beginning. You can catch as many Pokemon in Dynamax Adventures, (including Legendaries) that you want. You can't catch wild Pokemon until you meet the necessary gym badge requirements though.

Like mentioned before, you can play through the entirety of the Crown Tundra if your team can handle it, but when encountering Calyrex Shadow/Ice Rider, the game will tell you to come back once you've become Champion. (Source)

Please note I could not find whether or not the Galarian Birds are obtainable prior to beating the game, so be advised that may not be possible.

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Hope this helps!

Comments

I have to admit, it's a better answer although you do need to overlevel(np for me)

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You don't actually. Since you can lose to peony, just go to max Lair, rent level 60 Pokemon to go catch level 60 Pokemon and then boom you have suicune 30 minutes into the game

Answer 2

You are correct in the Crown Tundra(Peony's Pokemon is lvl 70) but you can progress if you lose to him and that's it.
You can go all the way up to getting Kubfu to evolve(although it might be long if you want to go under the level cap). Even though Mustard's Kubfu can be lvl 30, his team with the Gmax Urshifu is in the 70's. That's where you have to stop if you want to be near the level cap when you beat Leon.

Source: Knowledge, what you said about Peony, and https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mustard
Tell me if I'm wrong.