Adaman: The Diamond Clan Leader Who Traded War for Teamwork

Adaman leads the Diamond Clan, but what he really cares about is having his people call him "Leader." A Hisui native with a thick head of blue hair, he is one of the two heads of the local population, the other being Irida, of the Pearl Clan. His clan worships the "almighty Sinnoh," master of time, and he himself has made a choice his predecessors would have refused: getting along with his neighbors rather than fighting them.

Contents

• A leader raised in the Diamond Settlement, and a new political course
• Irida, a rivalry that drives nearly all of his scenes
• Two Nobles to quell, and a leader who delegates
• Red Chain and Origin Ball: two versions of the same role
• The Trainer: no Poké Balls, and an all-Eevee team
• Adaman at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A leader raised in the Diamond Settlement, and a new political course

Adaman grew up in the Diamond Settlement, steeped in his people's traditions. The deity revered there is a master of time, held to watch over every moment lived in Hisui — a belief the leader never strays from, and one that even colors the way he talks.

Where those before him relied on force, he has changed course. He openly embraces coexistence with the Pearl Clan as well as with the Galaxy Team, which explains why he is seen mediating far more often than threatening throughout Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

The title came to him easily; obedience, much less so. Arezu and Melli believe they can handle their respective Nobles on their own and rarely listen to him, while Clover has gone as far as leaving the clan altogether. Charming and laid-back, he still reins in his subordinates when he needs to.

Irida, a rivalry that drives nearly all of his scenes

His very first scene is an argument. In front of Galaxy Team headquarters, Adaman and Irida clash over which "Sinnoh" truly deserves the name, each defending their own clan's version without giving an inch.

The quarrel flares up again in the office of Kamado, even as a Noble from the rival camp, Kleavor, has spun out of control. The Diamond Clan leader prefers to hand the matter over to the newcomer who fell through the space-time rift: he has heard that this newcomer subdued an Alpha Pokémon and won the favor of the Ride Pokémon Wyrdeer.

Their constant jabs have a very clear limit, though. When Kamado banishes the protagonist and forbids anyone to help them, the two leaders defy him together and find the protagonist at the Ancient Retreat. Once the crisis is resolved, they head off to feast side by side at the Harmony Festival — a duo so inseparable that the same illustrator, take, designed both characters.

Two Nobles to quell, and a leader who delegates

The Diamond Clan is responsible for two Nobles. Lilligant and Electrode are struck by the same affliction as Kleavor, and rather than going himself, Adaman tasks the protagonist with tracking down Arezu and then calming the Lord of the Hollow, despite the antics of his own Warden.

Before that, he stops at the camp on Deertrack Heights with Mai and gives the player the Celestica Flute there — an instrument he himself can't get anything good out of. Later, traveling with Irida through the Alabaster Icelands, he puts their friend from Jubilife Village in touch with Sabi, Braviary's Warden.

His method never changes: he opens doors, then lets others take it from there. He reins in Melli, then follows Lian to the Primeval Grotto to retrieve the Origin Ore, the raw material for the Origin Ball. When the Miss Fortunes burst into the mine, he leaves Charm to the protagonist, offers Clover a way back into the Diamond Clan — which she turns down without the slightest tact — and takes it upon himself to tend to the injured Pokémon.

Red Chain and Origin Ball: two versions of the same role

At the Ancient Retreat, the player has to make a choice. Either Adaman or Irida will continue the adventure at the protagonist's side, while the other stays behind to keep an eye on Kamado; the one who goes along oversees, alongside Volo, the trials the Lake Guardians set for the protagonist, then the forging of the Red Chain.

At the Temple of Sinnoh, once the Commander has come back to his senses, everything hinges on that choice. If he was the one chosen, Adaman serves as Dialga's medium, and Dialga itself asks to be caught so it can face Palkia alongside the bearer of the Red Chain.

Otherwise, he gathers up the pieces of the Red Chain, sacrificed against Palkia, and brings them to Professor Laventon: from those remains comes the Origin Ball in which Dialga ends up sealed. With the danger in the mine behind them, he takes the liberty of pointing out Kamado's tears — which earns him a sumo throw — and, once the Harmony Festival is over, he is still on hand when Regigigas is caught at the Snowpoint Temple.

💎 The master of time has his own shelf: browse the legendary Pokémon figures.

The Trainer: no Poké Balls, and an all-Eevee team

In battle, Adaman does without Poké Balls. His Pokémon aren't kept in anything and all enter the fray at once. The first battle he offers the player has no other purpose than to earn Melli's respect: losing it has no consequences.

The later encounters raise the bar. A second victory makes him hand over the Adamant Crystal, a request then has you beat him using only Dialga in its Origin Forme, and he finally closes out every series of the Path of Tenacity at the Jubilife Village Training Grounds, last in line after Arezu and Melli.

Nearly all of his documented partners belong to a single family, that of Eevee. The mobile game, which welcomed him at the end of May 2023, pairs him by default with Leafeon, his favorite Pokémon and the one he poses with at the Photographer's, then with Vaporeon as an alternate sync pair, and a Shiny Eevee evolved into Sylveon in his festive outfit. Only his Special Costume version breaks from the line, with an Ursaluna.

Adaman at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Adaman in Pokémon Legends: Arceus?
  He is the leader of the Diamond Clan, one of Hisui's two clans. Raised in the Diamond Settlement, he reveres the "almighty Sinnoh," the deity of time, and he prefers his people to call him "Leader" rather than chief.
• What is the relationship between Adaman and Irida?
  A friendly rivalry. They argue from their very first scene over the identity of the true "Sinnoh," but they join forces when Kamado banishes the protagonist, and they end the adventure celebrating together at the Harmony Festival.
• Which Pokémon does Adaman use?
  Leafeon is his favorite Pokémon and his default partner in the mobile game, which also gives him Vaporeon, a Shiny Eevee evolved into Sylveon, and an Ursaluna for his Special Costume. In battle, he doesn't keep any of his Pokémon in a Poké Ball.
• Should you choose Adaman or Irida at the Ancient Retreat?
  Both lead to the same outcome by different paths. The chosen leader accompanies the protagonist and serves as Dialga's medium at the Temple of Sinnoh; the other keeps watch on Kamado, and Adaman then brings the remains of the Red Chain to Professor Laventon to create the Origin Ball.
• Where can you battle Adaman again after the story?
  At the Jubilife Village Training Grounds, in the Path of Tenacity series, where he is the last opponent of each series, after Arezu and Melli. Two requests also let you challenge him, one of which only allows Dialga in its Origin Forme.

In short

Adaman holds an unusual place among the series' authority figures: he is a leader whose decisions almost all come down to letting someone else act. He defuses his own Wardens, hands over the Celestica Flute instead of playing it, entrusts his Nobles to a stranger from another place, and in the mine settles for tending to the wounded. His break with his predecessors' warmongering is precisely what makes this delegation possible — and what allows him, in the end, to raise a glass with the rival he never stopped contradicting.