Potential to Continue the Pokémon Legends Series

Hello everyone! I have finally finished Legends Arceus. I really liked the main storyline and it gave Pokémon some of the most complex characters the series has ever had. The game felt a little shorter than I was expecting, but if it means a better Scarlet and Violet I’m alright with that. Legends Arceus has still been really fun to play, and seeing all the references to Sinnoh and some themes that aren’t exact replicas of the DPPT OST but are related in an awesome way has been really fun to enjoy. It got me thinking about what Game Freak could do for a Legends style game for other regions of the Pokémon world, so that’s what I’m here to talk about today. Share your thoughts and ideas I missed!

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Would another Legends style game even happen?

Certainly this entire post rides on the premise of whether or not Game Freak would even continue making Legends-style games. I actually made a whole post talking about just this topic, so you can check that out here! The biggest point I made was that by looking at the logo, it seems to imply that “Pokémon Legends” is a brand that would be continued for other regions in the future. The website is even just legends.pokemon.com. The general idea of that post is that I really do think there is a good chance that another Legends style game could happen, which makes me really excited that another past iconic region could be revisited in such a beautiful and in-depth way. I feel like everything I’m talking about in this post is only the tip of the iceberg for what they could do for any region, after having played through Legends Arceus. I’m super excited for the future of Pokémon!

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Kanto + Johto

Pokémon Legends Mew/Mewtwo/Suicune

I chose to combine these regions. It would certainly be a more daunting task to create a Legends Arceus style game that encomes two whole regions instead of one, but these regions are associated with each other well enough that I think fans would expect them to be connected in any potential game about them. Just as Legends Arceus has 5 areas to explore, perhaps they could give three areas to Kanto and three to Johto for a total of 6 areas to explore. It would be fun if the game started you in Kanto this time, since any game with both regions always started in Johto.

With that said, it’s hard to fit all the different features of a region into just 3 areas. If we’re sticking with the theme of these games taking place in the past, perhaps there could be an area focusing on the top right of Kanto. This area could include Cerulean Cave, Rock Tunnel, maybe a coal mine in place of the power plant, a haunted ghost town for Lavender Town, etc. Another area would definitely be the bottom left of Kanto, with a big focus on the sea that is there. It would include Cinnabar Island, Seafoam Islands, and a safari landscape for the Fuchsia Safari Zone. It could also include Pallet Town to end off the sea on both sides. The last Kanto area would be the top left of Kanto, giving a big focus to Viridian Forest and Mt. Moon but also including grassy areas for the surrounding routes and cities. I think Vermillion City would make a good town to be the Jubilife Village of this game.

Johto has a lot more to work with than Kanto in my opinion. One area would definitely be the top right of Johto, including the Lake of Rage, Ice Path, Dragon’s Den and the Dark Cave. The second area would be the general middle of the region, including Ruins of Alph at the bottom, National Park, Mt. Mortar, Ecruteak City and the Burned and Bell Towers. The last area would be the left of Johto, with Olivine City becoming a sandy coast, the sea routes, Whirl Islands and Cliff Cave plus another safari landscape for Johto’s Safari Zone.

The story of these games could focus on two things. The first big thing it could focus on would be the Kanto-Johto war that has been referenced subtly and theorized about heavily by fans. The war could be the center of the story, depending on how long ago it occurred. The game could also focus on the events of the Burned Tower, and in this game the tower could be not yet burned. We could witness the creation story of Entei, Raikou and Suicune. The game could also focus on the Cinnabar Island experiments with Mew and Mewtwo, and their origin story. Depending on what was focused on more would determine if the game was called Legends Mew, Legends Mewtwo or Legends Suicune. Legends Mewtwo could be most likely just as a selling point since everyone knows Mewtwo.

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Hoenn

Pokémon Legends Deoxys/Jirachi

As much as I love Hoenn and would jump for joy if a Legends-style game ever revisited this region, I don’t think Hoenn is a good candidate for a Legends game. The potential is there just like any other region, but there are reasons why it’s not a practical candidate. Firstly, it was rather recently (wtf 8 years ago how did time fly) given a whole lot of love with ORAS, which really fleshed out the beautiful Hoenn region and gave a really good playable experience for the region. The Delta Episode also added more story and fleshed out the lore behind Rayquaza. The mascot of a Legends game would probably have to be a Pokémon whose lore is not well explained.

