Pokémon Legends: Arceus - Game Theory: These 25 Pokemon Are Dead Because Of You
Congratulations, you are killing a Pokemon in the established canon of the Pokemon series. We, our player character, at least, are the reason that at least 25 pokemon species have gone extinct. That's not even really a theory. It is established within the canon to be fair. It's buried way down in there and requires you to connect a few dots, but I have 100 percent confidence that Gamefreak has expressly put this in here for observant, dedicated players.
And perhaps strangest of all, is this steamrolling of the wildlife. We bump innocent animals permanently off the mortal coil. It's all because of a message from God. The Pokémon God, Arceus. He gives us this divine mission to exterminate the mon. If you thought Pokemon lore was weird before, wait until you hear this one.
Hello internet, welcome to Game Theory, the only show that's nerdy enough to remind you that ho-oh isn't just a Pokemon, it's also the chemical formula for hydrogen peroxide. Drop that knowledge-bound the next time you're in Mrs. Nagy's third period chemistry class. Ladies and gentlemen, there are three things that are certain in this world: death, taxes, and new Pokemon games.
We just had a Pokemon party last week; we're rapidly approaching the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet; and even Pokemon Go is making itself a bit of a resurgence. In short, pokemania. So I figured it was time we took another look at the series, and what better game to talk about than the smash hit of 2022, Pokemon Legends Arceus?
While recent remakes have literally just been recycling the Pokemon formula that's been reused since the mid 90s, Legends of Arceus threw that formula out into the trubish. It's the first game in the core series to give players an open world to explore, but while it certainly was a new look, it wasn't a new world.
In this game, you're actually running through an ancient version of Sinnoh. The region between Gen 4's diamond pearl and platinum, How far back in the past are we talking? Unfortunately, the game doesn't explicitly tell us, but based on the somewhat modern amenities of Jubilee Village like bound books, brimmed hats, and steam-powered pokeballs, as well as the architectural inspiration for the galaxy hall, the game seems to take place in the Meiji era of Japanese history, which took place from around 1868 to 1912.
And given that the houses and clothing in Jubilee village seemed to resemble that of the Ido era, the era prior to Meiji was more likely to be closer to that 140-years-ago mark. So, really, this thing was one part Pokemon, one part game, and one part history lesson for that fictional region. There are some obvious ones, like the region's name being changed from His Suicino.
Isolated camps are evolving into urbanized cities, but clearly I'm not here to talk about my love of geography or urban planning. I'm here to talk about the biggest difference of them all: the Pokemon. There are a good number of Pokemon that we find in the Hassoui region that are completely new ones that don't make an appearance in the gen 4 games, their remakes, or any other core installment in the series.
Doing a quick comparison of the hissui and cenodex shows us that there are a whopping 25 Pokemon that are found somewhere in the hissoui region that are completely absent from other titles, like the adorable Hissuian. Growlithe, and the hauntingly new evolution of Basculin basculegen. But where'd they go?
Unsurprisingly, the game never explicitly says what happened to all these Pokémon, based on my findings. for a good reason. You see, they're shielding us from the truth. We killed them. We are responsible. We're the reason those 25 Pokemon variants are gone now. We made them go extinct. So come with me, loyal theorists, as we go big lore hunting to figure out what exactly happened to all these new and old Pokemon.
But before we set off on an adventure, we have to be equipped like a Pokemon trainer. Have you ever stopped to think about how much stuff a trainer actually needs to carry around? Rare stones, candies, antidotes, whatever the heck a TM is, and that is where our newest line of theory wear comes in.
New theorywear!
That's right, it's merchandise drop time. Starting with our newest and most advanced backpack, the techwear backpack, this thing is literally the backpack from the future. heavy duty and with plenty of room for your laptop, your favorite pokepal, or a collection of balls.
Ash Ketchum, eat your heart out, pokeballs, because this isn't just a plain old green backpack. This thing comes with loop strings and bungee cords that allow you to quickly access all your most important theorist tools. This thing is loaded with function, but it's also loaded with fashion. That's actually why I wanted to lean more into the subtle coloring and branding with this one.
It still shows off your theorist's pride, but it's doing it in a way that can comfortably come with you to any school or professional setting. It's not going to stand out like a sore thumb, as obviously, youtube, merch, or if you're looking for something smaller that can hold a couple of things in a simple grab and go style.
Check out the Techwear shoulder bag. It's compact and light, which makes it perfect if you live in a place where you have to do a lot of walking. True story I've been in London for the past two months, and this bag has been a lifesaver. This was able to hold the few items that I wanted from the store without weighing me down or feeling like a burden to bring along, and considering it's been one of the hottest summers on record here in the city, one of the things that I was always bringing along in that bag was water, which is why I always kept the new game theory water bottle packed with no leakage.
A practically unbreakable nalgene style bottle is built in with achievements written along the side to make it crystal clear when you've hit different hydration milestones. Along the way, can you be one of the people to get the platinum trophy and hydration? It's time to find something else you could throw into that tech bag.
We've got our new pack of perfectly pixelated playing cards, and to round the whole collection off, because I couldn't leave you without at least one piece of stylish clothing. We've got the tech tee. You all know that I love an asymmetrical design, so I leaned into it with a color-blocked sleeve and a tie-dye inspired pattern that washes across the front in short.
Catch all the answers!
Speaking of, let's start by looking at one of the first new Pokemon that we get to see in the game, Wardier, the long-awaited evolution for the Pokemon stantler, now in legends. They can only be obtained on one specific route using the poker radar, and as for words here, they don't exist. Not at all.
