WMG / Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Pre-release WMGs

Mewtwo, Genesect, Porygon and its evolutions, and Fossil Pokémon are not going to appear in this game.

Given that this is set in the distant past, science and technology hasn't been made for Mewtwo and Genesect to be created, alongside the fossils not being revived. Unless for specifically the fossils that they might be revived by some form of magic, or the Player will stumble on a location where they had managed to survive.

• Then again, that didn't stop Pokémon Conquest from including Mewtwo, despite being set in a region based on Feudal Japan...
• Jossed for the Porygon line and the fossils; they appear within Space-time distortion zones.

The player characters are Dawn and Lucas' past lives and/or ancestors.

Would explain the strong resemblance between them. If this becomes a series, perhaps future installments will imply similar things about the other game protagonists.

• Jossed. The player is not Lucas or Dawn, but a Suspiciously Similar Substitute who is also named Rei (male) or Akari (female).
  • Those are only the names of their equivalents who were born in Hisui. We don't know for sure that the main character from the future is named that.

Cyrus will be inspired by the Player Character's research into Arceus.

The design on the character's clothing, specifically the symbol, resembles the Team Galactic logo. While it is possibly a coincidence, it is also possible that Cyrus was inspired by whatever we learn about Arceus and perhaps the Creation Trio, and takes our symbol to pervert it for Team Galactic along with our research in the future.

• Expanding on this idea and the idea above. It is possible that the so-far unseen professor provided you with the starters and possibly your clothing is an ancestor of Cyrus.
• Seemingly confirmed by the Pokémon Presents trailer. The protagonist works for an organisation called the Galaxy Team, whose symbol resembles the Team Galactic logo and whose leader, Cyllene, is practically a genderbent Cyrus, right down to her facial expression. That can't all be coincidental.
• Or perhaps Galaxy Team is evil and will try to create a new world in Cyllene's image and Cyrus was finishing his ancestor's work
• The initial WMG is correct, but the follow-ups are Jossed. Galaxy Team is meant to be a heroic team dedicated to understanding and living in harmony with Pokémon, but Cyllene isn't the one with questionable goals. It is her notes on the creation of the Red Chain that Cyrus ends up using in Diamond and Pearl, however. The professor is also heavily hinted to be from Galar and a new addition to the team, while your clothing comes as a standard issue uniform from the organization.

If this marks the beginning of a series, possible future installments and settings...

Although the game is said to be an actual mainline game, some fans would actually prefer it instead become a spinoff of its own, going back to previous regions to explore their history first-hand, either as outlined in their games or based off the histories of their real-world counterparts.

• Kanto:
  • Pokémon Legends: Mewtwo - Possibly where you play as a scientist who was present for Mewtwo's creation
  • Pokémon Legends: Mew - Similar to the above, only you're playing as the person who caught Mew in the jungle for the cloning project, or you play in Feudal Kanto (numerous design elements actually places Legends: Arceus in the equivalent of the Meiji era which in real life lasted from 1868 to 1912).
  • Pokémon Legends: Melmetal
• Johto:
  • Pokémon Legends: Ho-Oh - Take place in the past before the two towers were burned down, experiencing this stage of Johto's history and finally seeing the story behind Suicune, Entei, and Raikou.
  • Pokemon Legends: Celebi - A modern kid gets sent back in time to ancient Johto, where they go on an adventure to track down Celebi in the hope of getting home while making new friends, both human and Pokémon along the way, before ultimately deciding to stay.
• Hoenn:
  • Pokémon Legends: Deoxys - Taking place during the equivalent of the space age, with Raygun Gothic to match. It would deal with the discovery of Deoxys, of course.
  • Pokémon Legends: Rayquaza - Taking place during the ancient battle between Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza.
• Sinnoh (Yes, we know...):
  • Pokémon Legends: Shaymin or Pokémon Legends: Darkrai - Sinnoh has a lot of interesting lore. Given that Legends: Arceus seems to take place in the equivalent of the Meiji restoration, it’s possible we could get an entry even further back in time, with more emphasis on the Ainu-like culture that was there before.
  • Pokémon Legends: Regigigas - You witness how Regigigas created the Hoenn Regi Trio, along with Regieleki and Regidrago.
• Unova:
  • Pokémon Legends: Kyurem - Taking place during the war of Truth and Ideals; maybe you could play as one of the brothers, but more likely you'd play as a knight fighting for them; possible appearance of the original dragon at some point
  • Pokémon Legends: The Original Dragon - You play as the founder of Unova.
  • Pokémon Legends: Genesect - You witness the creation of Genesect.
• Kalos:
  • Pokémon Legends: Zygarde - Takes place during the Kalos War; young AZ will be a prominent NPC. Either you could as expected ally yourself with AZ to protect Kalos from evil, or it's a game about help AZ's brother in his conquest to seize power of Kalos.
  • Pokémon Legends: Turf Wars^note No, not those Turf Wars - A game that would not focus on the war 3000 years ago, but instead focus on a war that Kalos waged with its neighboring regions 300 years ago.
• Alola:
  • Pokémon Legends: Magearna - Takes place five hundred years before Sun and Moon, where you play as a servant to the king's daughter who received Magearna as a present, while the guardian deities fight Solgaleo & Lunala and the Ultra Beasts.
  • Pokémon Legends: Guardians - Set around the time the 4 guardians would have their wars with each other before human interaction.
  • Pokémon Legends: Ultra Space - Focuses on a trainer joining the Ultra Recon Squad, traveling through Ultra Space in order to stop some sort of interdimensional threat. While not primarily set in Alola, the region may play some sort of role as it's heavily linked to Ultra Space.
• Galar:
  • Pokémon Legends: Zacian/Zamazenta - Taking place in a Medieval Era, you play as a knight who will eventually partner up with either duo to fight Eternatus. Wielding the opposite equipment, there's implications that you re-incarnate as the other duo in present day.
  • Pokémon Legends: Calyrex - You witness Calyrex’s achievements.
  • Pokémon Legends: Eternatus - Taking place in the equivalent of the Victorian times, you’ll investigate rumours of the Darkest Day happening early. The exclusive Pokémon may be based on literature taking place during Victorian times (like a mission that is a Whole-Plot Reference to The Ice Monster).
• Paldea:

Pokémon Legends: Terapagos- While the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC for SV has only been announced as of this part being added in here, it shouldn't been too much of a stretch to say that a Legends game about Terapagos being made long after SV could happen, especially with whatever lore we get from the Pokemon inquestion.

Time travel is involved.

The shot in the trailer introducing the three starters appears to be a modern building, as opposed to the traditional building exteriors seen elsewhere. It may even be a Stealth Sequel, and the characters are Dawn and Lucas after the events of the Diamond and Pearl story who have travelled to the past.

• To add on to this, Team Galactic has harnessed the power of Celebi to alter the timeline in their favor using Arceus, so the player has been tasked with going back to the early days of Sinnoh to stop them. Their ninja outfits are so they can blend in.
• The Zorua reveal trailer has only added to the Time Travel theory with the Galaxic Corps member stating that the phone is a strange and unknown device to him.
• CONFIRMED! The player character starts the game after having apparently fallen from the sky wearing modern clothing with the only item they have being their smartphone, which has turned into the Arc Phone. Depending on who you pick as your character, Rei joins Akari and Akari joins Rei.

The setting is more recent than we think.

Due to the above mentioned modern-looking building interior and a few other design elements like the Steampunk Poké Ball, seem to place the story in the universe's equivalent of the Meiji era as in the late 19th and early 20th (Pre-WWI) century and not the feudal era as most tend to assume. Of course, since the Pokemon universe doesn't have to line up with ours this game could still be set several hundreds of years before Diamond and Pearl.

The starters that you can get in this game have something unique happen to them.

It is a little unusual that the starters from these games are ones from other regions: Rowlet from Alola, Cyndaquil from Johto, and Oshawott from Unova. What if they evolve… a bit differently due to being in Hisui:

• Rowlet evolves into a Hisuian Dartrix, Cyndaquil becomes Hisuian Quilava, and Oshawott becomes Hisuian Dewott. Then they all evolve into a different final evolution. Of course, the biggest hole in this is that Cyndaquil could be transferred from HGSS or earlier back in Gen 4 and nothing strange happened then.
  • However, it's not unheard of for transferred Pokémon to evolve into new forms. Pikachu, Koffing, Cubone, Mime Jr., and Exeggcute all evolve into the forms local to the game they’re in when they evolve.
  • Confirmed... with their final evolutions. Dartrix, Quilava and Dewott remain the same.
• It should be noted that Sinnoh isn't the exact same as Hisui; perhaps that the environments that would have caused them to evolve differently were no longer applicable.
• Perhaps a unique "regional" form will end up being something not region specific, and instead something along the lines of Arceus "blessing" your starter if you bring it to them, giving each final evolution a new design.

