Top 10 Biggest Issues with Game Freak Cutting Pokemon from Generation 8

Dear Game Freak, if you are reading this by any chance, just know that by doing this, you have upset well over 90% of your fanbase. You are upsetting so many people, from young children to grown adults. You've made some pretty bad choices over the years, but this is by far your absolute worst. I don't even know if I want to buy this game anymore, and that's coming from a long-time fan and (former) supporter.

Even though I currently have no intention of buying this game anymore, I'm beyond glad that Lanturn has been confirmed to be in the games. I just got super lucky that my favorite Pokemon still happens to be in the games. Chances are that so many people's favorite Pokemon is going to be completely absent, not even included in the game's code.

You know the saying, "The customer is always right?" Well, for a franchise with millions of fans of all ages, they all seem to know what they want. And Game Freak knows just what we want, but they still won't listen. There are games that have great developers who actually listen to their fans, but Game Freak is so far from being one of these it's not funny.

Game Freak has now shown the world that they really don't want to work hard on creating a game. It's highly evident that the reason they didn't want to add every single existing Pokemon is that they couldn't be bothered to. It gets even worse when you realize that they pretty much have all the models for existing Pokemon. It's essentially just copying and pasting Pokemon into the code of a new game. But they couldn't even do that.

With Pokemon moving to a new, much more powerful console, Game Freak could have created the greatest Pokemon game they ever made, with every single Pokemon obtainable (minus version exclusives). But still, they decided that they wouldn't do something like that. If they actually made a game like that, it would sell so well, but no, they wasted that opportunity.

This isn't just a few Pokemon here and there being cut. We're talking about HUNDREDS of Pokemon. Since we don't know exactly how many, we can guess that at least 200 will be removed, but it could be much more, maybe even up to 500-600 Pokemon. Consider this: we didn't reach 600 Pokemon until Gen 5. The very first Pokemon games were released in 1996, and Gen 5 came out in 2010 (in Japan). That means over 15 years of work and effort into designing these Pokemon could go to waste. If they were removing only 50-100 Pokemon, and just the ones that weren't used much or were pretty useless, I'd be fine, but removing this many?

The competitive scene is going to be completely messed up. With hundreds of Pokemon not even in the game's code, it's going to cause a huge chain reaction. Pokemon that were once really powerful and useful in the competitive scene are going to become either weaker or just obsolete. The reverse will be true as well, with some weaker Pokemon becoming huge powerhouses, all because Pokemon were removed. For months, nobody is going to even know how good anything really is, and the whole competitive scene will just be utter chaos, and not in a good way.

Imagine this. You have a Pokemon that you spent literally hours training to become the perfect Pokemon. This Pokemon was originally from Gen 3, and you've transferred it through every generation since, wanting to send it over to Sword and Shield, but you can't. It feels like all that time and effort has gone to waste, simply because Game Freak decided not to include a few hundred Pokemon in any way, shape, or form. And the thing is, this is extremely common for Pokemon fans to do. I've done it before, and I'm guessing that many of you who like Pokemon have done it as well.

Doing this has made me consider not buying the game, and I can guarantee I'm not the only one. Oh, before you say, It's only just a few Pokemon, know that several other features, such as both Mega Evolution and Z-moves, are going to be completely scrapped. The features that Sword and Shield are going to be adding just don't look anywhere near as good as what they are scrapping.

Generation 6 added 72 new Pokemon, while Gen 7 added 86 new Pokemon. Of those 158 Pokemon, there were a few cool designs, but a LOT of really bad ones. Sword and Shield most likely aren't even going to add that many new Pokemon, and with the designs we've seen so far, there may be a few interesting Pokemon, but most likely nowhere near enough to make up for the Pokemon lost.

What will come out in 2020? What about 2021? What about Generation 9? Generation 10? 11? 12? You never know! The future is too uncertain and too unpredictable! For all I know, the Sinnoh region is history. I'm doubting an enhanced version of Sword & Shield will have all these Pokémon that used to be unobtainable in the original. Better luck next year!

There probably won't be an enhanced version or sequel of Sword & Shield, or a Diamond and Pearl Remake. What kind of game will we get in 2020? Which of the Pokemon unobtainable in Sword & Shield will be in the next one? What about 2021? What about Generation 9? Generation 10? 11? 12? You never know! The future is unpredictable.