Pokemon Legends: Arceus fan theory may explain why Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott were chosen as starters

The excitement of the 25th anniversary Pokemon Direct that took place last week is yet to wear off and has led some fans to begin speculating about the upcoming titles. 

According to a user known as u/ZeeGee009 in the Pokemon subreddit, the reasoning behind Pokemon Legends: Arceus' starter Pokemon can be traced back to 12th century Japan. Given the game's reveal trailer, that makes a lot of sense, as this game's version of the Sinnoh region belongs to a much older time period.

This theory points to the connection between the starter Pokemon: Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott, their evolutions, and feudal Japan. u/ZeeGee009 firstly points to Rowlet having links to Archers due to its evolution Decidueye’s ‘Arrow Quill Pokémon’ status. They also point out that Oshawott’s evolution, Samurott, is “very clearly Samurai” focused.

As for Cyndaquil’s connection, which the Reddit poster notes took “a while to figure out”, they propose that not only is the Pokemon based on a honey-badger (which can be found in Japan) but that Cyndaquil’s evolution Typhlosion’s Japanese name is ‘Bakufu’, which can be translated to ‘Shogun’, which “were titles given to Military Generals in Feudal Japan.”

Pokemon Legends: Arceus signifies “a new approach" to making Pokemon games, according to the game’s developer Game Freak, and as you can see from our Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailer breakdown, it “looks to be the open-world evolution we've always dreamt of.”

This wasn’t the only exciting thing announced at the 25th Anniversary Pokemon Direct, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl - which are remakes of 2006’s Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl - were also announced to be released in "late 2021."

While we wait for the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, take a look at what else Nintendo has on offer from our best Pokemon games list