Pokemon Day Presents 2024 - Pokemon LZA 2025

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

X and Y were where Ride Pokemon were technically introduced, and I imagine we'll have more of a variety of mounts in terms of what they do. One of the new Pokemon from Gen 6 is Gogoat, whose whole thing is literally being a mount, insofar as the modern Lumiose we know in X and Y has a Gogoat Shuttle where people ride Gogoat to different places in the city. Even though the actual use was limited in XY itself to certain places they experimented with it with Skiddo, Rhyhorn, and Mamoswine in addition to Gogoat.

Gogoat is something I definitely expect to be a mount/ride Pokemon because that's literally what it was made for. There may be other ride Pokemon for other functions like crossing the water, flying in the sky, and whatnot that we unlock as we progress like in PLA and SV.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I just wanted to write somewhere this: one of my worries about mounts after SV was them not feeling natural anymore, as opposed to Koraidon/Miraidon having actual reasons to work as multitasking ones. But if they actually gave Zygarde more forms and had it be our partner, maybe we could collect cells to unlock the other mount forms. It would work for me even if it may be too similar to SV.

Of coursr it feels unlikely given 50% is not exactly designed to move in any special way and I doubt we would get underground, but still.

X and Y were where Ride Pokemon were technically introduced, and I imagine we'll have more of a variety of mounts in terms of what they do. One of the new Pokemon from Gen 6 is Gogoat, whose whole thing is literally being a mount, insofar as the modern Lumiose we know in X and Y has a Gogoat Shuttle where people ride Gogoat to different places in the city. Even though the actual use was limited in XY itself to certain places they experimented with it with Skiddo, Rhyhorn, and Mamoswine in addition to Gogoat.

Gogoat is something I definitely expect to be a mount/ride Pokemon because that's literally what it was made for. There may be other ride Pokemon for other functions like crossing the water, flying in the sky, and whatnot that we unlock as we progress like in PLA and SV.

Ohoho, I got a MUCH better idea. This is my most crazed fanfic yet, ripped straight from the pages of my incomplete XY2 concept sheet... But entertain me for a little bit.

Like I said before, I expect that one of the tenants of the emerging Legends subseries is going to be an emphasis on player action. Dodging, sneaking and more: Arceus gave us the Nobles, a whole set of key boss fights you can beat without sending out your Pokemon once should you choose to do so. Logically, a sequel will want to expand on this, giving the player more ways to interact with the word around them, with and without their Pokemon's help.

So now here we are, with Kalos - no, Lumiose City specifically - having been chosen as the site for this presumed advancement. Enhanced human action in Lumiose... An EXPANSION, even... Does that ring any bells? For most it won't, but those still fresh with the memory of a certain postgame quest may have figured out where I'm going with this...

And thus, suppose the following.

Forget summoning rented out helper Pokemon with a flute or pager, or even an all-purpose traversal monster like the Paldea dragons. Instead, in order to be able to scope out the urban landscape for the redevelopment with maximum efficiency, your character (alongside any and all rivals) is personally granted a next-generation Expansion Suit, refined and improved from Xerosic's original design from how many years ago Z-A chooses to take place after XY. At the press of a button you are equipped with the suit, letting you run faster than a speeding Gogoat, leap tall buildings with a single bound and more features that are installed as the game progresses. It's also a new avenue for player expression, its default appearance able to be changed with a purchasable assortment of paints, alternate helmets and decals.

Perhaps this is too deep a cut to expound on after so long... But then again, you can get Essentia's helmet in the Indigo Disk, so it's not as if Game Freak has forgotten...

 

[Esserise]

I just wanted to write somewhere this: one of my worries about mounts after SV was them not feeling natural anymore, as opposed to Koraidon/Miraidon having actual reasons to work as multitasking ones. But if they actually gave Zygarde more forms and had it be our partner, maybe we could collect cells to unlock the other mount forms. It would work for me even if it may be too similar to SV.

Of coursr it feels unlikely given 50% is not exactly designed to move in any special way and I doubt we would get underground, but still.

For Zygarde, I think they could do something like this:

- Dash: Give the player Roller Skates, and have the player be drawn along by 10% Zygarde by holding onto its leash (see Zygarde’s concept art)
- Jump: Add new 20% horse form
- Surf: Add new 30% shark form
- Fly: Add new 40% bird form

50% and up don’t really need to do anything since that pretty much covers the basics. They could even bridge the gap between it being a mount and it being a usable Pokémon more effectively than they did with Koraidon / Miraidon (where having it in battle mode means you can’t use it as your mount, and vice-versa) by having the Cells stored in the Zygarde Cube. For example, they could make it so that once you reach 60 Cells, you can use all of the traversal options while also having a 10% Zygarde in your party — or you can have a 50% Zygarde in your party, and limit yourself to just the Dash option in the overworld. That way, once you collect 100 Cells, you can have a 50% in your party and have access to all of the mounts simultaneously, or you can combine them all for a Power Construct Zygarde.

