Rolling hills and deep valleys, fresh mountain air. Long golden sandy beaches with crystal waves crashing against the shore. A young, bustling settlement full of human activity.This is Emerald; the latest setup Pokemon game, and any location we’ve seen before in the Pokemon world.You most likely know this region as Shenno – that’s what it’s called in modern Pokemon games – but the title was set a long time ago diamonds and pearlswhen “a long time ago” every official game freak Press release.
If you’re even interested in Pokemon lore, you know that Shinno is based in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. A cursory look at the geography of the area shows that it matches well with its real-world counterpart. We even have an official map for Hisui that reinforces Game Freak’s local inspiration. So it goes without saying that Hisui’s legacy will be based in part on Japanese history rather than anything more international (we won’t see anything here based on American, British or French like we do at Unova, Galar and Carlos, respectively).
So, in addition to knowing Pokemon Legends: Arcues Taking us back to the historical background of Japanese style, what else do we know about jadeite? Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have been tight-lipped about the game so far – but that doesn’t mean we haven’t sifted through all the material released so far for Legends: Arceus to pick out some of the mainline Pokemon Important information for the game’s most mysterious setting to date.
It’s almost certainly more recent than the Feudal Japan era
It’s tempting to look at Hisui and say “it’s set in an era based on feudal Japan”: the costumes of the player characters and the wooden structures of the towns and villages we’ve seen so far look very appropriate for that era. But Japan’s feudal era only lasted until 1603. The steam-powered and glass lanterns seen in the Pokemon Arceus trailer suggest we’re at least in the mid-1800s — well before feudal Japan. What does this mean for the game itself? Well, it’s possible to cross with other areas that we know deep in the game’s story, maybe – we know Pokemon likes to tease other areas here and there, especially once you’ve completed the main questline – that might give us Get a deeper understanding of what Joto, Hoenn, and even exotic regions like Alora and Galar looked like during the same historical period.
it seems to run on steam power
What we know most about Hisui technology right now is the PokeBalls in the region. These contraptions are nothing like the more mechanical, laser-based contraptions we’ve known and loved in Pokemon games for the past 26 years. Instead, Hisui’s balls are mostly made of wood and release a bit of steam when they catch Pokemon. So, can we assume this game is set after the Industrial Revolution? Will we see some rudimentary Pokemon steampunk work making its debut in Emerald World? We can’t be sure yet. There still seems to be a lot of manual labor as people tend to the land and build new camps and primitive cities, so it’s safe to assume that Hisui is being settled; it remains to be seen whether an ancient civilization exists in the area.
Certain divine landmarks already exist
In addition to the huge and imposing Crown Mountain jutting out like a boulder in the center of the Emerald region, there are some famous landmarks that we’ve also seen in Pokemon Diamonds and Pearls. Going to the upper left corner of the Emerald map, we can see Snow Point Temple, the hometown of the ancient legendary Pokémon Reggigas. In Gen 4, you have to beat the Elite Four and enroll in the Hall of Fame to get in here. The fact that we can see this on a pre-release map means Game Freak wants us to know there’s some connection to the legendary titans — Regice, Regirock, and Registeel — and the towering Regigigas itself. Could Titan have anything to do with awakening or appeasing the namesake Arceus? We’d be willing to bet they would.
You’ll also see the volcano’s Mount Stark – home to Hitland – on the horizon, billowing thick smoke into the atmosphere. It could also hint at the existence of the legendary Fire/Steel Pokemon. There’s also a large lake to the right of the Coronet with an isolated island, suggesting we’ll be interacting with the Lake Guardians and exploring more of the creation myth of the Pokemon world. To put it bluntly; there will be a lot of legendary Pokemon in this game. Perhaps this is to be expected in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, though.
This place has unique Pokemon and this time
The Hisuian Regional Form is a new variant of Pokémon that you can catch in Pokémon Saga: Arceus. Similar to previous generations of Pokemon, especially Galar and Alola, the Hisuian variant is different in appearance and type from the Pokemon we know and love. But, given that we’ve never seen these Pokemon before – even in Shinobi – does that mean they’re extinct? Will we never see Yazoroark in the modern game? Will the adorable Hisuian Growlithe show up at Pokemon Trainer’s party? What happened to the Hisuian Voltorb so that we will never see those little wooden balls in Unova, Kanto or Kalos? The disappearance of all these Pokemon – and many more, certainly yet to be announced – is worrying. We just hope we get some good answers in the game, and our theories about mass extinctions haven’t been proven correct.
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