The Pokémon Company (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara) is pleased to share the following news about the Nintendo Switch software title Pokémon Legends: Arceus!
■Promotional Movie
- The setting of your adventure: the Hisui region
- Time to embark on a survey!
- Catch wild Pokémon in vast natural expanses!
- Pokémon battles in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Study Pokémon to complete the Pokédex!
- The people and Pokémon of the Hisui region
- Various perks
The setting of your adventure: the Hisui region
Your adventure will be set in the expansive natural majesty of the Hisui region, in an age long ago when it was rare for people and Pokémon to live in close harmony. In time, this land of Hisui will come to be called the Sinnoh region—a region you may know well. The Hisui region is home to Jubilife Village, a bustling settlement that many call their home.
The village is the center of operations for the Galaxy Expedition Team (or Galaxy Team for short)—a collection of people from various regions who have come to study the Hisui region. The team includes various corps, such as the Medical Corps and the Security Corps, as well as the Survey Corps, which carries out research on how Pokémon live. As the protagonist of this game, you’ll meet a professor named Laventon, who studies the ecology of Pokémon as a member of the Survey Corps. Your encounter with him will lead you to meet—and earn the approval of—a young Survey Corps member around your age, the corps’ captain, Cyllene, and Commander Kamado, head of the entire Galaxy Team. Before long, you’ll join the Galaxy Team yourself and get to work as a member of the Survey Corps. Your goal will be to meet every species of Pokémon in the region. Thus begins an adventure that will send you all over Hisui, working to complete the land’s first-ever Pokédex.
■Time to embark on a survey!
Whenever you leave Jubilife Village to set out on an excursion, your first stop will be one of the base camps that will serve as a handy outpost for your work. These base camps are more than just starting points, however. You can stop by for a rest during an excursion, letting your team of Pokémon recover their health, or you can use a base camp’s workbench to craft some items. Your base camp has all you need to get ready for adventure.
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you may become unable to go on with your survey if you take too much damage, whether it’s caused by wild Pokémon attacks or falling from high places. If you get into danger, don’t be reckless—use your base camps to full effect as you carry out your survey work!
As you’re out exploring during your adventures, you’ll be able to collect all kinds of materials. You can use these materials to do some crafting—combining these materials to make new items. You can craft items using the workbenches found at base camps and in Jubilife Village. You’ll find that you can make a wide variety of items that will help you with your survey work—not the least of which being the Poké Balls you’ll need to catch Pokémon! For example, if you combine an Apricorn and a type of stone called a tumblestone, you’ll be able to craft a regular Poké Ball.
■Catch wild Pokémon in vast natural expanses!
As you dash about through the wilds, seek out Pokémon you want to catch. They live freely in all kinds of places—in grassy fields, in forests, or out on the water, to name a few. Their modes of life can be closely linked to the environments they live in. There may be certain Pokémon behaviors—or even entire species—that you witness only under the right conditions, such as during a particular time of day or in certain kinds of weather. Word has it that some Pokémon even act in ways that are unique to their species!
You can try to catch wild Pokémon by throwing Poké Balls at them. When you find a Pokémon that you want to catch, get close to it, then try to catch it using a Poké Ball. Aim carefully at your target, and hit it with your Poké Ball before you miss the opportunity! If the wild Pokémon doesn’t pop right back out of the Poké Ball you hit it with, then you’ve done it! That’s a successful catch.
Battle can be a critical step in catching some Pokémon. Wild Pokémon become easier to catch when they’ve been weakened through battling. It’s a good idea to try battling as you attempt to catch certain species—particularly when it comes to aggressive Pokémon, which may attack you relentlessly and put you in danger if they notice you.
■ Pokémon battles in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Time for a Pokémon battle!
In the Pokémon battles of the Hisui region, acting strategically will be key to victory. In past games in the Pokémon series, battles have proceeded one turn at a time, with each participating Pokémon typically taking one action per turn. In this game, however, each Pokémon’s Speed stat and the moves that it uses will decide the order in which turns come up and how many actions a Pokémon can take before its opponent gets a turn. You may see a single Pokémon getting to act multiple times in a row. You could heal your Pokémon immediately after dishing out an attack or throw yourself all-in with a no-holds-barred flurry of attacks. Look forward to this new flavor of strategic Pokémon battling!
Pokémon can master their moves to unleash them in agile style or strong style
Pokémon can remember four moves at a time to use in battle. In this game, the moves your Pokémon can use can also be unleashed in two new styles: agile style and strong style. Use these different styles skillfully to gain the upper hand in battle!
What is agile style?
