Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Way to Evolve Trade-Exclusive Pokemon Should Become a Staple of the Franchise

gamerant.com:

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is arguably one of the most innovative Pokemon games in a long time because it dares to revolutionize a well-tried formula that lasted for over 25 years now, and it challenges it in many ways, too. Pokemon fans went from running into wild creatures in tall grass from hiding in it to catching Pokemon in the overworld, all while managing limited resources and trying to survive in the wilds of the Hisui region. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is missing core features like held items, breeding, and abilities, and yet it still manages to introduce new ones that make the gameplay loop compelling and quite refreshing.

Items are still ever-present in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, though, and players can find heaps of different types of them — from crafting materials to the usual potions and Poke Balls, including plenty of evolution items. Speaking of evolution items, Pokemon Legends: Arceus players can evolve Haunter into Gengar completely solo if they want, and the same holds true for all other trade-exclusive evolutions in the game — including Pokemon like Porygon Z, Steelix, Alakazam, and even more. In fact, items that are normally supposed to be given to Pokemon and then trade in order to evolve them can now be used on those creatures directly, evolving them immediately. On top of that, Pokemon that were only ever evolved through trades and without held items can now evolve thanks to a precious, rare item: the Linking Cord.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus — How to Get an Early Chimchar

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is designed as a solo experience, and while trading and online connectivity are still available throughout the game, this title was conceived to be fully playable alone. The game's theme of Pokemon trainers being scarce