Legends Rayquaza or Deoxys could be cool but it would probably be too similar of a story to things that happened in ORAS or RSE. Latios and Latias could work, but you need to pick one for the mascot, unless Game Freak ever did two versions for a Legends game which I highly doubt. The same issue occurs for Regice, Regirock and Registeel; there’s no real way to choose. The reason why I mentioned Suicune for Kanto/Johto is because Suicune could be seen as the main member of the legendary dogs trio since it has its own game of Crystal as well as more focus in HGSS than Entei or Raikou. So the only real candidate for a Hoenn Legends mascot would be Jirachi or Deoxys. (And this would fall in line with a mythical Pokémon being the mascot of the Legends games.)

I love Jirachi but it’s just too insignificant of a legendary/mythical for it to be a good mascot. Game Freak is underratedly creative so they could come up with a good story relating to making wishes and all that but really I’m not sure how much would be able to happen surrounding Jirachi. Deoxys could be fun, but it would be sort of weird to have a game center around a Pokémon that is supposedly an alien. But it could take place in a time before a meteor created the Sootopolis crater, and maybe center around a Deoxys origin story with meteors. You also can’t just completely ignore Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza in a game about Hoenn so you still have the issue of the story feeling too similar to RSE and ORAS.

If this unlikely prospect ever did happen, the areas to explore would certainly be fun. The first area to explore would probably resemble the beginning of the Hoenn region. The bounds would be the coast-to-coast of the route left of Petalburg to the coast of Slateport, and it would also include the whole sea below there. So it would include Dewford Town, Petalburg Woods, Rusturf Cave, maybe even Meteor Falls depending on how far north of Rustboro you want to go. There would definitely be an amazing area for Mt. Chimney. It would also include the Lavaridge hot springs, Jagged , Fiery Path, and depending on the scope it could also include the desert on the right and Meteor Falls on the left if it wasn’t included in the first area. I feel like there should also be an area for the forest areas that are to the right of Mauville City. It would span from Route 119 and Route 120 to also include Fortree City, Route 121 and 122 and perhaps even Mt. Pyre and a coast version of Lilycove.

I’d say that there would definitely be two areas dedicated to Hoenn’s expansive seas. The first of the two could be the top of the water area, including Shoal Cave, a mossy landscape for Mossdeep City, and whatever was there before Sootopolis City. The second of the two would be the bottom of the water area, including all the little islands along the way, the Mirage Islands, Sky Pillar, the route with all the directional waves, and something to do with Pacifidlog Town. I think Mauville City would make a good central place for the Jubilife Village of this game. Regardless, as unlikely as it is an open world Hoenn would definitely be super exciting to explore.

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Sinnoh

…Enough said.

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Unova

Pokémon Legends Kyurem

The next two regions, Unova and Kalos, have the best prospects of receiving a Legends-style game out of any region, should Game Freak continue this type of series. Obviously if it was gonna be one of these two, it would be Unova first. But a Legends style game wouldn’t happen for Unova or Kalos in Generation 9. Revisiting consecutive old regions happens strictly every other generation; I’d be shocked if they touched Unova in Generation 9 in any way. Generation 10 could see an ILCA Unova remaster + Legends Unova perhaps. LGPE was its own thing and so was able to buck the trend in Generation 7. Likewise, a Let’s Go Johto game would be able to happen whenever, so Generation 9 would be a good time. But down the line, I really think there is good potential for a Legends Unova game. I highly doubt Game Freak is done revisiting old regions so Unova will not be ignored one day.

It should be obvious that Kyurem would be the mascot of this game. Sure, Arceus is a mythical Pokémon and Kyurem is not, but I don’t think Arceus was chosen to be the mascot for the Hisui game solely based on its mythical status. When looking at Unova’s mythical Pokémon, Meloetta and Victini are too insignificant to revolve a game around. You could technically do something with Keldeo and the Swords of Justice, or Landorus and the weather trio (not mythicals but decently relevant legendaries, and I guess it’s a quartet now with Enamorus), but those would serve better as subplots of a game surrounding Kyurem. It would be cool to see the original form of Genesect before Team Plasma modified it in the game also, but again Genesect wouldn’t make a good mascot. Kyurem is definitely the best fit for the mascot of a Legends game for Unova.