If the Starters have different end forms, what will they be?

• Rowlett: Grass/Fairy, if only because Sinnoh lacks a lot of Fairy-type pokemon.
• Oshawott: Water/Fighting. It was theorized back during the lead-up to Black and White, and now they'll be able to stand on their hind legs and wield a more kendo-like shell when they fight.
• Cyndaquil: Fire/Ground. It leans into the mole and echidna influences and will be able to burrow, perhaps even have a signature move equivalent to a Fire-type Dig.
  • Jossed; Hisuian Decidueye is Grass/Fighting, Hisuian Typhlosion is Fire/Ghost, and Hisuian Samurott is Water/Dark.

The player character can actually get attacked by wild Pokémon and could possibly die.

While games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have had a pointless dodge roll technique for no reason other than to make your walking less monotonous, it seems pretty strange to have a dodge roll shown off in the trailer for no reason. Since this is more of an open-world aspect and you have to catch Pokemon by sneaking up on them, it's likely that the player character can get hurt by the wild Pokemon's attacks and this could be used as an evasive maneuver. It would likely be necessary in the case the player character has no available Pokémon to defend themselves and have to run away, with no Pokémon Centers to save them. If they die, that could be the very first time a Pokémon game had a Game Over sequence.

• Technically it wouldn't be the first Pokémon game to have such a Game Over sequence, that honor goes to Ranger: Shadows of Almia.
• Some leaks seem to confirm this is the case.
  • Alternatively it is simply another convenient way to provide an easier way of avoiding wild encounters, something that could of helped in the Wild Areas.
• Confirmed. The August 2021 Pokémon Presents confirms that some wild Pokémon do directly attack the trainer, but all that happens if the trainer gets hit too much is them blacking out and returning to a base camp.

This game has possible shared continuity with Pokémon Conquest — i.e. concurrently happening with it.

In the former game, warlord Motonari spoke of a 'faraway land' from Ransei which uses Poké Balls. Taking into account the Schizo Tech that Ransei possesses already, it's not entirely unreasonable to assume that past!Sinnoh is this land he refers to.

The Pokémon world's equivalent of the Ainu will play a major role in the game's story.

Pokémon games tends to shy away from outright depicting things such as colonization of indigenous peoples (although they may make easily missed references to it in at least the Gen 7 and Gen 8 games). But I believe that this time around, such people may play a role in the story and might be part of the conflict.

• That would be the Diamond and Pearl Clans since they live there, so Confirmed'.

Arceus will have a form that is what it truly looks like.

Arceus is outright confirmed to be the creator of the Pokémon world, i.e god, so in theory it should be an omnipotent being that should have a a say over how it should appear to humans and other Pokémon. Furthermore, one of its earliest dex entries reference its 1000 arms, which it has never displayed in any Pokémon media. Perhaps it does have them, but not in the form we are familiar with.

• Alternatively, it appears, but we never see it directly, as its appearance is something better off unseen.
• This is under the assumption the thousand arms are not the Unown, who are said to perform great feats in large numbers and swarm to Arceus when it rewrites the universe in Heart Gold/Soul Silver.
  • In the end. Its only ever really implied that the Arceus that is well known is only a fragment of a greater power and being. So Semi Confirmed - Semi Jossed?

If there are more legends games set in other regions, what would the starters be, assuming they're a cross-generation mix of starters not normally available there.

Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott have a theme going on of weapons used in ancient Japan by samurai and shoguns (Arrows, Cannons, and Swords), so perhaps other regions' history can influence the starters?

• Kalos: Snivy, Torchic, and Piplup. The Snivy line is inspired by French royalty, and Piplup evolves into a Pokémon inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France. As for Torchic, it's because roosters are a symbol of France.
• Unova: Chespin, Litten, and Squirtle. The Chespin Line has a resemblance to a squirrel and becomes a Fallout Shelter in the Final Stage. Litten is a stray cat and in the final evolution becomes a Wrestler, like a WWE Fighter. Squirtle is a domestic turtle and he becomes a Fire Fighter.

This game will interact with Home the same way Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! do.

That is, you can put as many Pokémon in Home from Legends Arceus as you want, and you can pull out any Pokémon from Home that originated from Legends Arceus, but you can't bring in Pokémon from earlier games, and any that go in to other games cannot return. This is because any Pokémon that moves from this game to one set in the modern day was effectively trapped in suspended animation, and cannot go back without time travel.

• Jossed. Pokemon sent to HOME from Legends: Arceus to either Sword and Shield or Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl can be sent back to Legends: Arceus, and Pokemon who originated in Sword and Shield or Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl can be sent into Legends: Arceus, however, movesets will change in each game the individual Pokemon is sent to, including Legends: Arceus itself.

How this game will expand upon Arceus himself

If the name isn't enough to tip you off, this game will heavily involve Arceus and its story. Whatever elements this may add to the story is still up in the air, but there are more than a few things that Game Freak can implement in the game:

• An Arcean Holy Order. Arceus is pretty much the only Legendary Pokémon in the series to be heavily implied as a "god", with some holy worshippers of Arceus being present in the line of anime movies. A game like this is an incredible opportunity to introduce some sort of paladin line that could serve as either a supporting role or a challenge to test the player.
• A character that serves as Arceus' avatar. Legendary Pokémon having human forms isn't exactly unheard of before, and a few major aspects of Arceus seem to be heavily inspired by Hindu Mythology, with that arc on its back being inspired by the Dharmachakra, a symbol of order and holy routine, or the Bhavacakra, a Buddhist symbol of reincarnation. To further expand on the Hindu aspect of the character, perhaps a character we meet will be an avatar of Arceus, whether it's an NPC or maybe even our own player character, evoking inspiration from the Ramayana.

This game will introduce new Pokémon.

As far back as at least Generation 6, the second set of games in a given generation has introduced new forms and Gen 7 was the first to introduce completely new Pokémon mid-gen. This was followed up with Gen 8 introducing more Pokémon via the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra expansion passes. Its entirely within the realm of possibilities that this game will introduce some never before seen species and forms that only existed in Sinnoh's past.

• Confirmed! The second trailer shows that regional variants of Growlithe and Braviary, along with new evolutions for Stantler and Basculin, will appear in the game.

Z-Moves will return in this game.

Considering Rowlett is one of the Starter Pokémon, it is possible the professor could have also brought several Z-Crystals with them.

The Starter Pokémon will be randomized each time.

Basically, every player will experience a different choice when they start a new game. For one player, they may receive a choice between, say, Snivy, Charmander, and Froakie, while another player will have a choice between Grookey, Torchic, and Squirtle. Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup won't be available for selection and will instead be found in the wild, due to Piplup appearing in one of the pre-release tweets.

• I don't think this will happen because A) The starters that were chosen (Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott) all have some significance with the Ainu people. and B) Starter Pokémon are generally balanced with the game's difficulty, and having the starter choices be randomized may accidentally doom a player from the start who ended up with a bad selection because the RNG wasn't in their favor.

Spiky-Eared Pichu will make its return

Spiky-Eared Pichu hasn't been in a game since Heart Gold and Soul Silver, which is counted as Gen 4. She made her movie debut in Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life, where she came from the past time period and her appearance in HGSS notes that she's a time traveler from the past. Also she's an alternate costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so its not like she's irrelevant either.

We'll learn the origins of certain moves and TMs

Koga said that the TM/move Toxic was developed over 400 years ago. Maybe we'll see it and/or perhaps other moves being crafted.

The Player indirectly creates the Pokémon Gym Challenge

Throughout your adventure, you'll probably find strange monoliths scattered throughout the Sinnoh region, initially you just pass them off as non-descript environmental detail, until you see some crazed zealots (or colonists) dig up a monolith in (what'll become) Celestic Town, then haul that all the way up to Mount Coronet. Arceus' power is probably seeded inside the monoliths for nature balance. You'd probably challenge Arceus on Mount Coronet not as a trainer, but as yourself. As you dodge attacks in a cinematic fashion, you use your Pokémon to get around, until he shows a weakpoint. The fight probably causes Sinnoh to eventually rupture from the ground up, separating the West and East sides. The monoliths becomes inert and shatter, becoming Plates and Shards, though the people in the present have no idea of what significance they actually have. The Shards act as a stand-in for Pokémon badges (even if they technically total to 17 now, due to the Fairy-type).

The Hisuian Regional Variants will become extinct by the time that Pokémon Diamond & Pearl occur in the Pokémon Timeline

Think about it; you can't find any of these Pokémon we're seeing for the first time in modern-day Sinnoh in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum, nor in Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl, which most likely means during some time between the events of Pokémon Legends: Arceus (which takes place in the distant past) and Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, and their remakes, some of these Pokémon (such as Wyrdeer or Basculegion) have since become extinct.

