Pokémon Sword and Shield: Pokémon Unavailable in the Game or DLC

November 04, 2020

With the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield players have been upset that not all Pokémon from previously generations would be added to the game. With the Expansion Pass DLC announcement, players received hope that all their favorite Pokémon would be returning. Now that both The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra have been released we now know that there are still 234 Pokémon that are not available in the game.

One thing to point out is that Game Freak stated that Legendaries from prior games would be returning to Dynamax Adventures, but as we can see Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Meoletta and Hoopa did not make the cut. A few other strange omissions are Grimer and Muk as all other Alolan forms have been added to the game, and Greninja who was Pokémon of the Year.

For new players to the Pokémon Franchise who haven't played prior games, this means you can not complete your Living Dex in Home unless you obtain access to the older generation games. With the discontinuation of the Nintendo 3DS Family of products this makes it costly for players to obtain the devices and the games.

Players will soon be able to migrate their Pokémon from Pokémon GO to HOME. This list will be helpful when deciding where to spend your energy first.

Currently players can collect Generation I Pokémon on the Switch via Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. So players only hope lies in next years 25th Anniversary announcements and possible Remakes, a 3DS Emulator similar to the NES and Super NES Emulators available to Nintendo Online subscribers, or a possible 3rd DLC that would add the remaining Pokémon.

By the numbers Generation I is missing 31, Generation II is missing 44, Generation III is missing 49, Generation IV is missing 44, Generation V is missing 31, Generation VI is missing 21, and Generation VII is missing 11.