Arceus, the god Pokémon, won’t turn up in Pokémon Go for this month’s upcoming Go Tour: Sinnoh.
Its apparent absence had been hotly debated by fans, though has now been confirmed to Eurogamer by developer Niantic. It means Go Tour: Sinnoh will be the first one of Pokémon Go’s popular annual Tour events not to let players complete their Pokédex for the corresponding region.
Two other Sinnoh species will also be absent: Mythical creatures Manaphy and Phione.
Pokémon GO Gen 4 Launch Trailer – Sinnoh Region
In a statement sent to Eurogamer, Pokémon Go developer Niantic said that these three Pokémon were “extra special” – and would get their own specific focus when they did arrive in the game.
“We wanted to give them some dedicated space when they eventually make their Pokémon GO debut,” a Niantic spokesperson said.
Arceus is arguably the most anticipated Pokémon yet to be made available in Pokémon Go. It is supremely powerful, known as the god of all Pokémon, and can change itself to become any Pokémon Type (Fire, Water, Grass, etc.) using a series of unique add-on “plates”. It also recently returned in a starring role for Pokémon’s main series games, via flashback RPG Pokémon Legends: Arceus on Nintendo Switch.
Manaphy and Phione are lesser known, though their status in Pokémon lore as one of only a handful of creatures given “Mythical” status still makes them notable. Indeed, the pair are unique, as Phione is the only Pokémon obtainable by breeding a Mythical creature (Manaphy itself).
Previous Tour events have allowed players to tick off the remaining creatures in that particular region’s Pokédex. Last year, the final creature still to release from the Hoenn region joined Pokémon Go just in advance of Go Tour: Hoenn.
This year, Go Tour: Sinnoh introduces Origin Forme Dialga and Palkia from Pokémon Legends Arceus and new game-changing effects. Dubbed as Adventure Effects, gameplay-changing abilities that let you extend the radius in which Pokémon spawn, or pause the countdown of in-game boosts such as Incense, Lucky Eggs and Star Pieces.
