Pokémon Go will give Arceus, Manaphy ‘dedicated space’ to debut outside of Go Tour: Sinnoh

Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh is nearly here and Niantic always has a few hidden bonuses for players to unlock during big events. This time, however, it won’t include key elements of the region it’s based on—namely Arceus. 

Go Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles, the in-person part of this year’s event, will run from Feb. 16 to 18 and will feature nearly every Pokémon from the Gen IV games. Origin Forme Dialga and Origin Forme Palkia will also make their first appearance outside of Pokémon Legends: Arceus through special event raids. Arceus itself isn’t going to be making an appearance, though. 

In a statement from the Pokémon Go Live Events team, Dot Esports learned Niantic has no plans of including Arceus, Manaphy, or Phione in Go Tour: Sinnoh, despite them being some of the only Gen IV missing from the game. According to the team, they are more focused on giving each Pokémon a space to shine without being bundled into something else. “All three of these Pokémon are indeed extra special, and we wanted to give them some dedicated space when they eventually make their Pokémon Go debut,” a Pokémon Go spokesperson said.

This wording suggests Niantic didn’t want to overload Go Tour: Sinnoh with too much-featured content when Origin Forme Dialga and Origin Forme Palkia are the new headliners. It also lines up with the company’s usual strategy of stretching out new Pokémon releases, especially important ones like Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, across as many different events as possible. 

Arceus is one of the most important Pokémon not present in Pokémon Go but, considering this season is called Timeless Travels and we don’t know anything about Go Fest 2024 just yet, there’s a chance we could see the literal God of Pokémon appear soon—potentially with Manaphy and Phione in tow.