Pokemon Sword and Shield: Masuda delivers message to Pokemon fans

Pokemon Sword and Shield is on track to becoming one of the most polarizing games in the Pokemon franchise.

While fans are excited about the chance to embark on a new journey in the Galar region, and have the chance to partake in multiplayer raids and Dnyamax Pokemon battles, there is one glaring issue.

During the Nintendo Treehouse Live presentation at E3, producer Junichi Masuda said that while Pokemon House will store all of a trainer’s Pokemon previous games, but will only be able to import ones in the Galar Pokedex to Sword and Shield.

This revelation caused an uproar in the community, prompting several folks to flood Pokemon social media accounts and streams with hashtags like #BringBackTheNationalDex. Others have posted videos with solutions on how developers can create updated Pokemon models and bring them to Sword and Shield.

The Pokemon Company hasn’t turned a blind eye to these comments and producer Junichi Masuda has a message for fans:

"Thank you to all of our fans for caring so deeply about Pokémon. Recently, I shared the news that some Pokémon cannot be transferred to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. I’ve read all your comments and appreciate your love and passion for Pokémon.Just like all of you, we are passionate about Pokémon and each and every one of them is very important to us. After so many years of developing the Pokémon video games, this was a very difficult decision for me. I’d like to make one thing clear: even if a specific Pokémon is not available in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games.The world of Pokémon continues to evolve. The Galar region offers new Pokémon to encounter, Trainers to battle, and adventures to embark on. We are pouring our hearts into these games, and we hope you will look forward to joining us on this new journey.June 28, 2019Junichi Masuda"

Masuda’s message doesn’t indicate any change regarding whether or not every Pokemon will be importable into Sword and Shield.

This was a nice effort on Masuda’s part to address the controversy but I don’t believe that  folks will be as forgiving. Many trainers are upset that they won’t be able to bring all of their former team members with them to the Galar region.

While I understand the passion trainers have for their Pokemon, the whole movement has gotten into places where it shouldn’t have gone, such as folks spamming the Pokemon Twitch channels during the 2019 North American International Championships.

At this point, I don’t really know if there is anything developers can do to passify fans. Some folks say they would be fine if developers delayed the release to include every model in the game – but would those same folks be happy if creators did this, or would they complain about the extra time before Sword and Shield came out.

The best thing for the Masuda and the rest of the company to do at this point would be to make a great game that folks will enjoy.

Pokemon Sword and Shield will be released in November.