Pokémon Legends: Arceus

**Pokémon Legends: Arceus** (Japanese: **Pokémon LEGENDS アルセウス** *Pokémon LEGENDS Arceus*) is the fifth Generation VIII core series game.

The game was announced worldwide on the 25th Anniversary of the release of Pokémon Red and Green on February 27, 2021 at 12 am JST through Pokémon Presents. It was released on the Nintendo Switch worldwide on January 28, 2022. All copies of the game are playable in nine languages: Japanese, English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Korean, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

## Plot

**Spoiler warning:** this article may contain major plot or ending details.

The player character is transported back in time to the Hisui region by Arceus, who bestows upon them a device called the Arc Phone and the task of "seeking out all Pokémon". Upon waking up, the player meets Professor Laventon, a Pokémon Professor working for the Galaxy Expedition Team, who tells the player that they fell out of the mysterious space-time rift in the sky above Mount Coronet. After helping Laventon catch his three runaway starter Pokémon, they are escorted to Jubilife Village, where they meet Rei/Akari, the Professor's assistant and a member of the Galaxy Team Survey Corps. Since the player has no place to stay in, the Survey Corps Captain Cyllene accepts Professor Laventon's request to let them join the organization, offering them a place to stay in and food in exchange for working for them if they pass a trial set up for them. To help them pass the trial, Laventon gives the player one of the starter Pokémon they caught earlier. After passing the trial of catching a Bidoof, a Starly, and a Shinx, the player is formally accepted into the Survey Corps and given the mission of completing the Pokédex.

While exploring Hisui, the player learns that a mysterious lightning striking down from the same space-time rift they fell out is causing the Noble Pokémon around the region to on wild frenzies and attack people. The player is given the mission to visit each of these Noble Pokémon, each of which are overseen by a Warden belonging to one of Hisui region's two clans: the Diamond Clan led by Adaman, and the Pearl Clan led by Irida. Each of these clans worships a deity they refer to as the "almighty Sinnoh", but they disagree upon the other clan's viewpoint whether this deity represents time or space. During their travels, the player also has several encounters with merchant Volo from the Ginkgo Guild, who likes studying the history of Hisui, and the bandit trio known as the Miss Fortune sisters. Whenever the player defeats a Noble Pokémon or befriends a rideable Pokémon, they are gifted with a Plate.

After the player has managed to quell the last of the five Noble Pokémon, the space-time rift in the sky suddenly expands even further and the sky above Hisui turns red. Suspecting that the player, who fell out of the same rift, is somehow connected to this, Galaxy Team Commander Kamado banishes them from Jubilife Village. The player seeks help from both clans, but they refuse to help in order to maintain neutrality with the Galaxy Team. Volo, however, agrees to help the player and takes them to the Gingko Guild's secret settlement, the Ancient Retreat, where they learn that an artifact known as the Red Chain could help bind the world back together and make the rift disappear. To find the necessary materials to create the chain, the player visits each of Hisui's three lakes and receives a necessary material from each of the lake guardians. Once all the materials have been gathered, the lake guardians combine them together to form the Red Chain. With the Red Chain on their possession, the player returns to Jubilife Village, only to learn that Kamado has led the Galaxy Team Security Corps to the Temple of Sinnoh atop Mount Coronet to deal with a Pokémon sighted at the space-time rift. The player climbs to the summit and defeats Kamado in battle, finally making him see reason and apologize for doubting them.

Depending on whether the player went to look for the Red Chain materials with Adaman or Irida, either Dialga or Palkia appears at the temple. However, when the player tries to use the Red Chain on it, the artifact is broken to pieces, forcing the player to confront the Legendary Pokémon. Although the player manages to catch it, the other Legendary Pokémon then appears as well, forcing everyone to retreat. Using a clue given by the Legendary Pokémon the player caught, Laventon crafts the Origin Ball, a one-of-a-kind Poké Ball created out of the Red Chain fragments and a sample of the Origin Ore, which they decide to use to stop the Legendary Pokémon at Mount Coronet. The player returns to the Temple of Sinnoh, where the Legendary Pokémon transforms into its Origin Forme, destroying the temple in the process, before challenging the player and its counterpart. After defeating it, the player uses the Origin Ball to catch the Legendary Pokémon, causing the space-time rift to disappear and returning the sky back to normal. With the appearance of both Dialga and Palkia, the Diamond and Pearl Clans realize neither of them was worshipping a false deity and set aside their differences.

