Highlights

  • Pokemon Day revealed updates for existing titles, a mobile Pokemon TCG adaptation, and the surprise debut of Pokemon Legends Z-A.
  • Developed by Game Freak, Pokemon Legends Z-A is a new mainline game expected to introduce new Pokemon and possible Mega Evolutions.
  • Pokemon Legends Z-A will focus on Lumiose City in the Kalos region, likely following an action-RPG approach like Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

The annual Pokemon Day livestream has arrived, giving fans a look at the franchise's future. Most of its announcements were updates for existing Pokemon titles, followed by Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket, a mobile adaptation of the Pokemon TCG, being revealed for a 2024 release. However, the star of the show was undoubtedly the finale, as a CG trailer unveiled Pokemon Legends Z-A. There were a lot of rumors about Pokemon's next big game potentially being another remake or a sequel to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but Pokemon Legends Z-A was still a pleasant surprise.

Pokemon Legends Z-A is expected to share an action-RPG approach with the original Pokemon Legends: Arceus. This Legends installment will take place entirely inside Pokemon X and Y’s Lumiose City, a large departure from journeying to a different Pokemon region's past like fans expected. Jumping between different time periods and regions may prompt questions about whether the Pokemon Legends title is just a catch-all term for experimental Pokemon spin-offs, but Pokemon Legends Z-A confirms that it's just a different type of mainline Pokemon game.

pokemon legends za
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The Pokemon Universe Is Strengthened By Pokemon Legends’ Presence

One of the largest ties Pokemon Legends has to major Pokemon titles like Gold and Silver or Sun and Moon is that they all take place in the same universe. While different Pokemon releases and remakes have made a comprehensive Pokemon timeline difficult to map out, Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place in Generation 4’s Sinnoh region when it was called Hisui in the distant past. It demonstrates some early instances of Poke Ball technology and mass domestication of Pokemon, and also stars the implied ancestors of important Pokemon characters on top of Ingo directly representing Black and White, so Legends can't be dismissed as a small side story either.

Legends Z-A Follows A Mainline Pokemon Naming Scheme

Pokemon Legends Z-A will likely also explore aspects of the Kalos region that Pokemon X and Y could not, resurrecting a rumored mainline title that was always rumored in the process. Demand for a Pokemon Z focusing on the legendary Pokemon Zygarde was high, but it mysteriously never came. Zygarde's Cell-collecting quest and full implementation were worked into Pokemon Sun and Moon, leaving Pokemon X and Y as the only generation without an enhanced re-release attached to its core titles at the time. Even though it's using the Legends branding, Pokemon Legends Z-A’s logo still has “Pokemon Z” in it for a reason.

Pokemon Legends Z-A Fills Several Functions For The Pokemon Franchise

If story and setting ties aren't enough, Pokemon Legends Z-A has plenty of real-life attachments to the mainline Pokemon series as well. One is that Pokemon Legends releases are spaced out similarly to other Game Freak-developed Pokemon titles. Legends: Arceus was released in 2022 like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, but they were still almost a year apart and occupied different fiscal years. This courtesy was not extended to the outsourced Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which came out just a couple of months before Legends: Arceus. It’s likely that Pokemon Legends Z-A is releasing in 2025 to meet the alleged March 2025 launch of the next Nintendo console, so it could still be the 2024 fiscal year's major Pokemon release.

The Pokemon Legends Games Are Part of Game Freak's Pokemon Ecosystem

Unlike nearly every Pokemon spin-off, both Pokemon Legends titles are developed by the core Pokemon team at Game Freak. This means that Pokemon HOME compatibility, which would allow future games to receive Legends Z-A's new Pokemon and possibly Mega Evolutions, is very likely. Benefiting directly from its Scarlet and Violet predecessors, Pokemon Legends Z-A could introduce online multiplayer to the Pokemon Legends format by inheriting Gen 9’s seamless co-op. There should be no question that the Pokemon Legends releases hold the same weight as mainline Pokemon titles, and Pokemon Legends Z-A should reinforce that when it launches.