With the National Dex axed in the latest Pokemon game, Sword and Shield, questions about everyone's favorite Pokémon making it to every generation afterward came into being. With a list of over 800+ Pokémon, many will find disappointment in not being able to "Catch 'em all" anymore if the national dex is permanently gone.
Keeping the national dex could sacrifice a lot of development time and future features of Pokémon games if it isn't included as DLC. The amount of work to make all the Pokémon by hand could make it unviable for Gamefreak to continue it, so many developers from AAA game studios were surprised they didn't do it sooner. Fans are the ones who lose out because certain Pokémon might just be gone for good and fade into memory. So here's 5 reasons why the national dex should stay, and 5 reasons why it should go.
10 Should: Too Much Space
One thing the Nintendo Switch can't handle is games that take up big storage space. It's not like the 1 TB consoles out now, so the sheer size a Pokémon game will become in order to include 800+ high visual quality Pokémon would take up a lot of space, perhaps too much for the Switch to handle.
At the moment with the 3DS level graphics, Sword and Shield comfortably handled 400 Pokémon, but if Pokémon wants to compete with more modern console AAA games then such a large file could be a real hindrance.
9 Shouldn't: No Throwaway Pokemon
Imagine your favorite Pokémon getting left out and forgotten to history because Gamefreak no longer finds it marketable to include in any upcoming regional Pokedex. No Lucario and no Vulpix, gone forever because Gamefreak refuses to ever let them become regional Pokémon again, meaning the last game you saw them in is their last generation.
It would even get to the point where future Pokémon players no longer know their names. That's the fight against axing the national dex, bno one wants their favorite Pokémon gone forever because over two generations (which could take 8 years total) Gamefreak decided to no longer include them because it wouldn't sell as many units as Pikachu would.
8 Should: Take Away from Modernising
If the national dex is included, expect low-quality graphics for the rest of the Switch's life. Until Nintendo starts up a console with enough power to handle what modern consoles are putting out, it's unlikely you'll see a visually appealing and modern console Pokémon game with a national dex in it.
Between making the animations, populating the world, making the models, coding, and adding variations, It's a big undertaking that has been holding Gamefreak from ever converting to console games.
7 Shouldn't: Tradition
It's a tradition in every Pokémon game up until Sword and Shield to have a national dex so that players can Pokémon Bank their favorite team to every new generation.
It's an important part and adds an extra challenge to be able to literally locate them all. It's something fans have come to expect to be such a good addition. And taking it away means other features are open to getting booted too.
6 Should: Too Much Developing Time
Adding a national dex could double the amount of development time between each generation. Right now it's about 4 years with a 1-2 year game development cycle. If that does turn to 8 years, franchise fatigue would take a quick hold.
Right now it seems Nintendo has difficulty holding it together at their current schedule for their merchandise/game line up. Doubling that would leave things like the anime stuck in one certain region for 4-8 years, which would lose its luster fast.
5 Shouldn't: Taking Out The Wrong Pokemon
One possibility of axing the national dex is Gamefreak deciding on the wrong Pokémon to retcon out of existence. Hypothetically, imagine they cut out Evvee, a major and vital Pokémon to their brand and a fan favorite.
Then they decide not to bring it back because they prefer the new version of Evvee they made. Much like with Mega-Evolution and Z moves, Gamefreak likes to isolate certain things to one game and not bring it back.
4 Should: Cut Corners
If the national dex is included, you'll find Gamefreak cutting corners badly and desperately. It's possible they may not even put out a functioning game due to time constraints on publishing.
You'll find visual glitches that might even rival WWE 2K20. It's hard to say what weird bugs you'd find. But the plausibility of Gamefreak making a complete game is much less, especially with modern reliance on post release patches. And cutting corners in game making always mean either shallower gameplay or no clean polish of the glitches.
3 Shouldn't: A Better Catching Experience
With 400 Pokémon, Sword and Shield had achieved an awesome Pokémon catching experience Where it was something new every minute, something much different from previous entries. Having double the amount of Pokémon to catch would make it so every encounter would be a new Pokémon and a new experience
800 available, even at the post-game stage, would bring about the experience that Game Freak wants from their games where it's a whole new filled-in world that people could get lost in where they play for hours on end just to see the new Pokémon that pops up next. it would be a great addition if they included a reward much as they did in the Let's Go entrees that enhances the chances of finding a shiny Pokémon for completing the Pokédex.
2 Should: Can be Fixed by DLC
A national Dex can be included in one whole package or multiple packs of different regions to make up for a national dex not being in the base game.
This is the most likely option for future Pokémon games, and the most reasonable that leads to good development practices in the base game as well as happy fans for the option to have included. It can even fix the current issue with Sword and Shield should Gamefreak decide to listen to criticisms.
1 Shouldn't: Lootboxing for Pokemon
At the opposite end of the spectrum, it would be too easy to make a gambling system to pay wall your favorite Pokémon if Gamefreak desires to do so. Doing this would essentially ruin the franchise and alienate most fans, causing an outrage larger than any Pokémon game before.
Right now modernizing Pokémon can have some backlash, and this is a very high possibility, being that Pokémon cards work off of the same system and justification. Having fan favorites behind low chance, random encounter loot boxes are the negative paywall for the national dex.