Overthinking finer details from the Legends: Z-A trailers
We highlight a few details from the Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer, and speculate on what we might expect.
The trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A last month was long awaited. We also got another Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer from this week’s Nintendo Direct. It will be likely all we get for a while now. This game is only set to release in late 2025. What does one do then? Why, over-analyse each detail and speculate!
Let’s go over a few aspects that came up. As a reminder, here’s the first trailer (although a few points from this also apply to the second).
Starting with the big one…
Fairy moves, on my Chikorita?!
Noticed very quickly by the fandom, Chikorita, a cute but probably distant third in popularity of the Johto Starters, had a new move used in battle – Disarming Voice. It previously has been able to learn Charm (via TM this generation)… but no other Fairy-type move.
Naturally, the guess is that because of this new move, it will get a Fairy-typed (well, Grass/Fairy) Mega Evolution. If not, then at least a new evolution in place of Meganium. A possibility is like how the three Starters in Pokémon Legends: Arceus got Hisuian forms for their final stages, that represented themes of Hisui (Japan a few centuries ago, when samurai still existed and so forth).
Is this reasonable? After all, patterns are made to be broken. Many people were expecting that this game would be set in the past because Pokémon Legends: Arceus was – and that was a sample size of one! That’s the same sample as this assumption, which also surprised people in that two Starters came from the same generation. That said, it does feel unlikely that they would miss such an opportunity here.
We should highlight there is another move it has gained: Leafage. It never knew this move before. However, it is not remarkable for a Grass-type starter to learn it. Turtwig learnt it for the first time in generation eight, for instance. Treecko, Rowlet, and Sprigatito also know it.
Were there any such clues for Starters in Pokémon Legends: Arceus? Well, beyond knowing that the games would have Hisuian forms or new evolutions in general – Wyrdeer comes to mind – there is not. Check the movepools for Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott. No hints came from their movepools prior to their final stage evolution as to a change in typing or the like.
What could we expect then? If Hisui was a region of Japan a few centuries back, one can speculate that the host region of Kalos, focused on the concept of beauty and fashion, would be a point to draw upon. Meganium has a nice big flower – could that be a focus built upon in a new form? Or perhaps food – Chikorita is after all based on chicory, a plant used in salads and as a sweetener. Bayleef has an obvious name basis in bay leaves, a herb also used in cooking.
Looker Bureau and estimates on time skips
The Looker Bureau was a location in Pokémon X and Y‘s Lumiose City. A few players may not be aware of the Looker Bureau! It was a post-game area with its own story, and in this reader’s opinion the highlight of the game by far. (Not just mine, too! See this deep dive into the story telling of Pokémon X and Y!) Emma had been taken care of by the international policeman Looker. By the end of that tale, Emma had taken charge of the Looker Bureau with her partner Espurr.
The room is fully modelled and textured, and almost the same as in the generation six titles – but with enough changes to indicate some time has passed. A new coat is hanging, a board filled with newspaper clippings and notes has appeared, the desk is busy… Now an extra chair is present, complete with cushion, the sort of thing you might think a cat Pokémon would enjoy. It does appear that Emma is continuing her story here.
This gives us some sense on how far in the future Pokémon Legends: Z-A is! Not as much as Pokémon Legends: Arceus was set in the past, certainly. We’ll have a better idea, but it doesn’t appear to be a major time skip. We couldn’t really get an indicator of that from Mr. AZ, given his long lifespan…
That leaves us with one more question: will Looker appear? It would be nice for Looker to show up at the end of a questline involving the Bureau, either to check in or help with a large imposing case. Poor Looker, after appearing in generations four to seven (as well as the Pokémon Generations anime shorts), has not been seen since. His last two appearances included being dumped in Hoenn, without his memory, as an excuse to make an Audino name joke (“I don’t know”). He was perhaps from a different ‘universe’ to the one the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire games are set in.
No Abilities?
Yes, they weren’t mentioned in the game, but we didn’t get any new Pokémon revealed yet from the trailer. Why should Abilities have been shown off? Well, the official website didn’t mention them either. The website for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet did, however. The website for Pokémon Legends: Arceus did not… but those games didn’t have Abilities either.
