- "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield," the new Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch, won't have every Pokémon in the series so far.
- Pokémon producer Junichi Masuda said the decision was not easy, but the resources needed to bring roughly 1,000 Pokémon to the Switch were too demanding. Instead, the games will have about 400 new and old Pokémon.
- Game Freak hasn't confirmed the full list, but dedicated players made a helpful grid to make it easy to see if your favorite Pokémon can be found in "Pokémon Sword and Shield."
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Pokémon fans, beware: the newest games in the series won't have every Pokémon from the previous Pokémon games.
While "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" will introduce dozens of brand-new Pokémon when the games are released November 15, about half of the classic Pokémon won't be included in the game at all. Up until now, Pokémon games allowed players to trade their old Pokémon into the latest titles, from the original "Pokémon Red and Blue" released on the Game Boy in 1998, to "Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon" released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2017.
Earlier this summer Pokémon developer Game Freak announced that "Pokemon Sword and Shield" would break this trend, with the creative team choosing to bring about half of the Pokémon roster into the new game. Producer Junichi Masuda said the decision was not easy, but the resources needed to bring roughly 1,000 Pokémon to the Switch were too demanding.
Instead, Game Freak chose about 400 new and old Pokémon to include in "Sword and Shield," and spent the rest of the development time building a fresh experience for Pokémon players.
