Pokemon Legends: Arceusmay be one of the most exciting, non-mainline Pokemon games ever to release. That may sound like hyperbole, especially sincePokemon Legends: Arceusisn’t actually an open-world gameas many originally thought, but it’s doing so much to change the formula that it is still setting itself up to be a huge release with huge ramifications. One of those elements has hardly been discussed, but it remains prominent: how the game deals with time and legend.
ThePokemonfranchise has never been one to take itself too seriously. While legendaries likePokemon SwordandShield’s Zacian and Zamazaneta have incredible lore, there’s really no explanation for when these games take place or anything that suggests any real chronological order. Indeed,Pokemonis designed to be taken at face value, which is why the games haven’t really connected or tried to explain anything about evolution sincePokemon GoldandSilverintroduced eggs (excluding direct sequels likeBlackandWhite 2).
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In short,Pokemon SwordandShieldcould effectively take place during the same time asPokemon DiamondandPearl, and nothing exists that would truly contradict that. There’s no clear throughline, even in trying to explain differences in technology, and that’s okay. It just is. While many gens have a gimmick (like Mega Evolution or Dynamaxing), fans just accept that these are just mechanics of the new game, and their connection to the Pokemon world and evolution are just that: mechanics. Meanwhile,Pokemon Legends: Arceusmay not come out and explain its evolution choices and the like, but because fans know it is set in the distant past, it could change evolution forever.
Pokemon Legends: Noble Pokemon, New Evolution, Variants, and More
Pokemon Legends: Arceushas already done a lot of footwork doing this. For example, Noble Pokemon ought to all be new Pokemon, asKleavor’s reveal came alongside its confirmation as a Noble Pokemon. This Pokemon is an evolution of Scyther, but it’s not Scizor. In fact, Scyther’s Scizor evolution—in relation to metal—could be understood to show human impact on Pokemon evolution, especially if Kleavor is no longer a normal evolution in the modern day. When neither Scyther’s blades nor Kleavor’s axes work out, it makes sense that metal would be the next step for the pokemon’s defense/enablement of humankind. It would make sense if all Noble Pokemon expressed this motif: evolutionary forms that may not be relevant in more modern times.
At the same time, there are plenty of rumors that thePokemon Legends: Arceusstarterswill get new evolutions through some form, that Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina will have Primal forms, that Mewtwo is getting a new variant, and that there are new legendaries that will be introduced. The latter seems obvious enough, but this once again poses the question: if they are in the Sinnoh region this far in the past, where are they in the modern day? It also poses the question of how so many Legendary Pokemon essentially fade from human memory only to return some day, withPokemon Legends: Arceuspotentially having that answer or, at least, showing the other side of that.
Pokemon Lore and Evolution
Pokemonloreis pretty simple: Pokemon hatch from eggs, evolve with certain training or other requirements, and quite frankly, can eventually die in the series.Pokemon RedandBluehad a Pokemon graveyard, after all, and there are plenty of hints of Pokemon eating each other or being eaten by humans throughout the franchise.
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Dynamaxing is explained away as something only applicable to a certain region—a regional evolution of sorts—whileMega Evolutionrequires certain things to actually do. They’re essentially given a blanket explanation to prevent any logical issues from arising, butPokemon Legends: Arceusdoesn’t need to do that.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus – The Past and Future of Evolution
Being set in the past allowsPokemon Legends: Arceusto explore new things that won’t have to be explained with the next release (assumingPokemon Legendsexplores the past of other regionsas its own series of sorts eventually). It could be understood that all the years that pass impact Pokemon, yet at the same time, it allows fans to see how a region impacts a Pokemon evolution, how a human impacts a Pokemon evolution, and more—all intuitively and without necessary exposition.
If the new Starter form rumors are true, for example, it can be rationalized that they were lost before modern games. Indeed, it’s not likePokemon Legends: Arceusis filling in any “missing link” for Pokemon evolution, but its creativity doesn’t have to be stifled either when looking at it chronologically.Pokemon Legends: Arceuscould introduce tons of new evolutionsthat get swept away by time, and it’ll be interesting to see how and in what form this impacts the player’s understanding of Evolution.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusreleases on August 07, 2025, for Switch.
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