After a feast to celebrate the player's success, Volo asks them to investigate the Plates and collect the ones they don't own yet. The player travels around Hisui and collects Plates from various sources, most commonly receiving them from the Legendary Pokémon of Hisui. Once the player has collected 17 of the 18 Plates, Volo tells them of Giratina, a Legendary Pokémon just as powerful as Dialga and Palkia, which was banished to another world due to its cruelty. He takes the player to the ruins of the Temple of Sinnoh, where he reveals that he was the one who caused the space-time rift to appear by seeking out Giratina, in the hopes that Dialga and Palkia's appearance would make Arceus appear and allow him to use its power to create a new world. He challenges the player to a battle, but once he's defeated, Giratina appears by his side and challenges the player, transforming into its own Origin Forme midway through the battle. Once Giratina is defeated, Volo hands the player the final Plate, at which point the player's Celestica Flute transforms into the Azure Flute. Volo is surprised by Arceus having chosen the player instead of him and leaves in anger, swearing to one day conquer Arceus and create a new world, even if it will take him centuries to do so.

Once the player has caught at least one of every non-Mythical Pokémon species, they return to the Temple of Sinnoh and play the Azure Flute, granting them access to the Hall of Origin, where Arceus challenges them. Once the player has emerged victorious, Arceus willingly sends a fragment of itself to join them and grants them the Legend Plate, which allows the Mythical Pokémon to change its type mid-battle.

**Spoilers end here.**

## Blurb

You'll be brought to the Sinnoh region, the setting for the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games. But this story unfolds in a long-gone era, before ideas such as being a Pokémon Trainer or having a Pokémon League even existed.

All around, you'll find Pokémon living wild in harsh environments that make for a Sinnoh unlike the region you may remember from the days of the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games.

## Features

* The game features Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott as starter Pokémon, and Rei and Akari as player characters. Other NPCs include the members of the Galaxy Expedition Team. The player character that is not selected appears in the story as an NPC.
* The game takes place in the Hisui region, a past version of Sinnoh.
* All standard wild encounters now appear to be symbol encounters. Pokémon may exhibit different behaviors, such as fleeing, sleeping/waking, emoting, or becoming aggressive. These behaviors may differ depending on the in-game weather or time of day.
* The player may catch Pokémon from the overworld directly by throwing a Poké Ball. An aiming reticle appears on-screen during this. Hitting a Pokémon from behind with a Poké Ball when it has not yet seen the player greatly increases the likelihood of capture.
* Poké Balls have an "old-fashioned" appearance in this game, with a wooden bottom half, a buckle-shaped metal-colored implement instead of a button, and a valve on top that puffs out steam on a successful catch.
* To battle a wild Pokémon, the player must throw one of their own Pokémon's Poké Balls nearby. Hitting the wild Pokémon with the ball while it is unaware of the player will surprise it, causing it to skip their first turn.
* In the overworld, the player has access to action-related elements such as rolling and diving leaps.
* A feature similar to Ride Pokémon appears to be present, with Hisuian Braviary shown representing flying/soaring, Basculegion shown representing surfing, and Wyrdeer shown representing fast overworld movement.
	+ Some unique actions are shown during this, such as having Hisuian Braviary change its flight pitch angle, Basculegion leaping over an land obstruction in the water and down a waterfall, and Wyrdeer jumping.
* Particularly strong Pokémon with angry red eyes, known as Alpha Pokémon, can be found in the overworld and in battle. These Pokémon may be caught, but are far stronger than others of their species and may possess moves they might not be able to learn normally.
* Noble Pokémon, Pokémon sacred to the people of Hisui that have become frenzied through unknown causes, act as boss battles. To defeat a Noble Pokémon, players must throw special Balms to calm it down while avoiding its attacks. Occasionally, the Noble Pokémon will drop its guard and allow the player to engage it in a Pokémon battle; upon reducing its HP to 0, the Noble Pokémon will be temporarily stunned, making Balms more effective and allowing the player to throw them without any risk of being attacked.
* Pokémon can be sent out of their Poké Balls outside of battle; while this can be done no matter what the situation, specific uses include using them to gather materials from trees and mineral deposits, which gives the Pokémon used a slight amount of EXP (depending on the area) and increases their friendship.
* Outside of Jubilife Village, Pokémon Centers appear to have been replaced by base camps, which allow healing, item purchasing, and the new item crafting feature.
* The player's Bag is now referred to as a "satchel". Similar to the bag of Generation I games, there are a fixed amount of "slots" for items, though the space can be increased by paying a member of the Galaxy Team at the base.
* Completing a Pokédex entry now requires more than just catching a certain Pokémon once, with other requirements varying from multiple catches to seeing a Pokémon use certain moves multiple times.
* The player receives a device called the Arc Phone early in the story, whose design distinctly resembles Arceus. In one screenshot, it is seen displaying an area map as well as the player's current goal.
* Time does not pass according to the Nintendo Switch clock, and the game uses its own system in which time passes while exploring Hisui. Every night that passes changes the moon phase, which is used for the evolution of Ursaring and one sidequest.
* Similar to Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, EVs and IVs have been replaced by effort levels.
* The game uses a revised and simplified battle system:
	+ Moves can be "mastered" by leveling up. A mastered move may be used in the Strong Style, which increases that move's power but lowers action speed, or in the Agile Style, which decreases that move's power but raises action speed. Both styles use two PP instead of one, unless the move has only one PP left.
	+ The concept of turns has been replaced with an Action Order showing which sides are to get the next six turns.
		- Depending on speed, the use of Strong Style moves or Agile Style moves, as well as other factors, one side may get multiple turns in a row.
		- Moves such as Hyper Beam, which in other games require skipping a turn, affect the Action Order instead.
		- The player is only presented with a menu, and thus has an option to run, switch Pokémon, or use an item, when it is their turn.
	+ The Freeze and Asleep status conditions have been removed; they are replaced by the new status conditions Frostbite and Drowsy, which make the Pokémon less likely to attack instead of preventing them from attacking entirely.
	+ Status conditions usually categorized as "non-volatile" expire on their own after several turns. Moreover, a Pokémon that already has such a status condition is not immune to other status conditions, the new condition replaces an existing one instead.
	+ Offensive and defensive stat buffs or debuffs cover both physical and special stats, expire after several turns, and don't stack (using a stat-reducing move several time merely restarts the counter of turns).
	+ Buffs to evasion and debuffs to accuracy are replaced with a volatile status condition Obscured, which makes the Pokémon harder to hit.
	+ The following mechanics from previous versions are absent:
		- The ability to recall Pokémon upon defeating an opposing one (the switch battle style).
		- Held items.
		- Abilities.
		- Entry hazards, with usual entry hazard moves, such as Stealth Rock, now causing direct damage along with further damage over later turns, similar to binding moves.
		- Double Battles. While the player may face up to three Pokémon at once, they can never use more than one Pokémon at a time.
		- Terrains.
		- In-battle bonuses due to friendship or affection.
* The conditions and mechanics of blacking out have been changed:
	+ Pokémon may attack the player in the overworld, and the player may also take damage by falling from high places. Taking too much damage will cause a black out, upon which the player will lose items from their inventory (and none of their money) and return to the last visited camp.
	+ Blacking out does not occur after losing a Pokémon battle:
		- If the player's entire party is knocked out during a Pokémon battle against a trainer, the game allows the player to restart the battle, without any penalty.
		- If the player's entire party is knocked out during a wild Pokémon battle, the battle stops and the game continues, with the player unable to defend themselves against aggressive wild Pokémon until at least one of their own Pokémon is revived.

