The game begins with the player speaking with a disembodied voice, identified as Arceus, the creator deity of the Pokémon-Universe, which tasks the player with encountering all Pokémon in the Hisui region before transporting the player there through a rift in spacetime. The player is found by Pokémon researcher Professor Laventon, who brings the player to a local settlement named Jubilife Village. There, the player is recruited into the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Expedition Team, a group that has arrived in Hisui to chart and study the region. After receiving their starter Pokémon, the player proceeds to travel to the Hisui region to complete the Pokédex. Throughout the player's journey, the spacetime rift they had been transported through results in several powerful "Noble Pokémon", similar to the Totem Pokémon from Sun and Moon, which are venerated by the local Diamond and Pearl clans turning berserk through powerful lightning, forcing the player to engage them in battles using 'balms' to calm them down.