The latest trailer forPokemon Legends: Arceusspotlights some of the human characters that players can expect to meet, putting a particular emphasis on the Diamond and Pearl Clans and their respective leaders Adaman and Irida. While the trailer didn’t go into detail about each clan’s significance and activities, it looks like the rivalry between the Diamond and Pearl Clans will serve as a subplot forPokemon Legends: Arceus.Even as the trailer introduced fans to these characters, though, it hinted at a very different piece of lore. Fans saw characters use the word “Sinnoh”, but not in reference to the region; instead, they seem to be invoking some sort of god.
The word Sinnoh appears twice inthe newPokemon Legends: Arceustrailer: once when Adaman asks Almighty Sinnoh for forgiveness after getting caught up in an argument with Irida, and once when Irida mentions that Almighty Sinnoh is the creator of the Hisui region.Pokemonfans are no stranger to lore where ancient humans worshipped Legendary and Mythical Pokemon like gods, but as of now, it’s not clear who Adaman and Irida are referring to when they talk about Sinnoh. There’s multiple ways to interpret their use of Sinnoh, all of which inevitably lead back toPokemon Legends: Arceus' core concept.
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Palkia and Dialga as One Creator God
One possibility is that the people of the Hisui region conflate theDiamondandPearlLegendary PokemonDialga and Palkia as one being that they refer to as Sinnoh. Irida’s implication that Sinnoh is the one who created the Hisui region makes these two Pokemon seem like likely candidates. Dialga and Palkia are credited with creating space and time, and they seem better known to denizens of the Sinnoh region than Arceus, so it’s possible that people in the days of the Hisui region interpreted Dialga and Palkia’s influence as two sides of a single god.
Conflating the two Pokemon in that way could help explain how the word “Sinnoh” changes from referring to a creator god to being the name of the Sinnoh region. Since Dialga and Palkia were created by Arceus, it seems likely thatthePokemon Legends: Arceusprotagonistwill encounter both of them, passing on the knowledge that they’re only the descendants of the true creator, who goes by a completely different name. From there, the region might be renamed as Sinnoh as a sign of respect to Dialga and Palkia, honoring the way they impacted the region’s people.
A False Name for Arceus
Of course, it might be more likely that Almighty Sinnoh isPokemon Legends: Arceus' titular star. Even though Game Freak has released a lot of trailers for the game, Arceus' place in the time of the Hisui region is pretty unclear. Trailers have focused much more onHisuian forms of Pokemon, Noble Pokemon, human NPCs, and other basic aspects of the game. Because of that, there’s no clear indication of how well known Arceus is to the people of the Hisui region. It could have made many appearances that inspired the Hisui region’s mythology, or it could be a distant presence that’s only rumored to exist.
No matter which end of the spectrum Arceus' prevalence falls on, Arceus itself seems like a logical inspiration for the Almighty Sinnoh. As an extremely powerful and versatile Pokemon,any description of Arceus in actioncould easily inspire stories about a god responsible for making the Hisui region. If Arceus is reclusive, or at least seems dangerous enough that humans haven’t investigated it closely, then it’d make sense that people of the Hisui region don’t know Arceus' name, and so they refer to it as Sinnoh instead. If thePokemon Legends: Arceusprotagonist speaks with Arceus and learns its name, then the Sinnoh title’s role could change.
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A Wholly New Pokemon God
There’s another intriguing possibility in place. It could be that Almighty Sinnoh doesn’t refer to any Pokemon at all, but instead is completely mythological. The people of the Hisui region have a much less tight-knit relationship with Pokemon than characters from the core Pokemon games, thanks toPokemon Legends: Arceus' place in the distant past. Some Hisuians even seem to fear Pokemon, making it seem unlikely that the whole culture worships a Pokemon called Sinnoh. What’s more, at this point in thePokemontimeline, people might havesuch a limited understanding of Legendary Pokemonthat there’s no concept to worship, meaning humans created their own story about the Hisui region and a deity called Sinnoh.
If Almighty Sinnoh isn’t a Pokemon, then the path of worship throughPokemon Legends: Arceusmight actually go in the opposite direction. By the end of the game, humans might come to worship Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus, rather than the Almighty Sinnoh. As Legendary and Mythical Pokemon become the center of a new religion, humans might decide to lay the Sinnoh name to rest by renaming the region after their old god. That could explain whythe current Sinnoh regionhas so much ancient religious iconography for Dialga and Palkia.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Unique Perspective
Regardless of who or what Almighty Sinnoh actually is, it’s interesting to see Game Freak make religion so blatantly important in aPokemongame in the first place. CorePokemongames frequently have references to how ancient people used to worshipcertain Legendary or Mythical Pokemon, but it’s rare to see human characters actually worshipping anything within the game. Since the Hisui region is part ofPokemon’s distant past, it makes sense that religion could be more prevalent, as players may actually be in the bygone era of widespread Pokemon worship. Game Freak is making smart use out ofPokemon Legends: Arceus' time period; this spiritual interaction with thePokemonworld really helps the game stand out.
Almighty Sinnoh raises major questions about how Arceus impacts the game’s plot as well. No matter who humans refer to as Sinnoh, the strong presence of religion alongside a focus onthePokemonuniverse’s true creatorcould make for an heavily faith-drivenPokemonnarrative. It’s a very different look for the franchise, but whenPokemongames often reuse plot concepts, drastic difference is a good thing. Whether Sinnoh is a name given to a Pokemon or a metaphysical human concept, it’ll be interesting to see how human perspectives and Pokemon power collide in this new game.
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