Pokémon Legends: Z-A set to simultaneously release in 2025 on Nintendo Switch.
Game Freak welcomed the year 2024 with good news for Kalos fans! With the overwhelming success of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the first installment of the Pokémon Legends series, fans were speculating which region should come next.
On February 27th, Game Freak announced the upcoming release of Legends Z-A, with a release window of 2025.
The Success of Pokémon Legends Arceus
On January 28th, 2022, the action role-playing game Pokémon Legends: Arceus was released worldwide. The game served as an interquel for the Generation 4 games remake, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Both games were released a year before Pokémon Legends Arceus.
Set in Hisui, the Sinnoh region in the past, you meet Arceus who sends you back in time. The game retains the core gameplay features of the franchise, being a roleplaying game of exploration and battles. The introduction of alpha Pokémon, regional evolution variants, and non-Sinnoh Pokémon starters of the game set it up for success. The game sold over 14 million copies worldwide and garnered multiple game awards and nominations.
Kalos Region and Pokémon X & Y
Pokémon X and Y launched on October 12, 2013, for the Nintendo 3DS. The game introduced the brand-new region of Kalos, which is based on France. Additionally, X and Y are the first mainline games to adapt to the 3D animation style, formally leaving the pixel art style in Generation 5’s Pokémon Black and White 2.
Generation 6 included a lot of new things for the Pokémon franchise. New region comes with new gimmicks. This generation introduced the fairy typing, countering the strong dragon typing. Aside from that, several quality-of-life features were also added, such as character customization and Pokémon-trainer interaction.
The game sold over 16 million copies worldwide as of March 2023. Despite this success, the Kalos region still falls behind the other games. Critics commented how the game lacks a lot of in-depth lore, and some locations only exist for filler purposes. Furthermore, the rumors of an extension called Pokémon Z, similar to the third installment of the other gens (Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum), were not proven true.
The Return of Mega Evolution
Perhaps the best feature of Pokémon X and Y is the existence of mega evolution. When a Pokémon reaches a certain level, they change appearance and acquire new movesets and stats. This process is called evolution. In the previous games, Pokémon can only evolve in 2 stages at most. Some evolutions are locked via trades and held items.
This completely changed upon the introduction of mega evolution in Generation 6. With an item called a keystone, a trainer may further evolve a Pokémon with their strong bond, so long as the said Pokémon has its compatible megastone. This feature allowed Pokémon with 3-stage evolution lines to further evolve. One example of this is the Charmander evolution line. Charmander evolves into Charmeleon at level 16 and to Charizard at level 36. Charizard may evolve further into two other forms if it holds either a Charizardite X or Y.
Seeing Pokémon from the previous generations get new forms and evolutions brought joy to the fanbase. Some were thrilled to see the new designs, while others appealed for less popular Pokémon to get the mega evolution treatment. With the announcement of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, fans continue to hope to see more of mega evolution in Kalos from a different time.
What We Know So Far About Legends: Z-A
Although the announced release date is near, there isn’t much news about Pokémon Legends: Z-A to this date. During the Pokémon Presents announcement, the trailer itself shows that the game will take place within Lumiose City. Some fans found this information a bit concerning, since Pokémon Legends Arceus allows players to explore the open wilderness of Hisui. The concerns lie with how Lumiose City might be too small for a wide exploration.
Several leaks uploaded on the internet also imply new mega evolution for other Pokémon, as well as new ride Pokémon. Fans also anticipate the possible appearance of the legendary Pokémon, Zygarde. Despite the low reliability of these information, fans are hopeful since there’s no other news from Game Freak yet.
With all these information circulating online, as well as Game Freak’s massive data breach a month ago, it’s important to remember that none of these are true unless stated by Game Freak or Nintendo themselves. Although, a little excitement is good once in a while, especially for big fans of the franchise. There’s only less than a month left until 2025. Soon, we’ll be able to witness Kalos in its glory once again through Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
