Official Remarks about Mew and Arceus

[Silktree]

The Japanese 20th anniversary website discusses Mew and Arceus on the general Pokémon page. I believe that this is the first time Mew and Arceus have officially been discussed together, so once again, I've asked クリスタル to translate the relevant section.

The key to solve the secrets of Pokémon, is these two?

- The ancestor of Pokémon? Mew -
The mystical Pokémon Mew which was thought to be extinct, possesses high intelligence and is able to learn all kinds of moves.

Inside its DNA, it possesses information of all Pokémon
Mew is a Psychic-type Pokémon that can learn basically every kind of move. The research is still ongoing, but one of the primary factors is, of course, Mew's high intelligence, and as we investigated its DNA we found that it possesses information of all Pokémon. Due to this, there is a hypothesis saying that every Pokémon species originated from Mew. Currently, it is confirmed that there exist more than 720 species of Pokémon, and 18 different types, but tracing the origin of them all will lead to Mew. In order to solve the emergence of Pokémon, Mew shall become a future research subject.

- The Pokémon known as the Creation Deity: Arceus -
The one which created all universe and this world was deemed to be Arceus.

Arceus was born before the universe came into being. In a place of nothingness it existed as an Egg and soon hatched, and according to myths, it is said to have created the univerese with its 1000 arms. Also, Arceus created Dialga and Palkia, which govern time and space and are said to have helped in the creation of the universe. And then, after the universe had come into being, Arceus fell into a long sleep.

Sinjoh Ruins
In the north of the Johto region are the Sinjoh Ruins. According to the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, who is also well-known as an archaeology professor studying myths and ancient ruins, the people of Sinnoh migrated from Sinnoh to Johto in the past. They interacted with the people of Johto, and were thought to build what is now the Sinjoh Ruins in yearning for their homeland. There is a place to enshrine Arceus called the Mystri Stage, where a Pokémon trainer reported having witnessed the moment of a Pokémon being created by Arceus.

Arceus brought a mysterious sphere into existence, and from that sphere, Dialga/Palkia/Giratina was produced. This is thought to be what was not told in the myths - the moment when Arceus created something out of nothing.

As previously mentioned, Mew was thought to be ancestor of Pokémon, and Arceus was told to be a deity that created the origin of humans and this world. But the research is still continuing and we have not yet reached a conclusion.

(Pokémon are mysterious creatures exceeding the imagination of human beings, who are unable to finish solving the mysteries. But because there exists such a mysterious charm, I am unable to stop researching Pokémon.)

Silktree's notes:

1. Kazuki (the fictional author) seems to think that the Sinjoh Ruins are actually situated in Johto, quoting Cynthia as saying the people of Sinnoh migrated to Johto. HGSS only established that they migrated to the area of the Sinjoh Ruins, and no one ever says that they're in north Johto. In fact, the Pokégear map clearly indicates that they are not in Johto, and we don't know how close they are, either.

2. The way Kazuki suddenly links Arceus to the origins of humans is a bit random, but there is a Platinum event (with the same Hiker from the Sinjoh Ruins) that does discuss this possibility: "The world began when the spirit within people was born. When that spirit came to be, there followed awareness about the world."

Maybe it's time we fans discussed just what this could mean. Could the Pokémon world be a result of human observation? Maybe Arceus has its powers just because people believe in it.

3. You'd think that Kazuki would wonder if Mew has the DNA of Arceus, or just how Mew came into being.

 

[Ash_Pokemaster]

Ancient Johto may have been extended to the north, and immigration of Sinnoh population may have caused northern regions to become a melting pot, causing the separate Sinjoh culture to form. Very interesting. I hope we get to see more of Sinjoh in the future.

The one thing Kazuki fails to mention in his report is the role of the Unown in the Sinjoh mythos. It's understandable, considering he aims to associate Arceus with Mew, but I wonder if the Unown are more relevant to that connection that it might seem.

Another thing that comes to mind with all speculation about humans and Pokémon is Takeshi Shudo's original third movie concept. Could humans of the Pokémon world having a sort of cloudy idea of "real-world" animals be related with the way Pokémon emerged in the first place? Could it also connect with this "spirit within people [being] born"? Maybe Mew is actually related to Pokémon's genetic precursor, and Arceus being the "creator" is symbolism for a mystical event that caused the emergence of Pokémon and the reshaping of people's awareness of the world.

 

[Silktree]

I think it's possible that Kazuki will add a report about the Unown later on. Not that it would add much beyond the in-game Unown Report, but there should at least be a note about the connection to Arceus.

and Arceus being the "creator" is symbolism for a mystical event that caused the emergence of Pokémon and the reshaping of people's awareness of the world.

