Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ Hisui region is full of mysteries and secrets, but the character with the biggest secret of all may be Cogita. Cogita is one of the characters who was not revealed to the public before PokémonLegends: Arceuswas released. Her reveal near the end of the main portion of the game was a surprise, as she, just like Volo, who had been revealed beforehand, bears a striking resemblance to the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia.
Cogita turns out to primarily assist players in finding certain legendary Pokémon and help them reconstruct the Red Chain. Aside from her surprise appearance as another Cynthia lookalike, she is rather unassuming. There are hints throughout Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however, that there’s much more to Cogita than meets the eye.
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The Old Verses are Key Items in Pokémon Legends: Arceus that serve to give the game additional lore. When astride theRide Pokémon Ursaluna, players can find these poems scattered about Hisui and dig them up. The description of the Old Verses concludes that they’re all written by the same person because of their matching handwriting, and they detail a history even more ancient than Hisui itself. A little more than half of the Old Verses relate to Hisuian lore in general, covering topics such as legendary Pokémon Dialga, Palkia, Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, and Arceus; the hero of yore and his allies, the original Wardens; Noble Pokémon; why Pokémon jump out of the tall grass; and even a poem about potato mochi. The remaining Old Verses feature more contained and somber narratives that not only imply that the writer of the Old Verses is Cogita, but that Cogita may in fact be immortal in Legends: Arceus.
Hints That Cogita Wrote The Old Verses In Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Old Verse 17 describes Landorus and Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ new legendary, Enamorus. Landorus is the “god of field,” as he is based on the Japanese god of fertility Inari and has his own verdant fields dedicated to him in Black and White. Enamorus is the “god of spring,” whose Pokédex entry mentions her ability to end winter and welcome spring. In this Old Verse, the author asks Enamorus a question, indicating a connection between them. Once players complete the Pokédex entries for Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus as per Cogita’s request, Cogita offers they capture Enamorus, whom she deems an ally.
Not only does Cogita’s connection to Enamorus serve as a link between her and the Old Verses, but another one ties her even more strongly to the poems. Old Verse 12 ends with the lines, “Here [in Hisui], where the ancient Sinnoh people were born, I will spend an eternity... until the one with the mission appears.” The author of the Old Verses is meant to meet “the one with the mission,” although who this is may not be obvious at first glance. But when Cogita first meets the player in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, she says, “It seems I’ll be able to fulfill my duty at long last, thanks to you ... I am to guide you, lost one. For the task of preventing great disaster falls to you.”
The player character was sent back in time by Arceus’ command with the assignment of meeting every Pokémon, and by meeting every Pokémon, they could find all of Arceus’ plates. Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ player character is the “one with the mission” the Old Verse author is meant to meet, and Cogita introduces herself as the very same person meant to “guide” the player. But the same Old Verse that solidly confirms Cogita as the author of these poems also states that the author will “spend an eternity” in Hisui waiting for the player to arrive. Other Old Verse entries indicate “eternity” is meant literally, and that Cogita is immortal in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
How Pokémon Legends: Arceus' Old Verses Imply Cogita Is Immortal
In addition to the aforementioned Old Verse 12, Old Verses 2, 5, and 14 specifically reference the author’s immortality. Old Verse 2 is especially sad, as the author Cogita writes, “My own beloved is now gone from me, departed to a place I cannot reach. My old companions have left me behind, their faces faded into days gone by.” This piece of tragic Pokémon Legends: Arceus lore is followed with, “Ours are cold and endless winter days, warmed only by memories locked away.” It’s not entirely certain who Cogita is writing to in this poem, but it’s clear that she is suffering as the person she loved and her old friends have all “departed to a place [she] cannot reach,” indicating she can’t die like they can.
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Old Verse 5 details how “Long and longer yet ago, Celestica was here. But folk and town alike, both did disappear.” It goes on to mention the arrival of the people who would form the Diamond and Pearl Clans who took the name “Celestica” for themselves. The poem then mentions “So once again did our name live, though all our people gone.” The keyword of this poem is “our,” meaning Cogita is one of the original Celestica people - whose name was then used for Pokémon BDSP’s Celestic Town - who lived “long and longer yet ago” and all but died out.
In the Old Verse 14, Cogita writes about her extensive memories. “We come to stand where wind had swept and old days play before my eyes... The memories come running through, linking this place to times gone by. Time and space here blend together and enfold my heart as I remember,” she writes, implying she’s been alive for an especially long time. Similarly, Old Verse 9 doesn’t directly reference immortality, but heavily hints at it. Cogita “set the bones of Pokémon adrift upon the river” and “let [her] memories flow on, adrift upon the river,” then asks, “How many bones in days now gone have I now set adrift from me? How many bones in days to come will I yet set adrift to sea?” This poem references Pokémon Diamond and Pearl’s lore books about returning Pokémon bones back to the sea and turns it into a sad realization: Cogita not only has lived for what she deems far too long, but she anticipates - and likely dreads - her continued immortality into the future.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus wouldn’t be the first time the mainline Pokémon video games depict human immortality, either. In X and Y, AZ gained immortality after using his ultimate creation to revive his Floette. Similarly to how Cogita suffers as she outlives her loved ones, immortality is shown as a curse in X and Y, with AZ searching to no avail for his beloved Floette - a Pokémon he wouldn’t find in Sword and Shield or Legends: Arceus - for 3,000 years. AZ also shows that humans continue to age even when immortal in the Pokémon universe, which would also explain why Cogita has white hair and emerging wrinkles under her eyes. With similar narrative themes and even visual elements as a confirmed immortal character, it’s very safe to say Cogita is also meant to be immortal.
What Cogita's Secret Could Mean For Volo In Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Cogita’s immortality may even shed some light on Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ antagonist Volo. In the Coronet Highlands, Volo tells the player, “Ever since I was young, whenever I met with something painful or heartbreaking... I couldn’t help but wonder why life was so unfair. Why I was cursed to live through such things.” Although it’s never made clear specifically what kinds of hardships Volo went through, it’s well-known that Arceus causes plenty of sorrow: it was Arceus who displaced the protagonist from their homeworld without their permission, taking them away from any of their family, friends, and even Pokémon.
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Arceus may even be the one responsible for Ingo’s displacement and amnesia, too, separating him from his brother Emmet in Black and White. It’s also possible that Cogita wasn’t given a choice to become immortal, as she says to Volo when explaining the Red Chain’s purpose, “I know the old words and what they bid us do. How true they are isn’t mine to know. And regardless of their truth, I am bound to pass them on. How callous of my ancestors - to leave their legends to their children without a single thought for the hardship it would cause them!”
After players defeat Volo to stop him from summoning Arceus, he says he will continue to try to enact his schemes, “No matter how many years, how many decades, how many centuries it takes me!” This hints that Volo may also be immortal, although whether this is the tragedy Arceus bestowed upon him that he seeks vengeance for or not is unclear. Volo’s pursuit of Arceus may have caused him to seek out immortality on his own, despite an unending life only leading to more sorrow, as Cogita reveals.
If Volo and Cogita are immortal, they may be able to appear as cameo characters in future Pokémon titles, although there’s a chance they may not make any further appearances. While Cogita does state when the player finally gets the Red Chain near Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ end that “The pact our people have passed down for all these generations has been kept. At last, I can set this burden aside!” it isn’t clear if this means she is actually free from her immortality. If Volo is also immortal and will continue to seek out Arceus, Cogita may truly need to spend an eternity in Hisui to guide all the Trainers Arceus will send back to stop him as the events of Pokémon Legends: Arceus are doomed to repeat.
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