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Could the concept of Aura be expanded upon in Pokémon Legends: Arceus?

How likely is the concept of Aura to be expanded upon in Legends: Arceus

  • Aura will definitely be expanded upon.

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • It is very likely to happen.

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • It is likely to happen.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It is unlikely to happen.

    Votes: 3 21.4%
  • It is very unlikely to happen.

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • It won't be expanded upon.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It could go either way.

    Votes: 8 57.1%

  • Total voters
    14

Kallyle

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As many of us are aware, the concept Aura ties into a very popular and marketable Pokémon known as Lucario. This force is presented as a mystic force of energy flowing through all living things and can be sensed and used by both the aforementioned Pokémon and by a few humans that acted as Aura Guardians. More information can be found in the Bulbapedia article here: Aura - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia (bulbagarden.net)

All of this was introduced in the Pokémon Movie known as Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, and continuations and interpretations of this concept have been depicted in various Pokémon-related media since... except in the games themselves where they have been treated as little more than a flavor text for Lucario's Pokédex entry and a handful of moves and abilities. The closest we have gotten to Aura being expanded upon in the games outside of that are as follows:
  1. There's a character named Riley in DPPt who is implied to be an aura user outside of just having Lucario. His Platinum battle sprite animation shows him with a glowing palm that is characteristic of aura users, and there's a comment made by Byron when visiting your villa saying Riley may be older than he first appears to be (a life-energy related force would naturally be able to slow the aging process).
  2. In Generation 7, both the Totem Pokémon from the Island Trials and the Ultra Beasts have auras that raise their stats when the player faces them. This is implied to be because of Z-Power and Ultra Wormhole energy may be the same thing, but the auras that result from said energy don’t seem to be the same thing as the concept of Aura that we were previously familiar with.

I can understand why things like Aura might not be that important in the traditional Pokémon formula as the main series has been typically characterized as an urban sci-fi fantasy that's more grounded in modern-day realism compared to other RPGs. However, Legends: Arceus is a different beast since this takes place when Sinnoh is first colonized, so a lot of the modern urban sci-fi fantasy feel previous main series titles have had might not be that much of a constraint on such topics. When combined with how the concept of Aura is associated with Sinnoh and that fact that BDSP appear to be pretty conservative compared to past remake titles (even being marketed as such), there's a chance that we could get a more in-depth look at the concept here.

As for how such a concept could be integrated into games that focus on the completion of Sinnoh's first Pokédex, I have a few ideas:
  1. If we end up getting a Pokémon version of the indigenous Ainu people (Sinnoh is based on the real-life island of Hokkaido after all), perhaps they as a society could be Aura practitioners. This could also add to Riley's character if he happens to be a descendant of the Poké-Ainu population or ends up being a character that's part of that population himself (depending on how old he really is). Perhaps they can teach the character to use Aura as well?
  2. We get boss Pokémon that have been enhanced by Aura somehow and might be going berserk because of it. As we are in charge of completing the Pokédex as part of the plot, we may have to investigate this and in turn end up learning more about Aura as a whole.
  3. We ourselves will get access to Aura abilities that can be used to replace some of the HMs, solve some puzzles, and/or provide aid to our Pokémon in battle (the dodge-roll in the trailer implies that we'll be getting a more active roll in battles).
  4. We will come across various NPCs that can complete certain tasks for us that just so happen to use Aura to do so (a good example would be fossil restoration). This might be comparatively small compared to the other possibilities, but it would still give us a better idea of how Aura as a whole functions. It's also the safest bet.
  5. Any combination of the above, perhaps all of them if you really want to stretch it.

Anyways, I would like know your thoughts? How likely do you think Aura has a chance to be expanded upon in Legends: Arceus? How could Aura be expanded upon and what role would it play, if any? Do you even want Aura to be more important in this game, or would you prefer it do without?

EDIT: I’d like to thank both @Almonds for informing me that Byron was the one who made those comments about Riley and @Eitarou for pointing out that I made it sound like Z-Power and Aura were the same thing (which they aren’t). As such, I have modified my opening post accordingly.
 
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I suppose it depends on how much GF care about expanding on that piece of lore. On the one hand I don't think Legends would be a bad game without it as there's certainly enough other details to tackle and make the game around...but then again there's no better time to acknowledge and address the concept of Aura than in Legends.

I would certainly love it for one and both Riolu and Lucario appear rather prominently in the trailer under the MC's command so here's hoping. It would also potentially allow for the trainer to actually do something in the middle of battle beyond just ordering attacks. :unsure:
 
and there's a comment by someone else (can't remember who) that Riley may be older than he first appears to be
That's Byron. If you talk to Byron when he visits you at the Villa, he'll mention Riley is a mysterious fellow and he doesn't know his age.

Anyways, I'd definitely love to see aura expanded upon in Legends.
 
Z-Power and all things related to it have nothing to do with Aura. They're completely different concepts.
Thank you for pointing that out. I still consider it an example of being the closest thing we’ve got due to the presence of auras resulting from it, but I never meant to imply that Z-Power and Aura were the same thing. I’ll revise that bit.

EDIT: It has been done.
 
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In one hand, aura doesn't seem like that big of a part of Sinnoh and Gen IV, so it can be left out without trouble. But in the other hand, some of the technology we have in modern games just won't adapt well into the past (like TMs, the PC, internet connections), so I can see the developers using magic or aura to integrate them and make the game more mystical.
 
In one hand, aura doesn't seem like that big of a part of Sinnoh and Gen IV, so it can be left out without trouble. But in the other hand, some of the technology we have in modern games just won't adapt well into the past (like TMs, the PC, internet connections), so I can see the developers using magic or aura to integrate them and make the game more mystical.
To be fair, Aura isn’t a big part of any of the mainline games thus far. The reason it’s viewed as tied to Gen IV in the first place is because the very concept was introduced to us through a very popular Gen IV species. I just think that because of the Pokémon’s popularity and not having the constraints of portraying modern society to deal with, this is a good chance to delve a little bit more into the concept of Aura that said marketable Pokémon utilizes. It doesn’t even have to take up too much of the game; I just think that it would be a neat instance of world building that enhances the game.
 
Yeah, the more I read about the idea, the more I think this is a good idea, aura or some kind of magic is basically a staple in ancient era-style games, and although you could argue that the Pokemon themselves are the magic equivalent, we know that various forms of actual magic like Z-Power and aura tie-in with Pokemon themselves, after all Lucario is sort-of starring in the current anime too, they could always tie aura back into more than one form of Pokemon media. Even Mega Evolution had it's magic equivalent which we learned in ORAS was a harnessable energy source for modern times too. I think being introduced to ancient energy forms like inifinity energy, aura, lifeforce, Z-Power then learning more about it in a Legends-style game is almost a given considering the nature of the Legends games themselves. Maybe in LA you just happen to be one of those people that can harness natural energies, which is a great way to basically make your protagonist like the anime's protagonist. Ash is an Aura Guardian himself which you can use to explain how he could sense the Riolu egg calling for him in Pokemon Journeys, how Ash-Greninja came to be a thing, Ash is certainly tied to natural energies like aura or infinity energy/life force, that allow for a deeper understanding of Pokemon.
 
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