Pokemon Legends: Arceus hides a Diamond and Pearl lore callback in plain sight

Pokemon Legends Arceus
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pokemon Legends: Arceus hides a callback to a piece of world-building lore from Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum in plain sight, letting players play a pivotal role in an old tale they may have long since forgotten.

The Hisui region you explore in Pokemon Legends: Arceus will later be known as Sinnoh, the home of the Diamond and Pearl games as well as their recent Switch remakes. While the region changes greatly in the interceding decades, certain landmarks remain. Reddit user rustphase31 posted an especially compelling comparison of Floaroma Town from Pokemon Platinum and Floaro Gardens, its predecessor in Pokemon Legends Arceus.

absolutely_amazing_to_actually_experience_the from r/PokemonLegendsArceus

A Floaroma townsperson shares the tale of how the town used to be a sad and barren place avoided by people and Pokemon alike. Humans tried to plant flowers there to lighten the mood but they refused to grow, until someone's gratitude for the blessings of nature resulted in all the flowers around them simultaneously erupting into bloom. So the story goes.

Without getting too deep into spoilers for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, you may have the chance to find out the truth behind this old tale - and to catch a certain legendary Pokemon in the process. Until then, you can just savor all those spooky wilted flowers vibes.

It looks like Pokemon Legends: Arceus DLC could expand its world even more in months to come, though reports of the post-launch content are purely rumors and conjecture for the time being.

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Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.