In this style, a Pokémon unleashes a move with such swift movement that the eye can hardly catch it. Using a move in the agile style will increase the Pokémon’s action speed, which may make their next turn come sooner. However, this style does have a downside: moves used in the agile style have less power than usual. Try using the agile style when the chance to act multiple times in a row might bring you an advantage, such as when you want to weaken a wild Pokémon before catching it or when you want to have your Pokémon use a move that boosts its stats before unleashing an attack.
What is strong style?
The strong style allows your Pokémon to tap into some serious power by unleashing moves without holding back. When a Pokémon delivers a move in the strong style, that move’s power will be boosted, and you’ll be able to deal more damage than usual to an opponent. But there’s a trade-off: after using such a move, your Pokémon’s action speed will be lowered. Use the strong style when you want to settle a battle with a single blow or when you think it’ll make a real difference!
■ Study Pokémon to complete the Pokédex!
When you report the results of your Pokémon survey work to the professor, information will be added to the Pokédex.
In past games in the Pokémon series, catching a Pokémon once would completely fill in its entry in your Pokédex. But in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, your research on each Pokémon species will progress in levels, allowing you to enjoy delving deeper into researching different Pokémon. By doing things like observing a Pokémon’s mode of life or evolving it, you can increase a species’ research level, which will fill in more information in its Pokédex entry. Moreover, making progress toward completing the Pokédex will increase your rank as a member of the Galaxy Team. Increasing your rank will also open up more areas for you to survey—so try exploring places you haven’t been yet in order to fill in the entire Pokédex.
■ The people and Pokémon of the Hisui region
The main character
Once you arrive in the Hisui region, you’ll meet a variety of characters in Jubilife Village and join the Galaxy Team’s Survey Corps. You can choose how you want to look at the beginning of your adventure.
Professor Laventon
This Pokémon professor is the first person you’ll meet in the Hisui region. He brought Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott there with him, and you’ll be able to pick one of the three as your first partner Pokémon. The professor’s particular speech style suggests origins in a different region.
As a member of the Galaxy Team’s Survey Corps, he conducts research into Pokémon’s modes of life. He aims to create a complete Pokédex.
Commander Kamado
The boss of the Galaxy Team. He can be a harsh leader at times, but members of the Galaxy Team trust him deeply and know him to be reliable. He also happens to have a love for sumo wrestling.
Captain Cyllene
The leader of the Galaxy Team’s Survey Corps. She is strict both with others and with herself, but she sees your potential and allows you to take a trial to join the Galaxy Team. She sends you out to conduct surveys and watches over your growth with care.
Akari /Rei
A Survey Corps member who’s close to your age but has been with the team for some time already. This fellow corps member will be a reassuring source of support when you join the Galaxy Team.
The appearance that you choose at the beginning of the game will determine whether Rei or Akari appears as your fellow Survey Corps member.
Wyrdeer
In the Hisui region, Stantler can evolve into Wyrdeer. This Pokémon has been treasured since long ago by the people of this region, for whom Wyrdeer is indispensable. It grows much larger when it evolves, and clothes made from fallen tufts of the thick fur that grows on its jaw, tail, and legs are prized for their top-notch protection against the cold.
Basculegion
Basculin in the Hisui region can evolve into this Pokémon. This Evolution occurs when a Basculin is possessed by the souls of other Basculin from its school that could not withstand the harsh journey upstream. Basculegion fights together with these souls, which attack opponents as if with a will of their own.
Hisuian Braviary
When Rufflet in the Hisui region evolve, they become Hisuian Braviary. In winter, this Pokémon flies in from somewhere farther north. It’s larger than the previously discovered form of Braviary and tends to live alone rather than in flocks.
Hisuian Growlithe
This is Growlithe as it appears in the Hisui region. This form has longer, more voluminous fur than the previously discovered form of Growlithe. This soft, heat-retaining fur helps the Pokémon thrive even in the frigid Hisui region. Its horn of rock is hard and sharp, but it breaks easily, so Hisuian Growlithe uses it to attack only when truly needed.
■ Various perks
Early purchasers will be able to obtain a Hisuian Growlithe Kimono Set!
The Hisuian Growlithe Kimono Set will be gifted to early purchasers of Pokémon Legends: Arceus. You can receive it by choosing Get via internet in the Mystery Gifts feature in your game, up until Monday, May 9, 2022. Dress yourself up in this great Hisuian Growlithe Kimono Set as you enjoy your adventures in the Hisui region!
Note: You will need an internet connection to claim Mystery Gifts.
You will not need a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership to claim Mystery Gifts.
It takes approximately two hours of play time before the Mystery Gifts feature is unlocked.
■ Product Information
Title: Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Release date: Planned for January 28, 2022 (Friday)
Publisher: The Pokémon Company
Sales: Nintendo Co. Ltd.
Developer: GAME FREAK inc.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Action RPG
Number of players: Single player
Communication features: Local and internet
Available as: Retail version
Supported languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