• Unlikely. It's possible that Stantler and Basculin can still evolve into said forms in the modern day. It's just players aren't given a chance to see it as Stantler or Basculin aren't in the old Sinnoh Dex (Gameplayand Story Segregation nonwhitstanding).
• This actually tracks with contemporary history. The Meiji restoration lead to the extinction of animals such as the Ezo wolf — given that this time period is when L:A is analogous to, it would make sense if the variants which are completely changed have gone extinct.
• I can buy Diamond and Pearl, but no way do these not appear in Shining and Brilliant. I bet you BDSP will be considered an Alternate Timeline to DPP (a la how ORAS is an alternate timeline to RSE) and the point of divergence is either in this game, or has to do with the first Darkest Day in Sword and Shield.
  • Something else to consider is that they might be wrong about Pokémon being native to certain regions. Hisuian Braviary is said to be based on the Steller's sea eagle on the character page, and that eagle is only in Hokkaido in the winter. Their main home, based on the other wiki page on them, is coastal Russia and maybe some of China too (Geography isn't my strong point). Who's to say 'Hisuian' Braviary isn't actually from PokéRussia?
  • Thought of other explanations: the traits that make Hisuian Growlithe different from classic Growlithe are recessive and got bred out the more the two breeds intertwined. As for Wyrdeer and Basculegion, they probably only evolve in very specific circumstances that's impossible to replicate in other regions (For now. Watch them appear in Let's Go Johto games and Black/White remakes respectively).

The Regional variants will show up in the remakes in the secret underground areas

As a counter to the above.

The Regional variants will be unlocked in the remakes with a Legends save.

And will then appear in the wild.

Hisuian Arcanine will resemble a Komainu.

Additionally, because of how Komainu are often depicted holding a sphere, Arcanine will have one and get access to the move Pyro Ball.

• Alternately, whether it is a new Arcanine or a different evolution, it may become something different — the now-extinct Hokkaido wolf. Which could further tie into the variant no longer existing because it’s not alive today.

Predictions for potential Hisuian forms and evolutions.

• Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott's second or final forms: Likely to make the starters more unique in a way this time.
  • Confirmed with their final forms.
• Meowth: It might as well be a tradition that it gets regional variants.
  • Jossed.
• Raichu
  • Jossed.
• Eevee, due to the change in females' design in Gen 8 was unexplained in-universe. The females with heart-shaped tails could be the Galarian female Eevee or Hisuian female Eevee, among other things.
  • Jossed.
• Unown. If it were to evolve, it could only be triggered under specific conditions inside the Hall of Origin. The evolved form could resemble kanji.
  • Jossed.
• Mankey and Primeape. Would gain a hulkish evolution that sacrifices some speed for much higher HP and sturdier Defense.
  • Jossed. They do however gain a proper evolution for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in Annihilape, which has similar stat distributions but with a higher focus on Attack.
• Doduo and Dodrio: Ground/Flying-types with more emphasis on being dodos.
  • Jossed.
• Throh and Sawk: Two under-utilized gen 5 Pokémon, which seems to match with a lot of regional forms introduced in gen 8. Throh will be found in the Great Marsh, having grown large and slippery into a Fighting/Ground type who resembles a Sumo Wrestler. Sawk is now Fighting/Grass type, having learned how to wield branches like swords in the Eterna Forest.
  • Jossed.
• A regional Evolution for Hisuian Voltorb instead of Electrode. Perhaps based on ancient Heavy Balls.
  • Jossed. Hisuian Voltorb evolves into Hisuian Electrode. The Heavy Balls are referenced in the Hisuian shiny colors of both, however.

Professor Laventon is the ancestor to Professor Birch.

Professor Birch's Japanese name is Odamaki, which is in the related family of plants that diverged into its own genus. While lavender plants' ancestors moved itself into its own distant family. Lavender and columbine plants diverged around eudicots, while lavender diverged into asterids and so forth. It feels slightly off that of the characters revealed so far, that Birch's ancestor is the one that sticks out, even if he traveled to other regions to obtain the other starters.

Completing Legends: Arceus will allow you to get the Azure Flute in the remakes

Bonus points if Arceus does something to the effect of noting the resemblance between Lucas/Dawn and the Legends protagonists.

• Confirmed.

Riding Wyrdeer is this game's counterpart to Stoutland Search or Item Finder.

Pokéride has been confirmed to return, as the player is seen riding various Pokémon. Wyrdeer is one of the Pokémon shown to be ridable, and its antlers resemble metal dowsing rods. Hence, it would make sense for a Wyrdeer to be able to find items, or, since it can distort space itself, draw them closer to you.

• Jossed. Ursaluna does that.

Pokéride will apply to more than the three Pokémon shown.

Similar to how you can ride multiple Pokémon in Let's Go, once you obtain/create the Rider's Seat you'll then be able to use them on any Pokémon where it's applicable. Similarly, you'll be able to use various Pokémon to find/acquire certain items and crafting materials, the way Lucario was used to harvest the berry tree in the trailer.

• Confirmed. Ursaluna, a new Ursaring evolution, finds items and Sneasel's new evolution Sneasler climbs.

A time-travelling Cyrus will appear.

Cyrus is currently in the Distortion World, in which time and space are broken. Either he finds a way to escape only to find out time has been moving backwards for him, or, considering it wouldn't be the first time an alternate-universe Cyrus got sent into another universe instead of the Distortion World, this universe's Cyrus got sent to the past instead by Giratina or Dialga.

• Jossed.

There will be new content about the Unown.

They are already linked to Arceus through the Sinjoh Ruins event and Arceus is featured prominently in this game. Either they will be important to the story, they will gain a new form or they will contribute to a new form of Arceus.

You're actually working for the bad guys.

Like the Aether Foundation from Sun & Moon, it will turn out that the team you're working for actually has a sinister true goal (possibly relating to conquering Hisui, in a parallel to the real world story of the ancestors of the Japanese people's treatment of the Ainu) that you are an Unwitting Pawn in, with the team you're working for being the precursor to Team Galactic.

• Jossed. The Galaxy Expedition Team is not evil nor are they the villains of the game, and the true antagonist turns out to be someone unaffiliated with either them or the Diamond and Pearl clans.

Boss Battles

What sort of boss battles do you think will be in the game? I'd like to think that the major bosses you fight are unique Pokémon that are new to the series but are either extinct or simply don't exist in the modern era. Once captured they can be used by the player and can be added to Pokémon Home with no problem.

• The first idea I had were that these Pokémon were Ultra Beasts that were dumped into the Hisui region from Ultra Space a very long time ago but have since made the wilderness of Hisui their home and made alliances/friends with the local Pokémon.
  • Going one step further, what if there were Hisuian forms of the already existing Ultra Beasts along with the others? (Hisuian Celesteela, for example)
• The second idea I had of them were that they're wrathful manifestations of Arceus itself and are hostile to humans for disturbing Hisui. They function similar to the Blight Ganons from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
• Semi-jossed. The bosses appear to be regular Pokémon blessed by Arceus, called Noble Pokémon, and according to leaks, Arceus is the final boss.

The Hisuian forms and Wyrdeer and Basculegion are extinct in the modern day

Which means future games may give you the option to revive them from fossils.

This and Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's plots will intertwine to some degree

Most likely through subtle nods on BDSP's part and Call Forwards on Legends Arceus' part. I'm predicting such things as Professor Rowan mentioning his ancestor Kamado and Cyrus revealing that his inspiration to form Team Galactic was from reading an old journal that belonged to his ancestor Cyllene.

• Only a little confirmed. One of the books in the Canalave Library in BDSP is the solution for a quest in Legends.

Cynthia's ancestor will appear

Because it would be crazy if she didn't. Especially seeing as Cynthia's family is very deeply involved in studying the Sinnoh region's history and mythology. She may even be a he, to contrast with Cyllene very obviously being Cyrus' ancestor.

• Confirmed, it's either Volo or Cognita.

Monolith Soft is a support studio for this game.

While they may be busy helping with the sequel to Breath of the Wild, they still may have enough personnel to lend to Game Freak for this game, since Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was developed when much of their staff worked on the former. It would be common sense too, since Monolith has more experience squeezing massive worlds out of Nintendo's hardware than anyone else.

The Galactic Expedition Team is the good counterpart to Team Galactic.

If they come off as villainous, it'll turn out to be a Red Herring; Game Freak probably knows we expect them to be up to no good, especially with the "the apparently good philanthropist is an antagonist" card being played twice. They'll have a similar idea to Cyrus in trying to improve the world by researching the more myth-based Pokémon, but do so honestly. Cyrus adopting their namesake if they're an actually heroic organization reflects how he thinks he's helping the world. If Cyllene is his ancestor as is heavily implied, it could play into why his parents had such high expectations of him.

