Highlights

  • Modern Pokemon games break traditions for new gameplay avenues, like overworld encounters in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
  • Gen 6's biggest mistake can be undone in Pokemon Legends Z-A with a new sub-Legendary trio and more Kalos Pokemon.
  • Pokemon Legends Z-A has the blueprint to add new critters over Mega Evolutions and increase the number of native Kalos Pokemon.

Pokemon games gave life to one of the world's most beloved franchises all the way back in 1996 with the Japan-only release of Pokemon Red and Green, and up to the release of Pokemon Legends Z-A next year there are and have been multiple traditions in the series. Modern games tend to break those traditions to create new gameplay avenues for the franchise, such as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet getting rid of tall grass entirely and only featuring overworld encounters. Likewise, Pokemon X and Y broke some traditions as well when they first came out, and now Pokemon Legends Z-A can atone for one of Gen 6's biggest sins.

It's too soon to determine exactly what the gameplay loop of Pokemon Legends Z-A will be when the game launches, but it's fair to assume that it will not only feature a good chunk of existing pocket monsters, but also add new ones - or at least, new regional forms and Mega Evolutions. While many fans are holding their breath for a potential Charizard Z Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends Z-A, there's something else the game can try to undo a big Gen 6 mistake, and that is adding both multiple new Pokemon and a sub-Legendary trio.

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Pokemon Legends Z-A Needs Its Own Kalos Legendary Trio

Pokemon Legends Z-A Can Mend a Broken Streak of 17 Years

One of the biggest traditions in Pokemon games up to Gen 6 was that every generation featured its set or sets of three sub-Legendary Pokemon. Sub-Legendary Pokemon are not exactly an official category, but they essentially group up all Legendary Pokemon in the series that are normally available in VGC tournaments or even in-game battle facilities. From Gen 1 and up to Gen 6, every game featured at least one of these trios, starting with Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, and ending with Gen 5's Swords of Justice (minus Keldeo) and Forces of Nature.

Gen 6 featured no new sub-Legendary trio, breaking a 17-year streak at the time. Gen 7 followed with the four Tapus rather than a trio proper, Gen 8 had only two duos in the form of the new Regis and Glastrier and Spectrier, and then Gen 9 had both the Treasures of Ruin quartet and the Loyal Three in Kitakami. As such, Pokemon Legends Z-A could introduce an all-new Kalos sub-Legendary trio that would kill two birds with one stone - first, it would remedy Gen 6's mistake, and then it would also add never-before-seen Kalos Pokemon to fix another massive problem.

Pokemon Legends Z-A Can Undo Gen 6's Biggest Mistake

Pokemon Legends Z-A Has The Perfect Blueprint to Add New Kalos Pokemon Over Mega Evolutions

Arguably, the biggest issue with Gen 6 was that it added the smallest number of new Pokemon ever in any mainline games, and while the addition of Mega Evolutions partially makes up for it due to them being entirely new designs, it was a rather exclusive one-time gimmick. Instead, Pokemon Legends Z-A can add new Mega Evolutions to the roster and dramatically increase the number of native Kalos Pokemon. This could even be explained in various ways in terms of lore, regardless of when Pokemon Legends Z-A is set.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus had several species of Pokemon not native to Sinnoh, and some of them even from games after Gen 4's era. Pokemon Legends Z-A can easily do the same with no big lore implications if the time setting is different than the original Gen 6 games.

In fact, a huge part of Kalos lore is the existence of the ultimate weapon and the fact that the king fired it 3,000 years before the current time. If Pokemon Legends Z-A is set before this canon event, then having new Kalos Pokemon species would make sense with the idea that some of them went extinct afterward. On the other hand, if Pokemon Legends Z-A's Lumiose City is in the future, these new Pokemon species could be revived from fossils and other remains by scientists, for example. There are many ways for Pokemon Legends Z-A to fix what was wrong with Gen 6 games, and adding new critters is the single most important thing the game could do.