The Player Characters

[Greninjaman]

Do we know if the two are in fact Dawn and Lucas? How do we know they aren't simply two people who happen to look like them?

 

[Emmy]

We know next to nothing about them as of yet.

Both in Japanese and English, the official websites do not address the Player Characters as separate entities with names or anything of the sort - always referring to "you" even when they show pictures of the pair.

Considering the resemblance, it is possible that time travel shenanigans go on or maybe Dawn/Lucas are reading that book in the trailer about the hero's journey and are "imagining" themselves in the role of the hero or something.

We'll just have to wait and see...

 

[Greninjaman]

We know next to nothing about them as of yet.

Both in Japanese and English, the official websites do not address the Player Characters as separate entities with names or anything of the sort - always referring to "you" even when they show pictures of the pair.

Considering the resemblance, it is possible that time travel shenanigans go on or maybe Dawn/Lucas are reading that book in the trailer about the hero's journey and are "imagining" themselves in the role of the hero or something.

We'll just have to wait and see...

Both ideas are certainly possible. You are right though. We know nothing about them.

 

[CynthiaLover]

They could be Dawn's and Lucas' ancestors. I mean, in anime, manga, and games, it's not uncommon to have an ancestor that resembles a modern-day version. It's happened a fair few times in the past so it's not a stretch that the protags of these games are just similar-looking ancestors to the modern-day descendants. If so, then it means that being a Trainer could very well be in their blood, hence why they took to training and Pokedexing like fish take to water during the current era. But I'm willing to bet they're just highly similar-looking ancestors, since that's not exactly uncommon in anime, manga, and games.

 

[RK9]

Do we know if the two are in fact Dawn and Lucas? How do we know they aren't simply two people who happen to look like them?

Yes, Dialga warped them back into time and instead of trying to return, they try to influence Sinnoh from the past to develop in such a way they can rule it in the distant future.

 

[Cute Charm]

Even before Johana showed up in the anime, your Mom's overworld sprite in the game was very similar to Dawn's with shorter hair and without the hat. So it could very well be a case of identical ancestors.

I've also been calling them Hikari and Kouki just to temperarally seperate them from Dawn and Lucas until we get 100% conformation.

 

[Greninjaman]

I've also been calling them Hikari and Kouki just to temperarally seperate them from Dawn and Lucas until we get 100% conformation.

Aren't those the Japanese names though?

 

[Cute Charm]

Aren't those the Japanese names though?

Considering the localization team tried to wipe the fact that the first four generations were set in Japan, it still works.

Especially now where the games are more diverse and they sometimes let characters keep their Japanese names. They can't really hide the fact that Dawn and Lucas are Japanese in this game given the setting, so using their (currently unused outside of Asia) original names for them/their ancestors would probably be the best way to go for the naming scheme to go.

 

[TheElderKing]

The closeness with Dawn and Lucas could mean that are the same characters warped back in time, and it’d be quite interesting in my opinion. But as others said, it’s also possible, and common in Japanese media in general, that they’re their ancestors.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I suspect their Lucas/Dawn's ancestor. There could be some time travelling shenanigans but I have a feeling they're going to want to keep the storyline simple. They're probably just similar looking ancestors to maintain a connection with the present day protagonists.

 

[techitisJ]

Yeah I don't think these are the Dawn and Lucas we already know. I also believe they are going to try and keep the story more simple (or at least not heavily based on the knowledge we have of modern-day Pokemon games). The most connection I believe we'll see (at least for now this is what I believe), is that the Professor they are working for has founded the group that would later become Team Galactic.

Pokemon usually likes to keep their protagonists within the same region similar to the ones of the past. There are some exceptions to this (a good example would be Lyra not looking anything like Crystal. But that makes sense because of who Crystal is), but most of the time the player characters look pretty similar hair and eye color-wise to the original ones. I mean just look at BW and BW2. Rosa and Nate are almost the same as Hilda and Hilbert and as far as I know, they aren't even related.

So yeah, I just think they chose to do a similar design because it's taking place in Sinnoh. Even if it is never stated (which I don't think it will be anyway), I will be personally headcanoning that these are Dawn and Lucas' ancestors unless something later proves that this is not the case.

I'm curious to see what names they'll go for with the protagonists.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

Lol just call them Don and Lucy.

 

[nickdt]

Both characters seem to be taller on first glance though, so they are most likely ancestors than Lucas and Dawn themselves. It would be interesting to see if we get to see Barry's ancestors.

 

[Isaac Gravity]

Ancestors of Lucas and Dawn I figure.

But I find it more in good taste that they used Lucas and Dawn's models for this than giving us someone completely new. Y'know Gen IV and such. I also find it hilarious that Lucasmaru still wears his outlandish beret alongside his heavily Japanese clothing.

 

[Emmy]

I also find it hilarious that Lucasmaru still wears his outlandish beret alongside his heavily Japanese clothing.

Yeah, that's why I'm definitely sticking with Dawnko since Lucasmaru's beret is way too jarring looking for my tastes.

 

[Isaac Gravity]

Yeah, that's why I'm definitely sticking with Dawnko since Lucasmaru's beret is way too jarring looking for my tastes.

That exactly why, if this game is truly worth it, I'm totally going for Lucasmaru. The look is just so hilarious it works.

 

[TheElderKing]

It all depends on customization being present or not for me, because Dawn/Dawnko always looked better then Lucas/Lucasmaru to me, and PLA continues this trend.

 

[Eitarou]

Yeah, that's why I'm definitely sticking with Dawnko since Lucasmaru's beret is way too jarring looking for my tastes.

...It's a flat cap. Oh no, am I gonna have to go through people ragging on Lucas because they think he's wearing a beret again?

 

[Emmy]

...It's a flat cap.

Bleh, you know what I mean.

 

[Shib]

Glad it’s not just me who finds the male PC’s hat odd. I don’t mind the characters looking similar to Dawn and Lucas but they really should have switched the hat to something more in keeping with the rest.