A supposed leak about the new Pokémon games reveals a rather measly list of the countless Pokémon in the history of the franchise where it made clear how many are being cut from the game.
“Pokémon Sword” and “Pokémon Shield” have been in a constant state of controversy ever since the reveal of the more problematic aspects of the game. There was outrage at the graphical state of the game when it was first revealed, and a tree in the overworld of the game was so laughable, people made comparisons to Nintendo 64 games. There was more when people were told that the structure of the game wouldn’t follow traditional games and that gym structure would be dramatically different from normal games. This was actually due to a misunderstanding; gyms will still follow standard games, but still caused outrage nonetheless. However, nothing caused more outrage than the announcement that there would be no National Pokédex.
For those who haven’t played a Pokémon game in a long time or have never played one at all, the National Pokédex is an honored tradition in the mainline games. After beating the game or completing the Regional Pokédex, you are given the next gigantic task of collecting every single Pokémon in the history of the series. In the last iteration of the traditional Pokémon game, you had to collect 807 total Pokémon. This spans the entirety of the series and is considered a huge accomplishment for many within the Pokémon community. Having a living pokédex of every Pokémon means that you have spent the time gathering Pokémon, not just within that game, but within previous games to live up to the infamous motto of the series as a whole, “gotta catch ‘em all.”
That said, in this new game, that is no longer possible. However, if you are keeping up with the news, you already know this. Why am I mentioning something so well-known within the community that its detractors often say that it’s an overused complaint? That is because according to a leak on 4chan, we now know the number of Pokémon that you can catch.
400.
That number, according to the leaker, is it. There is obviously no National Dex and while there are rumors that the Pokédex expands when you beat the champion, there is little evidence of it and the leaker states that this is not the case.
So what is the evidence that the leaker gives us? Quite a lot. He shows a chart showing all the Pokémon that will be in the game and the supposed last one in the Pokédex with an extremely convincing render of what looks to be, as expected, a completely new Pokémon. If true, that means that the roster of Pokémon has been cut in half.
People have expressed their newfound rage with iconic imagery of the game with all of the cut Pokémon completely erased from posters, music videos and the most iconic Pokémon rap from the anime.
While this all seems bad, nothing seems worse than Game Freak’s response – total silence. However, this silence speaks louder than any statement they could have made. I can’t imagine anything but good press if this is wrong. If this truly wasn’t the case and it’s actually more than 400, then it could only help them to say that it’s actually more than that.
“Pokémon Sword” and “Pokemon Shield” will be released on Nov. 15 of this year, and one can only hold their breath in anticipation for what the public reaction is to this so far highly controversial and anticipated release.
Edward Park is a second-year student majoring in English education. EP909756@wcupa.edu