Pokemon Fans Show Support for Game Freak Amid Sword and Shield Controversies

Pokemon fans are making their appreciate for Game Freak known this weekend as the #ThankYouGameFreak hashtag trends amid various Sword and Shield controversies. The pair of Pokemon games that are scheduled to be released next week have been the subject of several points of contention within the Pokemon community, but just a few days before the games launch, Pokemon fans are rallying behind the developers and recalling the impact that the Pokemon games have had on them.

Anyone who's been following the development of the new Sword and Shield games will by now have heard of the debates over the National Pokedex where some within the Pokemon community campaigned to have every Pokemon (or at least their favorites, if excluded) in the new games. This led to its own trending moments on Twitter where players asked Game Freak to bring back the "National Dex," though those moments were certainly not always civil ones.

The latest development in the ongoing controversies came from this week when it was announced that a Sword and Shield event in Japan would be cancelled. "Operational reasons" were cited as the reason, but speculations point towards the cancellation stemming from the controversy.

If you look on Twitter now though, you'll see a much different Pokemon trend taking place. People are rallying behind Game Freak, and you can see some of the best reactions below ahead of Sword and Shield's November 15th release.