Pokemon Legends Arceus reportedly making drastic change to evolution
Game Freak / The Pokemon CompanyA new leak claims that Pokemon Legends Arceus will change the way Pokemon evolve. According to an insider, the 25-year-old mechanic will get a major overhaul.
With only a few weeks until its release on January 28, 2022, there is still a lot we don’t know about Pokemon Legends Arceus. The Hisui region RPG looks to be a major departure from previous titles in the long-running franchise.
If a new leak is to be believed, the Game Freak series could see its biggest change yet with PLA. According to a prominent insider, Pokemon will no longer evolve based on levels in the Sinnoh origin story.
Game Freak / The Pokemon CompanyPokemon will evolve differently in Pokemon Legends Arceus?
After months of silence, Nintendo Japan dropped a 6-minute Pokemon Legends Arceus trailer on January 8. The clip raised some eyebrows though when several fans pointed out that Pokemon in the video such as Cyndaquil had not evolved despite being past the level they normally would.
Popular insider Kelios responded to players on social media and teased that the evolutions in PLA are actually triggered by completing tasks and Pokedex entries.
“They don’t evolve by leveling, but by completing tasks,” the French outlet tweeted. This would be a pretty substantial change as for eight generations ‘mon typically evolve by leveling up or through special methods such as items and trades.
It’s unclear if Kelios was talking about Legends Arceus starters only or whether the new evolution mechanic applies to all ‘mon in the game.
Over on the r/PokeLeaks forum, fans pointed out instances in the trailer where Pokemon were leveled past their usual evolutions such as Gen II starter Cyndaquil who evolves into Quilava at Level 14.
It should be of course be stated to take everything with a major grain of salt. It’s not entirely clear if Kelios was making a guess or actually teasing a new leak. Regardless, it should be treated as speculation at this point.
Whether intended or not, Game Freak’s new trailer has created new intrigue for many fans, who are suspicious of the levels of ‘mon shown off, and the lack of secondary evolution forms.