I know Game Freak has a design for the Original Dragon somewhere stored away and it’s time for them to bring it out. Depending on how they marketed it, the Original Dragon could even be the cover of the game, since it is the original form of Kyurem before it became the husk it is now after Zekrom and Reshiram both split from it. But they’d probably leave that as a surprise in the game like Dialga and Palkia’s Origin Forms. Regardless, there is a lot of mystery surrounding Kyurem and its Original Dragon form, so it would be perfect for the story of a Legends game. The story could take place during the original Unova tale of the two princes who fought over truths and ideals, causing their original dragon to split into Zekrom and Reshiram. There’s so much potential for it and it would really work out great. This is my dream game in Generation 10 one day.

Making an open world region of a Unova from the past would be somewhat tough; much of Unova is about modern cities, but if Game Freak made it happen for Sinnoh I’m sure they could do it. I think a big motif could be the 5 bridges of Unova; a bridge could represent crossing into new opportunities. Another motif could be the clouds that every town is named after. The first area could be modeled after the start of Black and White, including the water routes left of the first route, an older version of the Dreamyard, Wellspring Cave and Pinwheel Forest. The next area could be largely a big desert area, of course including Relic Castle (which would be super fun to explore an old version of) and the Desert Resort, with a big forest area at the northern region of the area to represent the two routes left and right of Nimbasa City and especially Lostlorn Forest.

Another area could be a large icy area, including wintertime Twist Mountain, an old version of Icirrus City, the frozen lake route next to it and the Moor of Icirrus. Although even further, they could bring back the season cycle to really change a lot about the open world areas and make it fun to re-explore them and discover new things. A fourth area would be built around the Village Bridge which could be honestly very similar to how it is now since it’s meant to be and old fashioned town. This area would also include the rocky cliffs of Victory Road to the north. The last area would be the coastal area of Lacunosa and Undella Town; it could be similar to the Cobalt Coastlands with the big difference being this area would of course also include the Giant Chasm near Lacunosa Town. (Or perhaps the events of the two Princes and the Original Dragon create the Giant Chasm during the story!)

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Kalos

Pokémon Legends Zygarde

Like I said above, if Game Freak wanted to make more Legends games then Kalos has a great prospect of getting a Legends game in my opinion. But of course this probably wouldn’t happen until Generation 11 or 12, and now we’re talking about straight up extrapolation and theory crafting. It makes you wonder at what point they will stop revisiting old regions. Sword and Shield probably won’t ever be revisited, since it’s halfway to open world itself. Alola is a gray area, who really knows. Kalos, despite it being a 3D game, is really just baby 3D compared to what we have now. Chibi basic models and tiled overworld is definitely not what we still have. I think there has been enough of a graphical upgrade since then to warrant an open world version of old Kalos one day, and I would love to see it.

And of course, X and Y feel unfinished to many. Between Zygarde getting shoved in a cave, the extra power plant entrances, Carbink and Diancie’s uncanny and unexplained similarities, AZ’s Floette being coded as a real Pokémon with an unused signature move, and much more, there would be so much opportunity to give Kalos love and explore all the things we never got to visit. It goes without saying that Zygarde would be the mascot of a Legends game based in Kalos. Not only is it the only real viable candidate, it’s an amazing candidate. Barely any explanation of its lore, two forms added a generation later for no reason, this Pokémon is such a mystery. A Legends Zygarde would be a great way to uncover the truth about this legendary. The game would of course take place 3000 years ago during AZ’s war and the original activation of the ultimate weapon.

