The ancient land of the Hisui region still holds a lot of mystery ahead of Pokemon Legends: Arceus' release in January. It's still unclear exactly how "The Alpha Pokemon," Arceus, will play a role in the game's story. However, it's a fair expectation that it isn't the only Legendary Pokemon that will feature in the game.
When it comes to the Sinnoh region, Dialga and Palkia are the main Legendaries that come to mind, and yet they've not been seen in any of the marketing. There are a couple of possibilities for this, one of which is the idea that Pokemon Legends: Arceus may see the God-like Pokemon create the rulers of Time and Space during the story. This means they could be featured in brand new Primal forms, which is awful news for the residents of Hisui.
3 What Are Primal Forms In Pokemon?
First featured in Generation 6's Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Primal Forms are mechanically like a super-form of Mega-Evolution. As long as the Pokemon holds the right item, they will transform into a much more powerful version of themselves, with unique abilities and moves.
To date, the only Pokemon to get Primal Forms are Kyogre and Groudon. Kyogre got the Primordial Sea ability, which covered the battlefield in torrential rain that made Fire-type moves unusable. Groudon got the opposite, with its Desolate Land ability making Water-type moves unusable. That is already some tremendous power that saw them dominate competitive Pokemon battles for several Generations.
From a lore perspective, these forms had the potential to wreak all kinds of havoc. The Pokemon themselves are completely unable to control their Primal power when they're first awakened, and it threatens to tear the Hoenn region to shreds, leading the player to step in and defeat/catch them.
Usually, in ancient lore, it is said that Rayquaza calmed the neverending battle between the two titanic Pokemon, but players later learn that even Rayquaza had to acquire a Mega-Evolved form to keep such an incredible battle from destroying the world.
2 Dialga and Palkia Having Such Power Would Be Terrifying
Groudon and Kyogre, being unable to control their power, threatened to destroy the world as they controlled the forces of land and sea on Earth. The powers Dialga and Palkia control, however, have a significantly grander scale than those. Dialga is classified as "The Temporal Pokemon" and controls time, while Palkia is "The Spatial Pokemon" and controls space. The land and sea could destroy the world. Time and space could destroy the universe.
The level of Arceus' power hasn't ever been made clear in lore. It's implied they created or at least helped to create the universe. Additionally, in the movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life, Arceus fights off Dialga and Palkia with relative ease. That said, if they were bolstered with Primal power, it's not clear if even Arceus could withstand their might. Perhaps this event will open the door for players to catch Arceus.
Even regular Dialga and Palkia hold incredible destructive power, as the movie The Rise of Darkrai showed. Just coming into contact with one of Palkia's attacks saw buildings, people and Pokemon turn to dust, and Dialga could remove a whole town from time so the two Legendaries could do battle. Boosting that power further could turn the Hisui region into a wasteland, which gets rebuilt into modern Sinnoh. It would be interesting to see as much monumental terror in Pokemon Legend's semi-open world.
This idea could be pushed even further, with potential time travel in the mix due to Dialga's power. Perhaps the Hisuian protagonist could be briefly sent into modern Sinnoh for some reason, in the hopes they have a way to quell the storm of Primal Dialga and Palkia. There's precedent for this game threatening human existence, after all, with a recent trailer showing an explorer attacked by a Hisuian Zoroark.
The situation gets a lot bleaker, though, when one more thing is taken into consideration. Dialga and Palkia are often shown to be somehow at odds. They, like Groudon and Kyogre, have some conflict with each other. That is, until another, much darker force rears its head.
1 What About Primal Giratina?
Giratina, "The Renegade Pokemon," as it is classified, could very well be the main antagonist of Pokemon Legends: Arceus. It has a deep-seated conflict with Arceus that has yet to be fully addressed in lore.
From its very first appearance, the Pokedex touches on the problems it had after being created by Arceus, claiming "It was banished for violence" and forced to exist only in the lifeless Distortion World. Thus, the powers it now possesses involve dimensional travel. However, the fact it was banished implies that Arceus created it for a different purpose, a purpose that has never been explained.
If Dialga and Palkia are both created with Primal Forms, it would be fair to assume Giratina would be created with one too, before its banishment to the Distortion World. That hypothetical scenario puts the universe, or potentially the multiverse, into jeopardy. If one or perhaps all of those Pokemon attempted to overthrow Arceus as "The Alpha Pokemon," there might not be a lot that can be done to stop them.
In terms of gameplay, there's plenty of ways to exploit the exciting new systems Pokemon Legends: Arceus has already unveiled. As shown, players will now be fighting Pokemon themselves before engaging in a traditional Pokemon battle, which opens the door to more traditional boss fights. Trainers will have to be ready to dodge attacks from these truly terrifying God-like Pokemon, trying to get in close enough with their Pokeballs.
With so much about the game shrouded in mystery, there is a whole world of exciting possibilities that could be potentially explored. Game Freak are keeping its cards close to its chest, as the strange reveals have proven over the last couple of months. The Pokemon franchise has quite literally never seen a game like this, which gives the story all the room it needs to do something fresh, and Primal Forms for Dialga, Palkia, and maybe even Giratina would be a very welcome cherry on top.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus releases on January 28, 2022, for Nintendo Switch.