Pokemon Legends: Arceus

So much of the story in Pokemon Legends: Arceus revolves around the mysterious god-like Pokemon, it’s only natural that the game isn’t truly over until you come face to face with Arceus itself. This represents the end of the second main quest that begins after you’ve wrapped up the main story and seen credits, and it’s such a quest it’s likely to more than double your total playtime. Here’s how to finish the quest The Deified Pokemon and catch your very own Arceus.

Spoilers follow.

A New Day Dawns and The Remaining Plates

Before you can start the final quest, The Deified Pokemon, you have to solve a mystery surrounding the elemental plates you’ve been gathering the whole game. The game will point you in the right direction when you start playing after the credits roll, with the quest called A New Day Dawns. That quest will send you looking for the remaining elemental plates, across a variety of quests. The game mostly guides you along these with clear waypoints and a variety of new boss battles, most encapsulated under a quest called Seeking The Remaining Plates.

This will ultimately result in a lengthy battle with Volo, the toughest battle in the game up to this point. He’ll come at you with level 68 Spiritomb, Roserade, Togekiss, Arcanine, Lucario, and Garchomp. That battle will be tough enough, but then he’ll immediately follow with a two-phase fight against Giratina–first in its crawling form, then in its flying form. There won’t be any break to heal your Pokemon between Volo’s Pokemon and the two phases of Giratina, so it’s essentially a fight against eight Pokemon in all.

You’ll need to bring a strong set of Pokemon to counter this gauntlet. Cresselia, one of the Pokemon you caught while gathering the plates, is invaluable for this fight since it has access to both Psychic and Fairy-type moves. Dialga or Palkia (or both) can also be great additions, for their combination of Water-type moves and Dragon-type to take on Giratina. You may also want to consider bringing the Alpha Blissey you can find near the waterfall in the Obsidian Fieldlands, since its high health and defensive moves can give you a chance to catch your breath and use healing items.

Keep in mind that since this is a multi-phase battle, you’ll need to carefully plan out your Strong and Agile moves. Using a Strong move will leave you that much more vulnerable for the next Pokemon Volo sends out, and he’ll usually cater his choices to find ones that are Super Effective against your current Pokemon. Also consider buying the Max Revive recipe and crafting a few so that you can revive fallen Pokemon. The second phase of Giratina will also use a move that obscures your vision, so be prepared to take some hard hits while your own attacks occasionally miss.

Once you’ve completed the fight against Volo, you’ll get the final plate, called the Spooky Plate. More importantly, a cutscene will trigger showing your Celestica Flute turning into the Azure Flute, which has the power to summon Arceus.

But not so fast. When you use the new Azure Flute, you’re given a message on your Arc Phone to “Seek out all Pokemon.” And you know what that means!

Gotta catch ’em all (no really though)

As you may have guessed from the not-subtle hint, you’ll need to capture all the remaining Pokemon before the Azure Flute will summon Arceus. That will mean capturing almost every Pokemon in the game, which is no simple task.

You’ll need 237 Pokemon in all, and it will be the first 237 in the Pokedex. You do not need to capture the four Pokemon that have special unlock conditions: Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, or Shaymin.

Once you’ve captured all 237 Pokemon, you can return to the Temple of Sinnoh and play your Azure Flute to reveal a new path. Once you climb those stairs you can take part in a boss battle against Arceus.

This boss battle will be similar to the Noble Battles. You’ll get a special new Mysterious Balm and you’ll need to dodge its attacks and look for opportunities to toss Balms at it. Once you’ve completed the battle, you’ll capture Arceus, the final Pokemon, and you’ll be given the Legend Plate.

For more about Pokemon Legends: Arceus, check out how to complete The Sea’s Legend quest for Manaphy, how to complete the Red Chain quest, and how to catch Shiny Pokemon. Plus, make sure to read our Pokemon Legends: Arceus review.

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