Concept art

 

[Pax_Unda]

Regarding the "Past vs Future setting" debate, ArchedThunder on Famiboards pointed out that an official Pokemon account straight up said that the final shot of Lumiose didn't look like the "previous" version of the city. That combined with the concept sketches showing people in modern clothing is imo a pretty open-and-shut case for Team Future. I also have a pet theory that GameFreak is using this to train their staff on making better urban environments, which a modern/near-future setting would be more conducive towards.

 

[R_N]

Regarding the "Past vs Future setting" debate, ArchedThunder on Famiboards pointed out that an official Pokemon account straight up said that the final shot of Lumiose didn't look like the "previous" version of the city. That combined with the concept sketches showing people in modern clothing is imo a pretty open-and-shut case for Team Future. I also have a pet theory that GameFreak is using this to train their staff on making better urban environments, which a modern/near-future setting would be more conducive towards.

giant exploding super nova galaxy brain: Z-A is split in 2 parts the present/future (the redevelopment project proper) & the past (the original founding of the city) with overlapping but ultimately differing goals. Z represents the end point, A represents the starting point. Adjust the future by understanding the past!

 

[Hugin]

Two more random hopes I will bring up since I've not yet seen anyone else do so:

-100% new protagonist designs. Rei and Akari were peak but this time I'd prefer if they didn't do the isekai thing even if it's set in the past. Give us the Kalos versions of Nate and Rosa, I want a region to have two unique protagonist pairs again.
-If it's in the present, Adult Calem and/or Serena superboss. We're long overdue for another go at the Red concept and it'd be hype as hell to do so with a decade+ wait behind it. Here's a team I made to demonstrate!

I agree on the new Protag designs. Just for variety it would be good, but there's no reason to stick to the originals.

And why limit us to just one superboss? There were originally 5 friends who set off together, pseudo-E4 for the postgame? We're all obviously raring for another chance to fight Tierno and Trevor.

Seriously though, I do expect Shauna/Tierno/Trevor to show up if the game is post XY. Calem/Serena introduce continuity questions so I'm not sure, but those 3 are a reasonable expectation, and a postgame battle would make sense.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I agree on the new Protag designs. Just for variety it would be good, but there's no reason to stick to the originals.

And why limit us to just one superboss? There were originally 5 friends who set off together, pseudo-E4 for the postgame? We're all obviously raring for another chance to fight Tierno and Trevor.

Seriously though, I do expect Shauna/Tierno/Trevor to show up if the game is post XY. Calem/Serena introduce continuity questions so I'm not sure, but those 3 are a reasonable expectation, and a postgame battle would make sense.

You kinda jokingly pointed out the issue with this already: I legitimately don't know if Game Freak will even consider it worth it to bring these characters back. I imagine that they'd have at least one out of a sort of obligation (Shauna probably?), but all three? I dunno man, it's kinda dicey. Let's face it, in the alternate timeline where they did something adjacent to a BW3 instead we'd already have a bajillion post-timeskip Bianca/Cheren/Hugh fan concepts floating around.

I guess now's as good a time as any to drop my list of expected returning characters. These aren't the only ones I anticipate or even the ones I necessarily want the most, just the minimum I THINK they'll bring back:

• Sycamore
• Diantha
• Emma
• Clemont & Bonnie (Considering a major role for Zygarde is inbound...)
• AZ
• Siebold
• Malva
• Mr. Bonding
• At least one of Trevor, Shauna and Tierno

 

[Pikachu315111]

Iirc they mentionned "harmony" in the trailer. There are fkin krookodiles in the streets. There are battles, as the aegislash scene showed.

Maybe Krookodiles are only violent and snap at anything which moves when hunting in a sandy environment?

Pokemon battling one another is like two humans arm wrestling.

I still think seasons should come back, but they shouldn't last AN ENTIRE MONTH.

Which is why I said a week. I think the month thing was "okay" in Gen V because core series games are meant to be pick-up & put-down experiences. Legends though I feel would need a quick change (and preferably ability to manual change seasons) as it's a much more focused experience.

On the other hand it feels like a waste to revisit Kalos and see only Luminose, at least Geosenge should be included and it would be so weird to have a bunch of legendary and mythical pokémon in only one city.

If they want to include other locations yet still keep it "within" Lumiose City, I think a way they could do it is having "Surveying Missions". No doubt the Quasar would want to incorporate many parts of Kalos within Lumiose City to go with its "beauty and harmony" theme, so they send out people to locations all around Kalos to get architecture and design ideas.

The player can't just leave the city to do this; though I think they could do with having some of the surrounding routes visitable (they could handwave it by saying as long as the redevelopment is going on they have permits to, if not work on the route, at least store equipment & construction vehicles at a designated site; thus the routes are technically within Lumiose City's limits). Instead for surveying missions the player would have to go to the Quasar HQ somewhere inside Lumiose City to access them, thus the "access" is within Lumiose City.

