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Annie Summarizes the Arceus Saga! is a special episode of Pokémon Tales: Lucy and Pokémon Tales: Rainbow Rocket. It aired 1/15/22.
Story[]
Anne Droid sits in a tall bar style chair, sporting a bow tie. She turns and stares directly at you with a spotlight now shining.
Hello everyone, this is Annie. After being significantly humbled during the Christmas special, Dioga has decided to give me a new job. I’m the only one who can do it because of my, unique status in this world. That job is to give you a run down on the entirety of the Pokémon Tales Arceus Saga!
Now this was conceptualized for if the Creation Family won the January Pokémon Fest voting, but that’s not happening. So this is a special but still all part of the process! The Creation Family, specifically Arceus has been part of the PT franchise from the beginning! Though it is not so pertinently obvious until part way through. Now let’s take a look back shall we?
PHASE 1[]
Somewhere along the way, Dioga retroactively added phases to the PT franchise like the MCU movies. This means that the themes of the finale that will occur in PT: Rainbow Rocket have traces even back in the first series.
POKÉMON TALES: IAN[]
All the way back in the first series, Arceus, who remembers that? Ian defeats Giovanni and he reveals a genetically created Pokémon that is supposed to be the most powerful in the world. Dioga has a flair for the long, over dramatic storyline like Harry Potter so you don’t learn what it is until later. If we’re being honest though, we all know who it was.
POKÉMON TALES: ELISE[]
Giovanni finally enacts his plan, uses his genetic creation named Mewtwo, fights Ian yada-yada. If you’re a fan, you all know this. The important part here is that Cobalt escapes and begins Team Rocket anew, though goes underground for over a year. Nothing else important happens here.
POKÉMON TALES: BATTLE FRONTIER[]
Team Rocket basically skips PT: Brendan. Cobalt has his top executive Domino take on a disguise named Wendy to join Ian and keep track of him. I only mention this because Domino becomes one of the more synonymous names of the Arceus Saga and it’s important you know her. Also know that basically everyone fears her. Ian, Silver, Brendan. Just, everyone.
But in this series, the most important contribution to the Arceus Saga is because of a crossover. Max, known as Steve at the time, wanted to continue the tradition of a crossover every few months, which translated into once a series up to this point. Oops, It's Just Steve Again is secretly the pivotal point for Cobalt and Team Rocket.
In that crossover, Joe and Dr. Zager go to recover old Team Rocket data in the Tohjo Falls base under Steve’s Secret Base. While believed to be destroyed, Wendy aka Domino secretly leaves a flash drive with all the data and Cobalt finds it.
Major spoilers in the next section! To avoid, skip down to Phase 2.
That flash drive had all of Giovanni’s plans to last dozens of years! It had how Mewtwo was created. It has all of Giovanni’s work in Alola and information about Aether Foundation and Ultra Space. Did you know he funded their founding so they could research Ultra Beasts in the first place? Don’t even get me started on Necrozma! In that data as well is Mega Evolution. This is why Dr. Zager was looking into this in the first place and why Mega Evolution is featured in the crossover. Crazy, right? This research allowed them to start forming Mewtwonite X and Y. That’s it for the spoilers. Now we’re getting into the juicy stuff.
PHASE 2[]
Phase 2 starts after Ian beats the Battle Frontier and has years of experience under his belt. Team Rocket takes more of an initiative as they now have a solidified and unified plan. The Plates are introduced and so much goes on.
POKÉMON TALES: DAWN[]
With this featuring the region that Arceus and the Creation Trio originally debuted in, it only makes sense that this is the official starting point of the Arceus Saga. Now, our good friend Domino infiltrates Team Galactic while they do their thing to create a new reality or whatever. After Ian beats them and gets them arrested, Domino springs the Galactic Admins free to get some Plates of Arceus that they used before. These were the first to be featured, and were initially brushed over until the end.
Two more Plates appear in PT: Dawn. The first appears in a special episode where Brendan goes to Mixas. Brendan stops Argus, his possibly future father-in-law, from stealing the Fist Plate from a village and returns it. This is pointless as Shadow appears to steal it. Shadow is the next big name of the Plate gathering and it is revealed he’s from Mixas. What a shocker, considering that’s the region he debuted in.
The last Plate appears in yet another crossover with Max-formally-known-as-Steve. Again, a great excuse to tie it in. Joe distracts Ian and Max while Domino finds the Insect Plate at a set of ruins. Please go read Lady Problems and the Ultimate Rap Battle. Ian and Steve have a rap off and it is too hysterical not to re-read.
At the end of the series, Domino recruits Shadow to get his Fist Plate. This wasn’t the first time they met. They actually fought each other for the first time at the Hall of Origins trying to claim the Azure Flute. It was a fake, go figure. But Domino schemed and got him onboard. He starts being the primary searcher while Domino handles other things. Like recruiting more people. So this puts the Plate count for Team Rocket at 5.