### New Pokémon and forms

* Seven new Pokémon (Kleavor, Wyrdeer, Ursaluna, Sneasler, Overqwil, Basculegion, and Enamorus) have been added, from which the three first evolve from already discovered Pokémon (Scyther, Stantler, and Ursaring respectively) and the three next from new forms of already discovered Pokémon (Hisuian Sneasel, Hisuian Qwilfish, and white-striped Basculin respectively).
* Sixteen new Hisuian Forms (Growlithe, Arcanine, Voltorb, Electrode, Typhlosion, Sneasel, Qwilfish, Samurott, Lilligant, Zorua, Zoroark, Braviary, Avalugg, Sliggoo, Goodra, and Decidueye) have been added.
* One new regular form (white-striped Basculin) has been added.
* Two new Origin Formes (Dialga and Palkia) have been added.

### Connectivity

The game is confirmed to support online connectivity and trading with other players, but will not support Ranked Battles. The game is planned to receive Pokémon HOME connectivity at some point in 2022.

#### Save data bonuses

Content in the game is unlocked if the player has save data for previous mainline Pokémon titles on the Nintendo Switch system:

* Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!: The Pikachu Festival Mask and Eevee Festival Mask are received.
* Pokémon Sword and Shield: The Shaymin Fancy Kimono and Shaymin Fancy Bottoms are received. After the credits, it also unlocks Request 92: A Token of Gratitude, in which the player obtains the Gracidea and catches the Mythical Pokémon Shaymin.
* Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl: The Modern Jacket, Modern Trousers, and Modern Shoes are received. After the credits, it also unlocks Request 93: The Darksome Nightmare, in which the player catches the Mythical Pokémon Darkrai.

## Reception

### Sales

The game sold over 6.5 million units in its launch week.

## Trivia

* This is the first core series game where the original form of a regional form Pokémon is unobtainable.
* Despite its title not containing the full name of "Pocket Monsters" in Japanese, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is considered to be a part of the core series by the official website.
	+ It is also the only core series game not to contain the full name of "Pocket Monsters" in that language.
* This is the first solitary core series game since Platinum, which also takes place in Sinnoh.
* This is the first core series game to not have a game mascot appear on its boxart, as well as the first to not have at least one alternate version.
* This is the first game to use Pikachu's old cry since Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, and the first to use Eevee's old cry since Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, other than in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl when the DS Sounds is enabled.
* This is the first core series game to not feature Link Battles.
* This is the first core series game to not feature the Master Ball since its introduction in Generation I.

## In other languages

 Chinese
 Mandarin
 French
 German
 Italian
 Korean
 Spanish