Pokemon games have gotten increasingly more complex over time, and each new Generation managed to improve on its predecessor's features, while also introducing something new. There are a lot of shades in between each Pokemon game now, with some of them being richer due to features specific to that Generation of games or unique regional forms for some of the critters, which always make building the right team more fun. Ever since the introduction of regional forms, Pokemon fans have been asking for more in each new game or even remakes, and while it doesn't seem like this will be the case with Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is going to deliver.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is likely the most ambitious Pokemon game to date, as it delves deep into the full open-world experience of other popular games, like Breath of the Wild. Not only that, as Pokemon Legends: Arceus also features brand-new gameplay that involves sneaking and dodge-rolling in order for players not to be knocked out by wild enraged Pokemon, which makes this new title a sort of Souls-like game. Then, it also throws into the mix several new regional evolutions and regional forms for certain Pokemon, making the experience very different from Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, despite both games being set in the same region, albeit several centuries apart.
The Reasons Why Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Starters Might Get Regional Evolutions
With the ever-increasing number of critters that players will be able to find and capture in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, it doesn't come as a surprise that there are so many regional variants to be found as well. An example comes from Basculegion and Kleavor being regional evolutions for existing Pokemon, with Kleavor being an alternate evolution for Scyther, and Basculegion being the only evolution to date for Basculin. There are also different regional forms, of course, like the Hisuian Growlithe and Braviary that appeared in multiple Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailers thus far.
Because the starters for Pokemon Legends: Arceus are atypical, meaning that they are not a new set of starters nor they are from the same Generation of critters, many players have been wondering why this is the case. The starters include Generation 2's Cyndaquil, Generation 5's Oshawott, and Generation 7's Rowlet, and they are all Pokemon that were not present in the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. As such, some fans have been speculating that these critters were specifically chosen to be featured in the game in order to have them evolve into never-before-seen regional variants.
Thus far there was no indication this could be the case, and while there is no official confirmation on either side of the argument so far, players couldn't help but notice a trend in all Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailers shown so far. None of the trailers features the second or third stage of evolution for any of the three Hisuian starters, which is odd in itself because they are not new Pokemon, meaning there is no need to keep their evolutions secret up until closer to launch. In fact, it has always been one of Nintendo and Game Freak's signature moves to reveal the three starters for new games beforehand, and then reveal their evolutions at a later date.
This fact alone might be an indication that Cyndaquil, Oshawott, and Rowlet will all have regional evolutions instead of their regular ones, much like Scyther did with Kleavor. This would explain the secrecy behind Pokemon Legends: Arceus' trailers, but that's not all. As a matter of fact, another reason why this could very well be true is that these critters have been shown in the trailers at higher levels than those required for them to normally evolve, meaning they were intentionally left in their base form.
Regional Evolutions for Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Would be Good for the Game
For these two reasons, the possibility of Pokemon Legends: Arceus featuring regional evolution lines for its starters suddenly doesn't feel like a stretch, but something that might actually happen. It would also make a lot of sense for the game to feature older starters with a twist so that gamers can count on the experience of playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus to be a little different from that of any other game, not only in terms of actual gameplay. Catching and training new Pokemon, or at least new variants of existing Pokemon, has always been one of the most interesting aspects of each game in the franchise, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus will not feature all-new Pokemon apart from regional evolutions.
Starters are also one of the pillars of Pokemon games, and the choice of which one to pick is iconic, and also bears a sentiment of nostalgia thanks to all the previous installments in the series. As such, having beloved critters from past games return and take new forms when evolving would make for a more interesting experience that would also translate into more varied team compositions than those of the recent Pokemon Sword and Shield. This could also be a way to explore new types and combinations with them, and especially so with Cyndaquil and Oshawott.
In fact, these two critters were exclusively Fire and Water-types, respectively, whereas Rowlet was Grass/Flying in its base form, and eventually evolved into Decidueye to become Grass/Ghost. Ultimately, whether Pokemon Legends: Arceus' starters turn out to have regional evolutions remains to be seen, but it would be an interesting idea to explore for the developers and the players alike.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus will release for Nintendo Switch on January 28, 2022.