POKEMON TALES: SILVER[]
While Ian’s in Orre which has nothing to do with Arceus, the Arceus Saga translates to Johto where they had some features in HGSS. Professor Elm and Lyra find the Stone Plate, have no idea what it is, and give it to Mr. Pokemon to figure it out. He willingly gives it to Shadow who approaches him, then tells him about another one at the Ruins of Alph. Some of us know where this is going.
Shadow does find the Icicle Plate AND the real Azure Flute. He calls on the Galactic Admins as they lay a siege. Shadow obtains the Azure Flute, reveals his musical prowess and summons Arceus! But that thing is not happy to be given only 3 Plates and rampages! It is eventually calmed and thrown into its own dimension but that was a blow to Shadow.
At the same time, Shadow loses the Azure Flute to Ben Tennyson. When he tries to steal it back, it’s already been passed off to the IPA. Total bummer. So he changes sights and goes to meet an old friend. This series brings the Rocket Plate count to 7.
POKEMON TALES: ORRE[]
Fooled you, didn’t I? There was a special episode during the Orre events, well after the Orre events. After Shadow’s miserable failure in Johto, he goes to Kalos and recruits Millis Steel. She is Brendan’s friend/eventual girlfriend and her father is Argus, the possible father-in-law we mentioned earlier. He sold 2 Plates to Lawrence who had them in a vault in Unova. So Shadow takes Millis, steals the Flame and Sky Plates, then dumps Millis to take the fall. That puts the Rocket Count at 9.
POKEMON TALES: N[]
I had to look back on this series but there were actually some big features of the Arceus Saga here. The first was in a crossover, with Dakota this time! He wanted a crossover based off the Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs game and whatnot. It was named “Shadow of Oblivia.” So Shadow returns, gets some golden armor that allows him to summon and control Arceus. This angered Arceus and drove Shadow mad with power. Ian, Dakota and too many others to remember defeated him, got rid of the armor, and let Arceus leave.
Now we have a more key moment in the typical storyline. Ian catches a Golett, and when he gives it a new held item, Golett gives him an Earth Plate in exchange. It was set up that this was given to Golett 3,000 previous as shown in yet another Max/Steve crossover idea “Race Against Time.” They beat Markus’ Golurk and take its Earth Plate, then Steve gives the Plate to a random Golett which Ian eventually caught.
POKEMON TALES: PLASMA[]
Now this is a doozy. The Arceus Saga starts to pick up quite a bit here. We’ll start with the beginning. Domino and Shadow go to capture Meloetta to pay back Colress, for being a nerd I guess. They learn that Meloetta holds the Mind Plate, making it more desirable. Domino catches Meloetta, Ian snags it, then trades to Sabrina. It gets pretty messy but the point is Sabrina gets the Plate. Domino steals it off-screen so we have no idea how she gets it. But she’s notoriously known for avoiding aura detection so it’s not a surprise.
At that same time, Ian had given the Earth Plate to Sandslash, its power allowing Ian to become Unova champion. Shadow learns he holds the Earth Plate, and plans a heist to steal it. That’s when Shadow and Domino singlehandedly incapacitate some of Ian’s strongest Pokemon and steal the Plate in a battle with Sandslash, along with getting away undetected! I mean, can you believe that?! These two are freaking menaces!
But it doesn’t stop there! Cynthia, you know the former Sinnoh Champion who is revered by all? The one who probably kicked your ass on your first few play throughs? Yeah, she finds the Dread Plate, and it’s stolen by Colress. He uses it for some blah blah Plasma stuff but then keeps it. Once Team Plasma falls he gives it to Domino as an admission fee into Rainbow Rocket. They finally take the name Rainbow Rocket which is a big surprise in itself. So now the Plate Count is at 12.
POKEMON TALES: VIOLET[]
Finally, we get here! Not everything is about Team Rocket. Violet Evergarden finds the Spooky Plate in the Ice Path of Johto. No association to Rainbow Rocket at all! Granted, there was a skirmish with Team Great Rocket where Pierce takes the Plate for a bit, but Violet gets it back. So the Phase 2 Plate count is at 13, but Rainbow Rocket still has 12. Suck it!
PHASE 3[]
Phase 3 enters the endgame of Rainbow Rocket’s plans. The Plates are still important and all, but the Rainbow Rocket agenda switches majorly to Ultra Space, Mega Evolution and obtaining power. So here are some important bits you need to know.
POKEMON TALES: CHAMPION[]
Ugh, this one. I love this series because it features your favorite Ultra Beast, but it gets too plot focused. Though it reveals a lot. Uh, Shadow steals the Toxic Plate and the Griseous Orb from a Black Market auction and then hires some guys to steal the Azure Flute from the IPA. These aren’t normal guys, they are Kevin and Fein. Shadow steals Fein’s special crystal to go into Ultra Space to summon Arceus with Fein chasing.
Here we have the heart of the conflict. Shadow, after foreshadowing before, is revealed to be a Faller from Ultra Space. His home world was destroyed by Necrozma the Blinding One. So his plan is quite simple; draw in Necrozma, summon Arceus and force them to duke it out! Love it! Only problem is that Necrozma becomes Ultra Necrozma and beats the weakened god. So they all escape, Shadow is down in the dumps and Fein is left powerless. Until he finds me but that’s a different unassociated story. So the Plate Count is 14, with the Rocket Plate count at 13. That leaves only 3 more Plates to be revealed!
