Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Game Freak developed Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and Nintendo and The Pokémon Company published it for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on 16 October 2025. It is the second game in the Legends line after Legends: Arceus, and it swaps a whole region for a single dense city: Lumiose City, last visited in Pokémon X and Y.
Catching and training happen by day, ranked trainer battles by night.
Top 3 Reasons to Play
- Trainers and Pokémon move freely during fights, a first for the series, and reviewers judge the result to be the best the series' battles have ever felt.
- Mega Evolution is back in a main-series game for the first time since Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, together with 26 Mega designs introduced here.
- The rank ladder gives each night a target. A Trainer starts at Rank Z and has to win promotion matches to reach Rank A.
Story and Lore
Lumiose City is in mid-reconstruction. Quasartico Inc., whose CEO is Jett, drives the redevelopment plan that is reshaping the streets. Meanwhile, Pokémon that have Mega Evolved are losing control and rampaging through the city, and the first of these Rogue Mega Evolutions happened about six months before the story begins.
The Z-A Royale, a tournament fought at night in the city's battle zones, runs alongside both threads. The protagonist enters it as part of Team MZ.
- Mega Evolution is Kalos's signature phenomenon, introduced in Pokémon X and Y. In Z-A it is the cause of the city's trouble and also the means of dealing with it.
- AZ, the owner of Hotel Z, is said to have lived for more than 3,000 years and has been reunited with his Floette.
Mega Dimension, the expansion, adds Hyperspace Lumiose, a parallel version of the city that opens when distortions appear in the real one. Team MZ investigates it with Hoopa and a young girl named Ansha, who hopes to catch a Rayquaza as a gift for her mother, Diantha.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Daylight belongs to the Wild Zones, where wild Pokémon live. Lowering a wild Pokémon's HP makes it easier to catch, and when the HP runs out it is stunned for a few seconds, which is the window to throw a ball. Catching without fighting at all is also possible.
At night the battle zones open for the Z-A Royale, and two scores run in parallel. Trainer points depend on the opponent's rank and unlock promotion and prize battles; prize medals lie scattered around the zone and convert to money when the night ends. Stealth counts as well: a Pokémon that starts the fight gets a free first move, while being spotted hands the advantage to the opponent. Bonus cards pay out for feats such as landing a super-effective hit.
- Each move recharges on its own cooldown instead of consuming PP, and stat changes are capped at one level and fade after a short time.
- Holding ZL locks on to a target. The lock breaks easily, and scenery can block an attack when line of sight is lost.
- Rogue Mega Pokémon fight differently from trainers. The player dodges their attacks in real time and collects Mega Power orbs to fill a meter; a full meter allows Mega Evolution, then drains over time and goes on cooldown.
The Lumiose Pokédex lists 232 entries, of which 230 are needed for completion, since Diancie and Mewtwo are optional. Held items, Berries included, are part of the game. Abilities, breeding and Eggs are not. A full day-night cycle takes roughly an hour of real time, and Pokémon Centers let the player skip ahead to day or night.
Characters and Factions
Team MZ is held together by practical needs as much as by battling. Naveen, a fashion designer who dislikes fighting, joined for studio space, and Lida, a dance school student chasing a professional career, joined for lodging. The player's friend, Taunie or Urbain depending on the appearance chosen at the start, completes the group.
- Jett is the CEO of Quasartico Inc. and the public face of the redevelopment plan; his secretary, Vinnie, is known for working fast.
- Emma, a former member of the Looker Bureau, runs a detective agency in the city and helps track down missing Pokémon and items.
- Mable directs the Pokémon Research Lab and is a former Team Flare administrator. Registering Pokémon with her is how the player earns TMs and items.
- Corbeau leads the Rust Syndicate, specializes in Poison types and competes in the Z-A Royale.
Mega Dimension brings Korrina back from Pokémon X and Y as a Mega Evolution Successor who joins Team MZ.
Editions
There is Nintendo Switch standard version. The game is also on Nintendo Switch 2 in standard edition.
You can also buy an Upgrade Pack that lets owners of the Switch version add the Switch 2 Edition through the Nintendo eShop.
Nintendo released Mega Dimension DLC that include Hyperspace Lumiose with five Rogue Mega Arenas, 19 new Mega Evolutions, and the first Z Mega Evolutions, for Absol, Garchomp and Lucario.