Is this the real reason for Pokemon Sword and Shield’s ‘Dexit’?

Few topics have been as hotly debated and invoked such a reaction as the whole Pokemon Sword and Shield ‘Dexit’ fiasco. One fan has now offered a rather outlandish, yet fascinating, theory as to why the National Pokedex was removed.

It was unanimous, trainers were looking forward to the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield until a massive roadblock came out of nowhere. Several months after the game’s initial announcement, Junichi Masuda revealed that the 2019 Pokemon game wouldn’t include a National Pokedex, for the first time ever.

Citing the sheer number of Pokemon and getting high quality models/animations for each of them as the reason for its removal, some fans were understanding of the decision. However, others threatened to boycott the game.

Real reason for National Pokedex removal

One fan is claiming that this is not the reason for the National Pokedex removal, though. Their claim does sound a bit like one of those “my uncle works for Nintendo” theories, but nonetheless, it seems plausible. Unfortunately, there is no way of verifying the claims so you’ll have to make your own mind up.

The claim says, in as many words, that Game Freak broke the import process which oversees the transfer of the Pokemon models and animations. They go on to say: “[They] didn’t have the manpower with the right knowledge to fix it in time to meet the set release date.”

In an attempt to fix this they apparently looked for external help, recreating art assets and trying to fix the importer. This may explain why there were a reported 1,000 people working on Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Surprise announcement

If the above is true, and it wasn’t a strategic decision to limit the number of Pokemon in Sword and Shield, then Nintendo and Game Freak must have been aware of the ensuing fallout. “Their current plan is to try to salvage Pokemon Sword and Shield by not admitting [there were issues with the game’s development],” the fan goes on to claim. “It would be an admission that this was a failed gen.”

Instead, they are going to try and get through Pokemon Sword and Shield, which has received decent reviews, before fixing ‘Dexit’ ahead of the 2020 game. In the build-up to next year’s game there will be a ‘surprise’ announcement that it will include the full Pokedex.

“Their story will be that they listened to feedback and now realize how important the full dex is.” This will allow them to avoid discussing developmental shortcomings and come across in a positive light going forward.

So, what do you think, is this another carefully crafted fake post or is it an actual leak? We’ll have to wait and see but in the meantime it does look like the National Pokedex scandal will blow over for Pokemon Sword and Shield.