For The Final Time, No
They’ve refuted the idea time and time again. Now, on the eve of the game’s release, Game Freak have once again denied the possibility of the Nat Dex showing up at any point in Pokemon Sword & Shield. If there was any lingering hope in your heart, surely this has seen it dashed against the rocks.
During the interview in question, Junichi Masuda stated that “We now have no plans to make the Pokemon that are missing in the Galar Pokedex in-game available. That is an approach that we want to continue with Pokemon games in the future.” In other words, this state of affairs is intended to be the new normal. Masuda referred to the Pokemon Home system as a way of coping with the absence of the National Dex. Honestly, it sounds a bit like a Pokemon retirement facility.
While unfortunate, this strategy makes sense from a PR point of view. Best for the company to tackle this now, rather than wait for the problem to get even worse. The franchise has a history of adding and dropping features with every new generation. the addition and removal of Pokemon seems like a natural next step, in a sense. Who knows? Perhaps in time, people will come to understand that ‘gotta catch ’em all’ generally refers to all the Pokemon available within that set of games. Personally, I’ve got no time to be hunting down a thousand monsters for my dog-fighting museum. Pokemon Sword and Shield are coming to the Nintendo Switch on November 15th, 2019.