Pokémon Legends: Arceus gave players a fascinating look at Sinnoh’s past, but it also accidentally created a plot hole for one of the anime movies. Admittedly, there was no way that the makers of the movie could have known, since it came out over ten years before the game. However, that doesn’t keep the timeline from now having inconsistencies.
Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life is an animated movie from 2009, and one of the many Pokémon films to have been released. This particular movie takes Ash and his friends back in time to the early days of Sinnoh, where they encounter Arceus personally. Whatever Arceus’ name truly means in Pokémon, his presence in the film is as powerful as one would expect. The film incorporates a lot of fascinating elements, as well as a high-stakes plot where the villain attempts to steal Arceus’ power. With a cool time travel plot as well as impressive showings from Sinnoh’s Creation Trio, it was a solid animation debut for the all-powerful Pokémon.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which was released earlier this year, has now created a plot hole for the film. In Legends: Arceus, the player character is also sent back in time. They find themselves in Hisui, the name for Sinnoh in Legends: Arceus and the distant past it takes place in. In fact, the name “Sinnoh” is instead used by the people of Hisui to refer to Arceus, whom they worship. With the movie being released so long before the game, there would naturally be inconsistencies. Some can be excused, like Michina Town never showing up in Legends: Arceus because it’s one of many anime-only locations. However, other things are harder to explain away.
Legends: Arceus Introduced Ideas That Directly Contradict Pokémon: Jewel Of Life
In Jewel of Life‘s version of ancient Sinnoh, there are no Hisuian forms of Pokémon to be found anywhere, nor any of their evolutions. Granted, there are only a few Hisuian Pokémon, and none of their non-Hisuian forms are seen in the film to cause any paradoxes. In addition, the ancient Sinnoh seen in the movie does not bear much – if any – resemblance to the Hisui seen in Legends: Arceus. One can imagine why Hisuian Pokémon wouldn’t be in Scarlet and Violet, but their lack of presence in ancient Sinnoh is not as easily explained.
There are also a few very major differences that make Jewel of Life and Legends: Arceus virtually incompatible. The biggest difference is the name of the region. In Legends: Arceus, the ancient version of Sinnoh is known as Hisui, while Arceus itself is known as Sinnoh. Because the plot of Jewel of Life heavily revolves around Arceus, this creates a plot hole every time someone mentions the legendary Pokémon. It makes sense for Ash and his friends to call the godlike Pokémon Arceus, but when the ancient characters are also doing so, it creates a heavy dissonance. Legends: Arceus proved that Pokémon could use more prequels, but developers would need to be careful not to open more plot holes in the process.
There are a few ways that these plot holes could be explained. The film being made so long before the game is one such explanation, as is the fact that the anime and games have taken so many separate paths that they are fully different continuities. However, for fans of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, it can be weird to watch Jewel of Life and see its newly made plot holes.