Anticipation continues to build for this holiday season's new Pokemon games. But while Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are familiar experiences, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be introducing a setting and selection of Pokemon with all manner of surprises. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of those surprises are already beginning to leak, despite months until Pokemon Legends: Arceus' launch. Specifically, three new Hisuian forms of classic Pokemon have leaked early.
The three Pokemon that have leaked early are Electrode, Sneasel, and Voltorb. These Pokemon will each feature a new region-specific form for Pokemon Legends: Arceus' setting of Hisui. These Hisuian forms of Pokemon will be more traditional than certain modern regional forms of Pokemon, which can tie into current technologies or unique aspects of culture in fun ways. These aren't the only Hisuian forms added in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, of course. They're just what has been recently discovered.
For example, the Hisuian Sneasel leak comes via an image. The image shows the silhouette of a strange Pokemon with a basket on its back climbing a mountain. This Pokemon is described as a new Hisuian evolution for Sneasel dubbed the "Climbing Pokemon." The other two Pokemon, Electrode and Voltorb, don't have pictures to accompany the news of their Hisuian forms. Instead, leakers pointed out that these two Pokemon wouldn't fit very well in Pokemon Legends: Arceus' setting.
In the same leak, a leaker provides some further information about The Pokemon Company's plans for Hisuian forms in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Twitter user demipokemon_ says that there will be 17 Hisuian forms of currently existing Pokemon, not counting evolutions. Further, there will be between 6 and 10 new Hisuian Pokemon or evolutions. Then, as a caveat, they add that no Hisuian form evolves into a new Pokemon. As such, Sneasel itself likely doesn't have a Hisuian form, but rather has a Hisuian evolution.
Keep in mind that these leaks are completely unverified and the Pokemon franchise has historically drawn a significant number of fake "leaks." That said, these leaks are coming from leak-focused social media accounts, rather than anonymous posts on Reddit and other message boards. That doesn't lend the leaks credence but does make them worth acknowledging.
With Pokemon Legends: Arceus launching in January 2022, there's a lot of time left for The Pokemon Company to ramp up its marketing. As such, there may not be an official confirmation of these leaks for some time, especially if The Pokemon Company is focused on marketing Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl. Regardless, there's clearly a lot for Pokemon fans to be excited about.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus releases January 28 on Nintendo Switch.