The Arc Phone: Possible Origins and Your Thoughts on the Device

[Boss1708]

Think about stories where people find futuristic alien technology, or time travel stories where people bring modern things with them to the past. It doesn’t match the setting, but it’s not supposed to, there’s a reason why it’s out of place.

Fair enough... And I do get your point.

But I think PL:A doesn't benefit from such a futuristic inclusion. It only complicates things unnecessarily.

I mean, why bother re-designing the PokeBalls and Pokedex in this game, to make them both look more ancient and accurate for their time, but then make a futuristic looking phone? It's contradictory imo.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

It would be fun to see it originating from the future...maybe separated from a certain detective first met in the modern Sinnoh region

 

[Poke Dragon]

I will always stick to the idea that the Arcphone is a result of time travel involved. It wouldn't make sense otherwise.

 

[Fairy Type Arceus]

I mean, I don't think Arceus is a literal deity either, but we've seen it create entire Legendary Pokémon from nothing (granted, with some involvement of the Unown). If I can argue that that still doesn't make it a full-on, unambiguous god entity, then I certainly don't think it creating a small, futuristic gadget proves anything.

The sinjoh ruin cutscene really does just screams this is God

 

[sc0lipede]

I think there's going to be some aspect of time travel in this game.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I disagree. I think a futuristic design set in the past is always an immersion breaker. But if it doesn't bother you, then good for you.

Fair enough... And I do get your point.

But I think PL:A doesn't benefit from such a futuristic inclusion. It only complicates things unnecessarily.

I mean, why bother re-designing the PokeBalls and Pokedex in this game, to make them both look more ancient and accurate for their time, but then make a futuristic looking phone? It's contradictory imo.

It would be immersion breaking if Arc phone was treated as something typical of the setting and appropriate to the era. But it’s not. It is treated as "immersion breaking" in universe as well.
It’s not immersion breaking, it’s a plot point (probably).

The other things match their period because they are considered normal for that time period. The Arc Phone doesn’t follow those guidelines because, it is not meant to.

 

[Dahara]

I still think the Poke Balls are more bizarre of an inclusion than the phone since they will never give a good explanation for how the Pokemon are able to transform into data and go inside them in that time period. Just making the Poke Balls wooden with steam coming out of them to aesthetically match the setting doesn't change the nonsensical nature of it. Yes, nonsensical even by Pokemon's loose standards.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I still think the Pokeballs are more bizarre of an inclusion than the phone since they will never give a good explanation for how the Pokemon are able to transform into data and go inside them in that time period. Just making the Pokeballs wooden with steam coming out of them to aesthetically match the setting doesn't change the nonsensical nature of it. Yes, nonsensical even by Pokemon's loose standards.

I mean, we are talking about a universe where creatures can spew flame, mystic energy, “dark” energy and what not. They even turn into beings of pure energy when evolving. Is it that unreasonable to believe that certain stimuli can turn them into energy for a longer duration?

 

[Dahara]

I mean, we are talking about a universe where creatures can spew flame, mystic energy, “dark” energy and what not. They even turn into beings of pure energy when evolving. Is it that unreasonable to believe that certain stimuli can turn them into energy for a longer duration?

The context of the game's story doesn't help any. This is the ultimate origin story, where the Pokedex hasn't even been made for the region and humans and Pokemon are largely separated. Humans figuring out how to do this without modern electronics technology would be more believable at a later date. Gen 8 treats dynamaxing as a mysterious godlike power that humans are still not able to control the location of after all. But it really just comes across as Game Freak couldn't think of a way around the established capture mechanic so they just kept it more or less the same for lack of a better option.

 

[silurica]

I still think the Pokeballs are more bizarre of an inclusion than the phone since they will never give a good explanation for how the Pokemon are able to transform into data and go inside them in that time period. Just making the Pokeballs wooden with steam coming out of them to aesthetically match the setting doesn't change the nonsensical nature of it. Yes, nonsensical even by Pokemon's loose standards.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of the apricorn balls, then? I had assumed these Hisui/Galaxy Team balls run on a similar idea to those (poke balls before poke balls became modernized, made of plant-based material instead of synthesized).

 

[Dahara]

Out of curiosity, what do you think of the apricorn balls, then? I had assumed these Hisui/Galaxy Team balls run on a similar idea to those (poke balls before poke balls became modernized, made of plant-based material instead of synthesized).

I have always assumed that craftsmen like Kurt hollow out the apricorns and use them as the casings for the Poke Balls' electronic guts inside. Different casings have different properties for the effectiveness of the Poke Ball.

Also, on further research I realized that there is a line in Black 2 White 2's memory link that supports the idea that Poke Balls are a recent invention: Drayden: What is important is your mental preparation as the Champion, Iris. When I was little, Poke Balls didn't exist yet. Sometimes Pokémon would run away from awful Trainers who didn't try to understand them.

 

[Esiouqrut]

Also, on further research I realized that there is a line in Black 2 White 2's memory link that supports the idea that Poke Balls are a recent invention: Drayden: What is important is your mental preparation as the Champion, Iris. When I was little, Poke Balls didn't exist yet. Sometimes Pokémon would run away from awful Trainers who didn't try to understand them.

This isn't too hard to explain, though. I can think of several different possibilities for the statement:
1. "Poké Ball" originated from Johto and spread to area closer to it first, i.e. Kanto and Sinnoh (and maybe Hoenn). The widespread of Poké Ball might only happen after Silph Co. has mass produced it.
2. Unova is late in adapting the technology.
3. Drayden is that old.

 

[Jimothy]

The thing is that aside from different capture rates (which, judging by apricorn ball properties, might be less mechanical and more to do with the material that is used/synthesized), we don't really get any indication of what the technology of PokeBalls is, in the games at least. Being turned into data is the function of Bill's PC storage system, but it's never said that that's what PokeBalls are doing. I think the anime might give us a look inside of open Pokeballs that makes them seem high-tech, but the anime is rarely a good indication of what is intended in the games.

We know from the Pokemon Zukan book that the original backstory was that PokeBalls were discovered by accident when a scientist weakened an enraged Primeape and it jumped into his glasses case to hide, indicating that shrinking to fit containers might just be something that Pokemon are naturally able to do. They are, after all, called pocket monsters.

Clearly by now a lot of those early concepts have been retconned and it's unclear how this all works, but that idea does give some insight into how PokeBall capture might work in a low-tech setting. Maybe modern Pokeballs have less to do with reprogramming/mind-controlling a monster into obeying you and more to do with coaxing it to your side-- again, it might be more about the material than any sort of mechanical guts.

 

[Totem_Rowlet]

I think that Arceus made the character's phone (assuming the protagonist is from our world or the pokemon world) and basically added Arceus as a contact, while also making it look cool

 

[FelipePR]

Since this is a game on the fourth generation, in which there is an imbalance in time and space, with the emergence of space-temporal vortex, both the options, A and B, seem plausible.

Anyway, I think that Arc Phone is just a Smarthpone hacked by the Great Pokehacker Arceus.

 

[Arceusgjengen]

The cutscene was pretty clear about Arceus reshaping the players phone into it.

 

[henrymidfields]

I also think it was originally the modern day protag's phone and somehow Arceus, or some weird side effect from the time slip made the conventional smartphone transform into the Arc phone.

 

[Arceusgjengen]

If I were to go into my thoughts on it, I really like it, for some reason.

 

[Crisbee Donut]

I think Arceus made it just for the player.