Palina: the Warden who refused to train her heir

She was entrusted with a future Lord; she raised an orphan. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Palina watches over a Noble Pokémon for the Pearl Clan, one whose predecessor drowned before its pup's eyes. Her instructions were to prepare that pup to rule. She did the opposite, and her clan makes her pay for it.

Contents

• A post the people assign
• The drowned Lord and the heir who fears the sea
• The Warden who didn't do her job
• Iscan, the other clan, and an affection kept secret
• Firespit Island: a kidnapping, an evolution, a lightning bolt
• After the crowning: a ghost and a parting
• Palina at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A post the people assign

In Hisui, watching over a Noble Pokémon isn't a birthright: the locals are the ones who choose the Wardens. Palina holds this role for the Pearl Clan, watching over an Arcanine of Hisui.

The mandate is very concrete. She answers for the Noble itself, for the territory it rules over, and even for what's on its plate: keeping it fed is part of the job. She isn't the only one to hold the title, either, since each Noble in the region has a Warden of its own.

She had actually aimed higher. Before becoming a Warden, she was vying to lead the Pearl Clan, and Irida was chosen over her — the leader is the only one who knows how to call Pokémon with the Celestica Flute and be carried from one end of Hisui to the other. Since then, Irida has called her "Lina," a nickname Palina can't stand in front of others.

🔥 The Lord of the Isles and his heir have their own section: see the Pokémon figures.

The drowned Lord and the heir who fears the sea

The previous Noble died in the water. A wave had swept away his pup; the Arcanine dove in after him and drowned bringing him back, before the eyes of the son he had just saved.

The survivor never fully recovered. The scene scarred him so deeply that the sea became unbearable to him, and he hides at the slightest noise — which, in a clan devoted to its Nobles, hardly looks like the portrait of a future Lord.

Palina actually looks after two Growlithe from Hisui, only one of which descends from the late Lord, and she likes to put the question to visitors. Almost everyone points to the bigger one; it's the smaller, timid one.

The Warden who didn't do her job

Her mission was clear, though: train the heir so he could succeed his father. She didn't do it, and let the orphan grieve at his own pace.

The criticism comes from within, and it's blunt: members of her own clan believe she has failed in her duty. She owns it without argument — she lets him live as he pleases, stays by his side, and speaks of him as a partner rather than as a Noble in training.

When Irida sends the player to talk to her about this heir, she sidesteps the subject in a few sentences and steers the conversation toward Firespit Island, where strange shadows have reportedly been spotted. To get there, she warns, you'll need a Basculegion, and therefore Iscan, the Diamond Clan Warden you'll find on Aipom Hill by heading along Ginkgo Landing.

Iscan, the other clan, and an affection kept secret

On the day of the drowning, Palina didn't just lose a Noble: she nearly died too. Iscan and his Basculegion pulled her out, and she has never repaid that debt.

Her esteem has turned into something more, except the two aren't on the same side — Pearl for her, Diamond for him. So she avoids being seen with him: people already say enough about her, she says, without bringing trouble on him as well.

Yet it was Iscan's kindness that settled her decision about the little Growlithe: without that support, she wouldn't have found the strength to protect him against her clan's wishes. The festival that brings together the two clans and the Galaxy Team finally gives them a chance to be seen together, and she takes the opportunity to drag everyone to the photographer, since Iscan is too shy to pose alone with her.

Firespit Island: a kidnapping, an evolution, a lightning bolt

The lightning bolts falling from the rift worry her long before the crisis: she reads in them the wrath of Almighty Sinnoh, which might be punishing those in the two rival clans who worshipped an impostor. The trouble breaks out while the cooking is underway: the player has just helped Iscan prepare the dish that draws Basculegion out when the Miss Fortunes, Charm, Clover and Coin, make off with the Growlithe that's no heir at all.

She begs for someone to go get him back and wants to follow, but Iscan stops her on the grounds that it's too dangerous. The Lord's son, meanwhile, sets off on his own: he swims across the sea that had terrified him since his father's death, and Palina finds him on the island, standing up to the three sisters.

He evolves right in front of them, then a lightning bolt strikes him and sends him into a frenzy. Iscan talks about running away; she refuses, because he's her responsibility. Irida reminds her that balms exist, Iscan happens to be carrying the Pokémon's favorite foods, and the two Wardens make them while the player takes on the job of calming the Noble.

After the crowning: a ghost and a parting

Once Arcanine has calmed down, the glow that was driving him shoots into the space-time rift, and Palina wonders aloud what could possibly lie on the other side. Then she hears the cry of the late Lord, who shows himself for a moment at the top of the volcano: the father had been watching over his son ever since his death.

She starts by swearing to Iscan that she heard nothing, just to scare him with a ghost story, before owning up. The real sacrifice comes right after: Arcanine has become Lord of the Isles, she remains his Warden, and those two roles no longer let them live side by side. She sends him back to his territory, then asks the player to look after Irida.

The game doesn't shelve her for all that. At the Molten Arena, she offers a rematch against her Arcanine, times the battle, keeps the best time and pays out Exp. Candy for victories. The mission devoted to the Firespit Island plate also shows her asking Irida for help on site, knowing full well that the leader can't stand the volcano's heat — and Irida suspects her, not without reason, of doing it on purpose.

Palina at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Palina in Pokémon Legends: Arceus?
  A Pearl Clan Warden, chosen by the people to watch over a Noble Pokémon: the Hisuian Arcanine of her territory, then his son after the first one died.
• Why does her clan criticize her work?
  Because she didn't train the heir the way she was supposed to. She chose to let the young Growlithe grieve for his father and live as he pleased, and simply stayed by his side.
• Which of her two Growlithe is the Lord's son?
  The smaller one, the one that hides at the slightest noise. Most visitors point to the bigger one, which has no connection to the late Noble.
• What is her relationship with Iscan?
  Iscan and his Basculegion saved her when the Lord drowned. Ever since, she has felt an admiration for him coupled with an affection she keeps quiet, as their respective clans discourage her from being seen with him.
• Can you rematch her Arcanine after the story?
  Yes, at the Molten Arena. Palina times the battle, keeps the best time on record and rewards fast victories with Exp. Candy.

In short

Hisui entrusts its Nobles to Wardens, and Palina is the one who misread her instructions. She was asked to make a Lord; she protected a grieving child — and the Lord came anyway, swimming, without anyone ordering him to. What's left is the thankless part of the job: the day her charge takes the throne, the Warden no longer has a partner, only a duty. She steps aside without argument, and that may be her real merit.