The newest installment of the Pokémon series is coming up fast, but it doesn’t look like hardcore fans are pleased with what they’ve seen – and one player is taking their grievances to a major political figure.
Yes, you read that right: one die-hard Pokémon fan has actually petitioned for the United States president to ban sales of the upcoming Sword & Shield games.
The fan, going by the initials C.R., submitted their petition to the official White House website on November 12, claiming that the games are already “negatively impacting the market with questionable decisions.”
“We, the people of the United States of America, strive for quality goods and entertainment,” the petition begins. “We, the People of the United States, want what is best for our children. We, the people of the United States, want what is best in our stores.”
The fan goes on to state that Sword & Shield will “set a bad standard in the markets,” and feels that the games are “violating our Market rights.”
Thus far, C.R.’s petition only boasts 58 signatures – although it’s unclear whether their plea is merely a satirical joke or an actual request for the President to halt sales of the products.
- Read More: Pokemon Sword and Shield shiny models leaked
Considering the recent outrage surrounding the newest Pokémon titles, it’s certainly easy to believe that the petition is genuine: from backlash against the games’ textures to anger about the exclusion of older Pokémon generations, the buzz around the upcoming releases has been decidedly negative across social media.
Literally what the fuck is the point of this mechanic? This literally kills
nuzlocke runs. What were they thinking? There has to be some calculated inhouse sabotage of this game nobody who worked on pokemon for this long can think this is a good idea. pic.twitter.com/HzAyDXm8o0— Hannyah (@CutieHannyah) November 11, 2019
Pokemon Sword and Shield:
❌ lying devs
❌ disappointing graphics
❌ like, no pokemonA Dogs Life on ps2:
✅ devs never told a single lie in their entire lives
✅ TIMELESS graphics and textures
✅ fuckign LOADS OF DOGSplay a dogs life on ps2 now to change a life pic.twitter.com/2ALlUA2wS2
— Rent Boy (@Rentorars) November 13, 2019
That’s not all: as of November 13, the hashtag “#GameFreakLied” is trending on Twitter, with fans speculating that the developer used recycled Pokémon models as told by an apparent data leak – despite company spokespersons denying this possibility during an interview in June.
While everyone’s reading the reviews for the game, I want them to remember that #GameFreakLied pic.twitter.com/l0ZWog4ly9
— Plantsoup (Comms closed) (@plantsoup) November 13, 2019
#GameFreakLied "Reminder that Junichi Masuda himself once said this about transferring older Pokémon."
This didn't age well pic.twitter.com/tqTHCAnfG6
— dOri (@hdmiorange) November 13, 2019
Although whether the leak is legitimate or not remains to be seen, the community is up in arms about Game Freak’s supposed “laziness” in potentially recycling their models, while other fans point out the overwhelming amount of hate Sword & Shield have received before they have even released.
