Highlights

  • Pokemon Legends: Z-A likely serves as a prequel, set in a more modern Kalos region with ties to the origins of Team Flare.
  • Players may find themselves part of an early version of Team Flare, connected to the Galaxy Expedition Team in a narrative twist.
  • The game could explore the urban redevelopment of Lumiose City, potentially shedding light on the origins of Team Flare.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is the next major title set to release in the massive Nintendo franchise, and it's returning to the Kalos region under unknown circumstances. While it's not clear whether it will be following in the footsteps of Legends: Arceus through being set in the past, it appears that this new game will at least take place within a more modern era as opposed to the ancient time of Hisui. Considering the connections that the previous Legends title had to its respective generation, however, there may already be an important hint regarding the player's role which all but confirms that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is likely a prequel in the same vein.

The hype over exploring Kalos once more and the return of Mega Evolutions in Legends: Z-A has led fan discussion, but one aspect of the game could end up forming a new pattern for the series if it mirrors how its predecessor handled it. With the Galaxy Team's ties to Team Galactic retroactively recontextualizing the evil team's existence in Sinnoh, it has remained a bold narrative decision even as Pokemon has since explored more experimental stories. Now that players seem to be returning to Lumiose City, there's a high likelihood that they could find themselves being members of an early version of Team Flare prior to their corruption.

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Related
Predicting Pokemon Legends: Z-A's 'Ingo' Character

Pokemon Legends: Arceus featured returning character Ingo in another time period, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A could also feature a time traveler.

Continuing the Legends: Arceus Formula with a Team Flare Analog in Z-A

A Flare Team Could Fill the Main Faction Role

Even after remakes for the fourth-generation titles have come, there haven't been any story details that explicitly tie the player's faction to what would become Cyrus' evil team outside PLA. Given the multitude of context clues that point towards similar ancestors though, it's safe to assume that the Galaxy Expedition Team becomes Team Galactic at some unfortunate point in time. Their dark turn is ultimately irrelevant to the events of Legends: Arceus, but this kind of proto-villain setup is now a predictable turn for Z-A as well.

It's not known if the player will occupy a similar role to their place in the Survey Corps in the upcoming Legends title, but having a faction similar to Team Flare would make perfect sense with the apparent city setting. In an environment that is far more commercial and unnatural than ancient Sinnoh, being part of a group whose main motivation is their concept of beauty and being fashion-forward before a descent under Pokemon X and Y's Lysandre could make for a fitting dynamic.

Lumiose City's Urban Redevelopment Plan Could See the Origins of Team Flare as Players Know Them

How a Flare Team in Legends Z-A Could Echo the Galaxy Expedition Team

There's hardly any information useful in anticipating PL: Z-A's plot direction from its reveal trailer, but the indication of an "urban redevelopment plan" for one of Kalos' signature locations at the core of its concept leaves a natural role open for an early Team Flare to fill. If Lumiose is going to be built up to the standard of beauty it's known for in the current timeline, this initiative may have been led by people who would go on to unintentionally inspire the later antics of the villainous team.

A Timeline in Closer Proximity to X and Y

The members of Legends: Arceus' Galaxy Team lived so long before Diamond and Pearl that their disconnection from their descendants makes sense, but the far more modern appearance of the city seen in Legends: Z-A's trailer paints a different picture for a prospective Flare Team. If the events of the next Legends title take place in a time with more modern technology and architecture, the downfall of this faction could end up depicted in the game or at least implied. Nuance can be applied to joining up with the team in various ways consistent with series lore, but Pokemon Legends: Z-A has a solid foundation for shedding more light on the past of Team Flare.