Story Summary and Ending Explained: Who Was the Ancient Hero?

Learn about the protagonist's journey and how the story unfolds in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Read on to know more about the game's plot, explanations of the story's ending, as well as details of who the Ancient Hero was!

Story Synopsis

The story starts with the main character getting sent back in time by Arceus to the Hisui region, the Sinnoh region of ancient times, with one task in hand—to seek out all Pokemon. From the same day onward, strange lightning from the rift starts striking the Noble Pokemon, causing them to enter a frenzied state. Now a member of the Survey Corps, the player must stop the frenzied Nobles from wreaking havoc, all the while completing the first-ever Pokedex and completing Arceus' quest.

Story Plot and Summary

Arriving on Hisui Region and Joining the Survey Corps

The player wakes up at Prelude Beach, where Professor Laventon finds and offers them refuge at Jubilife Village. Captain Cyllene backs the professor's request, but only if the player proves they can be an asset to the Galaxy Expedition Team. After completing the entry trial, the player becomes part of the Survey Corps and receives the Pokedex.

Quelling the Frenzied Nobles

The next day, the Galaxy Team discovers that the space-time rift where the player came out from starts unleashing strange lightning on the Noble Pokemon of the region, causing them to enter a frenzied state. Knowing the player's exceptional abilities, Commander Kamado gives them the task to quell these frenzied Pokemon with the help of the Diamond and Pearl Clan leaders and wardens.

The Lake Trials and the Red Chain

After pacifying the last of the five frenzied Noble Pokemon, the rift in space-time breaks wide open and turns the skies red. The commander links this phenomenon to the player and exiles them from the Galaxy Team and the village until he's proved wrong. Volo finds the player in the wild and brings them to Cogita, where they learn about the Red Chain—an artifact that can bind the world together and close the rift above Mount Coronet.

The player, accompanied by Volo and one of the clans' leaders, sets on a journey to find the Lake Guardians and complete their trials to obtain the materials needed for the Red Chain.

Closing the Rift

With the Red Chain in hand, the player travels to Mount Coronet to confront the Legendary Pokemon from the rift. Kamado stops the player at the temple as he still distrusts them. The player defeats the commander in a battle that results in a change of his heart. When the player uses the Red Chain on the Pokemon, it suddenly breaks to pieces, forcing them to take it down in a Pokemon battle.

The Counterpart

Soon after capturing the Legendary Pokemon, its counterpart appears from the rift and threatens the region once more. The captured legendary hints one of the leaders to create the Origin Ball—made from an ordinary Pokeball, the pieces of the broken Red Chain, and an Origin Ore. The player returns to the summit of Mount Coronet with the unique Pokeball in hand and captures the raging Pokemon with the help of its counterpart, finally closing the rift and reverting the skies to normal.

The Revelation

After celebrating their victory, the Galaxy Expedition Team goes back to their duty of completing the Pokedex. The remaining entries include Pokemon from the legends, and hearing about this plan, Volo offers assistance and urges the player to seek the rest of the Plates and the legendaries.

Eventually, the player gathers all the plates and meets Volo at the Temple of Sinnoh, where he reveals that he plotted with Giratina to tear open the rift to lure Arceus out. Seeing that it didn't work, Volo aimed to collect its fragments—the Plates—and use their power to find Arceus, give Giratina an opportunity to stand against its creator, and Volo the power to recreate the world.

The player defeats Volo and Giratina and receives the final Plate, transforming their Celestica Flute to the Azure Flute.

The Creator

Finally, the player finds all the Pokemon in the Hisui region and plays the Azure Flute, revealing a staircase that leads to the Hall of Origin, where Arceus resides. Arceus challenges the player to a battle; after they emerge victoriously, Arceus grants the player part of itself to join them as well as the Legend Plate. The player then returns to the Professor and the Galaxy Team to report that the Pokedex is truly complete.

Ending Explanation

Arceus remained silent

When the player finally met Arceus and bested it in battle, Arceus did not explain why they were sent back in time and had their memories erased. Arceus didn't even send them back home after completing its quest, leaving the protagonist no choice but to spend the rest of their lives in Hisui.

Why did Arceus send the protagonist back in time?

It seems like the reason they were sent back in time is to stop Volo and Giratina's plans to destroy the timeline and recreate the universe from scratch. Seeing that the protagonist is from a land where humans and Pokemon live in harmony, Arceus picked them to use their knowledge in helping the people of Hisui learn more about Pokemon and use their battle experience to quell the Nobles and defeat Giratina.

Who Was the Ancient Hero Arceus Spoke Of?

Throughout the story, players will hear about a person referred to as the "Ancient Hero". Arceus also tells how the protagonist's feat is similar to what the hero did in the past. Though the game didn't explicitly tell about the hero, collecting the Old Verses with Ursaluna might give players knowledge about their journey in the past.

Quelled the frenzied Pokemon in the past

If you read the text in Old Verse 3, you'll learn about the Ancient Hero calming the ten Pokemon hit by ten lightning strikes.

From the scripture, it seems like a rift was opened before that also unleashed strange lightning, turning the Pokemon they struck into frenzied ones. Then in Old Verse 4, it tells how the Ancient Hero eventually manages to quell the ten Pokemon and made them his companions.

It also tells how these Pokemon become the ancestors of the five frenzied Nobles and the five rideable Pokemon in the game!

Fought Giratina with his ten Pokemon

Since it is already confirmed that the lightning came from the rift and the rift was opened by Giratina, it's possible that someone already attempted to recreate the universe before with Giratina's help.

Old Verse 10 mentioned an "almighty unknowable" who the Ancient Hero fought against. This being could be Arceus, but the text also said it retreated to its "domain of no place"—which could be the Void, Giratina's realm.

Possible link to Cogita's ancestors

In Old Verse 12, the author mentioned that they waited until the "one with the mission" appeared.

It sounds like they're already expecting that someone in the future will make a pact with Giratina and seek Arceus' throne, and another hero will rise to stop them.

If you remember during your first meeting with Cogita at the Ancient Retreat, she tells you that she's been waiting for you and that she can finally fulfill her duty. She also refers to you as "the lost one", which opens the possibility that you are the "one with the mission" and she's a descendant of the author!

Pokemon Legends: Arceus Related Links

Complete Story Walkthrough

Story Walkthrough Guides

All Trainer Battles

Other Story Walkthrough Guides

List of All Missions