#bringbackthenationaldex

You asked and The Pokemon Company listened: presenting the first non-GameFreak core Pokemon game!

It's a stripped down port remake that misunderstands the art direction of the classic that it salvages for nostalgia bait! Oh, you don't like this?

How about a heavily monetized version of Google Maps?

Do you see what I'm saying here? Replacing GameFreak isn't going to give us better games. Without them, Pokemon will just hire the cheapest studio willing to make their soulless nostalgia bait. Pokemon's main profit comes from merch and that's all they need to sell it.

I know GameFreak is no victim, but I'm defending them because I don't want them to go away. They speak like they honestly love what they do, and I just don't want gamers to kill that.

Edit: ILCA isn't a bad studio, and Niantic...well that's a different can of worms. Also, I'm not talking about side ventures like Pokemon New Snap. There's no reason to rush that because the franchise doesn't depend on it. My point is, no matter what company they hire to make the games the franchise depends on, The Pokemon Company will rush them for their merchandise schedule.

I just don't think I can, in good concience. Pokemon Sword and Shield had completely disappointed me. All the hype I had for this game was completely crushed upon finding out that I would not be able to transfer all of my pokemon.

Look, I don't really care about the national dex. It didn't bother me in Sun and Moon. What I care about is the fact that all of the time, money, and most importantly, love, that I have poured into these games and collected throughout the years is just...spat on. Because Game Freak wants to cut corners at every angle and make money instead of taking the time to make a product with love and care that shows all the years of dedication they have put into this franchise.

I get it, almost 1000 pokemon? It's a lot. But even if no availability till post-game like Black and White, or a patch over time like with X and Y's pokemon bank debacle would be enough! During the clips for Pokemon Home they spoke about how important keeping all of your pokemon through each game is to people, and they can't even do that! They won't even do that, EVER. They stated that THIS would be their new policy going forward, PERIOD. That means EVERY GAME. Sinnoh remakes included. And I can't support that.

As many have said already, "Gotta Catch 'Em All" is the slogan, the selling point, what we all know it by. And now? I can't even do that anymore. I don't care about Dynamaxing. I don't care about the stupid four person raids to try and implement more shitty GO features. I don't care about the wilds. I care about playing a pokemon game made with the same love and care that used to be the standard. I care about them putting their effort into making the best game possible, even if it takes years of waiting. What I DON'T care about is the next line of "New Gameplay Features!" and a shiny new landscape that they can't even produce without the famerate dropping as they try to top what they did last gen despite never listening to the fans.

It’s “Gotta Catch Em All”

Anyway, a common theme lately has been the whole #bringbackthenationaldex controversy which renews cries to boycott the upcoming game. What I find fascinating though is the occasional content creator who supports the boycott. Like, if you have a passion for Pokémon and want your channel to be your primary source of income, but you don’t plan on getting the new games, then uhhhhhh you’re not gonna be climbing that Pokémon content creator pillar anytime soon—you’ll be falling behind.

But what I anticipate is those same content creators that call for a boycott and THEN buy the game for their let’s play videos. Fans of those channels will probably be upset because like they were told not to buy it from their favorite content creator, but that same guy turned around and bought it anyway.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have expectations from corporations that we buy products from. I would also like the national Pokédex be brought back, but I also know that we’re asking a lot of from a company that churns out a new game almost year or two. I’d like to be mad at the corporation but respectful to the workers who put the product together. (It’s likely harder than we give credit for. I’m sure most of us have jobs that are harder than the average thinks it is.)

Today I decided it was finally time to transfer my two shinies from Emerald over to Soul Silver.

Y’know, it’s a real shame that GameFreak decided that certain mons not in the Galar dex can’t be moved over to Sword/Shield, especially since I’ve bonded with this Mightyena in particular throughout my whole Emerald run. But I guess that doesn’t matter to GF, huh?