Pokemon Day has come and gone rather quickly thanks to the new Direct formula where announcements are made with no break between each of them, and the finale was the surprise reveal of Pokemon Legends Z-A, which will take players to a different version of Kalos' Lumiose City. The game came out of nowhere for many fans due to the insistent and longstanding rumors of new Pokemon Johto and Unova titles, but both seem off the table for now seeing how Pokemon Legends Z-A was the only new game announced, and it's slated for a 2025 release. And yet, Pokemon Legends Z-A is sure to break traditions along the way, starting with a big streak started 28 years ago.

If Gen 9 is anything to go by, with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet breaking big traditions multiple times, it seems likely that Pokemon Legends Z-A will want to innovate and experiment as much as possible. Doing so requires breaking new ground either with never-before-seen features or with changes to the existing formula, and there's a lot to draw inspiration from for the second Pokemon Legends game. Sometimes, however, drastic breaks from the norm can take unexpected shapes, and Pokemon Legends Z-A may be the first time in franchise history that Pokemon doesn't release any mainline games in two years.

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Why Pokemon Legends Z-A's Release Date Breaks a Massive Tradition

Pokemon: Mainline Games, Spin-Offs, and DLCs Explained

It's hard to establish whether Pokemon Legends Z-A is a mainline game in the first place, as mainline releases typically include new generations and remakes, but Pokemon Legends: Arceus changed that definition - or at least started the conversation. Regardless, ever since the worldwide launch of the first generation of games, Pokemon has been committed to a release schedule where there were hardly years off, and more importantly, there were never two years in a row without a major Pokemon game.

Unless new games are soon revealed or released, like the heavily rumored Pokemon Gen 5 remakes, Pokemon Legends Z-A may end up breaking one of the biggest and longest traditions in the series, with it coming two years after the latest entry in the franchise in the form of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. From 1996 onward, there was never a time when two consecutive years had no big releases in the mainline series, and Pokemon Legends Z-A is poised to break this streak.

Why Pokemon Skipping 2024 Spells Trouble For a Big Franchise Streak

Every Mainline Pokemon Game So Far

Since 1996, there have only been seven gap years in terms of new Pokemon releases for and within the mainline series. This number grows to nine if counting 2020 and 2023 as gap years, considering they only had DLC for Gen 8 and Gen 9, respectively. The list of Pokemon releases so far is as follows:

With this in mind, it's easy to see that there have never been two consecutive years without brand-new games, and if Pokemon Legends Z-A is the next in line until 2025, then this streak will be broken with 2024 having no new major releases. Barring surprise launches of new games in 2024, one of Pokemon's biggest trends is coming to an end, but it may mark the beginning of a new era where quality takes priority over quantity.

Pokemon Legends Z-A

The sequel to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon Legends: Z-A takes Pokemon trainers back to the Kalos region's Lumiose City.

Franchise

Pokemon

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

2025-00-00

Developer(s)

Game Freak

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Genre(s)

RPG

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