While these locations will be "smaller" explore areas, they can still at least include notable locations. And it can also be used for story reasons, like if at some point in the story we need to go get Zygarde they can have Terminus Cave accessed via the surveying team. As for other Legendaries, if they can't find a way to include them all in Lumiose City, this could allow them to have them in one of the surveying locations or even have rumors of a "special Pokemon" add a location as a surveying spot.

I think Calem and Serena's actual designs are too iconic to not reuse in some capacity.

I honestly think they should start the game as they did in SV, with the character creator. XY was the game that introduced customization, I think it would be a HUGE misstep not to have the playable character as just that, an avatar of the player. Sure, they can default look Calem or Serena, but in the context of the game they are a completely different character.

But of course they'll have the other gender as the "rival/friend". Now what they do here would depend on when the game takes place. If the game takes place in the past sometime, yeah, it would have to be a doppelganger/possible ancestor of Calem or Serena. BUT, if taking place in modern times, just have Calem or Serena (and the rest of the Kalos rivals/friends) be in the game and helping out Sycamore with his end of the reconstruction.

All that's important is that YOU start fresh, XY player character went off to another region or something (ooh, or maybe have them investigating a mysterious event thus have them absent for most of the game, but when the plot really starts rolling they then make a surprise appearance (would be base Calem/Serena, though they can at least have their skin, hair, and eye color match yours), help you, and later join in the reconstruction).

I just wanted to write somewhere this: one of my worries about mounts after SV was them not feeling natural anymore, as opposed to Koraidon/Miraidon having actual reasons to work as multitasking ones. But if they actually gave Zygarde more forms and had it be our partner, maybe we could collect cells to unlock the other mount forms. It would work for me even if it may be too similar to SV.

Zygarde 25% Forme

"Get on, mortal! We got an ecosystem to save! I get 718 miles on the ethanol gallon."

I imagine that they'd have at least one out of a sort of obligation (Shauna probably?), but all three? I dunno man, it's kinda dicey.

Trevor lives in Lumiose City, you can visit his house even.

These aren't the only ones I anticipate or even the ones I necessarily want the most, just the minimum I THINK they'll bring back:

• Sycamore
• Diantha
• Emma
• Clemont & Bonnie (Considering a major role for Zygarde is inbound...)
• AZ
• Siebold
• Malva
• Mr. Bonding
• At least one of Trevor, Shauna and Tierno

AZ I say is a coin flip. If the games takes place in the past, sure, running into him for a quick cameo isn't out of the question. Now sure if they can do anything else with him, ALL his character development happens in XY. Maybe if they want to do more with him have him have no Pokemon and over time the player character helps him realize he doesn't need to travel alone and catches a Golett. If it takes place in modern times, well his story is over, he's reunited with his Floetta, the only reason to have him in the game is if he was to offer the player another Floetta that has fused with an Eternal Flower he had planted.

Why just Siebold and Malva? If they were to have some of the Elite Four why not all of them? Also Malva I could also see having decided to leave Kalos after a while; she may have been able to hide her association with Team Flare likely thanks to the deal Looker made with her, but still just being in Kalos may remind her of their failed scheme and decide to move on.

Mr. Bonding... Well, unless they include O-Powers, probably not.

 

[R_N]

If the game doesnt take place in the past I think the man who went through a terrible series of wars and then made a nuke powered by other Pokemon and then after seeing the bonds of pokemon stop the nuke again getting to reunite with his Floette would perhaps take interest in the redesign of a city that's focused on building the harmony between people & Pokemon even further.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Trevor lives in Lumiose City, you can visit his house even.

Fair point, but again: He's Trevor. Don't get me wrong, anything's possible with adept enough writing, but will GF be interested in spending time on such a niche-at-best character when they're gonna have a big pool of other more popular guys and new characters to work on?
oh god this is an indictment against emma isnt it i keep forgetting nobody besides me cares about her shitshitshitshitshitshit

Why just Siebold and Malva? If they were to have some of the Elite Four why not all of them?

They are the two most popular ones I think and have immediate connections to Lumiose: Siebold could be retired and/or working at Sushi High Roller while Malva's doing the same ol' newscaster stuff and living it up in her apartment.

Mr. Bonding... Well, unless they include O-Powers, probably not.

Don't you dare doubt my GOAT for one singular second, you peon. BONDING TIME IS FOREVER

 

[Nickeljorn]

Which is why I said a week. I think the month thing was "okay" in Gen V because core series games are meant to be pick-up & put-down experiences. Legends though I feel would need a quick change (and preferably ability to manual change seasons) as it's a much more focused experience.

