Pokemon Legends: Arceus has taken many fans of the Pokemon series by the storm with its innovative, fun, and rewarding gameplay loop where players are tasked to actually catch them all to complete the Pokedex. This happens throughout the main regions of Hisui, and by progressing through the story, players get a better grasp on everything there is to know about this ancient place and why they are there in the first place. Space and time have often been poignant themes in Pokemon Generation 4 because of how the games introduce Arceus, the god Pokemon of legend, and its two creations, Dialga and Palkia - which respectively control time and space.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus' opening scenes feature Arceus itself calling the main character with its voice, bestowing the task of catching all Pokemon upon them in order to find the legendary creature once more. The main character is then shown floating through space in modern clothes, trying to catch their smartphone, which is instead transformed into something else by Arceus itself. The character then wakes up on Prelude Beach in ancient Hisui, still in their modern clothes and with their phone now being an Arc Phone, back in a time when technology wasn't developed yet and people and Pokemon didn't live side by side.
All References to Time Travel in Pokemon Legends: Arceus
The opening scene of Pokemon Legends: Arceus clearly delves into time travel, with the main character wearing either a Kalos t-shirt if male or an Alola t-shirt if female, a detail that could be more than a simple throwback to past games. In fact, the base look for the male character resembles Lucas from Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, whereas the female character resembles Dawn, leading players to believe that this is not a coincidence. Furthermore, the Alola t-shirt is even more appropriate if the female lead is indeed Dawn, considering that the Pokemon anime implies that she has a sister who lives in the Alola region.
Regardless, the theme of time travel is further built upon with one of Pokemon Legends: Arceus' own mechanics, which is space-time distortion zones. These anomalies show up when players explore any given area for an extended period of time, and they create bubble-like zones where items and Pokemon seem to come from another dimension - to the point that one of those creatures is Porygon. There is no way Porygon would normally appear in ancient Hisui because it is made completely of programming code, something that doesn't exist yet in the feudal Japan-like setting of Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
Not only that, but players also become the catalyst for big changes to the way people perceive Pokemon in ancient Hisui, as most of them go from being terrified of Pokemon to many embracing the creatures as their own friends. It's often repeated that the main character in Pokemon Legends: Arceus resembles the "hero of legend," and that maybe they are there precisely because they can help reshape Hisui's history - past, present, and future. This is pretty much what happens throughout the story, possibly indicating that this was Arceus' will all along.
Last but not least, Pokemon Legends: Arceus features plenty of ancestors, which are characters who look a lot like existing figures from Generation 4 games and the Pokemon universe as a whole - possibly hinting that there is more than ancestry tying them and the present characters together. This is especially true for Volo and Cogita, who both look a lot like Cynthia, and both could play a big part in how Pokemon Legends: Arceus' rumored DLCs play out.
On that same note, if the main character is male they will meet Akari, who looks like Dawn, reinforcing the idea that they become her ancestors; the female character meets Rei, who looks like Lucas, and could also be his ancestor together with the protagonist. Overall, the theme of time travel is an overarching one in the game, and there are many ways this could be built upon in the future, both for the Pokemon anime and the games to come.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for the Nintendo Switch.