So basically, when the "spirit" within people wished for Pokemon to be real, the Unown manipulated reality and made Arceus appear out of nothingness. Somehow Mew was also born and the other species followed.

The Pokemon world is a future version of our own world.

 

[Ash_Pokemaster]

I think it's possible that Kazuki will add a report about the Unown later on. Not that it would add much beyond the in-game Unown Report, but there should at least be a note about the connection to Arceus.

I think the Mew/Mewtwo report was the last update of the site, unfortunately. But maybe on a future Daisuki Club page.

So basically, when the "spirit" within people wished for Pokemon to be real, the Unown manipulated reality and made Arceus appear out of nothingness. Somehow Mew was also born and the other species followed.

The Pokemon world is a future version of our own world.

This is speculation of my part, but I think Arceus may be an alien Pokémon that arrived on a pre-Pokémonised Earth at some point. Its job may essentially have been to alter reality (with help from the Unown): spread the 'Pokémon gene' to animals and give birth to this "spirit within humans" -- awareness of Pokémon. The Unown may be the creatures that called Arceus to Earth, which fits with their main characteristic of communication and information spread. As for why they called Arceus, that may have to do with the development of this 'Pokémon gene' via the Earth species Mew, which is possibly a process that happens across the universe (as we do know of a few Alien Pokémon). This theory would explain how Mew is the "ancestor" of [earth] Pokémon, and how unrelated [alien] Pokémon may still exist regardless.

As for how the Unown emerged, that's a different mystery of itself.

 

[Silktree]

I suppose that if we regard Arceus' universe-creating abilities as pure myth born of people's desire to forget the pre-Pokémon Earth, then Arceus' real role may have been the creation of Pokémon eggs. That is to say, it made it possible for Mew to produce new species.

Incidentally, the Lake trio could have a big part in people not remembering the old world. After all, Uxie could have wiped out their memories, with Azelf channeling their will to make the world populated by Pokémon. Mesprit is just a representation of the new human spirit.

 

[Ash_Pokemaster]

Arceus introducing the Egg-emergence process fits nicely with the idea that Pokémon eggs inherit elements (moves, stats, nature, etc.) from their "parents". Eggs would hatch into species based on previous animals, but also carrying the 'Pokémon gene' developed by Mew -- thereby creating the different Pokémon. It is also in-line with the concept of 'Egg Groups' and the idea that production of Pokémon Eggs is not the same as normal reproduction.

Granted, this whole theory does have some holes. For example, it doesn't account for ancient Pokémon that existed before humans, like fossils. I suppose not even Mew, who looks like a mammal, would have developed at the time Pokémon like Genesect existed. Still, the basic idea of Arceus and Mew having a different but complementary function in regards to the origin of Pokémon is a good start to discovering their connection.

 

[Silktree]

Granted, this whole theory does have some holes. For example, it doesn't account for ancient Pokémon that existed before humans, like fossils.

If that's actually a hole, then it exists even if we accept Arceus as the origin of both the world and people. But it isn't necessarily a hole since we don't know that ancient Pokemon existed before people did.

It is also possible that these ancient Pokemon are from another planet and were brought to Earth by Arceus.

 

[CrystaI]

A bit off topic from this thread, but since Shudo Takeshi's original 3rd movie plan was brought up, I might just made a little comment about it.

This is only afterthought of fridge logic, but matters regarding on existence of Real-Life animal within the Pokemon World is really a tricky issue not just from out-of-universe POV, but really a gigantic logical fallacy even from in-universe POV.

Firstly, before the airing of M03 (Well, actually even after then, including every sagas and gens afterwards), how did the anime (if needed, include the game series as well) portrayed the in-universe Pokemon World? How did they portrayed the people and human society and culture within the Pokemon World?
Very obviously known by everyone, the human society within the Pokemon World is Pokemon-centered, everyone treated pokemons like common beings which is just so common like monster creatures in some J-RPG world (Note: other than monsters, many J-RPG world also exists normal animals). Although the game keep on claiming pokemons are magical creatures where many mysteries had not yet discovered, but the society and human mindset had long adapted themselves to the existence of pokemon being essential like they are there since day one of existence of PokeEarth, no one ever questioned why they existed, but they just existed since ancient time.