In Legends Arceus a day is 24 minutes in real time and not 24 hours like it was in every previous mainline game with an ingame clock. SV did something similar so it looks like that system will be in future non-Legends games from now on.
I originally thought the reason for the change was for kids whose parents have strict video game time limits (and would likely not be able to play at night because of it) and/or adults who work the night shift, but I can see the theory about LA being a more focused experience, so I think seasons would be shorter if they came back in a Legends game as well.

 

[Yung Dramps]

In Legends Arceus a day is 24 minutes in real time and not 24 hours like it was in every previous mainline game with an ingame clock. SV did something similar so it looks like that system will be in future non-Legends games from now on.
I originally thought the reason for the change was for kids whose parents have strict video game time limits (and would likely not be able to play at night because of it) and/or adults who work the night shift, but I can see the theory about LA being a more focused experience, so I think seasons would be shorter if they came back in a Legends game as well.

I mean considering it's a game where Pokedex completion is required to get the "true ending" having day and night be business as usual with no way to change things would suck for pretty obvious reasons. Same reason why trade evos were curtailed so much

 

[Theorymon]

Might as well finally throw my 2 cents in a massive post and not in discord streams of consciousness like I usually do!

The Mario Approach

So this is something I've been saying since Pokemon Let's Go was announced 6 years ago (good lord time flies!), and I think this announcement actually changes my viewpoint on this a bit! So to quickly explain what the "Mario approach" is: its how I describe how Nintendo releases a lot of mainline Mario games over a period of time, but each of them are like distinct forks of the series. To illustrate what I mean, let me lay out all the games Nintendo considers "mainline Mario games"!

Super Mario Bros, aka the "classic 2D style": Super Mario Bros, Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros Wii, New Super Mario Bros 2, New Super Mario Bros U, Super Mario Bros Wonder

The Super Mario 64 style, aka "Sandbox Mario": Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Odyssey

Galaxy: Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2

Linear 3D Mario: Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World (very closely related to the Galaxy subseries)

Maker: Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for 3DS, Super Mario Maker 2

Other Forks that led to unrelated series: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (note I'm not sure Nintendo considers Wario Land a mainline Mario, but including it because I'd argue it shares a lot of DNA with it design wise!)

Stuff that Nintendo considers mainline but hasn't had follow ups: Super Mario Bros 2 USA, Super Mario Run, Bowser's Fury, Super Mario Bros 35 (still bitter this closed down!)

Horrible Game That Has The Hallmarks Of a Mainline Mario, But Nintendo Pretends Doesn't Exist: Super Mario Bros Special (not getting into this right now lmao)

So Mario has a lot of distinct subseries, and they aren't cordoned off from each other: they have direct impacts on each other! For example, the 2D Mario games starting with New Super Mario Bros adopted the Ground Pound from Yoshi's Island (there's a chance it was a Super Mario 64 idea first considering the dev history of those two games, that's a long story lol), and the wall jump from Super Mario 64. Super Mario Galaxy 2, 3D Land, and 3D World take heavy cues from their level design approach from New Super Mario Bros Wii, and Super Mario Bros Wonder gates off courses with Wonder Seeds akin to how Super Mario 64 gates off areas with Power Stars. Even Super Mario Odyssey was impacted, having several linear sections directly inspired by Super Mario 3D World!

This also pays dividends beyond creativity: if we look at the sales figures of Switch mainline Mario games on Install base(they're pretty reliable!), so Super Mario Odyssey, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder... Literally all of those except Super Mario Maker 2 have passed 10 million units in sales, and Mario Maker 2 is pretty close at 8.42 million unites too!

How did I think this applied to Pokemon?

OK enough talking about Mario (I really need an outlet to talk about this kind of stuff more besides Discord lol), let's get back to how this relates to Pokemon, and Legends Z-A in particular! I thought the Switch era of Pokemon has been taking a similar approach to Mario, trying to established various different "takes" on Pokemon, though its at a way earlier stage of this than Mario so I wasn't sure TPC and Gamefreak have quite figured out how this is going to work yet! Let's organize Pokemon games in a similar way to Mario to see what I mean!

"Traditional Mainline Gens": RGBY, GSC, RSE / FRLG, DPP / HGSS, BW / B2W2, XY / ORAS, SM / USUM, SwSh (sorta, more on this in a bit!), BDSP

Open World Mainline Gens: Scarlet / Violet (there's a reason I section this off, hold tight!)

Let's Go: Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee

Legends: Arceus, Z-A

Pokemon Go??? (Probably doesn't count but it interacts so much with the mainline games now, and has arguably influenced several, so I figured I should bring it up!)

