#also she shares a kanji with her starter ♥ which she did on purpose

[sage-nebula]

The final form of my Legends Arceus team! I also have a Drifblim and a Luxray that are pretty high-leveled as well, but alas I can only have six on me at a time and these are the six that I want to keep around at the moment, since I would rather have pokémon that I haven’t used recently / ever on my team over those that I have used recently. (I actually haven’t trained up a Drifblim before either, but again, I only have room for six. I did train a Luxray in Brilliant Diamond, though.)

Since Legends takes place in ancient Sinnoh (a.k.a. Hisui, a.k.a. ancient Japan), I decided to use Japanese name theming this time. Because I am That Bitch™, I actually consulted a kanji dictionary to pick out kanji for each of my pokémon’s names, so each of them have meanings. (I also did the same for my protagonist, whose name is Maki, but more on her some other time.) I did this both because I’m extra, but also because it honestly helped me find names lol. Anyway, along with this, I’ve also conscripted little personalities and such for them, so without further ado, and from left to right . . .

Mokutarou (望久太郎) the Ursaluna: Just the biggest boy you ever did see, since I evolved him from an Alpha Ursaring. Mokutarou’s name is wrtten with four kanji. The first (望) can have many different meanings, but the one I picked it for is “full moon”); the second (久) means “long time; old story”; the third (太) means “plump; thick; big around”; and the fourth (郎) means “son; counter for sons”. So altogether, his name can mean something like “plump old son of the full moon” or something like that, hahaha. Mostly I wanted the full moon kanji since you can only evolve an Ursaluna during the full moon, the plump / big meaning because he is a BIG boy, and the “son” meaning because he is my son. The second kanji is just kind of there to make it read like a name.

As mentioned, I captured an Alpha Ursaring and decided that would be my Ursaluna so he would be just the biggest bear in the whole world, and at 1000+ lbs, that dream was achieved. Naturally, Mokutarou was not too jazzed about being captured at first; he has an Adamant nature and the fact that he ended up in an Ultra Ball was a serious blow to his pride. But after being shown care and affection, and after seeing that the Noble Ursaluna had accepted Maki, Mokutarou came around and is one of the more protective members of the team, both for his trainer and for the other pokémon he travels with. In particular, no harm will ever come to Kiyoshi on his watch. He will not allow it.

Hinoki (火乃紀) the Hisuian Typhlosion: My sweet bby girl whom I knew I was picking even before her final evolution was revealed to be part ghost-type, which sealed a deal that was already decided. Hinoki’s name is written with three kanji. The first (火) means “fire”; the second (乃) means “from” or can be used to denote possession; and the third (紀) means “history; chronicle; narrative”. So altogether, Hinoki’s name means “fire of history” or “history’s fire”, which is rather appropriate for a fire-type in ancient Japan, don’t you think? (I focused on fire for her because Hisuian Cyndaquil is just a fire-type, and my protagonist wouldn’t have known about the eventual ghost-typing yet.)

Hinoki is very sweet, affectionate, and tends to be a pretty happy girl. She has a Modest nature, and it shows in the sense that while she’ll never be the one to start a fight or battle (without direction), but she will be the one to finish it, but then still won’t make a big deal out of doing so. As a Cyndaquil, she loved to ride around on Maki’s shoulders or in her arms; as a Typhlosion, she still goes in for big cuddles and hugs even though her size can make that a bit of an issue. She’s just a big sweetheart, just the purest angel.

Satoru (叡) the Wyrdeer: Another biggun since this is another Alpha evolution (from Alpha Stantler this time). Satoru has just the one kanji in her name, 叡, which means “intelligence; imperial” (or imperial intelligence if you want to read it like that). Satoru can be a male or a female name, and I chose it not only for the meaning, but also because in Breath of the Wild you can find the deer-like Lord of the Mountain on Mount Satori, which in turn was named after Iwata Satoru, who in turn actually gave a lot to the Pokémon series, not the least of which being he is a huge part of the reason why Gold/Silver/Crystal were able to exist as they did (and Johto is my favorite / home region, so). So it felt fitting to name my giant, mystical deer after him.

Satoru has a Quiet nature, but also a very regal one. She may not be the same Noble Wyrdeer that the Diamond Clan serves, but she carries herself as though she should be. (And honestly, she’s much bigger than he is, so . . .) Most of the time she feels as though the antics of the others are beneath her notice; she’s aloof and doesn’t pay them much mind. But every so often one of the others can manage to get under her skin (er, fur?) and set her off into a passionate discussion (Morihito is very adept at this). Satoru is also very particular about the upkeep of her beard and demands it brushed at least twice a day, morning and night.

