From the moment it was revealed, there was no doubt that Pokemon Legends: Arceus was far from a traditional Pokemon game. The RPG franchise is usually deeply rooted in its own traditions, but now Game Freak has created a title that defies hallmarks of the franchise. For one thing, Pokemon's iconic Pokedex has been overhauled in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, featuring much more complicated completion mechanics; players also get greater rewards than ever for working on it. Pokemon Legends: Arceus makes progress in plenty of other departments, like its crucial crafting system, greater options in catching Pokemon, and battles that pose an active threat to the protagonist.
However, in some ways, Pokemon Legends: Arceus also seems to have taken steps back. Not every change it brings is an advancement for the franchise. For instance, some players might have noticed that Pikachu doesn't say its name as its cry; it has returned to making a signature noise like every other Pokemon. Pikachu fits in better as a result, which is good, but the move is still confusing because of what it suggests about past and future Pokemon games. Will Pikachu no longer distinguish itself, or is Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Pikachu just an outlier because of its place on the Pokemon timeline?
Pikachu's Signature Cry
When the Pokemon franchise started, Pikachu would make a bespoke cry at the start of battle just like any other Pokemon. As time went on and Pikachu became a face of the franchise through the Pokemon anime, Game Freak replaced that noise with a clip of Pikachu saying its name. That move isn't so strange, since Pokemon always speak in altered versions of their own names, but Pikachu stood out for generations because it was the only Pokemon in the games themselves that audibly said its own name. Pikachu's contributions to the Pokemon franchise earned it a special distinction from its peers.
For some reason, though, Game Freak has made Pikachu revert to its original cry from the first Pokemon games. Pokemon Legends: Arceus doesn't offer an explanation for the change. It's possible that Game Freak decided that Pikachu stuck out too much by having a voice line, or maybe it didn't want to give Pikachu preferential treatment anymore. Whatever the case, the change is strange because other Pokemon games have used the Pikachu voice line for so long. Either Pokemon characters don't know the difference between the two sounds, or Pikachu has changed somewhere between Pokemon Legends: Arceus and the modern Pokemon games.
Changing Pokemon's Past and Future
It's possible that, at the time of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pikachu just hasn't developed the unique cry that recent mainline Pokemon games have used. After all, Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place some centuries in the past, long before the Sinnoh region was thoroughly developed by its citizens. Over the intervening years, Pikachu might have evolved in the scientific sense, developing a more articulated cry, eventually leading it to sound the same in the Pokemon games as it does in the anime.
If Pokemon Legends: Arceus' change to Pikachu is permanent, it wouldn't be surprising if Game Freak simply doesn't acknowledge it within the games. After all, within the world of the games, there's not much difference between the audible cries and a Pokemon's text-based dialogue, as far as Pokemon NPCs are concerned. Pikachu's unique cry may never have stood out to NPCs as remarkable, even though players could always hear a major difference. The change's meaning outside the Pokemon games could be more significant. Maybe Game Freak and Nintendo are trying to gently nudge Pokemon's spotlight away from Pikachu in order to make room for more mascots. It should be interesting to see what part Pikachu plays in future Pokemon games and stories.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for Nintendo Switch.
