Pokemon GO MUST Be Teasing Arceus At This Point


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It all lines up. It does. Call it a stretch, but it makes sense. Pokemon GO is getting ready to unleash Arceus and you can't convince me otherwise. Here's why I think a Pokemon GO Arceus release date is right around the corner.

Yesterday, Niantic announced that every single Legendary Pokemon introduced so far would be coming back to the raid roster on July 18. That's dozens of them at this point, all popping up in 5-star raids basically at the same time.

Though the announcement called it simply part of the 5-year GO Fest celebrations, even Niantic is teasing that there has to be an in-game reason for the massive influx of legendary Pokemon. That reason? You got it: A lead-in to the Pokemon GO Arceus release date.

It isn't just down to the relatively easy-to-read patterns of Pokemon GO content releases that points toward this. There are both lore and marketing reasons behind it, too.

Arceus is known as the Creation Pokemon. Since it was introduced back in the Gen 4 games Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, it was a mythical Pokemon basically found in the heavens.

Stories littered throughout the game told tales of how it created the game's legendary Pokemon; the creation trio Dialga, Palkia and Giratina and the Lake trio Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit.

It created the entire Pokemon universe. There's even a mind-blowing cutscene in the Gen 2 remakes that flashes the earth, galaxy. and even individual cells in front of your eyes as you use Arceus to create another one of those beasts.

So what does that have to do with Arceus coming to Pokemon GO? It using its powers to create a whole bunch of legendaries would make sense, wouldn't it? That's why they're ALL popping up in raids around the world at the same time.

Pokemon GO is getting better at telling stories. While I wouldn't go so far as to say Arceus has been captured and manipulated by Team GO Rocket (or could we be seeing Team GO Galactic?) I wouldn't put it past Niantic at this point. It's exciting. It's exactly what the game needs more of.

But why now? We've already had Gen 5 mythical Pokemon show up in Pokemon GO before the Gen 4 critters. There has to be a reason why they've been held back.

Arceus is a marketing tool.

Not only are Gen 4 remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl set to release this year, but Pokemon Legends Arceus, an entire game dedicated to the PokeGod, is set to release in January.

Nintendo has always been adamant that its mobile games exist to entice players to pick up its consoles and big-budget titles, and Pokemon GO is no exception. In fact, it's happened before.

Pokemon Sun and Moon was set to release on the Nintendo 3DS just a few short months after Pokemon GO's meteoric launch. Banner ads on buses in the UK used a quote from a regional newspaper calling it "The perfect follow-up to Pokemon GO", and the same probably happened all over the world.

A banner ad on a UK bus enticing Pokemon GO players to pick up Pokemon Sun and Moon.
click to enlarge
Credit: My Nintendo News

And the hype worked. Pokemon Sun and Moon became Nintendo's fastest-selling games ever in America at the time.

Two years later, with the release of the updated versions of the games, the Alolan Pokemon that played on nostalgia were brought into Pokemon GO. Again, marketing.

And now, the marketing machine is spinning up again. It all adds up. The creation Pokemon has been skipped over time and time again. It's a literal god: it makes sense it'd be held back for some big story event to hype up some new $60 games.

With remakes of its debut titles Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl just a few months down the line and its very own brand-new game Pokemon Legends Arceus set to launch just a few months later, the stars could not align better.

Heck, there's even the running theory that Arceus was teased in a loading screen back in March.

It could come at GO Fest, or it could come between the release of the two games toward Christmas. One thing I'm certain about, though, is that Arceus is finally coming to Pokemon GO, and the #TogetherWeRaid movement is just the start.

It's the Season of Discovery, and what bigger discovery is there than the answers to the perplexing debate over creation itself?

For more articles like this, take a look at our Pokémon GO, Pokémon Legends Arceus, Pokémon, and Only Mobile Gaming pages.