(Image via legends.pokemon.com)

Editor: Vivian Galindo

Email: bgalindo@umassd.edu

On February 27th, The Pokémon Company celebrates Pokémon Day to commemorate the original release of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan. In recent years, this is celebrated with a presentation unveiling new information about upcoming Pokémon content for the year.

Last year, they finished the presentation by releasing brief information about an upcoming title: Pokémon Legends: Z-A. At the time, not much more than the title and premise were known.

This year, they followed up last year’s announcement with news and updates about the upcoming title. If you’re the type to worry about spoilers, consider this your warning, though everything in this article is public knowledge directly from The Pokémon Company itself.

To start, let’s talk about those little creatures after which the series was named. What Pokémon have been confirmed to appear?

In the only other Pokémon Legends game to date, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the Pokémon you started with were returning Pokémon from other regions. Pokémon Legends: Z-A follows this trend.

In the recent Pokémon Presents, the three options for starters in the new game were announced to be the grass-type Chikorita, the fire-type Tepig, and the water-type Totodile.

Again, referring to Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the starters evolved from existing Pokémon into new forms of their original evolutions. There is nothing to confirm or deny whether the same will hold true in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, but it seems pretty fair to assume.

Aside from the starters, many other Pokémon are confirmed to appear. Most notable are the previously unreleased Eternal Flower Floette; Furfrou, a Pokémon who was improperly coded into the Pokémon HOME transfer service and has been unable to be used properly in it; and the Patrat line, who haven’t been in a single Pokémon game on the Nintendo Switch.

Outside of Pokémon, a number of human characters have been announced to play major parts in the story. 

The models for the new player characters have been released as well as new rivals Urbain and Taunie. The model the player chooses will determine which of the two rivals they face during the story.

AZ is a returning character from Pokémon X and Y, a three-thousand year old man who now owns Hotel Z, where it seems a large portion of the plot will take place. AZ will also be accompanied by his partner, the aforementioned Eternal Flower Floette.

Along with Hotel Z, another large group involved in the plot seems to be Quasartico Inc, a large company involved with the plot of the ongoing expansion of Lumiose City. Working for Quasartico is the CEO Jett, a tall, older woman, as well as Vinnie, a tall man who wears sunglasses and appears very mysterious.

With Hotel Z and Quasartico Inc. both seemingly mysterious, it does beg the question: Will one of them end up being evil? Will both of them? 

With the importance of the standard “evil team” in the Pokémon series, it is likely one of the important groups in the plot will turn on the player.

Finally, Pokémon Legends: Z-A will have very unique styles of battles, different from the rest of the series so far.

The return of Mega Evolution has been confirmed along with certain Pokémon being confirmed to have returning Mega Evolutions. Ten of these Pokémon have been confirmed, including Gyarados, Charizard, Ampharos, and Gardevoir.

Additionally, there is a unique style of battle announced for the first time: real-time battles between two Pokémon and their trainers.

While not a lot has been revealed about the real time battles, there is a lot of speculation to be drawn. For example, Pokémon Legends: Arceus saw the introduction of “Strong Style” and “Agile Style,” which determined the rates at which moves were used.

Per the official Pokémon website, it’s been confirmed that real-time battles will include timing actions, such as switching Pokémon, varying charging times for different moves, and moves with areas of effect.

With the already variable state of Pokémon battling, including many stats, types, and battle combinations, we can only hope this new type of battling remains a fun time and doesn’t become too difficult to track.

I am, without a doubt, incredibly excited for Pokémon Legends: Z-A and will continue to keep everyone updated on the subject!