Pokemon Day was on the 27th of February, and as usual a Pokemon Direct was streamed on that day. There were a couple of exciting announcements that interested me (Mega Evolutions in the TCG, the announcement of Pokemon Champions) but the one thing everything was waiting for was of course more information about Pokemon Legends Z-A. This game was first teased during Pokemon Day of 2024, and after that it has been quiet aside for some speculations (that turned out to be wrong).
Now, I’d like to share my thoughts on the trailer, as I was very hesitant about Pokemon Legends Arceus but ended up really enjoying that game once I actually played it. Therefore I am fairly excited about what Pokemon Legends Z-A might have to offer.
We start with a look at the city of Lumiose. From the start it is clear that this game will not take place in the past as Legends Arceus did, but in a futuristic future. I’m slightly worried that we only see the city, as I enjoyed the open areas of Legends Arceus and am worried that only having access to city areas will make the game a lot smaller. We see the protagonists who look fine.
Then we cut to the starters. Previously it was rumoured that Legends Z-A would have the original Kalos starters, but this turned out to be wrong. In the trailer we see Totodile, Chikorita and Tepig as the available starters. It is strange to me that there are two starters of the same region here. I’m not particularly surprised by the absence of Cyndaquil, he was one of the starters in Legends Arceus after all, however I am curious as to why they would not choose three starters from three different regions. All in all I do like these starters and am curious to see if they will get a regional final evolution as in Legends Arceus or a Mega Evolution.
We also see some parcour abilities that gives the ability to further traverse the city, which again makes me worried that we will be limited to only the city. We then see Mega Evolution, which was of course already teased in the teaser trailer back in 2024. I’m glad this mechanic is making it’s return, as I think Mega Evolution was one of the more creative gimmicks that we’ve had in recent years (if you can even call Pokemon X and Y recent at this point). I’m hoping for some more creative designs for some underutilized Pokemon.
Then the trailer switches from purely visual to having a voice over explaining some more details about the game. It again states that the game takes place in Lumiose city. We then meet some characters that will be featured in the game. First up are Urbain and Taunie, who seem to take the role of Rival in this game. Then we meet AZ, who you may recognize from the ending of Pokemon X and Y, together with his Eternal Flower Floette. This basically confirms that the game will take place in the future. Then we meet Jett and Vinnie. It’s unclear what role these two will take at this point, they could fulfill a similar role to Kamado and Cylene where they give you tasks, or they could be antagonists.
Now we get into mechanics. I’m glad to see the catching mechanic from Legends Arceus return. I think they have also used this mechanic in Scarlett and Violet. Then we get into combat. Now this is where I got really interested, it looks like you can dodge real time, and really control the flow of battle. I’m very curious to see what this will look like upon release.
All in all I think this gave a decent first look at the game. I’m definitely excited, but also slightly hesitant. I don’t like the idea of just having the city to our disposal. But the combat looks interesting and engaging, and I’m very glad to see the Mega Evolution mechanic return. Did you watch the trailer? What did you think of it? Are there any other announcements from the Pokemon Direct that made you excited? Please let me know!