Highlights

  • Pokemon Legends: Z-A brings players back to Kalos' Lumiose City, potentially filling the gap left by the missing Pokemon Z version.
  • The game may refer to the Kalos Region by another name, like Pokemon Legends: Arceus and the Hisui Region.
  • To distinguish itself from Pokemon X and Y, the game might refer to its setting as simply 'Lumiose', introducing Lumiosian variants.

While many Pokemon fans were expecting to see a new game set in the Unova or Johto Region announced during the Pokemon Day festivities, Pokemon Legends: Z-A taking players back to Kalos was likely not on many fans' bingo cards. The Kalos Region was the setting for Gen 6's Pokemon X and Y, which many players felt was incomplete due to the lack of a third, definitive version. Pokemon Legends: Z-A might fill the gap left by this missing Pokemon Z version, but the game may not actually be set in the Kalos Region that players are familiar with.

It's unclear just how much players will be able to explore the Kalos Region as a whole in Pokemon Legends: Z-A as the game is set entirely within Lumiose City. This setting is a stark contrast to Pokemon Legends: Arceus which featured multiple zones around the region that players could openly explore. However, these two games' settings might share one commonality if Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set in the past, as it's likely that the Kalos Region might be called something completely different in this title.

Is Pokemon Legends Z-A a Mainline Game? Explained
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Is Pokemon Legends Z-A a Mainline Game? Explained

Pokemon's next big release is Pokemon Legends Z-A, but it's so different from the series’ norm that one may wonder if it's a core entry.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A May Have a Different Name for the Kalos Region

In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, players travel back in time to a past version of the Sinnoh Region, home to the Gen 4 Pokemon games. However, rather than being called "Sinnoh," the region is referred to as Hisui, since that was the name given to the land by the people who inhabited it during that period. While the Sinnoh Region and the Hisui Region are technically the same land mass, giving the region two different names helps distinguish Gen 4's Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum from the very different game that is Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Another reason for this name disparity is likely tied to the real-world Japanese region of Hokkaido, which the Sinnoh Region is based on. Prior to the Meiji Restoration in 1869, Hokkaido was known by its inhabitants as Ezo, so the Sinnoh Region being known by a different name in the past fits with the history of its real-world inspiration. France, the real-world inspiration for the Kalos Region, has also had a different name in the past, as it was referred to as Gaul by the Romans, but it's unlikely that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will be set far enough in the past that it will need to mirror this name change.

Why it Makes Sense for Pokemon Legends: Z-A to Distance Itself from ‘Kalos’

Although it might not make historical sense for the Kalos Region to have a different name during the time that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set in, there is still a good chance its setting ends up being called something other than Kalos. Since having Pokemon Legends: Arceus' setting named Hisui has helped distinguish it from the setting of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, it's likely Pokemon Legends: Z-A will do the same to distinguish itself from Pokemon X and Y. This will be especially helpful if the game introduces new regional variants, as referring to a mon by its Kalosian form might get confusing since it's not available in Pokemon X and Y.

The most simple solution for Pokemon Legends: Z-A will be to simply refer to its setting as Lumiose since the game is said to take place entirely within Lumiose City. This way, new regional variants could be called Lumiosian variants and would be distinct enough that fans could distinguish between the Kalos Region of Pokemon X and Y and the version present in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Even if players can travel to areas around the outskirts of Lumiose City in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, this naming convention would still be appropriate and would be able to encompass the full scope of the game.