Colloseum Games: Colloseum, XD (these might not really count, but they're distinct enough that I might as well lol)

So besides the Colloseum games (I don't think they were THAT successful but the Gamecube might have been part of the problem there lol), notice how all the other forks don't have a lot of games in them yet... they comprise over HALF of the Switch's mainline Pokemon games (with SwSh and BDSP being the traditional format with some caveats, and Let's Go, Arceus, SV, and likely Z-A having very different gameplay structures / loops than the traditional games). I don't think this is a mistake! With longer console generations meaning we get more Pokemon games on one console, PLUS the idea of a traditional "3rd version" with a similar game-structure to the previous game making much more sense as DLC rather than a 60$ purchase, Pokemon taking this "forked" approach to mainline games seems like a necessary adaption to the Switch's more consolized environment compared to say, the 3DS or Game Boy Advance, it lets them release a lot of Pokemon games without getting a ton of "well this seems like the same thing I bought 2 years ago" that happened a lot with older Pokemon releases!

You see cross pollination just like Mario too! So for example, iirc in interviews for Sword and Shield, Let's Go having wandering overworld Pokemon is the stated reason why SwSh had them, PLA and SV had a lot of influence on each other with both having a heavy emphasis on crafting, hiding secret collectibles like a lot of open-ish games do, and letting you throw your Pokemon out of their balls, but also different approaches (such as PLA letting you directly aim your Pokeball and catch outside of battle VS. SV just using it as another means to enter battle / get back throws to catch mons off guard)

How Does Legends Z-A Fit In This?

Honestly that's my biggest question. If you had asked me "what makes a Pokemon Legends game" based off of just PLA, and like, stripped away any of the flavor of the setting and the likes: I'd say Pokemon Legends is a more action-based approached to Pokemon, making battling not required if you're stealthy or strategic enough in a lot of instances, way less focus on trainer battles, and a big focus on catching TONS of Pokemon even if you already caught them before, sorta like Let's Go or Go! And probably most importantly to a lot of us: a heavy de-emphasis on the multiplayer aspects of Pokemon.

To be clear, the teaser reveal for Legends Z-A could be anything beyond "its about redeveloping Lumiose City" in terms of gameplay. Like say, maybe it's still more action oriented than other Pokemon games, maybe there's a big emphasis on getting multiples of the same creature, maybe its still a heavily single player focused experience...

However, I think it's pretty likely that PLZA is once again Gamefreak throwing a curve ball in a lot of our "headcannon patterns" for the series. Like if you ever look at the bazillion of fake Pokemon rumors floating around the internet: look how many of them boiled down to "Pokemon Legends Johto / Unova" or "also BW reamkes by Illca". Like, that makes sense on a surface level: its continuing the stuff Gamefreak, TPC, and Nintendo have done in the past. I don't think ANYONE expected the 2nd Pokemon Legends game to be about redeveloping Lumiose City (even if the XY legends being missing in SV was pretty suspicious in retrospect lol)!

It really makes me question what exactly the "hallmarks" of a Pokemon Legend games is, if there even are any beyond "experimental revisit of past Pokemon regions". Sure, while it's not impossible for a Pokemon game based around a big city to have action gameplay, I can't help but think that the way that trailer was made to almost make us question what time period it took place in, and how they hid the fact it was Lumiose until the end for all but the most hardcore Pokemon nuts with showing the tower and confirming the name... if I were a betting man, I think the point of that trailer beyond "make it vague so people discuss it online more" (which to be clear I totally bet was intentional lol) was to show that just because LZA is a Legends game, doesn't mean it's going to be very similar to the last one!

It makes me think that while Gamefreak is probably full-steam ahead with making sure that future Pokemon games heavily differentiate each other in terms of gameplay structure like the Switch-era has, I'm not sure if they're trying to develop distinct forks like Mario. Instead, I'm imagining it more like branches off a tree, with the tree being the big new generation starting games like Sword / Shield and Scarlet / Violet, and stuff like Pokemon Legends being distinct branches in different directions that end up contributing to the "tree" as a whole for the next starting generations.

I have one other hypothesis to share though: if they are still using the Mario strategy, it could simply be going all the way, where a lot of forks only get one entry per console. So for example, maybe the reason why we haven't gotten a new Let's Go yet, is because its being saved for the Switch 2. Mario does this kind of stuff all the time, so I wouldn't be too surprised if Pokemon tried it!

What Does This Make Me Expect Out of Legends Z-A?

Since the trailer was so vague, I'm having a hard time really guessing what exactly they're going for beyond what they said in the trailer, "urban redevelopment of Lumiose", and "Mega Evolutions are back". But to take an even more speculatory tone, let me make some guesses that'll be fun to revisit next year!

- Whatever gameplay style Legends Z-A focuses on, wether it sticking close to the original Legends but with different flavoring, or maybe focusing on city-building aspects, some aspects of the gameplay loop will give us a decent preview on what Gen 10's direction will be, like how PLA's focus on open areas and crafting ended up being major aspects of Scarlet and Violet!

- Since the trailer and game seem to be SO focused on "Lumiose City is the setting", while sure that could mean something like how Jubilife Village was the hub of PLA, I think that it hints towards Gamefreak wanting to focus on more lively cities and human settlements compared to past games, with Scarlet and Violet in particular being rather underdeveloped in this area! No idea if they'll focus on this for Gen 10 or not, but I think it's possible!