Coinciding with the above, Cynthia's ancestor (Volo?) will be the story's real villain

They may not necessarily be evil so much as misguided, but either way, they'll turn out to be the true Big Bad, with Cyllene acting as the Big Good in opposition of them. It'll be framed as something of a generational Hourglass Plot, with Cyrus' family line falling into corruption after starting out good while Cynthia's grows more benevolent.

• Confirmed; Volo is the main human antagonist of the game; Giratina is the real cause of the problems regarding rampaging Pokémon, and Volo is siding with Giratina to allow Giratina to attempt to provoke Arceus into appearing so that Volo's desire to meet Arceus in the flesh can be achieved, while Giratina meanwhile ultimately wants to take on Arceus again out of a grudge since Giratina was banished not very long before the events of the game. Giratina, despite being the true culprit to everything going wrong, is actually willing to obey commands to a degree from Volo much later in the game.

Arceus is the Big Bad.

Though not all that malevolent. Arceus will be behind some of the aggression of the Pokémon and make it hard for people to properly colonize the Hisui region. Its motive is distrusting humans and believing they mean the region harm, probably because of a bad experience it had with them like in the 12th movie. After confronting and beating Arceus you will convince the Mythical humans are good and thus paving the way for the Sinnoh region we know.

• Jossed

Trading does not exist yet.

From a mechanical standpoint, being a single game implies things like Version Exclusives will not be touched as every Pokémon is likely to be obtained by oneself. From a story perspective, people are only just starting to interact with Pokémon.

• Jossed, it seems.

The Golems will appear in some form.

Possibly a sidequest around Regigigas in the location that will become Snowpoint City.

• Jossed; Only Regigigas appears, and the requirements to encounter it is unrealted to the other regis.

Arceus will take an interest in the Protagonists.

Rather than being malevolent or distrusting, Arceus is simply in the middle of observing the Human race begin to populate the region of Hisui. Training and forming bonds with Pokémon is a novel thing in Hisui at this point, which is Arceus' chosen habitat. As a result, it might even deliberately cause strong Pokémon to become more aggressive in order to force these new Human-led "packs" to become stronger, before eventually giving the Human a test itself.

• Confirmed. It actually sent them to Hisui and told them to catch every Pokémon

Possible scenarios for the Final Boss.

Fighting Arceus in an Eldritch Location, and the trainer will need to avoid its attacks like against other wild Pokémon before engaging in combat against it with their team. Arceus will also change types or be needed to be defeated several times in different forms.

Iscan's descendant

The September 28th trailer introduced four new characters — Mai, Lian, Iscan, and Arezu. While the potential identical descendants of three of them can be determined^note Mai and Arezu heavily resemble Marley and Mars, respectively, and Lian wears a cowboy hat identical to that of Clay, Iscan doesn't really resemble anyone. My best guess is that, judging by his skin tone, hair color, and association with the Water-type Basculegion, he's the ancestor of either Marlon or Nessa (moreso the latter, since Marlon's darker skin tone is the result of a tan rather than natural).

• Marlon is more likely if going by Theme Naming.

An ancestor to Mohn or Lusamine will appear in Hisui.

They may be a character that witnesses an appearance of Arceus, or is researching it, serving as a Call-Forward to the Aether Foundation's creation of Type:Null.

The ancestors and their descendants.

• Commander Kamado to Professor Rowan. Confirmed by the website.
• Cyllene to Cyrus. She looks like a female version of Cyrus, and even their names are similar.
• Mai to Marley. Mai looks just like Marley, and her name was Marley's name in the original Japanese.
• Lian to Clay. Their hats are virtually identical to each other, and they have similar bushy hairstyles. Clay was confirmed to be an immigrant to Unova, so him being originally Sinnohian makes sense.
• Arezu to Mars. Besides looking just like each other, Arezu is similar to Ares, who is the Greek counterpart to Mars.
  • Silver could be related here too. Looking at Arezu, while she mostly resembles Mars, her bangs are of similar style to that of Silver in his HeartGold/SoulSilver (which was part of the same gen that introduced Sinnoh) design, two locks diagonal to the left one lock down on the right. They also share a similar color scheme, though that may be a coincidence due to Arezu being part of the Diamond Clan.
  • Ariana from Team Rocket of the same game the aforementioned Silver design comes from. She has the same head spike and red hair of the other two. Additionally, while Ariana means silver, her Japanese name was Athena, the Greek goddess of war, much like how Arezu is derived from Ares, the Greek god of war.
• Ginter to Volkner. They have similar faces, blue eyes, spiky hair, and Ginter's artwork has him sitting down in a similar pose to Volkner.
• Volo to Cynthia. Their faces are similar, they have the same eye color, they have blonde hair that covers their left eye, and Volo's pose in his artwork mirrors Cynthia's.
  • Probably confirmed. They even have a very similar team in Volo's boss fight. However it could also be Cognita.
• Iscan to Marlon. Both are fit men associated with Unova and Water types. Names? Iscan is derived from Piscan (related to fish) and Marlon is literally a type of fish. And while Marlon does have a tan, the reason for him to have such a deep tan so easily was due to genetics from a naturally darker ancestor.
• The clothes shop owner seen in the trailers (I think her name was Anthe?) to Darach. They share a hair color (black with a thick blonde streak running through it), and both of them wear glasses and clothes in a similar shade of purple.
• The trailers show a shopkeeper (named Choy according to the translated overview trailer) with purple hair styled in almost exactly the same way as Charon's.
• There have been a few comparisons between Irida and May; they have similar facial structures, primarily red outfits with white short shorts, and hairstyles that involve long bangs framing their face and a red headband of some kind. Additionally, Irida's partner Pokémon is a Glaceon, which May's anime counterpart also has.
• Professor Laventon to Professor Birch and by extension Brendan. Both Laventon and Birch look remarkably alike and share similar fields of study, likewise the choice of headgear on Laventon looks similar to Brendan's own and Brendan's darker complexion in his Omega-Ruby Alpha-Sapphire design looks similar to Laventon's own.
  • He may also share a looser connection of ancestry to a Galar character we've seen, such as Magnolia being a professor with purple headgear or even Leon and Hop, if only because he shares the first five letters of the name scheme in the Japanese version with Leon(Laven and Dande respectively) and how Hop is to become a professor.
  • Should be noted, Laventon's hat, barring the colors, looks like a combination of Galar Player Character's hat, styled similar to Victor's but with the white pompom like Gloria's.

Barry has an ancestor here too

Given that Akari/Rei takes on Dawn/Lucas' role depending on which character you picked as your player, it's not unlikely that we'll get Barry's ancestor too.

• Barry's ancestor may be part of the Ginkgo Guild, if only because they seem to have a predominance of blonde characters. That said their will act as the third and maybe more contrast with Barry by being slow and fierce rather than fast and sporting. And their name will be Ichigo (ichi as in Junichi, which Barry's Japanese name takes the first part of, and go like from Ginkgo, or Pokémon Go, in reference to the capture mechanic).

Noble Pokémon will function similar to the Totem Challenge from Sun and Moon

You won’t just be battling the nobles, you’ll also have to complete a task for them just like in Sun and Moon.

• Jossed. They simply need to be battled.

A Bear Pokémon has a regional evolution or form based on Iomante

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iomante

While it is very unlikely that the part about killing the bears or drinking their blood is a thing in the game, it was and still is a major part of the culture and could make for some sort of interesting Pokémon. While Snorlax has appeared in game, a potential split Hisuian evolution from Munchlax could still be possible, especially given Mai's partner Munchlax who'd she had been raised with to contrast with the bear cubs in the article.

• The mid-January leaks show what appears to be a new bear Pokémon, so… maybe confirmed?
• Jossed. The only new bear content we got was a new evolution of Ursaring called Ursaluna, no new evolution for Munchlax or Snorlax, and no direct mentions of a ritual involving any of them.

The Arceus Phone wound up in Hisui due to Dialga's actions.

As a Legendary Pokémon with dominion over time, it wouldn't be out of character for Dialga to take something from the present and, whether inadvertently or not, chuck it somewhere into the past. The man filming Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark would have obtained his camcorder in the same way.

• Jossed. The phone is given to the player by Arceus, who is also responsible for sending the player character to the past in the first place.

An ancestor of Koga and Janine will show up.

And he or she will teach your Pokémon Toxic, a technique that has been passed down their clan for 400 years (as stated by Koga in LGPE). Even though the game mostly focuses on the ancestors of the Sinnoh characters, it wouldn't be surprising if the ever-present Kanto nod came in the form of this character.

• Fully jossed. Neither of the two have an ancestor and Toxic cannot be learned.

Akari/Rei aren't Dawn/Lucas ancestors

Akari/Rei are fake names, their real names are Dawn/Lucas and they have travelled back in time to stop Cyrus.

