How Pokémon battles work in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

The open-world exploration of Pokémon Arceus changes how Pokémon interacts with trainers and how you’re battling them. Because you can find them wandering the world, you can expect some Pokémon are going to be a bit more aggressive towards you, potentially attacking and fainting your trainer, unless you bring out your Pokémon while being attacked. This guide details how Pokémon battles work in Pokémon Arceus.

When being attacked by a wild Pokémon, you’ll need to summon your chosen Pokémon and toss it in front of the attacking Pokémon. Should the two notice one another, a battle will occur, and a turn order will appear at the top right of your screen to show what Pokémon is attacking first and how often. Some Pokémon can attack multiple times in a row because of their overall attack speed and type of attacks.

When it is your Pokémon’s turn, you can pick from four different attacks to use against the wild Pokémon. Each move that your Pokémon can use has two unique styles: a strong style or an agile style. The strong style version of an attack increases a move’s overall power but lowers its speed, while the agile style increases the speed but lowers the strength of the attack. How you use a style is up to you and the Pokémon you’re battling against.

You’ll be able to see the health of the Pokémon you’re fighting against while out in the wild, and when it reaches zero, it will faint. However, you can weaken a wild Pokémon and attempt to capture it using a Poké ball to add it to your Pokédex.

If you choose to ignore the Pokémon and attempt to run away, it may attack your trainer, potentially causing your character to faint and return to camp. You may have to return to camp eventually to regain your trainer’s health.

While Pokémon battles are a little different from the original series, the open-world of Pokémon Legends: Arceus allows players to approach battles uniquely and consider how they can avoid them more often. Of course, not every Pokémon will aggressively attack a trainer, but players can expect when entering a particular Pokémon territory that not every Pokémon is welcome to strangers.