- I have a feeling Mega Evolutions will have some new tie-in to the battle system, and won't work like they did in previous games. There's no guarantee we'll have hold items either (or even abilities, since something like Aegislash can always be handled like Regigigas was in PLA!), since Let's Go made Mega Stones a key item. Maybe a resource like Mega Energy in Pokemon Go, or some sort of meter you build up in battle. Regardless, Mega Evolutions being teased in the trailer like that makes me think there's more to it beyond "hey they're back!"

- This one isn't that crazy of a guess, but I bet Mega Stones will be used as a carrot on a stick for sidequests. Pokemon Legends had a much bigger focus on sidequests than most Pokemon games, but sometimes the rewards weren't really all that incredible beyond "nice more resources". With Mega Stones, you got a REAL good incentive to finish sidequests!

- On that note, continuing the Mega Evolution speculation: I would be unsurprised if Agile and Strong Styles were gone. Beyond making sure PLA is distinct in its battle systems (because I'm sure Nintendo wants to sell more of that game too lol), I'm guessing they don't want an old mechanic like that to take away from whatever new stuff they got cooked up!

- I'm betting that this game will not actually feature the entire Kalos Dex. My reasoning is just the sheer size: if we include every Pokemon that gets a Mega Evolution, we're talking 467 Pokemon here (the Kalos Dex plus the 10 Pokemon that got Mega Evos in ORAS that weren't in the Kalos Dex, so Latias / Latios / Sceptile / Blaziken / Swampert / Camerupt / Glalie / Metagross / Rayquaza / Lopunny), and that's not even counting Groudon + Kyogre if Primal Reversion gets pulled into the mix! This is almost DOUBLE the size of the Pokemon Legends Arceus Dex without any new Pokemon / regional formes that this game could add! I mean hey, maybe the Pokemon site is not kidding around by calling it an ambitious game! But I don't think they're obligated to cover the entire Kalos dex. If I were to make a bet... I think they'll at least include all gen 6 newcomers, and every Pokemon already in the Kalos dex that Mega Evolves. They might also include the ORAS Mega Evolutions in sorta contrived ways, like how Pokemon Legends Arceus used time distortions to rope the fossils and Porygon line in!

 

[R_N]

There's so few megas attached to "regular" Pokemon that weren't in the Kalos dex that there's no real reason to exclude Mega Metagross or Lopunny. Like, this is probably going to be the only main line game with megas in it for a while and unlike Let's Go its not tethered to an arbitrary "151 ONLY" mindset.
Mega Latias & Latios were technically already in XY and those folks can travel anywhere and hell if we want a flying option ala braviary then you can even bring that role back entirely.
And Blaziken's probably here since being part of the XY launch gift was pretty iconic; and at that point may as well bring along its partners

And then yeah sure may as well include the weather trio. Like everyone else is here, just round it out. Finally get some use out of the super weather abilities that have been dragged up -and functional!- but unusable for SWSH & SV.

 

[Yung Dramps]

My final input on the time period question: Correct me if I'm wrong on this but XY Lumiose is clearly not meant as this city of human-pokemon harmony, mainly because I don't think it was ever framed that way in-game or in any side media? Its slogan is "The City of Light", and I don't recall any of the major characters who live in or visit it making a big deal of how Pokemon-friendly it is. Even BW2 Castelia and Hau'oli have little spots for wild Pokemon which Lumiose does not. As such, setting in this game in the past would suggest that they did this redevelopment with all these lofty goals only for it to get neutered and the vision lost overtime, which strikes me as way too cynical of an implication for this series even if by complete accident.

Also, addendum to my expected list of returning characters: While he won't be showing up himself for obvious reasons, I am expecting the introduction of a Lysandre kid.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Also, addendum to my expected list of returning characters: While he won't be showing up himself for obvious reasons, I am expecting the introduction of a Lysandre kid.

Lysandre's kid showing up and being super anti-fascist would be such a huge W.

 

[reaverz]

I just realized that in the likely scenario that Pokemon size variance is retained, we will finally see how GameFreak reconciles Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist's forms with the Scale value introduced in Legends Arceus. Like all other Pokemon, Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist in HOME have already had their Height value copied into Scale for use in games like Scarlet/Violet (even if they can't be moved there), and as far as I'm aware the Height value is randomly assigned to each Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist no matter their form. This means that there are probably some rare cases of Small form Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist with a Height/Scale value of 255, and some Super Size form Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist with a Height/Scale value of 0.

Due to this, in games using the Scale value one might hypothetically see an Average form Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist whose model is bigger than a Large form Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist, depending on the Height value that was generated by Sword/Shield (or now assigned by HOME in the case of Bank transfers). I wonder if GameFreak will do anything to prevent this?

