Pokemon Legends: Arceus - How Many Pokemon Are In the Game?

01/28/2022 11:01 am EST

Pokemon Legends: Arceus has a significantly smaller roster of Pokemon than previous Pokemon games. One of the major questions coming into Pokemon Legends: Arceus is just how many Pokemon appear in the new game. After all, the new Pokemon game is a major departure from past games, in part because the Pokemon of the Hisui region can be found roaming throughout the wild. These Pokemon do more than just walk around the map – they interact with the environment and each other, as well as attack humans who get too close or too aggressive. 

Because of all the extra care that went into bringing the individual Pokemon species to life, it's probably not a surprise that Pokemon Legends: Arceus has a smaller roster of Pokemon. In total, the game has 242 species of Pokemon, which includes the Mythical Pokemon Shaymin and Darkrai. There are a few "extra" Pokemon that appear in the way of alternate forms – for instance, both Alolan and Kantonian Vulpix appears in the game, as does the Johtonian and Hisuian variants of Sneasel. Still, this is the smallest roster of catchable Pokemon available since Pokemon Gold and Silver, which of course had 251 Pokemon species. Like Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, players cannot transfer Pokemon not native to the games through trades or the Pokemon Home app. So at the moment, you can only use the 242 Pokemon species that you catch throughout the course of the game.

While previous generations of Pokemon games made every species of Pokemon available in some fashion, the current "Gen 8" generation still has numerous Pokemon totally unavailable, despite the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and now Pokemon Legends: Arceus. That's led some fans to speculate whether more content is coming to Pokemon Legends: Arceus in the form of post-launch DLC. It wouldn't be the first time that a Pokemon game has added more Pokemon to a game after release, and in this case it would certainly add a lot more content and variety to what's otherwise a very impressive Pokemon game. 

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now on the Nintendo Switch. You can find our full review of the new Pokemon game here.

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