Game Freak cites a few reasons for why you can’t transfer all Pokemon to Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield
Game Freak broke some news about Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield yesterday that is not going over well with fans. The Pokedex is limited, meaning not all Pokemon can be transferred to the game. Only monsters appearing in the Galar region will be available.
Game Freak producer Junichi Masuda spoke about the decision further in an interview with USgamer. On that front, he said:
“There are a couple of different parts to the thinking behind it, but really the biggest reason for it is just the sheer number of Pokemon. We already have well over 800 Pokemon species, and there’s going to be more added in these games. And now that they’re on the Nintendo Switch, we’re creating it with much higher fidelity with higher quality animations. But even more than that, it’s coming down to the battle system. We’re making sure we can keep everything balanced and give all the Pokemon that appear in the games a chance to shine.
We knew at some point we weren’t going to be able to indefinitely keep supporting all of the Pokemon, and we just found that Sword and Shield would probably be a good point to go back and reevaluate what would be the best selection of Pokemon that appeal to the widest audience while keeping into consideration the balance of the battle system. It isn’t just going to be all-new Pokemon in the Galar region Pokedex; there’s still going to be a lot of favorites that fans will be able to bring over that they’ve adventured with previously. But yeah, it was pretty much just balancing and getting this optimal selection of Pokemon for the adventure we wanted to provide.”
Masuda added that the team “spent a lot of time discussing which Pokemon would make sense in that region” and “kind of selected from there.” Game Freak “also selected types that make sure the battles are balanced and really provide this exciting kind of battle experience.”
