Pokemon Sword and Shield won’t include the National Pokedex.

Developer Game Freak is skimping out by including less than half of the available monsters.

Fans need to send a message with a boycott or sit back down.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are coming out next week, and there’s still controversy surging over the removal of the National Pokedex. That means there are loads of Pokemon, 478 in total according to leaks, that won’t make it into the eighth generation games.

I know what you might be thinking. “Wait, that means there’s still 400 Pokemon to catch. Isn’t that enough?” No. No, it isn’t. We’re talking about one of the best-selling game series in the world with over 430 million units sold. Developer Game Freak can surely afford to put all 878 monsters in the game. It just doesn’t want to.

I've looked deeper into the whole #Dexit and #BringBackNationalDex controversy and I'm actually kinda turning to support it. I thought of it as a bad movement because I didn't think so many pokémon would be removed – but that was an incorrect assumption. [1/4] pic.twitter.com/1LLX2tNni2 — ✨ Lyric! ✨ (@Cappucyeeno) November 5, 2019

Good Luck Building Your Dream Team in Pokemon Sword and Shield

Also, how can players “catch’em all” if all the Pokemon aren’t even in the game? And don’t give me that Pokemon Home load of bull. That’s a storage system. Not a game. Plus, players still don’t even know much about it despite its launching coming in early 2020.

Some people might argue that gamers are whining for no reason. That they are acting entitled and don’t need all the Pokemon. Those people can bug off. Every main entry in the series has included the National Dex, or an equivalent of it, since the beginning. There’s no reason for that to change with Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Pokemon GO has more more Pokemon in it than Sword and Shield. Almost 150 more. A mobile game. Remember what Masuda said? "Kids play mobile games". Well your flagship Nintendo Switch title has less Pokemon than a mobile game. Just ridiculous.#bringbacknationaldex — Ser Duncan's Roundtable (@RoundtableSer) November 4, 2019

Pokemon Go Has More Monsters Than Sword and Shield

I’m not alone in these thoughts. There are plenty of other Pokemon fans out there making their complaints known through Redditt and Twitter. Trending hashtags like #bringbacknationaldex also bring attention to the controversy.

That’s great, but they aren’t enough.

At the end of the day, Game Freak is only going to listen to one thing: money. So all those people complaining about the lack of a National Dex, but still planning to buy the games: You are the problem. If this really is such an important issue to you, then put up or shut up.

Pokemon Fans Need to Stand Up to the National Dex Removal

Pokemon Sword and Shield mark a major milestone for the series. They are the first main entry games coming to home consoles. That’s not all, though. These games will set the precedent for future entries in the series. If Pokemon fans let Game Freak get away with removing the National Dex, then they probably won’t ever see it again.

Not all hope is lost. If fans can muster up some willpower and go through with a boycott, it could send a message to Game Freak.

It’s too late to save Pokemon Sword and Shield. That’s a fact. Even so, it’s not too late for the ninth generation of Pokemon games. Make sure Game Freak understands that by hitting the developer where it counts: its bottom line.