One solution I can think of is locking possible Scale values for each Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist form. This is something they can easily accomplish with a HOME update (dropping before or along with the update that adds compatibility for Legends Z-A) that rerolls the Scale value of every Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist in accordance to their form. For example, all Small forms having their Scale value randomized so that it always falls between 0-63, Average forms between 64-127, Large forms between 128-191, and Super Size forms between 192-255. Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist generated by Legends Z-A would also have their form determined by Scale value in this manner. This feels like a good option since it would fit perfectly with the Mini Mark and Jumbo Mark.

Another potential solution is simply making it so that the Scale value changes Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist's model size much less dramatically than other Pokemon, so that something like an Average form with Scale 0 is still bigger than a Small form with Scale 255, and an Average form with Scale 255 is still smaller than a Large form with Scale 0. With this method, the percentage model size difference between Pumpkaboo/Gourgesit's Small form with Scale 0 and Super Size form with Scale 255 would be about the same as any other Pokemon's Scale 0 and Scale 255. This method seems a little more convoluted, but it would humorously make it possible for Small forms to be eligible for the Jumbo Mark and Super Size forms eligible for the Mini Mark.

Of course, GameFreak might simply not care about the inconsistency in Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist's form and model size, or perhaps Pokemon size variance won't even be visible in Legends Z-A unlike Legends Arceus and Scarlet/Violet. Additionally, I'm actually not even certain that Sword/Shield didn't already do this with Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist, where the form is determined by the Height value generated by the game. I wonder if anyone here knows?

 

[Pax_Unda]

<snip>

One problem I have with this post is that it assumes we're getting another Let's Go. Never say never with GF, especially nowadays, but LGPE was specifically used to onboard GO players to mainline Pokemon. Kanto was the only gen in the game for a long time and is the most popular region in general, so it made sense to make it a gen 1 remake as well. On top of all this, it's the slowest selling Pokemon game in their home market. When you're asked to divert resources to either LGJ, a sequel to a heavily-disliked game that slightly disappointed in sales, or a sequel to Legends, a sub-series that almost definitely has a higher sales potential when it isn't having its legs crushed by a new gen announcement and the only game in the past 7 years that had net good will from their hardcore base, the answer is obvious

 

[Esserise]

One problem I have with this post is that it assumes we're getting another Let's Go. Never say never with GF, especially nowadays, but LGPE was specifically used to onboard GO players to mainline Pokemon. Kanto was the only gen in the game for a long time and is the most popular region in general, so it made sense to make it a gen 1 remake as well. On top of all this, it's the slowest selling Pokemon game in their home market. When you're asked to divert resources to either LGJ, a sequel to a heavily-disliked game that slightly disappointed in sales, or a sequel, a sub-series that almost definitely has a higher sales potential when it isn't having its legs crushed by a new gen announcement and the only game in the past 7 years that had net good will from their hardcore base, the answer is obvious

There’s also just… not really any reason to make a distinct “Let’s Go” game, because most of what people did like about those games has already been folded into the main series. The only thing that would really set it apart from a straightforward Johto remake is the catching mechanics, which got a pretty mixed response from players.

 

[bdt2002]

You have got to be freaking kidding me. A Kalos Legends game. That’s it. I’m done.

It’s one thing for me to get a prediction wrong about no new games showing up here. But it’s another thing entirely for Game Freak to want to rush out yet another game for what I’m expecting is early-mid 2025 while also breaking the precedent set for returning region order for the entire franchise’s history.

I hope everyone here is happy. That’s all I’m going to say.

Wow. Why did I think dropping this post was a good idea again? Don't get me wrong, even after taking a short break from the forums after this announcement happened (in my defense, the 27th was just a really miserable day for me overall), I still think this game seems a little ridiculous, but did I really need to be this toxic about it...? Maybe this is what people talk about when they say "hindsight is 20/20" and that posting maturity is a thing that exists. I'll still apologize for my toxicity, because I really didn't think it was that bad until I went back and found this post again. What's in the past is in the past, I guess.

Now for the actual post I want to make. I've had just under a week now to recover from what I'll describe some of the biggest shock factor I've had from a new main series game in a while, and while the game itself isn't what I wanted, I want to learn from this and try and not ruin the experience for anyone else who is excited for this game to release. Credit where credit is due: there is surprisingly a few things I could try and be excited about:

• Mega Evolutions are back, but in what will probably be a single-player experience akin to the first Legends game. This is in my opinion the best way to handle the mechanic- allow it to exist so players can appreciate some of their favorite Pokémon getting new forms, but keep them and their centralizing effect on team building away from dedicated multiplayer battles. At the same time, though, Mega Evolution is important enough to Kalosian lore that I would be surprised if it wasn't here. also maybe this is just copium speaking but if we get any new megas then maybe we can finally get mega flygon

• Even though I still maintain that Johto and Unova should have gotten new games before Kalos, I can't deny the fact that a new Kalos game of any kind wasn't long overdue. Back in 2015 and 2016, I personally cared more about the lack of a certain third version of Hoenn not getting a remake more than I cared about the lack of a Pokémon Z and/or dedicated X & Y sequels, but I'll have to agree with the masses in that Kalos and especially Zygarde itself deserved a more fitting conclusion back during the 3DS era. Base game X & Y has what I believe to be some of the weakest writing and direction in the franchise, including spinoffs, with most of its immediate novelty upon release coming from the fact that the idea of Pokémon games on the 3DS was generally more popular among 3DS owners than the same comparison for the DS era and its hardware owners.

