Awesome / Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Given that this story's been started by Arceus itself, let's see how awesome it is.

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• Arceus chose to transport a teenager from present day into the distant past. Let that sink in. Some random kid who possibly hasn't partaken in any region's Gym Challenge (or equivalent) has been selected to create the world's first Pokédex. This teenager has been given the job by none other than the creator of the freaking Pokémon world.
  • One for Arceus: sending someone from present day back in time to the distant past is implied to be something it can just casually do. Although given the circumstances of other rifts which have seriously messed up both the past and the present, it's implied that Arceus deemed it necessary to send someone to prevent a mass-extinction or resolve a serious time paradox that would otherwise happen. Yes, you, player, are going to prevent a potential time paradox.
• Upon arriving in Hisui and being greeted by Professor Laventon, the player just catches the three starter Pokémon without breaking much of a sweat, despite being freaked out by the time-travelling experience. And as mentioned before, the player possibly wasn't a Pokémon trainer prior to the time-travelling event.
• Despite the threat of being exiled to certain death in the event of abysmal failure, the player passes the test required to join Galaxy Team's Survey Corps. This also results in the player character looking much more confident, like they actually belong on the team.
• Manually aiming and then tossing the primitive Hisui-era Poké Ball in order to catch wild Pokémon certainly feels satisfying in that if you do it right and succeed, your team will get EXP despite not getting into a battle. Even if you can't lock on to a Pokémon (for example, it being too far away or in an awkward spot), if you aim the Poké Ball just right, you can catch it from quite some distance away. It also means that the protagonist is implied to have much better Pokémon-catching skills than all the prior protagonists, who were using modern self-guided Poké Balls during their Gym Challenge days.
  • Speaking of the primitive Poké Ball, it's made from an Apricorn, just like its modern descendant. But it's heavier due to being partially made of Tumblestone and probably an older variant of hand-forged steel. Modern Poké Balls are implied to be constructed from much lighter alloys along with the Apricorns, plus they seem to have guidance systems built into them. Let's also consider that the player is hauling around a crafting kit. That's right, the player had to build heavy Poké Balls, lug them around, and then throw them at extremely deadly feral Pokémon while stealthing around the field as opposed to battling each and every specimen encountered.
• Space-Time Distortions are this in spades. Though you might find yourself on the back foot the first time you enter, finding yourself being ganged up on by hordes of extremely strong Pokémon, once you gather your bearings, these phenomena are very much worth your while. Among the Pokemon you can catch here include fully evolved 'mons, the Porygon line, numerous Eeveelutions and even the Fossil Pokémon of Gen IV. Other cool reasons to visit a Distortion include an abundance of rare items, including those required to evolve certain Pokémon.
• Commander Kamado is probably strong enough to wrestle an Ursaring on his own. He's Professor Rowan's ancestor and he certainly has passed down the tendency to deal with problems with his bare hands if need be.
• The protagonist is able to bond with several guardian Pokémon and then ride them. That's right, the power of friendship has just granted you the means of getting around without exhausting yourself or drowning.
• The battles with frenzied noble Pokémon are nerve-wracking, but the combination of using Professor Laventon's crazy idea (food balms), dodging skills, and plain-old Pokémon battling shows everyone that the player is key to solving the problems on hand. Every noble fight also ends with a slow-motion of the player chucking the last balm right into the frenzied noble's face, knocking the nasty energy right out of its system.
  • And the culmination of all this, on Mt. Coronet: You catch Dialga or Palkia (depending on which clan leader you went searching for the Red Chain with), thinking everything's set... and then the other one shows up, and it's frenzied. After one last bit of preparation, you head back to the Temple of Sinnoh; the frenzied one is making to attack, you send out yours, and the Temple shatters, leaving nothing but broken pillars. When the light fades, the frenzied legendary is standing there... in a new Forme. And you march up to an out-of-control cosmic deity to quell its frenzy, just like you did the other five nobles.
