Pokemon Legends: Arceusis finally out, and the game seems to be a huge success thus far based on its early reviews. It is very innovative, as itfeatures new status conditions and weather effects, while also breaking the formula of the series' way of handling Pokemon encounters and its turn-based combat system.Pokemon Legends: Arceusis arguably one of the best releases for the series in the past few years, and its semi-open-world approach probably builds on the foundations laid byPokemon SwordandShield.
Still, manyPokemonfans are eager to know when Generation 9 will be coming, and theexpectations for thePokemonfranchise in 2022place it as a plausible release this year, especially following the rumors about exciting news coming in April. While there are no official details about Generation 9 games, thePokemonseries is known for dropping hints about its future mainline titles several years before their time, and the hunt for clues about the setting for Gen 9 started all the way back inPokemon SwordandShield. Seemingly no major hints came from those games, butPokemon Legends: Arceusmight be building on something that was foreshadowed in a Pokedex entry for Generation 8.
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Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Evidence for Generation 9’s Setting
Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlwere believed to be the games that were actually hinting at Generation 9 because of a new painting appearing in a house, depicting what seemed to be Venice, Italy. It was speculated thatGeneration 9Pokemongames would be set in Italyafter this discovery, especially becausePokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlalso hinted at Hisuian Qwilfish fromPokemon Legends: Arceus, making this theory more credible. However,Pokemon Legends: Arceusfeatures a Pokedex entry for Raichu that slightly retcons the original fromPokemon FireRed, where it was stated that its electric charges were so powerful that even Indian elephants would faint when they came in contact with the Pokemon.
The newPokemon Legends: ArceusPokedex entry, however, refers to the original Indian elephant as a Copperajah instead, which is a Pokemon introduced inPokemon SwordandShield. The creature is indeed an elephant and has an Indian name, but the hints don’t stop there. In fact,Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Pokedex entry forRaichualso states that Copperajah comes from Professor Laventon’s homeland, and the Professor himself could very well be of Indian origin based on his appearance in the game.
Another huge clue comes fromPokemon Sword’s Pokedex entry for Copperajah, which states that this species came from another region a long time ago, and thus is not native to Galar. Plus, Galar as a region is based on the United Kingdom for its looks and characterization, and the real-world country has a long, shared history with India. Considering all this, the evidence does seem to stack up when it comes toPokemon Legends: ArceusandPokemon SwordandShieldhinting at the region for Gen 9, which at this point could be based on India. One more thing that could be considered as possible evidence for this theory is thatPokemon Legends: Arceushas a varied cast of characters, all looking very much alike to existing characters in modern Sinnoh and thePokemonfranchise as a whole.
These are clearly ancestors of all those characters that players met on their journeys in otherPokemongames, and Professor Laventon is one of the very few to not have any sort of relation to other characters - which could be a clue to the fact that new releases could tackle this aspect. Little is known about how Professor Laventon got to the region of Hisui, much like little is known about Copperajah’s journey to Galar. Yet, it’s not impossible thatGeneration 9 gameswill indeed be set in an India-inspired region, and the evidence could have been right in front of players this whole time.