Kiyoshi (希吉) the Hisuian Zorua: Just the cutest little baby in the whole wide world, oh yes he is. Kiyoshi’s name is written with two kanji. The first (希) means “hope; beseech; pray”, and the second (吉) means “good luck; joy”. So altogether his name means “hope for good luck” or something along those lines. Considering the lore of Hisuian Zorua—how they fled their home due to people’s fear and hatred of them, how they died in Hisui’s tough climate and were reborn as ghosts—I figured his name felt appropriate, in that his species came to Hisui looking for a better life (hoping, praying for good luck and joy), and even though he had to be reborn as a ghost-type, he can still get that good luck and joy now, with a found family.

Kiyoshi has a Rash nature; he attacks first and asks questions later, but this is out of defensive aggression more than anything. He’s been alone ever since he can remember; he doesn’t know what happened to his mother Zoroark or any siblings he might have had. And when he’s first captured from that icy cave, he’s terrified. But as he comes to realize he’s safe with a new family, and begins to relax, a more playful side of him comes out and he enjoys being treated as the baby of the group. Kiyoshi could evolve at any time, but chooses not to, and there’s no pressure for him to, either. As mentioned above, Mokutarou is very protective of him, and Morihito has also accepted Kiyoshi as a pup, too. He loves his new family.

Morihito (守仁) the HIsuian Growlithe: The last of the big ones, since Morihito, too, is an Alpha. The first kanji in Morihito’s name, 守, means “guard; protect; defend”. The second, 仁, means “humanity; virtue; benevolence.” So altogether, Morihito’s name means something like “protector of virtue” or “protector of humanity.” Something along those lines.

Morihito has a Brave nature, and takes two things very seriously: his pride as a Growlithe, and the protection of his pack. Although Morihito had great respect for Lord Arcanine (as well as the new Lord Arcanine), he has no desire to be an Arcanine himself, feeling that he doesn’t have to evolve to measure up to that standard of greatness, especially since he’s an Alpha Pokémon. (His opinion on evolution is also why Kiyoshi won’t evolve; Kiyoshi greatly looks up to Morihito). Aside from this though, Morihito can be very playful and is sometimes not aware of how much strength is in his size. It’s not uncommon for him to try to sit on Maki’s lap, or roughhouse a little too much with Kiyoshi or Kaiji. (Also, he likes to see what boundaries he can push with Satoru. Her head is in the clouds? Well he’s part rock-type, he’ll bring her back down to earth!!)

Kaiji (海久) the Vaporeon: My water-type of choice for this game, since I haven’t used a Vaporeon since my very much beloved Vaporeon back in Gen I, and I wanted to give it another go-round, something I have not regretted one bit. Kaiji’s name is written with two kanji: 海 meaning “sea; ocean” and 久 meaning “long time; old story” — and yes, it was also used in Mokutarou’s name above, but kanji can be read differently (both in terms of meaning and pronunciation) depending on the kanji around them. Kanji is wild, lol. But altogether, Kaiji’s name can be read as “old story of the sea.”

Kaiji has an Adamant nature, and that’s plain to see whether he is himself or whether he is melted into water. You don’t tell Kaiji what he’s going to do. Kaiji also doesn’t tell you what he’s going to do. He just does it. If you try to force him to do something, he will absolutely melt into a liquid state and good luck getting him to budge then. Kaiji is happiest when he is in water of some kind (even just falling rain), and very much enjoys taking naps. He strongly dislikes when Morihito tries to roughhouse with him (and will spray water in Morihito’s face to get him to stop), but he does like when people gush over how pretty he is. When he’s feeling particularly generous, he hunts Remoraid or Starly and leaves their corpses as presents for Maki. She does not appreciate this.

And that’s the main team! I was this extra for the other pokémon I temporarily used (my Drifblim Fuusenshi, my Luxray Denji, etc), but I’ll get into them some other time if anyone’s interested. Likewise, I have a whole backstory and everything for my protagonist Maki (whose name is written with the kanji 真紀), but again, maybe I’ll talk about her some other time. All in all though, this is my primary team in Legends Arceus, and I’m very attached to them. Fingers-crossed this game ends with changing the future in some way so these evolutions / forms can make a comeback in future games. (Don’t spoil for me if you’ve already completed the main story, I’m procrastinating the main story on purpose to make the game last longer. We’ll get there when we get there etc.)