In Pokémon Legends: Arceus there is a bigger emphasis on the story than is typical for the franchise, including a few twists and turns that amount to major spoilers. Many of the usually sacred cows of Pokémon games are cast away like an unwanted Miltank. The game features a series of large environments and a single hub village, closer to the format of a Monster Hunter game. Players can toss Poké Balls without entering combat to catch Pokémon outside of battle. The story offers the biggest shift, as it abandons the formulaic quest to become a region’s top trainer, complete with requisite gym battles, in favor of an epic story with larger stakes and cryptic mysteries. Legends: Arceus makes Pokémon feel truly mystical for possibly the first time in the series, and its less predictable plot provides a welcome change of pace from the franchise’s norms.
[Warning: Spoilers for Pokémon Legends: Arceus are below.]
Some potential spoilers regarding Legends: Arceus are showcased in promotional materials. The game takes place further back in the timeline than any prior Pokémon game, in Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ Hisui region, later called Sinnoh. The reason for the name change is one possible spoiler regarding the game’s story. Two powerful clans, Diamond and Pearl, have conflicting religious beliefs regarding Sinnoh, the Pokémon deity they believe to be the world’s creator. Late in the game, the hero confronts Dialga and Palkia, the Pokemon lords of time and space, respectively. The clans then come to recognize that the entity they each referred to as Sinnoh was a result of them conflating these two legendary Pokémon. As these are revered regional deities, it makes sense that Hisui might come to be called the Sinnoh region, as it is known in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl.
Another unexpected twist for the series is the origin of the playable protagonist character. In most Pokémon games the story begins at the hero’s hometown, where they bid their mother farewell before they set off on a journey to become a master trainer. In Legends: Arceus the protagonist falls from the sky, summoned by Arceus itself, the true creator deity Pokémon. The hero has been pulled through space and time into the distant past. Though some might interpret this as an example of the trope of “real-world youth pulled into a fantasy world,” a more likely conclusion is simple time travel, and that the hero was pulled from the future of the Pokémon world. The protagonist resembles an older version of the heroes of Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and they are familiar with modern technology, but also with the practice of catching and training Pokémon.
The Truth Behind Volo's Conspiracy With Giratina Is A Legends: Arceus Spoiler
A somewhat subtle bit of the game’s story confirms that the hero is not the only Pokémon trainer spirited into the past by the Space-Time Distortions of Hisui. Prior to the game’s release fans speculated whether Pokémon Legends: Arceus would have Gym Leaders. With Pokémon remaining mysterious and often frightening in the Hisui era, and the Poké Ball itself a relatively recent invention, Pokémon Gyms are unheard of, and trainers are rare. The Pearl Clan Warden Ingo serves as the game’s replacement for trainer battles, offering players a chance to duel with him or the other handful of Pokémon trainers in Jubilife Village. Series veterans may recall Ingo from Pokémon: Black and White. Ingo was also transported back in time and suffered memory loss, but his vague recollection of his time in the future compels him to organize battles between trainers.
While en route to becoming a Pokémon master, the protagonists of other Pokémon games often stumble across dangerous conspiracies, such as Rose’s plan to summon Eternatus in Pokémon: Sword and Shield. There is a clear and present threat from the start which ties into why people fear Pokémon in Legends: Arceus. The same Space-Time Distortions that helped summon the protagonist are causing the Noble Pokémon of Hisui to become berserk. Beyond the academic goal of completing the first Pokédex, the player is tasked with quelling the frenzy of these powerful Pokémon Nobles. The cause for the frenzy is likely the biggest spoiler in the game, though players do not learn the full truth until the post-game content, after they have ended the threat of the Space-Time Distortions.
The main quest continues after the credits roll as the Ginko Merchant Volo enlists the hero’s aid in tracking down Legend Plates in order to meet Arceus, the world’s true creator deity. Volo eventually battles the protagonist to lay claim to the plates, and Legends: Arceus’ Volo fight rivals BDSP’s Cynthia battle in terms of challenge. Volo reveals that he was responsible for the Pokémon Nobles' frenzies. He had caused the distortions, working with Giratina, a renegade demigod of sorts that was banished to the Distortion World, to try to usurp the power of Arceus in order to remake the world. Giratina, the “Renegade Pokémon,” was originally part of the Creation Trio along with Dialga and Palkia, lesser deities who aided Arceus in shaping the world. This makes Giratina, in essence, a Satanic figure for the world of Pokémon, a fallen angel who rebelled against the creator and was exiled from heaven, and Volo a devil-worshipper intent on remaking the world in his own image.
The Original Trainer Of Legends: Arceus' Pokémon Nobles Remains An Enigma
Those who theorized that Pokémon: Legends Arceus story would feature time travel were proven correct, but unlike Ingo, the hero was not drawn into the past by coincidence. The enigmatic fashionista Cogita reveals that she is the bearer of a prophecy, and she fulfills her duty by aiding “the lost one” with their mission. After catching every Pokémon, the hero meets Arceus and the deity confirms the protagonist was summoned specifically to thwart Volo and Giratina’s ambitions to overthrow the creator and remake the world. With a clear danger, rather than a quest for greatness, as the heart of the story, Legends: Arceus features a more traditional JRPG narrative, complete with twists, betrayals, and a monologuing mastermind. Some side quests contain their own twists as well, like the "Eerie Apparitions In The Night" Request where the taskgiver reveals herself to be the 108th wisp that forms Spiritomb, but players who catch every Pokémon to unlock the true ending will experience many of these along the way.
Despite these revelations, there are still a few mysteries remaining unsolved in the game's story. One unresolved element is what happens to Volo in Pokémon Legends: Arceus after his defeat. Volo states he has not given up on his ambitions, but he leaves Hisui after the hero claims the Spooky Plate from him and does not return in the game. Another lingering mystery surrounds the hero of legend who first allied with the Noble Pokémon. The game’s protagonist appears to follow in the footsteps of an Ancient Hero from even earlier in the timeline of Hisui. The ten Pokémon who aided this hero were the ancestors of the five Pokémon Nobles who frenzy during the game, and the five who become the player’s mounts. In-game lore alludes to this hero having averted a similar disaster to the one the player prevents. It is possible these will both receive elaboration in future DLC, but for now, there are still a few unspoiled mysteries remaining in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.