Although many of those background details are kind of explained in the novel Pokemon the Animation by Shudo Takeshi, but personally I treated it as a different canon, not simply because it is on a different media, but more because the anime and also the game doesn't contains any evidence or hints that implies even the slightest of those "dystopian tropes" suggested by the author.
1) If pokemons were just popped out of nowhere in some time during the history, then prior to the emergence of pokemons human shall have societies like our Real-Life. How come then human society tended to adapted itself to become dependent on existence of such mysterious creature where little is known about them?
2) Prior to airing of M03, we do saw some occasional appearance of non-pokemon normal animals, and people don't mind about them like "Oh look, there is an Animal, so rare!", nor that they react like animal doesn't exist at all anymore because it had long being extincted. So it is not like animals are extincted or close to extinction, just that we don't have many chances to see them.
3) In case that it is so far into the future where normal animals in Pokemon World are like dinosaurs in our Real-Life where they used to existed by now already extincted looooooong time ago, why is then such a big doubt that no human being ever saw an actual animal in existence? Because it doesn't existed now, obviously no one saw one. No scientists in our Real-Life ever ask anyone the question "Had you ever saw an actual dinosaur in your life time?", because answer is just obvious.


With the introduction of new deity pokemons in later generations (specifically the legendaries of GenIV), such logical fallacy is gone or decrease to minimize if we treated Pokemon World as a non-Real-Life where they existed since the creation of PokeEarth. (In any case, that is how I see it)

In any case, this 20 anniversary official fanpage had never ever mentioned a single word or suggested anything about normal animal in Pokemon World. I don't think we should put too much thought into linking the existence of normal animal into discussions of Mew and Arceus.

 

[Silktree]

But the theory we're discussing is based on the implication (by the Hiker from Platinum) that the world began when the spirit within people was born. This is suspicious since the myths don't even state that Arceus created people. So the theory we're proposing is that people had already existed when Arceus showed up, and they simply forgot about the pre-Pokemon world (say, due to Uxie's interference) and were essentially given a new awareness. Just because some people believe Arceus came out of nothing doesn't make it true.

 

[Esserise]

Maybe humans were just mindless, primitive oafs before Arceus showed up. The Hiker theorizes that Arceus could be the "physical form" of the "original spirit." Maybe when it arrived at Earth from wherever, and for whatever reason, it worked to extend its essence to humanity by endowing us with its own spirit. In which case, it makes sense that it would need to create Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. But why the dragons? At a wild guess, perhaps Arceus had to re-engineer the environment so that it could sustain the evolution of other Pokémon and people, and the dragons are necessary for keeping this environment in check. That could be why the elements of spirit seem to be intrinsically linked the the time and space that Dialga and Palkia control.

We know now that thousands of years ago, the world was permeated by rich, natural energy. This is what Groudon and Kyogre derive Primal Reversion from. Perhaps this natural energy field is the result of that terraforming conducted by Arceus, and perhaps it enabled the emergence of beings like Mew. Mew, being a pure expression of this raw, natural essence from Arceus. That could be the link to the handful of lower-case-mythical Pokémon that came before, and to all of the Pokémon that followed.

Extra thoughts:

- Could Arceus have done this to other worlds? Some Pokémon are rumored to come from space, after all.

- Why would Arceus do this? Is it instead the will of the Unown, acting through Arceus as a vessel? If so, then why would the Unown want to do it? To put a spin on the idea of Arceus deriving power from observation, maybe it is instead the Unown that feel a compulsion to be understood, and therefore grant the knowledge to do so to primitive beings. I also find it interesting that, much in the same way that Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were said to have endowed humans with the elements of spirit, the Unown gave us a form of communication, in a way.

- Are all Unown sites significant? There are the obvious Ruins of Alph, to which we can warp to the Sinjoh Ruins. The Solaceon Ruins are situated close to Mt. Coronet. But what about the Tanoby Ruins? I mentioned in another thread that the Sevii Islands are said to have been created in seven days, which could forge a link between Arceus and another creation deity (specifically, the Judeo-Christian one). The Sevii Islands also contain the Pattern Bush, which is very mysterious, and Lost Cave, which is similar in nature to Turnback Cave.

-During the Sinojh Ruins event, Cynthia says:

> Cynthia: Did we just witness the very moment an Egg was brought to this world? A moment no one has ever seen? An Egg is the cradle of every being. The planet itself is an Egg in a sense... Life that comes from an Egg will come to an end in due course... to begin anew... That may be what Arceus wanted to show us.

This is very intriguing to me, because, I mean, at least as I understand it, it seems to be the "reveal" of how Eggs are formed. As in, no, the Day Care couple aren't just sheltering you - they honestly don't know how the Eggs get there, because nobody has ever witnessed the process. Do all Pokémon create Eggs by pooling their energies together, as Arceus and the Unown did here? And besides that, the implication of her comparing the planet to an Egg is indicative to me as confirmation that Arceus did something to the planet. Created it, terraformed it, I don't know - but it would seem really odd to me if they had Cynthia say that on Arceus's behalf without purpose. Why would Arceus want to tell us that?