As we said above, we shouldn’t take ‘patterns’, especially those based on a sample of one, as gospel. Nonetheless, do remember that this game is bringing back Megas. New or different Abilities for Mega Evolving Pokémon was a well-advertised point (e.g. for Mega Kangaskhan). But as nothing has been said about Abilities to date… it is at least worth this speculation. The second trailer also didn’t show any Abilities, but gave us more info about Mega Evolution…
Justice for Patrat
It’s finally back in the wild! Why does this matter? It was one of the few Pokémon that did not appear in the wild of any main series Pokémon title since the generation it debuted in, generation five. Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 released in 2012. Granted, Watchog could be caught in Pokémon X and Y (2013), but that’s not quite the same.
What is the next Pokémon with a long MIA time? The elemental monkeys (Pansage, Pansear, Panpour) have not been in the wild since… Pokémon X and Y. And they’re in the game too, thanks to the second trailer! (Well, we assume all of them will be – we just saw Pansear and Pansage). Furfrou is also a long-term absentee since Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, but we know that’s coming back as well.
That means finally all Pokémon will be available in a main series Pokémon title on the Switch. Just in time for the next console to release…
Can we change clothing?
Hopefully! It wasn’t obvious, but there’s a blink-and-miss-it moment in the first trailer showcasing some clothing-themed shops.
The second trailer gave us a stronger indication however. In a blink-and-miss-it moment showcasing battles, the minimap shows clothing icons:
Hopefully we can enter them and change our clothing. If so, then we have further important questions. Will we have more general outfits than we were forced to have in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (especially before the DLC you have to pay for adding a few more)? If so, will clothing options for male avatars be better now than in previous games? And what about hairstyles? Your rival gets a two-tone hair style – can we hope for the same option? This surely shouldn’t be too advanced for a Pokémon game now. And if other Trainers can look cool and varied, why not us?
Z-dash-A, or Z to A?
It looks like the latter, given the second trailer and its focus on battles and the Z-A Royale. You start at Rank Z, and work your way up to Rank A by beating up everyone.
Speaking of, we get a possible indication. A Trainer called Laure is seen attacked from behind at night (wow, living in Paris must be tough!) as part of the Z-A Royale. She has two Pokémon, one a level 44 Florges, and is at rank D. There may be multiple people at certain ranks, but it does sound like near the end of the game to us. Of course, things can change between trailers and game release… But low 50s might be a good indicator for the end of the main story sequence.
Laure does also go against the notion of a Trainer’s name matching their rank (we saw Zach, and also Yvon). But if there are multiple Trainers per rank, then it may still be true.
Lastly, the website does highlight that we can get additional ‘bonus cards’ with conditions – fulfil them and you’ll get more Ticket Points for ranking up.
Wishes
It was stated in the trailer, but also on the updated game website:
If a Trainer reaches Rank A, they won’t just earn the honor of being known as the strongest around—apparently, they may also have one wish granted.
A wish, eh? It may be fair to say that Hoopa could be involved! It has a genie motif in its design, what with Hoopa Unbound being accessible via the ‘Prison Bottle’. And it reverts back after three days have passed… a curious number for a genie. It can transport you to different places via its hoop rings – a useful tool for granting wishes. And it is a generation six mythical Pokémon. Pokémon Legends Z-A would be a good game to introduce it to players of main series titles outside of niche events.
…Watch them throw a curveball at us and invoke Jirachi instead.
Mega Evolution
It seems we have a meter to charge up in battles to charge up the ability to Mega Evolve. This might be chargable even while using a Pokémon which cannot Mega Evolve.
Protagonist names
They were not supplied in the first trailer, but the second trailer told us the female protagonist’s name: Harmony. This was shown on the Z-A Royale screens. Luckily the website then gave us the male protagonist name: Paxton.
New villain!?
It’s Zach. He yearns for taxis to be the only form of transit. A truly awful man.
What did you spot from the trailer that is worth mentioning?
Edited by Aldo and Sheep.