• The time travel is seemingly confirmed (but only for the player, not the rival) but it doesn't have anything to do with Cyrus.
• The characters are also officially listed as Akari and Rei, Jossing them being Dawn and Lucas. Their "default" designs are also subtly different, having darker hair and paler skin. For what little it's worth, they're also said to be slightly older and have different haircuts.
• Another thing to joss the idea: Lucas and Dawn were portrayed as left-handed kids while Rei and Akari are right-handed. You can't change a person's dexterity through time travel!

We will get to see what the Legendary Beasts were like.

More specifically, the form/species before Ho-Oh revived them.

• We’re nowhere near Johto, maybe save that for the next Legends-type spin-off game that could be set in ancient Johto.
• Fully Jossed, there are no equivalents to the Beasts in Hisui.

Part of the plot will be saving Hisuian Pokémon

At some point, the Galaxy Team will determine that some species of Pokémon (specifically the new forms introduced in this game) need to be eliminated in order for humans to successfully move into the new region. Arceus will task the player with saving the Pokémon in two ways:

• Space: Get as many of these Pokémon into a pocket dimension as you can so they're in a safe area.
• Time: Get as many of these Pokémon into a time portal as you can so they can survive to the present day.

Either option will result in these Pokémon appearing in future games, or possibly even BDSP thanks to a patch, and there will be a plot point about how "we thought these Pokémon had been wiped out due to colonization, but something happened and they've reappeared out of nowhere!"

Cyllene will remain a heroic figure throughout the game, while Volo will be involved in whatever the antagonists have planned

They don't necessarily have to be the Big Good and Big Bad respectively (I especially don't see it happening in Volo's case — at best, he'd just be assisting the main antagonist in their plans), but would be an interesting twist on their descendants' roles in DPPT.

• As off the wall as it sounds, Confirmed. Cyllene is just a brass tacks bureaucrat and whip-cracker who wants Galaxy Team to succeed. There isn't an actual villain calling the shots either, exactly, but Volo isn't really a good guy; he wants to get revenge on the Gingko Tribe, which he only feigns being a member of, and when his plan fails, he swears to get revenge even if it takes him centuries. It's implied that both Volo and Cyllene are ancestors of Cyrus, though probably not together.

Adaman and Irida will be Killed Off for Real.

In a similar scenario to that of Sara Trantoul and the Vampire Killer whip in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, Adaman and Irida will sacrifice themselves to their chosen deity during the game's climax, so their spirits can power up what will become the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs for Dialga and Palkia respectively and allow the heroes to defeat whoever the Big Bad ends up being. They will thus be the first characters in the main games to not only die onscreen^note Lysandre is heavily implied but never outright confirmed to have died at the end of X/Y, but to have their deaths directly acknowledged by the plot.

• Jossed

Alternately, Adaman and Irida will survive and go on to unite their clans through marriage.

In the trailer where they are introduced, Adaman and Irida interact in a way that suspiciously resembles the usual dynamic between the leads of a Jane Austen novel. This being Pokémon, their relationship won't be developed explicitly, but the events of the game will bring them close enough to decide that they, and their clans, will be better as one. Furthermore, they will eventually found Eterna City (as evidenced by the legendary Pokémon statue) to celebrate their union, and become the ancestors of a yet-unknown character — possibly Cynthia's other strand of ancestors, if her family's extensive knowledge of the Sinnoh legends is any indication.

• Semi-jossed; Adaman and Irida don't pair up and the Diamond and Pearl Clans don't merge per se. However, they do become friends, the two Clans make peace with one another and the guess is kinda made true in spirit with Iscan and Palina, members of the two Clans who do end up in a star-crossed romance.

Wild Pokémon will be able to join in battles if they wander too close, either by accident or on purpose.

This would act similarly to Horde Encounters or SOS Battles, where things like attacking a certain Pokemon may incite other Pokémon, like those of the same species, evolutionary relatives, or even their natural enemies, would cause them to join the fight as part of the Visual Initiative Queue. It may even play into some of the Alpha or Noble Pokémon fights, where you have to whittle down a massive number of supporting Pokémon either through items or in battle while they all gang up on you at once.

• Maybe the enraged Pokémon can be tricked to attack their would be allies to help whittle them down before the player sends out their own Pokémon to defend themselves.
• Confirmed. Wild Pokémon are able to tag in if they are close enough with the one you engage a battle with.

The imported Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott will gradually undergo the process of gaining a Hisuian Form for their final evolutions.

The final evolutions need not necessarily be Decidueye, Typhlosion, or Samurott respectively, but will more than likely be a Hisuian Form one way or another. The gradual shift will start off fairly tame, with the base form starters having many of the same characteristics and movesets we already know of them from their native regions. Then, as their middle form, more than likely still Dartrix, Quilava, and Dewott, will showcase a noticeably different type of moveset incorporating types not seen in their movesets in the past. Finally, as final form, whether they be Hisuian Form or an exclusive Regional Evolution, they will change their typing from what was traditionally seen with the previously known final forms, with Decidueye losing its Ghost Type in favor of something else, and Typhlosion and Samurott gaining a dual Type respectively. Again the possibility of the final evolutions not being Decidueye, Typhlosion, or Samurott should at least be acknowledged, since with the Regional Evolutions in this entire Generation thus far, they were not obliged to have the evolved forms be of the same species as their respective original evolution line, such as we've already seen with Kleavor for Scyther.

• Confirmed; They are regional forms for Samurott, Decidueye, and Typhlosion, though, not new evolutions. They gained new typings as well.

An ultra beast will have an Hisuian Form

These games have a bit of unexpected aspect to them with other regional variants so maybe there's an ultra beast that arrived in Hisui and adapted to it over time to become an Hisuian variant. It would also fit with the time period of the setting of the changes that will happen to Hisui as it becomes the Sinnoh region.

• Jossed — none of them appear in this game.

The game's story will end with the renaming of the Hisui into Sinnoh.

After the plot is finished, the people will agree to forever honor the great/almighty Sinnoh by renaming the region after it. That's really it.

• Kamado says at the end that 'Sinnoh' would be a better name for the region but that's about it.

Both Kamado AND Cyllene, along with Laventon, will be the true antagonists of the game.

See, there has to be a reason why the present-day Team Galactic operate in the way they do. As the heads of the Galaxy Team, Kamado, Cyllene, and Laventon intend to use the player character's research to "reshape" the region as they see fit, without taking into account the wishes of its native people and Pokémon. They will fail for the most part and Sinnoh will be much more naturally modernized, but the information they collected will be left there for their descendants — namely, Cyrus — to continue their mission on a far more extreme scale.

Furthermore, if the real-life background of the colonization of present-day Hokkaido is to be followed, the three represent exactly the kind of people who would want to see the region forcedly modernized at the expense of its people and wildlife. Kamado would represent a larger imperial Japanese power seeking to assimilate the region, Cyllene would be an internal opportunist working against her own people (in other words, a traitor), and Laventon, who has been hinted to come from Galar, would stand in for Western interests if not outright imperialism. Again, this won't be discussed in detail in-game, but the very fact that they could be antagonists already provides an interesting parallel with history.

• The problem with "Galaxy Team are actually the bad guys" is that we are working for them. Laventon is the person who we report our Pokédex research to, Cyllene is the one who rank us for our work etc. While Pokémon series is no stranger to story-related events (all of the story bits where you can't return back to Hub Level in Mystery Dungeon games, Opelucid City being frozen over in Black 2 and White 2), they rarely give us permanent story shake-ups. And if we are working for the "bad guys", then what will happen once we stop them? Are they going to get Karma Houdini so that they can stick around for the post-game? Mind you that I really doubt that they would make us a willing Villain Protagonist after the plot reveal.

Partially confirmed. While Cyllene is as blunt and dour as her descendant, she’s still a squarely heroic figure. Kamado, however, acts as the main story’s antagonist, though only by means of constantly being against you. Having been driven from his previous home and losing many friends in the process, he now works to create an ideal home in Hisui but is constantly overwhelmed by his own paranoia, leading him to make decisions that cause more harm than good.

In the post-game Professor Laventon would like to battle.

It would be interesting, but highly unlikely to happen.

• Jossed.

One request will involve a village under attack by a rampaging Ursaring which significantly stronger than normal stats and moves…

…Which in turn makes it into a direct reference to a series of bear attacks that took place in Hokkaido in December of 1915, which is the region from which Hisui/Sinnoh is not only based on, but has traditionally been known for the presence of bears in the past.

• Jossed.

Some of the characters have descendants that will debut in Gen 9

Like Iscan.

• Confirmed. Perrin, from The Teal Mask DLC, is confirmed to be a descendant of Hisui's Diamond Clan— most likely Adaman's descendant, judging from her looks.

