Nationally Challenged

It has become apparent, through some new information about the Sword and Shield main series games, that the game will have a truly limited assortment of Pokémon in its Pokédex, in a way; Pokémon from the upcoming Home service cannot be transferred to the games if they aren't in the Pokédex of the Galar region. This is in contrast to the games of the previous generation, which accepts Pokémon of all prior generations, essentially having a National Pokédex, though there isn't really one per se in it. The concept is important, yet has become challenged.

The cited reason for this exclusion is that including every single species in the National Pokédex would consume a large amount of development time for the games. I can see why this would be so; these two games are new for a new console and essentially constitute a "reprogramming". With over 800 Pokémon (and more in this upcoming generation), it does seem like that is the case. I would think that space and/or system limits are also a concern to some extent. Even if they weren't, time is still the crucial issue regardless. Pokémon isn't going to get lighter with each new generation, but at the same time, "Saffron City wasn't built in a single day".

Yet, the National Pokédex has become somewhat of a tradition in the main series games. Other games may be permitted to have lesser subsets of Pokémon owing to a number of different considerations, but the main series games ought to have every Pokémon, as the heart of everything, including the English slogan and competitive battling. Some feel that denying the full lineup would be tantamount to denying certain generations (the most extreme form being the case of "genwunners") and therefore all-inclusiveness must not be questioned.

To that end, a petition has arisen for all-inclusiveness of Pokémon in the Sword and Shield games. Interestingly, I discovered the petition just as I was brainstorming what I should write for today, and this firmly established the topic for today's post. The demand is to include everything, even if this means a protracted development or gradual updates (perhaps in the manner of Go). The realization of the response to this petition remains to be seen. It may very well just succeed, and a path may be forged for that.

In the meantime, it's clear that the National Pokédex concept is becoming a shaky one. On one hand, it's purely and simply tradition, but on the other hand, it's a big task for it to be implemented in the main series games, which for many fans is regarded as the be-all and end-all of Pokémon. The honoring, appeasement, and implementation of this concept is truly a challenge in many ways, especially now with Sword and Shield at hand and perhaps at stake as well.

One year ago: Before Gold and Silver
Two years ago: Red on a Bike