Pokémon Legends

All We Know About The New Pokémon Legends Z-A

Pokémon Legends Z-A was announced on Pokémon Day 2024, and fans couldn’t be more excited for two reasons.

First, we’re getting a new entry in the Pokémon Legends series, specifically the second one. This is important because, after Legends Arceus, fans didn’t know whether Game Freak would continue making these games, despite Legends Arceus’ universal and financial acclaim, selling 14.83 million copies as of 2023.

The new Pokémon game details are still hazy, but we can make some accurate guesses based on Game Freak’s production track history, some leaks, and the official Pokémon Z-A trailer.

Pokémon Legends Z-A Release Date 

Pokémon Legends Z-A is expected to be released in 2025, although exact dates have not been disclosed by Game Freak yet. Given how Pokémon Legends: Arceus was released on January 28, 2022, and was also announced during Pokémon Day, but back in 2021. Game Freak tends to be very consistent with their game release calendar, sometimes to the detriment of the games, so we can confidently assume that the Pokémon Legends Z-A release date will be at the very least January 2025.

Pokémon Legends Z-A gameplay 

Legends Z-A will bring us back to the oft-neglected region of Kalos, but unlike the Hisui region we experienced in Arceus, this one seems to be a little more futuristic. The trailer showcased a glowing Pikachu running around Lumiose City, the capital of Kalos, possibly one of the more underrated regions in mainline Pokémon games. 

This is despite Gen 6 having one of the most praised mechanics ever: Mega Evolution. Which, by the way, the Pokémon Z-A trailer is highly implied as one of the game’s features. 

Pokémon Legends Z-A Features 

It’s not a secret that Mega Evolution was one of the most well-acclaimed game “gimmicks”, as fans often call the innovative features Game Freak adds to highlight one generation’s gameplay and removes as quickly as the following one. Among these gimmicks, we can count Z-moves, Dynamax and Gigantamax, Tera Types, Rotation Battles, and more. While Mega Evolution had the honor of enduring two generations instead of just one, it was dismissed by Gen 8. It might be that Gen 9 will have it return in a blaze of glory.

Pokémon Legends Z-A Rumors 

Coro Coro magazine featured a two-page article with Pokémon Legends Z-A news and leaks, which any Pokémon fan would take with a grain of salt given the often random quality of its leaks. 

In the leaks, it was stated that this will be a new Lumiose City, with certain similarities when it comes to landmarks, but vastly different from the previous one from X&Y. Considering how the entire game is supposed to take place in the city, instead of in the whole region, it’s safe to assume that the Paris-inspired videogame city will be greatly expanded upon.

The Pokémon Legends Z-A trailer also implied the return of all Kalosian Pokémon, which would be consistent with the available roster in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, plus Rotom, and others. 

Due to Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s criticism for its lackluster graphic performance, there are rumors Game Freak will pull a Zelda: Breath of the Wild with the new Pokémon Legends Z-A game, and vastly improve its graphic quality by leveraging the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2’s hardware capabilities.

Official Pokemon Legends Z-A updates have been scarce, but Game Freak tends to wait at least six months before the game’s actual release date to start sharing important information. It’s rumored that Megas from both X&Y and ORAS will be returning, which in turn confirms the appearance of the Pokémon part of those evolutionary lines. Some of these include the Kanto starter trio, the Hoenn starter trio, Mewtwo, Latias, Latios, and Rayquaza. The lore of Mega Evolutions will be explored again.

While not much has been confirmed for the past three months, we’ll definitely get more updates and leaks about the Pokémon Legends Z-A features as we near 2025.

Credits: Sebastian Calderon