POKEMON TALES: MEGA[]
We skip over PT: Max as the fact that Team Rocket is involved with Team Flare isn’t revealed there. Remember when I said Giovanni’s research had Mega Evolution details? Well Dr. Zager returns and works with Xerosic to create Mewtwonite to use. Ian gets one of them as Domino escapes with the other.
Uh, what else? Some members are more active collecting Legendaries. But the big part is when they work at Devon Corp to help harness Infinite Energy. They see it as a potential power source for Ultra Wormholes, which we haven’t gotten to discussing yet. But they use it and open portals successfully! But it lasts barely a few seconds and ends up sending stuff to the Distortion World instead. Not where they wanted to go.
Ian and Shadow end up in the Distortion World by one of these events. Ian gets out all dandy, but Shadow captures Giratina. This was set up when he took the Griseous Orb, remember? Yeah, a lot of layers here.
Two important things to mention before we go on here. Dioga messed up. Twice. Yeah you heard me. TWICE. First off, Domino was supposed to steal the Spooky Plate from Violet when they encountered each other in Vs. Jirachi. But so much was going on there he forgot about it and left it out. The second mistake was with Elise. She was supposed to have found the Pixie Plate in the Pokemon Village, either by Xerneas or whatever. But that was forgotten too so now Dioga has 2 Plates not in play that he has to fix.
POKÉMON TALES: HAU[]
We are finally to the point of the Ultra Beasts! Basically, Giovanni helped fund the Aether Foundation with the persona “Old Man Cob” which Cobalt assumed and became head of the Board of Directors. The funding of Ultra Space research, Lusamine’s husband vanishing and a bunch of other stuff led to Lusamine being taken by an Ultra Beast and hospitalized. This put Cobalt in charge.
With that, his timeline accelerated. Scientists began working on Ultra Wormholes and they recruited the Ultra Recon Squad! They came to collect the Ultra Beasts summoned due to their experiments. So they assign a liaison into the group to collect them for Rainbow Rocket.
FUTURE: PT: COMPANION AND RAINBOW ROCKET[]
In conclusion, prior to the climatic two series, Team Rocket has 13 Plates of Arceus, and 14 have been revealed. Cobalt will get Ultra Space control, has a Mewtwonite, assumingely a Mewtwo to go with it. He has a horde of powerful guys to fight off anyone who gets in his way, and he is ready for a showdown.
Now, Rainbow Rocket finishes the story. Like, ENDS IT. But the set up for it isn’t necessarily done. Remember those two snafus I mentioned where Dioga messed up? Yeah, I said it again. He messed up. So in PT: Companion, he had to write an episode specifically to fix that problem. Violet and Domino will meet again, and it will be focused on the Spooky Plate and Pixie Plate.
The remaining two Plates, the Zap and Meadow Plates, will debut in PT: Rainbow Rocket. I’ll give you guys a hint though; both Plates are secretly held by a Pokemon belonging to one of the many protagonists listed to appear in the series. The smart ones will guess where they are. As for Primal, we know you’ll figure it out. You’ve predicted like, 75% of Dioga’s twists by the time PT: Dawn aired. You’re too attuned to how Dioga writes. Like creepily good.
Now everyone is caught up! Thank you for reading this absurdly long summary of anything that seemed remotely important to the finale. Since I am a nice person now and want to keep everyone’s good graces, I have a reward for you! A sneak peek into the PT: Companion episode with Violet and Domino! It is called “The Numbered Rockets.” Thanks for reading and come back for more!
SNEAK PEAK
The blizzard rages through the mountains. Miyamoto stands alongside Soleanna and her Plusle. They stare down Lila, Matori and Violet with glazed over eyes.
Soleanna: Release Violet at once!
Lila: Gee, can’t do that. She is a valued number agent of my Team Rocket and I want this wench to be my little doll for the rest of her days.
Matori: You are a numbered agent as well, Miyamoto. Join me again. Together we can achieve Madame Boss’ ideal of an elite female organization. The Numbered Rockets will continue where she left off.
Miyamoto: At what cost?! This sort of destruction to the world is not what she wanted. She wanted to unify the world with the power provided by Pokémon.
Lila: It seems to me that we’re at a standstill. I suppose we’ll just hypnotize you too and worry about the details later.
Miyamoto: (Gulps) Earlier, you took a stone Plate from her.
Miyamoto reaches into her travel bag, pulling the pink Pixie Plate.
Miyamoto: How about a trade? Violet for the Plate.
Lila: Ah! That is so cute you think I need to negotiate. I can take you and the Plate then–
Domino steps out through the blizzard, passing Lila.
Domino: You understand what that is, right? The power it possesses?
Miyamoto: I have been alone for so many years. I have changed too much. I value that girl’s freedom more than this power.
Domino: Then I accept your proposition.