Pokémon Sword & Shield, as you surely know by now, is set to feature a reduced Pokédex. You might have made your peace with this in time for the game's November 15th release. Or, you might have decided that if you can't "catch 'em all", there's really no point in playing. You do you, of course.
Whatever your stance on "Dexit", it would seem that a limited Pokédex won't be, uh, limited to Pokémon Sword & Shield. According to Game Freak producer Junichi Masuda, the studio intends to continue this controversial approach for future Pokémon titles, indefinitely.
"We currently have no plans to make the Pokémon that are missing from the Galar Pokédex available in-game," Masuda told Inside Gamer. "This is an approach that we want to continue with in future Pokémon games."
Until now, core Pokémon titles would feature a Regional Pokédex and a National Pokédex. Typically, you'd go through the game with a Regional Pokédex catching and collecting Pokémon specific to the region/game you were playing.
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Eventually - usually after beating the Elite Four - you'd gain access to a National Pokédex which would catalogue every single Pokémon (currently) in existence. If they weren't already available in the game you were playing, you could simply trade or transfer your favourite monsters from previous games.
Over the summer, Masuda announced that Pokémon Sword & Shield would not feature the National 'Dex. With the number of monsters hitting over 1,000 as of the Switch release, he argued it was no longer feasible to include every single monster. In other words, the monsters you can catch in the Galar region will be the only monsters you can use in the new games.
"The total number of Pokémon has exceeded 1000, including new Pokémon and the various forms of existing Pokémon," he said. "As a result, it has become extremely difficult to make Pokémon with a new personality play an active part, and to balance their compatibility."
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"This decision is personally sad," he continued. "Of course, I wanted to be able to bring all Pokémon if I could do it, but it was also a decision that I had to make some day. In the end, I had no choice but to choose the quality."
Game Freak and The Pokémon Company have yet to officially announce which monsters have been cut from Sword & Shield, but a recent leak suggests that well over half of the previous games' monsters will be missing. This, of course, means that there's a chance a few of your favourite monsters won't be included in the game(s).
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It's a shame, certainly, but we have to assume that Game Freak wouldn't have made this call if it wasn't the best thing for the franchise. Masuda still wants you to hang on to your old Pokémon anyway, as it's likely that they'll reappear in future games.
"We encourage people to use Pokémon Home to collect their Pokémon from old games," he said. "From there they might be able to take them to other games in the future. So take good care of your old Pokémon, because perhaps you can travel with them again in the future."
Featured Image Credit: NintendoTopics: pokemon, Switch, Pokemon, Game Freak, Nintendo