Despite its position as a spin-off and some of its creative interpretations of its original mechanics,Pokemon Legends: Arceuswas a huge success and well-received by fans. Though not the first spin-off series to have garnered such positive attention, it has led to the anticipation thatPokemon Legends: Arceuswill be just the first in a subset ofPokemongames set to explore the histories and legends of thePokemonworld.
One ofLegends: Arceus’selling points was that it introduced a breadth of different forms and evolutions for Pokemon. While not a new idea, since variations of existing Pokemon have been around sincePokemon’sseventh generation of games withSunandMoon,Legends: Arceuswas the first to introduce historical variations of Pokemon beyond these regional forms. But despite the potential the historical regional variations brought to the series,Legends: Arceusdidn’t best capitalize on this. A newLegendsgame could therefore give Game Freak an opportunity to learn fromLegends: Arceusand improve these variations in the future.
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The Issue With Hisuian Forms
WhenPokemonLegends: Arceuswas leading up to its eventual release, fans were abuzz with excitement following the reveal of Hisuian forms of Pokemon. Based on a feudal Sinnoh region, named Hisui at that time, these Pokemon were from long before the modern-day versions players are used to but had “died out” after many years of adapting and changing. As with any regional form, Game Freak explained away the changes made to these Pokemon, such asHisuian Zoroa and Zoroark, who were apparently shunned by humans due to their illusions and perished in Hisui’s harsh winter wilderness, only to manifest as Ghost-type Pokemon.
At face value, there’s little to criticize with the new regional forms. They provide a unique, alternative interpretation of familiar Pokemon with a new balance of types, movesets, and even evolutions. However, unlike previous regional forms, theseHisuian variationshave to contend withPokemon’s history. The best example of this is that of Voltorb and Electrode; Voltorb’s Pokedex entries forRubyandSoulSilverboth suggest that the Pokemon first appeared when mechanical Poke Balls were invented.
Poke Balls have a strange history that muddies this canon, with issues ranging from Apricorns and Tumblestones being used to create Poke Balls to thePocket Monsters Encyclopediaalleging Poke Balls were invented by a Professor Westwood in 1925, not Professor Laventon fromLegends: Arceus. It’s therefore even more unclear as to why Voltorb resembles a Poke Ball, as prior toLegends: Arceusmany fans had been under the presumption that Poke Balls had always come first and then Voltorb followed. Now many are left withVoltorb’s chicken and the egg conundrum, and rather than help clear things up,Legends: Arceushas only complicated things further.
Future Legends Games Can Tidy Up The Pokedex
It would be unfair to treat Voltorb and Electrode as the only examples of confusion contradictions or inconsistencies inPokemonlore as there has been plenty other examples. For instance,FireRed’sPokedex entry for Parasect tells plays “In China, [Parasect’s] spores are used as herbal medicine.” Given that as thePokemongames have continued to grow and expand, Game Freak has evidently done its best to avoid tackling the issue ofPokemonand the real world, which means that likes of Voltorb, Parasect and many other Pokemon could have conflicting lore behind them that are becoming increasingly more obvious.
This is where a futureLegendsgame could help clean up any loose ends that might jeopardize thePokemoncanon. It wouldn’t be the first timePokemonhas taken advantage ofprevious Pokedex discrepanciesto refine its lore, as many fans pointed out that Kantonian Raichu and Copperajah might have corrected the Pokedex entry fromFireRed(and unusuallySuntoo) which claims Raichu can knock out an Indian elephant. Many now suspect that given Copperajah’s ownSwordPokedex entry says it came from another region helps retcon the contradiction and fill in the blanks; it might even promise a futurePokemongame set within an India-inspired region.
For a newLegendsgame, Game Freak would be wise to scrutinize its current extensive list of Pokemon and Pokedex entries to weed out these canonical errors and, if possible, address them with new regional forms. For instance, Trubbish and Garbador are based on modern-day pollution and waste.A new version of Trubbish and Garbadormight replace its Poison typing with something like Dark and redefine how it came to be. Similarly, Grimer and Muk allegedly only exist due to x-rays from the moon sinceStadiumintroduced its Pokedex entry. ALegendsgame therefore might want to try and clean up Grimer’s haphazard scientific origin, along with any other Pokemon who have now-inconsistent entries, from Xatu in South America to Poliwrath crossing the Pacific.
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Game Freak Could Be Playing It Safe
As much as fans might want to levy criticism at Game Freak for not fully exploring these new, historical regional forms, it also stands to reason that the studio might want to first test the waters of the concept before diving in. Though clearly trying to engage with its fans and inject creativity into its series, Game Freak’s primary responsibility is to ensurePokemonremains steadfast, which means no rocking the boat with ideas that could be perceived as too radical. For instance, when first introducing the regional forms inSunandMoon, fans noted thatthese forms were exclusively based on Gen 1 Pokemon, suggesting Game Freak relied on Gen 1’s popularity as a vehicle to introduce a concept that has since reshapedPokemongames.
Combining this with the fact thatLegends: Arceuswas a spin-off game already proposing a great many changes to Game Freak’s formula, it’s completely understandable that Hisuian forms weren’t as adventurous as fans might have wanted. However, now thatLegendshas proven itself capable of serving as a sister series to the core games,futurePokemonLegendsgameshave the ideal opportunity to fully embrace the lore that’s been built up over the many years ofPokemon.A newLegendsgame could more deeply explore the games' canon, revisit Pokemon with inconsistent Pokedex entries, and ultimately help flesh out the history, culture and legends behindPokemon.