• All the Noble battles are pretty impressive in their own right, but special mention goes to Avalugg: a boss so large it's bigger than a Dynamaxed Pokemon and feels more like something out of Metal Gear or Monster Hunter than anything else the franchise has ever thrown at you. And yet a 15-year-old kid goes up against a literal kaiju, which might not even need the help of any of their Pokemon, and actually wins (even if admittedly you're not actually overpowering it so much as removing its frenzied status).
• The youngest Growlithe bravely swimming across the ocean to Firespit Island despite the major type-disadvantage of being Fire/Rock and his fear of the ocean after it claimed his Arcanine father. All to come to his friend's rescue after it was kidnapped by the bandit trio, and even was willing to fight against them 3-to-1.
  • And as an added bonus, encouraged by the spirit of his deceased father, the little Growlithe evolves into an Arcanine to challenge his aggressors, becoming the new Lord of the Isles.
• Ingo may have lost his memories after falling into a rift long before the player arrived, but his skills as a trainer certainly are nothing to dismiss lightly.
  • And if the main battle with him, showing that he is the first Warden with 3 Pokemon with him, doesn't prove it to you, then when you battle him in the battlegrounds later on sure will do. The makes sure that you know that he is a powerful character, with not only now him having a team of 6 leveled up to 67, including the 3 Pokemon you encountered (in which Tangela now evolves into a Tangrowth), but also with his tougher versions: The same battle of 6, leveled up between 75 to 77, and a new challenge where you battle him with 3 Alphas in level 75.
    • And to add a little bit more awesomeness: All of the Alphas' eyes are RED. Meaning that Ingo didn't catch them at all. He somehow befriended 3 Alphas for this challenge.
• After Melli spends his entire onscreen appearance bullying the player and ignoring their heroic feats, Adaman shows up in person to order him to help make the balms the player needs to calm Lord Electrode's frenzy. When Melli claims to have forgotten Electrode's favorite food, Adaman is quick to shut him down:
  Adaman: Oh, and by the way? I wasn't just going to tell her/him that (s)he needs Crunchy Salt—I was going to go right ahead and give it to her/him.
• During the heart-to-heart with Mesprit in Verity Cavern, it asks what you felt when the Galaxy Team cast you out. You have the option of replying, "I accepted it," showing an understanding of Kamado's reasoning and forgiveness towards his Ungrateful Bastard behavior, plus the resilience to keep investigating the situation without his help. Thankfully, the dialogue choices during this trial don't affect the story at all.
• Cyllene defying orders and reinstating the protagonist. Let that sink in. She's just about had it with Kamado's attitude, and she knows it would be better to let the protagonist do their freaking job without interference than to try killing frenzied legendary Pokémon who could easily wipe out half the region.
  • Even better, Cyllene comments that if Kamado didn't want her to let the player get back to work, he shouldn't have left her in charge. She's going to get stuff done whether he likes it or not, and she's technically not even breaking any rules!
• Who knew that humble mochi chef, Beni is a ninja? And he's quite the Pokémon trainer/battler too. Looks like he and his implied descendant have a thing for being a surprisingly formidable foe.
• The character you don't play as manages to create the Origin Ball using the remnants of the broken Red Chain and the gathered Origin Ore, making a Poké Ball capable of catching one of the embodiments of spacetime itself while they're in a frenzy.
• Some side quests can involve such moments:
  • Getting Help from Machoke involves an old Construction Corps member named Bosley asking you to show him the complete Pokedex entry of Machoke. When presented said entry, he immediately runs towards one Machoke and captures it instantly (albeit not shown as the screen fades to black), showing no fear against such a strong Pokémon in a setting where they are considered dangerous. Bosley said he will reward said Machoke with its favorite dish for its work. All of this cements Bosley as a Cool Old Guy. It is also a nice Call-Forward moment too as Machokes will be employed for heavy work in games set in the present. The duo can be seen in Jubilife Village after that.
  • The update added Battling the Security Corps' Secret Weapon, which reveals that Ress, the gatekeeper of the village, is actually one of the best battlers in the Corps, all while using the three Com Mons Bidoof, Starly, and Shinx. The above is more impressive considering Ress has apparently defeated Alpha Pokémon with said three Pokémon.