The game takes place some time around the 1920's, give or take.

Professor Laventon gives a few hints as to when the game might be taking place. His style of clothing, particularly his waistcoat and boots, appear to be from around this time period. His camera, however, is the giveaway. Prior to about 1922, most cameras used a leather or shellacked paper envelope to allow the lens to slide in and out for compact storage, due to the lens having a larger focal length. The smaller, more precise lenses used in fixed body cameras were perfected around this time, which matches the model he carries with him, since mainline Pokémon games are meant to take place contemporary to their release dates. Additionally, the professor being from Galar, the equivalent of England in-universe, parallels the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation which was in effect at the time. This would set it 100 years in the past.

All that said, some of the setting suggests it could be a bit earlier. Steampunk aesthetics are used for Pokéballs and other technology, and the Steam Age is generally agreed to have ended in 1914 after the sinking of the Titanic. The architecture in general is similar to the Meiji Era (1868 to 1912), though many rural areas of Japan stayed the same throughout the Taisho Era (1912 to 1926). That said, the Galaxy Team Headquarters is a much more modern design that appears to be very Western inspired, which did exist in the Meiji Era but were far more common during Taisho.

• Jossed. According to it's Pokédex entries in Pokémon Pearl, Spiritomb was sealed away 500 years ago, and since said Pokémon appears in the game, it can be calculated that the game takes place 500 years before Diamond, Pearl and Platinim.
  • Except Spiritomb had already been sealed for centuries according to Vessa, the quest in the game is a resealing (or just a elaborate prank) independent of the 500 year ago magic that sealed it initially. Ergo this game must take place more recently than 300 years ago, and is probably closer to 200 years ago.

Professor Laventon is also a time traveler.

He makes references to Alola's Ride Pokémon, and also has access to out-of-place technology (his hand-held camera). Though this assumes Alola's Ride Pokémon are a recent thing in the modern age games.

• Jossed. Ride Pokémon are introduced to the player character in-game. As for Laventon's camera, it would have been considered a highly developed item by local standards, but not completely out of place. There is an old style photography studio, with a plate-type camera.

Mistress Cogita is inspired by Lafcadio Hearn.

Lafcadio Hearn, who eventually adopted the Japanese name of Yakumo Koizumi as he integrated into Japanese society. He spent a great amount of his time researching Japanese folklore and mythology, recording them in English-language anthologies such as Kwaidan, thus providing some of the earliest Western scholarship on the topic.

Cogita wears noticeably Western clothing compared to many other characters, arguably to the extent of presenting as being vaguely Edwardian in style. It could also be that Cogita is based on Hearn's children, given that she references having received "legends" from her ancestors— Having married Satsuko Koizumi, Hearn fathered four children, one of them, Kazuo, who would go on to become a biographer himself. Kazuo was active during the Taisho period, fitting one possible analagous time span that Legends: Arceus occurs in.

This game proves that Giratina is UNAMBIGUOUSLY a Lovecraftian Horror.

Look at Volo: he mentions that this all started when Giratina gifted him the Spooky Plate. While this could be seen as demonic corruption, it doesn't seem so simple. After all, despite all the blatant parallels, Giratina does NOT align perfectly with the Devil. They rule over an Eldritch Location located outside of, and yet connected to, reality. Volo also refers to Giratina's presence as ELDRITCH, a term that's come to be associated with Lovecraftian Horror. So, while Giratina is more or less Satan, they are also just as much the Pokémon world's equivalent of Yog-Sothoth.

Beni's facial hair is fake.

Granted, this might be the slightly Off-Model art, but even taking that into account, it still looks weird enough on his face to raise that kind of suspicion. Furthermore, considering that he's actually a ninja, and ninjas are known for using disguises to appear beneath suspicion, it isn't a stretch to think he cobbled up a little moustache and beard to add to his "frail old man" impression. Additionally, in a meta sense, Game Freak might have wanted to cover up the fact he is Wally's ancestor - because once Beni reveals his true appearance to the player character, he looks almost exactly like a middle-aged Wally.

Commander Mars of the present-day Team Galactic inherited Arezu's hairdressing talents.

No, present-day Team Galactic's ridiculous green bowl cuts aren't wigs. It is Mars who subjects every new Team Galactic recruit to a... drastic makeover, including a hair cut and dye, in order to encourage loyalty to the organization. How does she know how to do this efficiently? By drawing on her ancestor Arezu's knowledge of hairdressing - which Arezu acquired from becoming an apprentice at the village!

• Further evidence is the fact that one can make themselves look like a Team Galactic grunt, especially if one has access to the 'Modern Clothes' granted by having a save file of the BDSP games on their Switch.

Arceus sent the player back to create a timeline that preserves, at minimum, the Hisuian forms

Arceus is a being beyond time and space, hence moving the player back in time. As to why, well let's ponder what might have happened without the player. The first Hisuian Pokedex may have never been completed despite the Survey Corps best efforts, leaving records incomplete and thus no one knows that, say, when the Goomy stopped appearing in Hisui/Sinnoh, a unique form of them was lost. Additionally one of the brewing hiccups may have ended in a lot of death, say a version of the space time rift/time space distortion plot that ended with large chunks of Hisui dead, including the ecosystem and people who'd record the culture and history of it. Hence why the records in the library at Canalave are so lacking in regards to the Manaphy mission, for example. The player going back makes that not go fubar, allowing for better records and memories to be kept of Hisui. So in games set after the time travel Sinnoh will likely have Sinnohian Arcanine and Kleavor while the pre time travel Sinnoh had no memories. Heck, some poor challenger of the gym challenge might even find Scyther turn into Kleavor even as we speak.

• May have some validity since Scarlet/Violet's DLC has Perrin with a Hisuian Growlithe and her quest ends with a new form of Ursaluna in Teal Mask; amd Hisuian Quilfish and Kleavor are in the Terrarium in Indigo Disc.

Volo wasn’t manipulated by Giratina, Giratina was manipulated by Volo

Think about it with Giratina having a Heel–Face Turn after you beat it and stopping Cyrus in Pokémon Platinum, it would make more sense that Volo was manipulating and enabling an angry and vengeful Pokémon rather than Giratina manipulating or brainwashing Volo. Notably Volo claims that all the actual destructive actions Giratina took were his ideas and not the dragon's, and that all Giratina wanted was to challenge Arceus.

Alternatively, Giratina was manipulating Volo, but in a less deliberately malevolent way.

As mentioned above, Giratina is described as Eldritch. So is it out of the question that Giratina could incite people to madness, like other Eldritch Horrors? It's possible that Volo encountered Giratina by accident, and the Renegade saw a kindred spirit. So it proceeded to reach out to Volo to share its intentions, and Volo started to Go Mad from the Revelation as a result. That said, while Giratina didn't intentionally incite madness in Volo, it was still all too happy to go along with his plans if it meant getting revenge on its creator. (Volo's induced madness wore off a few weeks after Spear Pillar. It was not a fun experience to come out of that state.)

Alternatively to THAT alternative, Volo is Brainwashed and Crazy.

Or possessed or something. Giratina is controlling his mind and forcing him into his evil deeds.

Giratina was secretly working on Arceus' behalf the whole time.

We have no evidence that Giratina was actually banished to the Distortion World or that it bears Arceus any ill will. Certainly it seems to have no trouble moving between worlds, which rather contradicts the idea it's supposed to be imprisoned, and Arceus makes no mention of it when you finally meet it, despite Giratina's shenanigans supposedly being done to get its attention. It seems more likely that Giratina created the space-time rift for Arceus, to allow it to bring the PC into Hisui. The reason it gave Volo info on the plates wasn't to help him meet Arceus, but for the player to do so. Volo was only projecting his own Rage Against the Heavens motive onto Giratina.

This would also explain Giratina's immediate Heel–Face Turn after its defeat. It didn't suddenly decide the world was worth preserving, it always believed that.

