While I thought Pokemon Sword and Shield had a strong E3 2019 showing, many did not feel the same way due to one specific announcement. Reception to the Nintendo Treehouse demo was mixed, and the community became vitriolic when it was revealed that not all Pokemon could be transferred into Pokemon Sword and Shield. As this has never been the case before and Pokemon Home is being introduced as a way to bring Pokemon forward to Generation 8 early next year, many were quite surprised and angered by Game Freak and The Pokemon Company's decision and started the #BringBackTheNationalDex hashtag to show their opposition to the decision.

Today, Game Freak Producer Junichi Masuda finally responded to the controversy with a post on the official Pokemon website. You can read his full message below:

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, 2019

Junichi Masuda

Unfortunately, it does not look like Game Freak plans on reversing this decision; that being said, I would guess that it was a fairly irreversible move so late in the game's development. Hopefully, this will not be the case in future Pokemon games, as Masuda's "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," comment does give me a bit of hope.

If you want to see the clip where this controversy all began, you can check it out below. Pokemon Sword and Shield release for Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019. For those not dissuaded by this decision, it can be pre-ordered on Amazon.