 

[CrystaI]

I would have to question the existence of any pre-Pokemon world to begin with. There is nothing in the official canon (To be fair, the current official canon) implies that.

 

[Ash_Pokemaster]

I would have to question the existence of any pre-Pokemon world to begin with. There is nothing in the official canon (To be fair, the current official canon) implies that.

Yes, this is outrageous theorising, but you gotta admit certain elements match up pretty nicely.

The theory will remain rough before Game Freak throws us some more clues, but the idea that Arceus "terraformed" the pre-Pokémon Earth is pretty elegant when it comes to explaining how things came together, yet some inconsistencies (such as animal terminology, many plants, viri and so on) still exist.

Incidentally, Dialga may be the answer to some of the theory's holes. Arceus may have vaguely revised some of the world's history, which is how fossil Pokémon and the like are found in the contemporary settings.

- Could Arceus have done this to other worlds? Some Pokémon are rumored to come from space, after all.

I've been thinking about this for a long time. Though I'm typically against remakes, a DP remake has a lot of potential to introduce Pokémon universe lore outside of Earth, if a story section like Delta Episode is attempted again. If Arceus is indeed from an alien world, there's always a chance we might be introduced to it one way or another in the future. Ideally though, a future game set entirely on Sinjoh would deal with these issues rather than a remake.

 

[Silktree]

Maybe humans were just mindless, primitive oafs before Arceus showed up.

Maybe, but then that wouldn't be very interesting, would it? They might as well not have existed.

If so, then why would the Unown want to do it?

That would have to do with the state of the universe before the intervention. Since we can only guess, there are myriad possibilities. I'll throw one out there: The Unown wanted to fulfill someone's wish for people and Pokemon to be together. For the record, the Sinnoh lore states that Pokemon and people were even interchangeable in the early days.

I also find it interesting that, much in the same way that Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were said to have endowed humans with the elements of spirit, the Unown gave us a form of communication, in a way.

But why would Pokemon be necessary for people to communicate with each other?

But what about the Tanoby Ruins? I mentioned in another thread that the Sevii Islands are said to have been created in seven days, which could forge a link between Arceus and another creation deity (specifically, the Judeo-Christian one).

There are also seven chambers in the Tanoby Ruins.

Created it, terraformed it, I don't know - but it would seem really odd to me if they had Cynthia say that on Arceus's behalf without purpose. Why would Arceus want to tell us that?

That all life will come to an end in due course to begin anew? Maybe it wants us to know that an entire world began anew. Come to think of it, Cyrus wanted to reset the world so that there would be no spirit. This may have awoken Arceus and reminded it of how the "spirit" (which I view as the relationship between people and Pokemon) was born in the first place at the expense of whatever the universe was like before.

I would have to question the existence of any pre-Pokemon world to begin with. There is nothing in the official canon (To be fair, the current official canon) implies that.

Fair enough, but how would you explain the Hiker's words?

 

[Guzma]

I just go with Arceus appeared first, then he made most of the Legendaries, and then he made Mew as the first non-divine Pokemon species. Deoxys might count as a separate creation of Arceus, intended to be just a virus before unexpectedly becoming a Pokemon.

 

[CrystaI]

"The world began when the spirit within people was born. When that spirit came to be, there followed awareness about the world."

Linking to the Original Story of Sinnoh Myths:

"The two beings wished, and from them,
matter came to be."

and after the above part:

"The three living things wished, and
from them, spirit came to be.
The world created, the Original One
took to unyielding sleep..."

So, matters come first before anything possessed spirits and hence became alive on their own. From these phrases, I would then interpret it similar to Endolise, Arceus (more correctly speaking, Dialga and Palkia) first created all things including human being, but at that moment these things are not yet "alive". Soon after then the Lake Trio created spirits and soul for all living beings, where then organisms began to become truly "alive".

One more thing. If compare it to Christian Bible of the story of Adam & Eve, they started to gain awareness of their surrounding only when they gained "wisdom". But in this Pokemon Myths case, emotion, will, and wisdom all came at the same time. So as soon as human being began to become "alive", they immediately started to gain awareness of their surrounding world.

In terms of the Hiker's word about "The world", as this term by itself is already very ambiguous with multiple connotation, it may not necessarily mean the entire universe on overall level, it may also mean just the planet PokeEarth, or human society.



......Or if you like, the Hiker's word may also contain meta connotation, where The world (Pokemon series) began when the spirit within people (Imagination started by Tajiri Satoshi) was born. When that spirit came to be (Tajiri Satoshi's idea is adapted), there followed awareness about the world (Rapid expanding of the Pokemon franchise hence its fictional world as well).