It would be sort of cliché and expected to make Lumiose the central starting area like Jubilife Village, but the area would have to be totally redesigned anyways to fit into something for 3000 years ago, so I think it would happen. The first area to be explored would be, in my opinion, the southwest portion of Kalos. It would include the coastal area by Cyllage City and Ambrette Town, as well as all the cliffs that mark that area. It would also include Connecting Cave and Glittering Cave (as well as the rocky route leading up to it), and perhaps a much more old fashioned version of Camphrier Town and Parfum Palace. The next area would be the northwest of Kalos, including a Geosenge area that wouldn’t have the big stones or graves yet because the war didn’t happen, but also including the area of Shalour City which could be used to tell the origin story of Mega Evolution. It would also probably include Courmaline City and the sea above, adding in Azure Bay and the Sea Spirit’s Den.

A third area would be the swampy forests around Laverre City and Dendemille Town, and all the creepy ghosts, fairies, swampy creatures and bugs that infest the area. I think they could pull this off well. The fourth area would the icy blizzard area of Dendemille Town, Frost Cavern, the route between Dendemille Town and Anistar City, and of course Terminus Cave. The last area would be the southeast of Kalos, including the starting routes (and the Chamber of Emptiness if they wanted to explain that) as well as Santalune Forest, Snowbelle City and the forest route beneath it, Pokémon Village and perhaps the rocky cave area of Victory Road if they wanted to include that. I chose this area to be last since it included the very end of the game and the start of the game, so I figured to just make it all have levels for the end of the game. As well, I’m listing some cities that would be in each area but the city/town itself would either not be there or be completely different to match 3000 years ago, just as Legends Arceus barely had any towns and just a few settlements. I would love to explore Kalos of the distant past and learn the lore of the AZ war.

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Alola

Pokémon Legends Magearna

As I said above, Alola is sort of a gray area in of whether or not they would revisit this region. With lifelike models and a tileless overworld, SMUSUM is the go-between of the chibi 3D of Generation 6 and the more open world feel of Generation 8-9. So I honestly don’t think they would ever really revisit Alola, but the potential is there if they want to. And honestly, there aren’t very many candidates for mascots either. Nihilego or Tapu Koko could technically be options since they were the first Ultra Beast or Island Guardian (respectively) the player was shown in SMUSUM, but the Alola games don’t leave me wanting more regarding the lore of either Pokémon.

Marshadow feels too irrelevant, but it could perhaps be an option I suppose since it does have its own Z-Move. Zeraora wasn’t introduced until USUM where it got little mention, and it got more spotlight in Sword and Shield with Max Raids and a Pokémon HOME Shiny Zeraora gift. Meltan and Melmetal are technically Gen 7 mythicals but they are only available in LGPE and beyond, and so would not make any sense for an Alola game. And of course Silvally was a modern creation; unless they didn’t go into the past it wouldn’t work. So that pretty much leaves Magearna, who is relevant enough in my opinion, is a mythical like Arceus if they want to stay that route, and has history in its movie as well as its Original Form that could be used for a tale of the past. But in all honesty I doubt we will ever see a Legends style game for Alola.

Regardless, at least Game Freak would already have their areas cut out for them. It would surely be that each island would make up an area to explore. So in that vein there isn’t much for me to discuss regarding what locations and landmarks would be in each separate area, since the islands already have that all taken care of. It would be up to Game Freak for which island the player would start on, but it could be fun to shake it up and start the player somewhere new rather than Melemele Island. Maybe an old-fashioned boat ridden by the player would get caught up in the storm and the player would wash ashore on some new secret island or something. This is all rather pointless speculation though, since as i said I doubt Alola will ever be revisited.

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Galar

It’s safe to say that Galar will never be revisited. This game is as close to open world as you can get without being literally an open world game, and so there would be no basis for Game Freak to revisit it because it would feel very similar to Sword and Shield no matter what they did. And I can say this without regret because if there ever was a time in the distant future where I eat my words on this, Pokémon Amino would be a graveyard (assuming the servers weren’t shut down by that point). I wanted to touch on every main series Pokémon region with this post, but there is nothing more for me to say for Galar since there will never be another game set in Galar.

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Conclusion

What do you guys think? I really hope to see a Legends style game for Unova and Kalos one day; it just makes so much sense. Did I miss something that would definitely be in a Legends game for one of these regions? Are you as excited as I am for the potential continuation of the Pokémon Legends series? Let me know your thoughts!

#RandomDynamics