Rei: The Teen Who Fell into Hisui to Write the First Pokédex

Rei doesn't leave home: he falls from the sky. He is the male playable character of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and his adventure begins with a time-travel accident rather than a chosen departure. Depending on whether the player picks him or not, he becomes the game's hero or the colleague who teaches someone else the basics. His official name was only revealed in August 2021, during a video presentation dedicated to the franchise.

Contents

• A fall through time, a place in the Survey Corps
• Protagonist or colleague: two versions of the same researcher
• The sparring partner you keep running into, mission after mission
• A customizable look, between kimono and Galaxy logo
• The name, the voice and appearances outside the main game
• Rei at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A fall through time, a place in the Survey Corps

Rei's starting point is nothing like the usual Trainer's departure. He comes from the modern era and is thrown into Hisui, the name Sinnoh bore centuries earlier, after passing through a space-time rift. He is found unconscious on a beach, and it's Professor Laventon who picks him up.

The three Pokémon the professor had brought with him circle this stranger in confusion; as he comes to, Rei learns that he is the one they had come looking for, and that his phone has turned into an Arc Phone. He catches up with the trio quickly enough to convince Laventon to enlist him — the Galaxy Team has a Survey Corps, headquartered in Jubilife Village, and along the way the professor hands him one of the three.

The mission fits in one line and fills the whole game: seek out every species in the region to fulfill Arceus's will, and compile the very first Pokédex in history. That means facing wildlife far less accommodating than anywhere else, Noble and Alpha Pokémon included, before the final encounter with the Pokémon god — a backdrop covered in detail in our feature on Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Protagonist or colleague: two versions of the same researcher

The game offers two playable characters, and the one the player doesn't pick stays in the story as a non-player character. If you choose Rei, it's Akari who becomes his pseudo-rival; the other way around, that role falls to him.

Seen from the NPC side, Rei is first and foremost a Galaxy Team colleague. He's the one who shows the new recruit how to craft items and how to battle: the character serves as a walking tutorial during the first few hours.

His team follows the same switch. When you play as him, he starts with one of the three Hisui partners — Rowlet for Grass, Cyndaquil for Fire, Oshawott for Water. When he isn't the player character, he instead shows up with a Pikachu as his first companion.

🌿 The three Hisui starters have their own section: see the Pokémon starters.

The sparring partner you keep running into, mission after mission

Rei doesn't fade into the background once he has passed on the basics. As early as the next mission, he asks you to meet him at the training grounds for a first duel, then approaches you on the outskirts of the village during the two missions after that. His narrative purpose couldn't be clearer: he serves as a progress milestone.

A side quest takes him out of this setting. At Ginkgo Landing, he trades what he knows about massive mass outbreaks for a battle, in a side mission devoted to one of these phenomena in the Cobalt Coastlands.

The game even puts numbers on his training: for this battle, his Pokémon have five effort levels in every stat, seven for his Pikachu. Once Dialga and Palkia have been caught, you can battle him again at the training grounds once a day by talking to Ingo. Version 1.1.0 tweaked this setup: completing the Cobalt Coastlands quest replaces that team with the one you met on the beach, and permanently closes off the old battle.

A customizable look, between kimono and Galaxy logo

By default, Rei has fair skin, slate-gray eyes and black hair with a bluish tint — a visual template very close to that of Lucas, the hero of Diamond and Pearl. Hairstyle, skin tone, eye color and hair color can all be adjusted by the player, though, and so can his wardrobe.

His signature outfit blends the style of Hisui with that of his employer: a red beret and scarf, a black T-shirt under an indigo kimono whose sleeves and collar fade to linen gray, loose trousers tucked into tall midnight-blue gaiters, white socks and woven straw sandals. Each sleeve bears the organization's logo, a silver badge stands out on his chest, and an ochre pouch serves as his belt.

At the very start of the game, he wears none of this uniform: a white T-shirt printed with an oversized Poké Ball, dark shorts and a pair of red-strapped flip-flops. That T-shirt is one of the default alternate outfits of the hero of Pokémon X and Y, a subtle nod to the previous generation.

The name, the voice and appearances outside the main game

His French name, Aurel, comes from "Aurore", the French name of Dawn, the heroine of Diamond and Pearl and their remakes — a subtle reminder that Hisui and Sinnoh are the same land centuries apart, as explained in our profile of Dawn. In other languages, the Hisui protagonist the player doesn't pick is consistently given a name drawn from the vocabulary of light: in English, Rei comes from "ray."

Two details complete the portrait. According to lines spoken by Cyllene, he is said to be fifteen; and his voice remains that of Japanese actor Tatsuya Katono even when you play in another language, since this game's heroes are the first playable characters to be voiced in a core series title.

Outside the game, his appearances are brief. A special episode of Pokémon Journeys shows him weaving through the crowds of Jubilife Village to reach his quarters, craft a Poké Ball by hand, then head off to explore Hisui with Cyndaquil, Oshawott and Rowlet. The trading card game, for its part, features him in the Crown Zenith expansion, released in France in January 2023.

The mobile game added him in fall 2023 in two guises: in his canonical outfit, his partner is a Hisuian Decidueye; in his Pasio Academy uniform, it's a Hisuian Braviary. Finally, Pokémon Legends: Z-A pays him a museum tribute, with his clothes and Akari's joining the Hisui exhibit at the museum in Lumiose City.

Rei at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Rei in Pokémon Legends: Arceus?
  He's the game's male playable character. A teenager from the modern era, he passes through a space-time rift, washes up on a beach in Hisui and joins the Galaxy Team's Survey Corps in Jubilife Village.
• What's the difference between Rei and Akari?
  They're the game's two playable characters. The one the player doesn't pick remains in the story as a non-player character, acting as a pseudo-rival and a colleague who shows the new recruit the ropes.
• Which Pokémon does Rei have?
  When the player plays as him, he starts with one of the three Hisui partners: Rowlet, Cyndaquil or Oshawott. When he isn't the player character, his first companion is a Pikachu.
• Can you battle Rei more than once?
  Yes. He challenges you at the training grounds and then on the outskirts of the village over the first few missions, again at Ginkgo Landing during a side mission, and once a day at the training grounds after Dialga and Palkia have been caught.
• Where does Rei's name come from?
  His English name, Rei, comes from "ray." His French name, Aurel, comes from the word "aurore" (dawn), which is also the French name of Dawn, the playable heroine of Diamond and Pearl. In other languages too, the Hisui protagonist the player doesn't pick gets a name borrowed from the vocabulary of light.

In short

Rei holds a rare position in the franchise's gallery of heroes: he didn't set out on an adventure, he was thrown into one, and the game builds its entire progression on the gap between a present-day teenager and a region that doesn't yet know what a Pokédex is. Whether the player plays as him or runs into him at the training grounds, his role stays the same: showing how you tame a world you didn't choose.