Pokemon Legends: Arceus Ancestor References Get Better the Further They Stray

gamerant.com:

Pokemon games are often considered to be light on story. Most of the series' mainline entries follow the same overarching patterns of becoming Pokemon League Champion, completing the regional Pokedex, and stopping evil teams from using god-like creatures to wreak havoc. The details and individual characters vary, but Game Freak has thrived on this largely uniform identity. That's part of what makes Pokemon Legends: Arceus a fun experience; it leans harder into the underlying, interconnected lore of the universe more than any game to-date.

Plenty of prior games have emphasized different ways the Pokemon world is interconnected, like the real-world countries each region is based on. For example, Kanto and Johto are conjoined and share the same League headquarters at Indigo Plateau. Alola is full of Kantonian Pokemon and regional variants, meanwhile players run into characters including Gen 1 protagonist Red, Unova Elite Four Grimsley, Hoenn Frontier Brain Anabel, and Kalos research assistants Dexio and Sina. The games even offer worldbuilding elements inspired by earlier entries, such as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's Mauville City being remodeled after Lumiose City.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Eternal Battle Reverie Feels Similar to Platinum's Battle Castle

However, while fans have always been able to track the movement of different characters; like Kalos Gym Leader Valerie being from Johto or Galar Gym Leader Kabu being from Hoenn; rarely has that been more obvious or interesting as in Legends: Arceus. The latest Pokemon game is mechanically experimental, but also sets itself a few hundred years in the past when modern-day Sinnoh was known as Hisui. Plenty of ancestors appear for Sinnoh characters alongside others from across