In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, players must explore the sprawling open-world setting of the Hisui region--the distant past of the Sinnoh region that many gamers are familiar with. Although players spend the game temporally displaced, they appear to retain some knowledge of the present Pokemon world and have been granted an anachronistic phone. Now, one Pokemon Legends: Arceus fan has created fan art showing why the Arc Phone should have a camera.
Although the Arc Phone has many abilities, it appears to lack some basic smartphone functions. This is especially noteworthy since the device appears to have been created--or at least recreated from an existing phone template--by Arceus, the Alpha Pokemon. Arceus has incredible power and is considered by some to be the closest thing the Pokemon world has to a true deity.
Redditor Doiparuni created a piece of fan art showing why the Arc Phone should have a camera. The piece depicts the player character Akari striking a pose and taking a selfie while standing on what seems to be a snowy mountain. An enormous Alpha Garchomp is hurtling toward her from behind, eyes glowing red and teeth bared. The result seems like the perfect set-up for an incredible--and dangerous--photo op.
Wild Alpha Pokemon's eyes glow red, and they are well known for being extremely aggressive, even when the player is not doing anything to provoke them. This suggests that the Alpha Garchomp has spotted Akari and is preparing to attack her for intruding on its territory. The contrast between the Garchomp preparing to begin its assault and Akari's cute smile makes for a hilarious image, especially since gamers have taken advantage of photo modes in other titles to capture similar pre-battle pictures. Doiparuni's piece not only captures the fearless spirit of determined selfie-takers but also accurately represents how many gamers take video game selfies.
As of writing, it appears that other fans agree it would be a good idea for the Arc Phone to have a camera. One user openly questioned whether Arceus had removed most of the apps from the phone before sending the protagonist into the past. Another group of users began referencing famous screenshots showing video game protagonists taking selfies during boss battles in other games. This proves the trend exists and that some gamers would do exactly what Akari is doing in the fan art if the Arc Phone allowed them to. A few users theorized that the Garchomp was actually a tame one that Akari had coaxed into posing with her. However, the red glow in the Pokemon's eyes suggests otherwise.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available on Nintendo Switch.