When it was first announced that Game Freak's latest spin-off Pokemon Legends: Arceus would explore the history and mythos of the Pokemon world, fans were both intrigued and excited about a different perspective on their beloved series. Not only did Pokemon Legends: Arceus excel at telling the feudal origin story behind the Sinnoh region, but it went above and beyond to add more to the series than any previous spin-off had before, chief among which were the Hisuian forms and evolutions exclusive (for now) to the game.
Despite this achievement, one particular aspect of the game and Pokemon lore stood out to fans as being underappreciated for a game set within Pokemon's past. Though Game Freak had an excellent opportunity to take advantage of Pokemon Legends' historical setting, fossil Pokemon were surprisingly overlooked, and their inclusion was seemingly poorly thought out, as if they were forgotten until the last minute. Future Pokemon Legends games, therefore, need to do better by fossil Pokemon and capitalize on the opportunity to add a fresh take on an ancient Pokemon norm.
Fossils in Pokemon Legends: Arceus
To say that Game Freak "forgot" about fossil Pokemon would be misleading. In actuality, within Legends: Arceus there's a specific cave in Coronet Highlands where the two fossil Pokemon native to Sinnoh - the Shieldon and Cranidos lines - appear as fossils in the cave wall. This does align with the idea that even these particular Pokemon predate the game's events, but the only means of obtaining these Pokemon is through Space-Time Distortions, a process some players found frustrating and lackluster. These distortions appear to draw modern-day Pokemon like Porygon or Magnemite back through time for the player to catch, but fossil Pokemon also appear in the distortions. They're anomalous in that they are the only ones brought forwards instead.
To further complicate things, it seems Game Freak was also aware of the historical significance these fossil Pokemon had, as the Origin Ore is found near this cave. This implies that there may be some connection between Origin Ore and fossil Pokemon, or at least to the period of history they originate from, especially since the legend surrounding Arceus and the creation trio was the basis of all Pokemon existence. Even if Game Freak wasn't intending to reimagine fossil Pokemon as it had with other Pokemon lines like Zorua or Growlithe, then the introduction and lore of Origin Ore could have been helped with the inclusion of fossil Pokemon factoring into the narrative in some way.
Future Legends Need Better Fossils
The next question is what Game Freak will need to do for a possible future Legends game. One option is to continue the success of regional variations, even historical ones, and introduce new forms of fossil Pokemon. One common trope among most fossil Pokemon, save for Gen 8's fossils, is that they all share a Rock-typing. While it might have made sense initially for the first few games, it seems highly abnormal that, of fifteen confirmed prehistoric Pokemon lines, eleven of them have the Rock type. An easy retcon for this could take advantage of Gen 8's fossils which are mismatched, extending this to other fossil Pokemon have been "changed" over time through rock minerals replacing the calcium in bones and fitting with real-world science, explaining why they all currently share the Rock type.
New forms for these fossil Pokemon should get rid of the Rock-typing and instead reflect what the Pokemon originally looked like. For instance, Cranidos could become a Dragon-type, and Game Freak could go one step further by adding a new secondary type or even perhaps adding a third-stage evolution. Moreover, Game Freak could then explore the native fossils of other regions with each new Legends entry, which could prove fruitful for regions such as Unova when it has not just Archen and Tirtouga, but also the likes of Genesect's obscure, supposedly prehistoric origin as inspiration. Fans will have to wait and see if Game Freak does actually continue this new series following the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for Nintendo Switch.