 

[Silktree]

In terms of the Hiker's word about "The world", as this term by itself is already very ambiguous with multiple connotation, it may not necessarily mean the entire universe on overall level, it may also mean just the planet PokeEarth, or human society.

Except that the Hiker makes it clear that he thinks spirit came first:

"The way I see it, our world began when the spirit within people was born. When that spirit came to be, there followed awareness about the world. Within the newborn spirit, time and space were intertwined as one. People and Pokémon, too, were but the same presence. As I understand it, people and Pokémon shared the spirit and awareness. They should have understood and accepted each other then. Because they shared the same spirit, people and Pokémon intermingled. People took the place of Pokémon, and the opposite also held true. That interpretation could give us an idea about how our world came to be. A Pokémon is said to have shaped this world. Could that Pokémon be the physical form of the original spirit? Hmm... The spirit came to be, and from it, time and space were born... That seems to point to Legendary Dialga, the Pokémon of time, and Palkia, the Pokémon of space... And they lead back to Arceus, the Pokémon that made them arise."

Why would the Hiker use "world" in two different contexts?

......Or if you like, the Hiker's word may also contain meta connotation, where The world (Pokemon series) began when the spirit within people (Imagination started by Tajiri Satoshi) was born. When that spirit came to be (Tajiri Satoshi's idea is adapted), there followed awareness about the world (Rapid expanding of the Pokemon franchise hence its fictional world as well).

I do think that's what Game Freak were getting at, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't actually pertain to the in-universe explanation.

 

[Esserise]

Maybe, but then that wouldn't be very interesting, would it? They might as well not have existed.

This is a personal preference thing at this point, but I don't know; for me the idea of a secret way of living that was replaced and forgotten is just a bit convoluted for my taste.

I don't think they "may as well have not existed," I think it raises the interesting question of why Arceus chose to share its spirit with such mindless schlubs. That's quite a bit different, contextually, from humans simply not existing and then Arceus just magicking them into being, fully-formed.

That would have to do with the state of the universe before the intervention. Since we can only guess, there are myriad possibilities. I'll throw one out there: The Unown wanted to fulfill someone's wish for people and Pokemon to be together. For the record, the Sinnoh lore states that Pokemon and people were even interchangeable in the early days.

Yeah and I've always wondered about that, and how I would square it with this other stuff. Because I've always taken that as an implication that humans and Pokémon both stem from a shared genetic ancestor. That could be completely wrong of course, but it's kind of what I've just always assumed.

But why would Pokemon be necessary for people to communicate with each other?

Dunno, I was really just kicking that one around. It doesn't even begin to consider whether the letters came first, or the Unown, which is raised as a question in-game at some point I can't recall.

There are also seven chambers in the Tanoby Ruins.

Ah, good spot. I hadn't pinged that one.

That all life will come to an end in due course to begin anew? Maybe it wants us to know that an entire world began anew. Come to think of it, Cyrus wanted to reset the world so that there would be no spirit. This may have awoken Arceus and reminded it of how the "spirit" (which I view as the relationship between people and Pokemon) was born in the first place at the expense of whatever the universe was like before.

Seems logical enough to me.

Why would the Hiker use "world" in two different contexts?

In fairness, the Sinnoh games seem to do this constantly. They use the words "world," "galaxy," and "universe" interchangeably, and I have always found that to be confusing. Like, why do Dialga and Palkia begin to construct miniature galaxies atop the Spear Pillar?

 

[Blockhead Pippi]

"Currently, it is confirmed that there exist more than 720 species of Pokémon, and 18 different types, but tracing the origin of them all will lead to Mew."

Not Dialga and Palkia apparently, since it outright states that Arceus created them. This just contradicts itself.

 

[DonN]

"Currently, it is confirmed that there exist more than 720 species of Pokémon, and 18 different types, but tracing the origin of them all will lead to Mew."

Not Dialga and Palkia apparently, since it outright states that Arceus created them. This just contradicts itself.

I tend to agree with this. There was Mew, from which all Pokemon descend from, but before Mew, there were Arceus, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. Are these last 4 Pokemon even considered Pokemon then? It all seems kind of blurry.

Apart from that, this and the Mew/mewtwo topic are very interesting. I hope we will get a lot more information in the future

 

[Blockhead Pippi]

I once joked to a friend that if humans are indeed descended from apes/monkeys in the real world, then humans in the Pokemon world must be descended from Mankey, Aipom, and other monkey Pokemon and could therefore be considered Pokemon themselves. Though I guess it's more like devolving. =P