Potential Downloadable Content for expanding the game

• A new storyline featuring one or two brand-new explorable areas introducing old and new Pokémon to the game as well as the ability to enhance your research rank beyond 10 stars, akin to Monster Hunter: World: Iceborne.
• Multiplayer features, including PvP battles akin to other Pokémon games, and also possibly Legendary Pokémon raid bosses fought in a similar manner to Pokémon GO with huge frenzy gauges that players have to work together to quell.
• The release of an area based on the Battle Zone/Sakhalin, this time in full. Pro's being the area does have Ainu present, even to this day, so you could have the Diamond and Pearl clans present while the region has a lot of Pokemon not found in Sinnoh in the traditional games to catch and explore. Cons is Heatran already showed up at Firespit Island so Stark Mountain would lack its main draw (though expanding on Heatran in a Heatran focused expansion isn't necessarily impossible).
• Ancient Almia. Almia's location was inspired in great part by parts of Hokkaido, so it could be set as a distinct place south of Hisui and exploring how some places might develop the Ranger mindset versus the Trainer could be fascinating.
• The return of Charizard and Greninja: Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Game Freak loves Charizard and the fans love Greninja. Bonus points if they bring along other starters from their respective generations or a Grass starter such as Sceptile, even moreso if they are Hisuian forms (i.e. Hisuian Charizard as a Fire/Dragon Eastern dragon, which would be better-received than just bringing in Kantonian Charizard again unchanged).
  • Of course, other fan-favorites would be coming along for the ride, including many past Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, Mimikyu, Haxorus, pseudo-legendaries besides Garchomp and Goodra, original/Alolan/Galarian forms of Pokémon already in the Hisui Dex, etc. Bonus points if you can migrate your Galar Pokémon to Hisui.
• The return of Mega Evolution: As the games are set away from the main series and fan interest in the concept is hardly gone, as well as how other media like the anime, Masters, and Go still use it, Game Freak may offer a Mega Evolution themed expansion, even if it may just cover present mons like Steelix, Lucario, and Gyarados instead of every Mega like Charizard and Ampharos.
• The Caves of Coronet: The interior caves of Mt. Coronet are the main area of Sinnoh that had no true equivalent in game, and they house one of the main absent Pokemon in the form of Feebas. Exploring the underground caverns may be used to have a new expansion area that is championed by a new form of Feebas evolution, either a Milotic without a Beauty based evolution or something new.
• A episode that heavily features Charm and explores her defection from the Galaxy Team more extensively.
• New Hisuian forms for Legendary Pokémon like the Galarian Birds: maybe a Hisuian Mewtwo that's actually a Steel/Psychic Clock Punk karakuri robot based on Mewtwo blueprints from the future that ended up in Hisui to be built by some Mad Scientist with access to Magitek?
• Ingo returns to present Unova with the PC’s help, now that they have Dialga and Palkia.
  • Naturally this will result in a double battle against him and Emmet, and be the hardest fight in the game.
• Rumors of a mysterious giant wandering Hisui. Turns out it is AZ searching for his Floette.
• An event allowing you to acquire Magearna.
• An event with the appearance of more ancestors for modern Sinnoh characters who don't have them yet, including: Roark/Byron (if you don't believe that Arezu is their ancestor), Maylene, Crasher Wake, Aaron, Jupiter, Barry/Palmer, Argenta, Thorton and Dahlia.
• An event involving a mining operation that leads to what will become the beginning of the Grand Underground in modern Sinnoh, led by Roark's/Byron's ancestor.

A future game (Legends or otherwise) will split up the Battle Chatelaines in a similar fashion to Ingo and Emmet.

If this trend of booting facility heads to alternate universes or timelines keeps up, they're the next in line. Bonus points if the first to feature is Evelyn, for the maximum possible angst.

Alternately, a future game will spirit away a facility head from a previous generation.

You could make the argument that this theory would still mean the Battle Chatelaines are next due to their appearance in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but the whereabouts of facility heads other than Caitlin (who became a member of Unova's Elite Four), Darach (who is confirmed to still be helping Caitlin around in the Unova games), Palmer (who appeared in the Sinnoh remakes), Anabel and Ingo are still unknown. Therefore, it's entirely possible that Game Freak might go back and bring some of these long-disappeared Trainers as Fallers. Possible candidates are:

• Emmet, for obvious reasons.
• Brandon, if only because his nature as an Adventurer Archaeologist would mean he'd likely fare well in a past time.
• Thorton, for the opposite reason as Brandon; it would be darkly hilarious to see him try to cope with a time period with no technology.
• Lucy, because she deserves to get knocked down a peg or two.
• Palmer, because no one is safe - and again for maximum possible angst.

Wanda or Zeke is an ancestor of Leon and Hop.

Their dynamics are highly similar — both Wanda and Leon have No Sense of Direction, and both Zeke and Hop serve as their exasperated guides.

• I don't think so; Laventon is a more likely Leon and Hop's ancestor since he has the same skin tone and is stated to be from Galar.
• There's nothing saying that they can't be descended from both families.

Damos and Marcus from Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life, and Damos's descendant Sheena, are Celesticans like Cognita

To world build, it is just that Damos and Marcus lived between the time of the ancient hero and when the Celesticans left. Michin Town is just a small area of Sinnoh that a community of Celesticans survived into the present of Sinnoh (of the anime) sort of like how there are odd relic populations of Greek-like people in Italy in real life and for centuries in Anatolia (among other examples).

If there is DLC, AZ will appear as a boss.

AZ has spent time looking for his friend in other regions, one of the regions could be the Hisui region during the events of the game.

Kamado's wife gave him his Clefable

Maybe as a Cleffa, maybe it was hers but then she died, and he took it in...it comes from her.

Volo is also Barry's ancestor.

His hair in his boss fight has a downward swoop in the middle snd two tufts that stick upwards on the sides, like a longer version of Barry's hair.

Volo is an ancestor to Lusamine.

Both of them share megalomaniacal obsession with a mysterious and powerful Pokemon, enough to threaten to break reality itself to get their desire, both of them appear friendly and benevolent at first but are hiding darker plots, both of them open up portals through space and both have blonde hair with their bangs covering one eye. When Volo reveals his true form, he even has a color scheme quite resembling Lusamine's, perhaps implying that Cynthia and Lusamine are distantly related.

• He is also an ancestor to Gladion and Lillie.
• That would explain why the Aether Foundation seemingly attempted to create an artificial Arceus with Silvally.
• In Pokémon Sun and Moon, it is specifically mentioned that Lusamine looks quite young for her age, and in this game, it's implied that Volo and Cogita are of a race that live significantly longer than normal humans. As such, Lusamine being a descendant of Volo would explain her appearance.

Arceus will have an unplayable alternate form like Eternamax Eternatus in a DLC.

As Volo seems to have walked off scot-free he could return and possibly enrage Arceus, causing it to transform into an absurdly powerful form that is not usable in-game and serves as a boss battle, especially considering that the Arceus the player receives is but a fraction of its true power.

Lian's hat is Clay's hat, and Clay's hat is Lian's hat.

It's a time loop! Clay's hat is an antique or a family heirloom (or, given the length of time implied between Hisui and the modern day, maybe a replica thereof), and one day it got sucked into a rift, landing at Lian's feet. Lian grows up, passes on his hat down the family, where it ends up with Clay, who loses his hat to a rift one day, and so on and so forth.

• Bad idea. Time looping a hat like that would eventually cause it to fall apart.

Arceus's meddling with the timelines also caused issues in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

Arceus plucked many Lucases/Dawns from a given number of universes before their adventures in modern day Sinnoh began so they can serve its purpose in ancient Hisui. However this means that there was no Lucas/Dawn to stop Cyrus from going through with his plan. Luckily he ended up being "snatched" by Giratina. Cyrus then got recruited into Team Rainbow Rocket and they cause havoc in the Rainbow Rocket episode of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Thankfully Elio and Selene took care of that problem.

• Unlikely. It is noted that the PC is about 15 or so. But then again, given they were snatched when they were on vacation to Alola, perhaps Arceus snatched them from the timelines where the Ultra games take place from, thereby preventing them from getting involved indirectly with the Rainbow Rocket plot.
• There is no definite nor official confirmation that the PC is Lucas/Dawn. Since they have different dominant hands (Lucas/Dawn are lefties, and the Legends PC is right-handed) it's possible they aren't Lucas/Dawn at all.

Arceus wanted you to deal with the rift to begin with; he just withheld that information so as to not scare you.

If Arceus commanded the player character to close up the rift (and battle Dialga and Palkia in the process) from the get-go, the player character probably would have either freaked out at being thrust into such a large mission and cracked under the pressure, or charged in unprepared because they figured they were destined to succeed in a mission given by God.

Giving you the relatively modest and arbitrary command of "Seek Out All Pokémon" put you in a situation where you could properly prepare yourself without the stress of knowing what you were preparing for. Laventon lampshades that it perfectly combos with his goal of completing the Pokédex, giving you a reason to join the Survey Corps, giving you the means to gather resources and strengthen yourself and your party. In the end you were the one tasked with defeating Dialga and Palkia anyway, just as Arceus wanted; but this time of your own volition to save everyone rather than just because he said so, after you've overcome every other obstacle in your way to prove you're able to do so.

The fight against Arceus at the end is a trial to prove yourself worthy

You've completed the Hisui Dex. You're ready to face Arceus. So why then does he proceed to kill you? Essentially, it's the final test from Arceus himself, seeing if you are worthy by defeating him. Your reward for doing so? Arceus gets added to your Party or Pastures immediately.

• Is this a WMG at all? I thought this was implied canon.
• This is literally confirmed.

The Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Azure Flute

The character picking up the Azure Flute in present-day Sinnoh is none other than... The character sent to the past from God himself.

Volo will return in a future title

After beating him, Volo swears to continue working towards his goal, even if it takes him centuries to do so. Afterwards he walks away and never appears again. This seems to imply that somehow Volo will live beyond the Hisui era, likely becoming a recurring antagonist throughout the "Legends" series as a result of his sheer determination.

• Perhaps in a Legends: Unova game, the player will encounter a tent in roughly the same area as modern-day Undella Town. Upon entering, they'll be greeted by a familiar theme, and Volo will promptly curse them for reminding him of "that trainer who stood in my way last time..."

Memory counterpart for the Legend Plate

If Type:Null and Silvally return in future games (which is likely, as one can be obtained in SWSH for no real reason) it will gain a Memory item that gives the same effect as the Legend Plate. After all, it was created to resemble Arceus' power.

Volo was abandoned or neglected by his parents

When discussing Giratina, Volo reveals that his interest in Hisui's legends stemmed from him wondering why life seemed unfair, mentioning that he dealt with pain and heartbreak ever since he was young, but the game doesn't really go into much detail beyond that. However, it's possible that his past trauma is more subtly alluded too than it initially appears. As he describes Giratina, he refers to it as an "unwanted child", which seems like a peculiarly human way to describe an Eldritch Abomination, until you consider the possibility that Volo felt some sort of kinship with Giratina, viewing its banishment to the Distortion World as a parallel to his own life experiences.

Groudon and Kyogre’s conflict caused a tsunami that hit the Cobalt Coastlands and caused the extinction of the Hisuian Growlithe line.

The previous Lord Arcanine died from trying to save his pup from the sea and was swallowed by the waves. As Fire/Rock types, the Hisuian Growlithe line is extra vulnerable to water. As they live along the coastline, it is possible that a tsunami could have occurred and wiped out the Hisuian population, as they are devastating with high speed and sheer volume. Tsunamis are caused by a large displacement of water, usually by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and explosions underwater. Now which Legendaries are famous for their control of the land and sea? It is possible Groudon and Kyogre’s feud got out of hand and caused collateral damage and casualties in Hisui, and Rayquaza stepped in and cracked down harder on them.

Arceus is a prequel to Platinum specifically, not the other Sinnoh games.

In the pasts of these games, one of the Legendary-worshipping clans wiped the other out, and knowledge of only one survives to the present to be taken advantage of by Cyrus. Arceus sends the player back in time to help broker peace and preserve knowledge of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina.

The protagonist is also the ancestor of Dawn/Lucas depending on if they're female or male.

Similar to how it's implied the protagonist you don't choose is a distant ancestor, thanks to time travel you're the ancestor of the Diamond and Pearl protagonist with the same gender as you. After all, you're Trapped in the Past, so perhaps Arceus also chose you to make sure Dawn/Lucas can exist to save the present world. It's possible that Rei and Akari eventually get together and both Dawn and Lucas are distant cousins to each other, sharing Rei and Akari as ancestors. Given how far back Legends Arceus is, one would hope this doesn't end up as a My Own Grampa situation.

• There is another possibility where Dawn would be Adaman and Akari's descendant whereas Lucas would be Irida and Rei's descendant. Also, Barry would be descendant of both sets of couples as one of Adaman and Akari's children marries one of Irida and Rei's children. This is strongly evident in Pokemon Adventures manga as Platinum Berlitz who is based on Dawn has Adaman's indigo blue hair, sharp golden brown eyes, and level-headed personality whereas Diamond who is based on Lucas has Irida's blue eyes.
  • Adaman and Irida are implied to be adults and Akari and Rei are 15. It's highly unlikely that would even be suggested in a Nintendo game.

The Celestia people are naturally long-lived.

Thus explaining how Mistress Cogita could be the author of the old verses, and Volo could say with confidence that he could get revenge even if it took centuries. Naturally this means that Cynthia could be much, much older than she looks.

Kamado's wife did die during the destruction of his old village.

This makes his Knight Templar tendency and paranoia more understandable, because It's Personal for him. Other than that, this makes him comparable to Ultra version of Lusamine, whose short-sighted and ill-advised attempt to defeat Necrozma in order to avenge her husband perfectly mirrored by Kamado's equally short-sighted and ill-advised attempt to kill Dialga/Palkia.

The Diamond and Pearl Clans are ancestral versions of Team Magma and Aqua.

Inside the houses in the Diamond and Pearl settlements, one can find portraits of what appear to be ancestors to Maxie and Archie, respectively (both also have a picture of an Alder ancestor, but details). This implies that the people depicted in these portraits used to be figureheads of the clans, and similar to Cyllene and the Galaxy Team, the clans would go on to become Team Magma (Diamond) and Aqua (Pearl), respectively. Of course, this theory also comes with the Fridge Horror that the two clans would only end up fighting with each other again in the future, making the ending to Legends: Arceus seem disheartening in hindsight.

More is going to be done with the Subway Twins.

(Perhaps they will have Emmet appear in the next Mystery Dungeon game as an NPC: turned into a Pokémon, and just as amnesiac as his brother. Or perhaps he and Elesa will appear in ScarVio, looking for Ingo.

Volo has access to the Distortion World.

Hence his confidence he will get his revenge even if it takes centuries. The Distortion World (the universe Giratina is native to) is a place where time doesn't flow and both space and gravity doesn't work like they're supposed to. One could cheat the reaper and avoid aging so long as they're within it. This could be one of the reasons why Cyrus in Platinum stays there, and due to his connection with Giratina Volo could wait out to the present. He could even perform a Villain Teamup with Cyrus one day.

Akari/Rei is the player character's ancestor

Legends: Arceus is very big on using NPCs that look similar to their modern day counterparts, implying that they may be distantly related. Since the default versions of Rei and Akari basically look like genderbent versions of each other, it's likely that they are the ancestors of the player character.

Ingo arrived in Hisui through an Ultra Wormhole

Just like Anabel and Mohn, he has no memories of his life before arriving in his new location, and its doubtful Arceus sent him there. Sure, we don't have proof that Ultra Wormholes can do that, but we don't have proof that they can't either.

The Player Character is Conveniently an Orphan

To avoid any Fridge Horror of how his family reacted to his disappearance.

The Player Character is younger than 15

People used to be shorter in the past, so when the player character arrived to the past, people assumed they were "about 15" because that's the average height of 15-year-olds during their era. They also might asume they happen to be baby-faced. The protagonist goes along with it because that's the easiest way to do the mission encomended by Arceus.

Ingo is his own ancestor

He settles down with some woman in Hisui after Arceus's events and has children with her. Several hundreds of years down the line, his many-times-great-grandchild has twin boys, the older of which they decide to name after their distant ancestor.

Melli's Pokémon dislike him because he favors Lord Electrode over them

He used to take legitimately good care of his Pokémon, but upon becoming a warden, he began neglecting them in favor of his beloved Noble Pokémon. The others resent him for it, which is why, among other things, his Golbat doesn't evolve.

Alder is the Ancient Hero transported from Ancient Hisui to Modern Unova

According to an interview with Yusuke Ohmura and Ken Sugimori in a 2010 article of the Japanese magazine "Nintendo Dream", the reason Alder keeps all his Pokéballs on him is because he never figured out how to operate the Pokémon Storage System. If he was transported from before Pokéballs were a thing, even after learning how they work he wouldn't understand the modern technology of what to do with them afterwards. Also, he lost his initial Volcarona to illness meaning it may not have even been in its ball or he didn't know how to recall it.

Alder is the Ancient Hero transported from Modern Unova to Ancient Hisui

The Ancient Hero's portrait appears to have Alder's Poké Ball necklace, and Poké Balls were literally just introduced to Hisui in PLA. The Ancient Hero was obviously around way before that point. So maybe Alder was sent back in time after he retired from being Champion, which would explain having the Poké Ball necklace before Poké Balls. Also, Alder is a Champion who focuses on the companionship of his Pokémon rather than battle prowess, so he'd be uniquely equipped to unite the original Noble Pokémon against Arceus. This is similar to the player being sent back thanks to their unusual knack for catching and battling 'mons as well as their ability to Unnecessary Combat Roll and instantly learn to play the flute.

Jubilife is Canalave

The design of Jubilife Village, most notably Canala Avenue and the river bisecting it, point to it actually being the Hisuian version of Canalave City, not Jubilife. My guess is: Jubilife Village swelled with immigrants until it spilled out into the Obsidian Fieldlands, eventually splitting the town into two and naming the original site after Canala Avenue, with the more populous eastern town keeping the name "Jubilife." This would explain the discrepancy in Jubilife Village's location between PLA and DPP, especially considering the Sandgem Flats and Lake Verity.

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