Game Freak's upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are still shrouded in mystery. Players know about a few returning monsters in Generation 9's new region, inspired by the Iberian Peninsula, as well as its starter Pokemon: the Grass-type Sprigatito, Fire-type Fuecoco, and Water-type Quaxly. However, fans have been left to speculate about the rest, including how the upcoming titles' Legendary Pokemon will look and act.
Legendary and Mythical Pokemon have long been akin to deities in the real world; revered for their place in a region's history, or even holding dominion over elements that shape the natural world. Box art Legendaries are arguably the best known, giving players the choice between two powerful creatures to work toward at the end of their journeys. Generation 8 subverted these expectations with Zacian in Sword version and Zamazenta in Shield. While these Legends and their third trio member Eternatus were interesting parts of the story, Scarlet and Violet would do well to universalize the role of their box art monsters as in earlier titles.
The Roles of Box Art Legendary Trios Throughout Pokemon
Despite most Pokemon games being recognizable for the Legendaries gracing their cover, this trend doesn't go back to the series' roots. Pokemon Red and Green released with Charizard and Venusaur on the cover, respectively, in 1996. The western release included Blue version with Blastoise on the cover, and an enhanced Yellow version later used Pikachu to coincide with the mascot's larger role in the story. While the Kanto region includes a trio of Legendary birds; Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres; it's really the singular Mewtwo that serves as an endgame encounter.
Pokemon Gold and Silver version began the trend of dual Legendaries with Ho-Oh and Lugia, but they didn't come as a trio. Instead, Lugia is a guardian of the ocean who rules over the Legendary birds, and Ho-Oh is a colorful guardian of the sky who rules over the Legendary beasts: Entei, Raikou, and Suicune (the latter appearing on Pokemon Crystal's box). Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald then established a full trio with Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza; super-ancient Pokemon with control over the weather.
Generation 4 followed up the weather trio with Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina; deities of time, space, and antimatter who operate under (or in spite of) the universe's creator Arceus. Pokemon Legends: Arceus built upon their lore by introducing new Origin Formes for Dialga and Palkia, matching Giratina's from Platinum version. Though Generation 5's Zekrom, Reshiram, and Kyurem are more tied into the Unova region's lore as split aspects of one ancient dragon, they're also considered representations of metaphysical concepts like truth and ideals; yin and yang.
While Generation 6 took Pokemon into 3D, X and Y had no third "complete" version. There's still room for a Pokemon Z version focused entirely on Zygarde as the trio master who balances Xerneas' life and Yveltal's death auras, though Sun and Moon already included a quest to collect Zygarde's cores. That being said, Sun and Moon's Legendary trio — Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma — are similar to Gen 5's box art Pokemon. All three are Ultra Beasts hailing from other dimensions, with Solgaleo and Lunala (both evolutions of Cosmog) representing light as "emissaries" of the Sun and the Moon. Necrozma can steal their light and use it to become Ultra Necrozma.
How Zacian and Zamazenta Changed the Game
The Galar region in Generation 8 is based on the United Kingdom, and its Legendary box art duo fit the kind of medieval fantasy one might expect. Players spend most of their adventure in Pokemon Sword and Shield learning about the Darkest Day: A period in Galar's history when a supposed pair of heroes stopped a dark force that caused Pokemon to rampage in massive Dynamax forms. Alongside Sonia, the protagonist and their rivals discover that it was really Zacian and Zamazenta who stopped Eternatus, a draconic being whose infinite energy reserves were scattered into the Wishing Stars that make modern competitive Dynamaxing possible.
In terms of spectacle, Sword and Shield knock things out of the part with its Legendary trio. The main plot ends with Pokemon League Chairman Rose reawakening Eternatus to supply Galar with infinite power, leading it to enter a unique Eternamax form that spreads a dark storm across the region. The player character and Hop use Zacian and Zamazenta's weapon artifacts to summon the beasts for a Max Raid Battle that ends with players catching Eternatus, and then the duo each pair up with one of the box art Legendaries after dealing with Sordward and Shielbert in the post-game.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Deserve a Larger Scope
Despite how grand the final battle with Eternatus looks, Sword and Shield's Legendary trio feel more like living folk tales meant to explain the Dynamax gimmick than they do embodiments of natural processes in the Pokemon world — it's hard to imagine Eternatus being relevant anywhere other than Galar. This isn't inherently a bad thing, if anything it harkens back to Ho-Oh and Lugia as figures tied to the mythology of Johto. Xerneas and Yveltal were also similarly used to explain Mega Evolution, with the backstory that AZ created an ultimate weapon thousands of years prior, which used their auras to revive his beloved Floette.
Yet, games like X and Y were able to tie their Legendaries into the specific lore of the Kalos region while also embodying aspects of the universe that affect everyone. People the world-over could point to Kyogre, Dialga, or Xerneas as deities; meanwhile Zacian and Zamazenta feel too grounded, more like lesser region-specific Legendaries such as Unova's Swords of Justice. While it's good to see Game Freak shake things up, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's fully open-world region deserves awe-inspiring Legendary Pokemon to match.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet release in late 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
