Since its inception, thePokemonfranchise has enticed fans with Legendary and Mythical Pokemon that create an expansive lore.Pokemon Red,Green,Blue, andYellowset a standard with the Legendaries Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo, all available in-game; as well as the Mythical Pokemon Mew, only available through event distributions despite aclassic urban legend about a wayward truck.Pokemon Legends: Arceuswill tell a story surrounding one of Generation 4’s most notable Mythical Pokemon.
Arceus, known as the Alpha Pokemon, is considered the universe’s progenitor deity, having emerged from an Egg and shaped everything out of nothing according to legend. Its original event item, the Azure Flute, was never distributed, leaving Arceus unavailable inDiamond,Pearl, andPlatinumby normal means. Though it was given more attention in games likePokemon Conquestand the anime filmArceus and the Jewel of Life, the Mythical deity also seems to have missed its time to shine inBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearlby nature ofLegends: Arceusexisting. It’s unfortunate Game Freak may also be lessening the impact for most ofSinnoh’s remaining Mythical Pokemon.
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Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s Missing Mythicals
A new trailer forPokemon Legends: Arceusunveiled its Diamond and Pearl clans, as well as the Ginkgo mercantile guild. The Pokemon Company and Game Freak also went more into detail about the “Special Bonuses” available to fans. The Mythical Pokemon Darkrai will be available as part of a “research request” in Jubilife Village for anyone whose Switch hasBrilliant DiamondorShining Pearlsave data. Those players will also be able to wear unique outfits styled after modern-day Team Galactic uniforms, despite these games being set in the far past when Sinnoh was known as Hisui.
This Darkrai and Team Galactic bundle is just one of three Special Bonuses announced forPokemon Legends: Arceusthus far. Anyone who has playedPokemon SwordorShieldwill also get a research request opening access toShaymin alongside a Shaymin-themed kimono set. Meanwhile,Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!andLet’s Go, Eevee!will grant access to masks based on their respective box Pokemon.
While these bonuses are nice forPokemonfans, making use of the franchise’s expansive presence on Switch, they seem to confirmBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearlwill not put much focus on events that made the original DS games' Mythical Pokemon so special. If Arceus, Darkrai, and Shaymin are all being used to build up hype forLegends: Arceus, that leaves Manaphy the only original Mythical represented in the Sinnoh region remakes thus far (with Mew and Jirachi added in). Even then, Manaphy’s Egg is available through Mystery Gift rather than being aPokemon Rangertie-in.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus Can ‘Modernize’ Sinnoh’s Mythical Events
It does seem developer ILCA incorporated the original DS games' Mythical events into its remakes - even if they have yet to be officially released. ASurf glitch allows players to catch Shaymin earlyin Flower Paradise, and the originallyPlatinum-exclusive character who offers Shaymin’s Gracidea flower is inBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearl. This is a smart move considering not everyone is going to buyLegends: Arceus, and thus it would be silly to keep all these Mythical Pokemon out of their original titles.
Yet, the Special Bonuses inPokemon Legends: Arceusseem to be more than simple giveaways ala the series' propensity to hand out special monsters using Mystery Gift. If a Pokemon like Shaymin is available as part of a DLC event inBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearl, there wouldn’t be much point in also using it as a bonus forLegends: Arceuswith no fanfare. Perhaps this means Game Freak has big plans for the Mythical Pokemon in its upcoming title that might hamper the impact of the remake’s events.
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Shaymin and Darkrai will only be available inLegends: Arceus' postgame for those who have the required tie-in games. The game’s website does not specify what the research requests will look like, but it does say players will only “have a chance” to add these Mythical Pokemon onto their teams. It seems safe to assume this implies players will battle and capture Shaymin and Darkrai, rather than receiving them over the Internet likeSwordandShield’s Zarude. If so, hopefully there’s some mission attached rather than them simply appearing somewhere in Hisui at random.
These missions could be new takes on the originalDiamondandPearlevents, now in thesemi-open world style ofLegends: Arceus. Darkrai was originally obtained with the Member Card opening access to a Canalave City inn, where players encounter the Dark-type in a nightmare after waking up the boat captain’s son using Cresselia’s Lunar Feather. Shaymin was originally obtained with Oak’s Letter, which brought the Kanto region professor to Sinnoh where he teaches players how to access Flower Paraside.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusopening Newmoon Island and Flower Paraside in remixed ways would be fun to see. Perhaps a resident of Jubilife Village is struck unconscious with nightmares, and an ancestor of Professor Oak comes to meet with Hisui’s Professor Laventon. AfterPokemon SunandMoonintroduced Samson Oak, it wouldn’t be farfetched to continue exploring the Oak family lineage. Going this route would take some of the wind out ofBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearl’s sails, as them introducing their Mythical events around or afterLegends: Arceus' launch would not get nearly as much attention. Still, it would be nice to not see Shaymin and Darkrai only locked behind additional paywalls.
