Legends: Arceus Proves Future Pokémon Trainers Have Terrible Parents
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus the residents of Jubilife village have a healthy measure of fear and respect for the mythical beasts that share the world with humanity, and the practice of sending youth out to capture and battle Pokémon would seem absurd, proving that future monster-collecting Pokémon trainers have terrible parents. Although more attention has been focused on the open world areas of Legends: Arceus and its updated capture mechanics, the story is even more of a departure from typical Pokémon fare. Almost every mainline game begins with a young person leaving their hometown with their mother’s blessing to catalog their region’s Pokémon and engage in battles. These games, which take place later in the timeline, depict a world where humans and Pokémon coexist in cooperation, and one where much of the culture and economy revolves around the titular Pocket Monsters. While overcoming fear and growing to understand Pokémon makes sense, none of this justifies the criminally negligent parenting exhibited in other Pokémon titles.
Some fans question why Pokémon protagonists are always children. The design choice obviously has more to do with the target audience of Pokémon games, ensuring an “all ages” design paradigm that avoids mature subject matter. Because every prior Pokémon game takes place in an era where the journey to become a Pokémon master is evidently an accepted coming-of-age practice, it may have stood out as ridiculous to players, but it was never criticized by in-game logic. Rather than befriending a stray puppy and asking, “Can I keep it?” the heroes of Pokemon ally with a mythical beast and then leave home to capture and train as many of them as possible. The worlds of Pokémon games typically featured a sort of shared etiquette and bizarre societal norms. Games like Pokémon Sword and Shield include other youth as well as professionals like businessmen and journalists taking time out of their day to battle the hero’s Pokémon with their own. Even the villains of the series use this as their main mode of conflict resolution.
The child heroes of Pokémon games never appear to be in any real danger of personal injury in earlier games. Even the gangster-style Team Rocket or the malevolent visionaries of Team Galaxy still relied on Pokemon battles to settle any disputes. When they lose these battles, they accept defeat and flee, never once directly assaulting another human. The newest title was a game-changer in this regard. People are afraid of Pokémon in Legends: Arceus, and for good reason. The creatures have destroyed villages in the past, per the game’s lore, and the new battle system reflects this danger as well. The game’s human hero is able to take damage from wild Pokémon in the field, which can render them unconscious. Even area-of-effect attacks that would strike multiple Pokémon in group battles never hurt any of the human trainers, prior to Legends: Arceus, where the dangers of Pokémon became more real.
The ancient Hisui-era story of Legends: Arceus does lay down some of the building blocks of the world of future Pokémon games, but none of these logically justify the poor parenting on display in future generations. Pioneers are barely figuring out how Poké Balls work in Legends: Arceus. The player can volunteer their Pokémon to aid with farming crops, foreshadowing the status quo of other games where Pokémon holding jobs is an accepted part of society. The protagonist of Pokémon Legends: Arceus appears slightly older than some series titles, commonly viewed as an older version of the heroes of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, based on character designs. This character emerged from a rift in space and time and exhibited an unusual rapport with Pokémon as well as a lack of fear. This supports the idea that the hero grew up in a world where capturing and training Pokémon are commonplace pastimes among the youth. It does nothing to explain why it became so commonplace, however.
Due to Space/Time Distortions the Noble Pokémon of Hisui enter a frenzied state. The Legends: Arceus Wardens are total failures, it seems, as they turn to the young outsider to quell the raging Nobles fury. Notably some of the Wardens are also extremely young, like Braviary’s Warden, Sabi, who appears younger than the protagonist. There is some justification for this, as the game depicts an earlier era where life was harder, therefore people likely had to grow up faster and contribute in order to survive. All prior Pokémon games took place in settings where technology largely mirrored the real world, albeit with the wrinkle of Pokémon existing. Pokémon Sword and Shield show a world where the internet, television, and game consoles exist. It is a surreal juxtaposition, providing a setting where Master Mustard can play Pokémon Quest on his Switch, but the only school systems depicted are the various academies and dojos for prospective Pokémon trainers.
There is some logic to the idea that if creatures like Pokémon did exist the world would be a very different place. The emergence of a battle-focused, youth-oriented culture is less intuitive of a leap, however. Legends: Arceus’ most emotional quest showed a gentler side, with an elderly woman befriending a Chimecho in a relationship closer to the conventional bond between a human and their pet. The hero’s mother in Pokémon Sword and Shield takes care of the family Munchlax, another example of a domesticated “pet” Pokémon. The practice of training and battling Pokémon, which exists somewhere between training show dogs and engaging in cockfighting, is certainly a harder pill to swallow. The fiction of Pokémon suggests that on some level most Pokémon enjoy battles and growing stronger, with rarer exceptions like Ida’s Chimecho in Legends: Arceus.
Pokémon Sword and Shield show the battle circuit as the primary national pastime of the Galar region. Even accepting the notion that a culture developed where Pokémon battles are widely accepted, the danger of the activity seems to have been forgotten since the days of Hisui. Eternatus nearly destroys Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Galar region twice, however, offering a reminder of the ever-present danger posed by powerful Pokémon. Accepting the battle culture as the norm still offers no insight as to why so many children would be allowed to act as trainers, rather than reserving the role for trained professionals with proper education in mitigating the inherent dangers of pitting Pokémon against each other. The casual attitude the heroes’ parents display at the announcement that their children are leaving home to roam the land on foot or by bicycle without adult supervision should be concerning, even putting aside the dubious nature of Pokémon battles. Yet these adult guardians are generally content to supply some money or a map, wishing their children the best of luck as they set out on their Pokémon-centered Bildungsroman.
By showing a formative period in the Pokémon timeline, Legends: Arceus took on a more serious tone than most Pokémon games, making the poor judgment of the parents of future generations stand out in comparison. By introducing the concept of summoned mount Pokémon, Legends: Arceus fixed the “Legendary Problem” of Pokémon games, where a 13-year-old might command a literal deity. This did not fix the "parent problem," however, or answer why these children are being given free reign to travel and battle alone. The more realistic take on the Pokédex that Legends: Arceus took also called into question why professional adult researchers are not handling the job of cataloging Pokémon, much less battling them for sport. The heroes of Japanese RPGs and anime series are often far younger than what makes sense by real-world standards. By showing a more grounded take on what a world full of Pokémon would look like, Pokémon Legends: Arceus made every other Pokémon game appear all the more outlandish, and certainly painted the parents of future generations’ trainers as terrible guardians.