  • During the final Gone Astray... sidequest, Wanda casually made it out to the Alabaster Icelands and back to the village all by herself, despite her horrid sense of direction, just so she could get the player character a gift. Granted, she does need some help getting back once the player tracks down Zeke, but it still shows some pretty big improvement on her part.
• Facing off with Volo in the post-game is suitably climatic after learning he was the cause of the whole story, with him using a team nearly identical to Cynthia, complete with a remixed version of her battle theme. But then things are kicked up a notch when you beat him, with him declaring it is not over as another theme rises and reaches a crescendo, a familiar cry echoing through the temple, a portal of darkness forming behind Volo as he gives a smug smirk and a large wing unfolds from behind him. Giratina has arrived to back up Volo, and it has a even stronger aura boost than the Alpha Pokémon. Succeed in taking it down? Giratina unleashes its true strength, transforming to Origin Forme and regaining all its HP and PP. Chances are if you weren't prepared to face essentially 8 level 68-70 Pokémon in a row with no auto-healing you will lose your first attempt at this fight. Even being moderately over-leveled may not be enough.
  • When Giratina's Altered Forme is defeated, he briefly reels back, as if he was about to faint... but then, his eyes suddenly flash bright red, and he transforms into his Origin Forme accompanied by a remix of his battle theme in Platinum, complete with an abundance of electric guitar shredding!
  • Shadow Force has a special animation for when Giratina uses it in Origin Forme: after disappearing, Giratina physically tears a hole in spacetime with its spike-wings and attacks.
  • All of this makes it all the more awesome when you beat it anyways. 6 versus 8, including a Legendary (and one of the Creation Trio no less), no chance to heal in between, against Pokemon allowed to attack twice before you can get one attack in, odds stacked against you... and you still win.
    • The game even says "You finally defeated Giratina!" after you win, as if acknowledging how awesome it is that you just dealt with everything it put you through.
• The boss fight against Arceus is a spectacle and a massive challenge all in one. Upon completing the Pokédex and playing the Azure Flute, a glowing staircase appears, taking you to an arena floating amid auroras in a starry, spacey sky. Arceus appears, and then puts on the most difficult fight in the game, shooting homing projectiles that require perfect timing to dodge, sending out shockwaves directly followed by meteors, having two charged attacks you have to shatter, and tearing through space and time to run you down. The opportunities to throw balms in the fight are scant and efficient progress (and longer survival) in the fight requires risky throws timed in the gaps of its attacks, pushing you into a hectic rhythm that's nonetheless possible to master due to the fight's consistency. Even if you break a charged attack and get to fight it with Pokémon, Arceus still proves its status as Creator of the Universe by using its Legend Plate to immediately switch to a type your Pokémon is weak to and likely annihilating it with Judgment. All in all, the battle will make you feel like the puny mortal that you are in comparison to Arceus, and winning becomes all the more satisfying for it.
  • While a variant of this line is shown in every Noble battle (and against Origin Forme Dialga/Palkia), somehow the game telling you this while sending your Pokémon against Arceus just makes the scenario feel unspeakably more badass:
    Here's your chance! Show Arceus your power!
  • A bit of Fridge Brilliance mixed with awesome comes after you beat Arceus and learn a surprising fact about it. All those times you managed to see, fight, or capture Arceus for yourself in the previous games and this one? That was just a piece of it. Arceus created the avatar we know today as a mere means to interact with the world it created and its real form is not only likely far stronger, but probably more so than any other creature in the Pokémon universe. After many years of Arceus seemingly being dethroned stat-wise in-game by fusions, Megas, and other dimensional beings like Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Necrozma, and Eternatus, it turns out that Arceus wasn't even trying against anyone, likely because it was too powerful to comprehend or withstand. And you even get a taste of that power by being able to use a Legends Plate of your own after you obtain its avatar, showing that if this thing really ever wanted to, it would be capable of wiping the floor with anyone or anything that challenged it. And yet, you still manage to impress it enough for it to trust you with at least a fraction that kind of power. Arceus truly is the Pokémon god and this game makes that more clear than ever.