The Pokemon players choose to begin their playthrough with tends to be one they have the most memories with. With this in mind, Game Freak definitely makes sure that each starter is unique and special in their own ways as a result. Pokemon Legends: Arceus serves as an example of the company's mindfulness towards this, as the starters in the latest game have regional variants based on the Hisui region.With most Pokemon titles, many fans expect either the same options for the starter Pocket Monsters they've known for years or entirely new sets altogether. Pokemon Legends: Arceus, however, did something completely new and had fans choose from a mix of starters from different regions. The game features Rowlet from Alola, Cyndaquil from Johto, and Oshawott from Unova as the starter creatures of Hisui. Upon evolving, the final evolutions take on a form unique to the ancient region in specific.An artist on Twitter, @reidiantdawn, decided to fill in what many fans felt was left blank within the game and designed regional Hisuian variants for the other parts of Decidueye, Typhlosion, and Samurott's evolutionary lines. Each stage the starters go through gets included in the Hisuian make-overs, which start simple, but grow in detail as they evolve, much like how they most likely would in Pokemon Legends: Arceus proper.
The way that the new regional variants for the trio were designed definitely showcases how much thought the artist put into them, and in the comments, @reidiantdawn explains a few of her inspirations. For instance, Dartrix's hat is based on ayaigasa hats that special Japanese archers wear. With over 5,000 retweets on the original artwork, many fans adore the designs, and some have even left comments voicing that they wished @radiantdawn's designs were truly in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
The art piece definitely serves as a great look as to what the Hisuian forms of Oshawott, Rowlet, and Cyndaquil would be like if they truly existed. However, as a fan mentioned in the comments of @reidiantdawn's art, the final evolutions may be the only ones to get a Hisuian form as a way to showcase how these Pokemon adapt to their new environment through evolution, as the trio isn't native to Hisui.
No matter what the reason Game Freak had in deciding to leave the first and second steps of these evolutions the same as they are in other titles, future fully regional starters seem like a promising idea for future Pokemon Legends games if the titles continue to use mixed starter combinations. Considering how well the use of an unorthodox starter combination was received with fans, that may be the direction Game Freak takes going forward.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for Nintendo Switch.