• From a business perspective, I don't like the idea of having two games from this Pokémon Legends series on the same console. Historically, every game a part of the same series that is also on the same hardware as its predecessor- a list consisting of Gen 2, Gale of Darkness, Rangers 2 and 3, Gen 5, Gen 7, and Gen 9- all of these sold worse (so far, anyway) than their predecessors did. Most of the games on that list I made are distinct enough to where I could understand their existence on the current hardware, but in this case, I feel like "Legends 2", so to speak, would be a better fit for the Nintendo Switch 2 or whatever they'll call it, in a somewhat similar vein to how the original DS didn't really need 3 Ranger games leaving the 3DS with none, or the GameCube having two Shadow Pokémon RPG games and the Wii have zero (this may explain why Battle Revolution sold less than those games despite the Wii being much more successful of a console). From a gameplay perspective, however, I think this is an excellent call. Pokémon fans can continue to have multiple options of what kind of style they want now while establishing a more versatile release schedule in the vein of something like, say, Palworld showing what Pokémon-likes can do in different genrés.

 

[MaskedFeraligatr]

My final input on the time period question: Correct me if I'm wrong on this but XY Lumiose is clearly not meant as this city of human-pokemon harmony, mainly because I don't think it was ever framed that way in-game or in any side media? Its slogan is "The City of Light", and I don't recall any of the major characters who live in or visit it making a big deal of how Pokemon-friendly it is. Even BW2 Castelia and Hau'oli have little spots for wild Pokemon which Lumiose does not. As such, setting in this game in the past would suggest that they did this redevelopment with all these lofty goals only for it to get neutered and the vision lost overtime, which strikes me as way too cynical of an implication for this series even if by complete accident.

Also, addendum to my expected list of returning characters: While he won't be showing up himself for obvious reasons, I am expecting the introduction of a Lysandre kid.

I’ll add a little bit to this: quite a few people seem convinced that the game takes place in the 1800s because of a Wikipedia article they skimmed, but that doesn’t seem particularly possible. If you look at the sketched map, you can quite clearly see a Pokémon battle arena with a modern pokeball symbol on it. This would not happen if the game happened at the same time as PLA: pokeballs weren’t even around all that much when Drayden was a kid, and he can’t be much older than 60.

Not to mention, the company name. This isn’t confirmed but it’s very likely to be called “quasar” as their logo is a simplified depiction of a quasar and the Pokémon language seems to spell it out. Those weren’t discovered until the 50s or named until the 60s. It would be a weird anarchonism to have that in a game set in the 1800s. And the sketched map, the evidence of it being in the past, has that logo.

I think people are relying maybe a bit too much on the “precedent” of PLA. But I don’t think one example makes a precedent. The stuff said here doesn’t exclude it being in the past(it could take place in the 60s) but I think the evidence points more one way than the other

 

[DrrT]

I'm definetly leaning more towards the game being set in the present/future as well, to add to the discussion a good point I saw mentioned is that time-space was a big theme in Sinnoh but not Kalos. I'm not saying distorsions of some kind would not happen at all (Pokemon loves playing with similar concepts since Gen 7), but I'm not sure anymore if we would be time travelling actively again. Of course, the game could be just set in the past entirely but you get the point.

It's also worth mentioning Paris is undergoing redevelopment currently too. Most people seem to focus on the historical one which is fair, but if I'm not mistaken they are trying to make the city more green. That could easily have been the inspiration behind the game.

 

[Bakugames]

I wouldn't be surprised if they took inspiration of paris being a city which has gone through various historical changes, redevelopments and the like - even compared to most other european cities - but something thats hard to deny is that they like to change the feeling and vibe/overal design philosophy of their new games. I find it much more likely we'll get a kalos in the cusp of modernization or going post-modern.

It's possible, but itd be kinda weird to give up the old aesthetic and go immediately into a tron modern presentation of a new city when your game is meant to be of old france. And modern architecture is still done on paper, so I find it hard to put all my stocks on "its old because it was all traditional for a second". You could argue about the aesthetic of buildings, but lbr that france loves to preserve its cultural marks until that shit is decreipt.

I don't really get the argument of "it has to be in the past because for it to be a legend it needs to be a past thing". I feel like the title of legends is much more about the fact the actual pokemon classified as legendaries are involved, with arceus and now z-a, which isnt as on the nose but its literally zygardes letter AND markings on there lol.

 

[Wishy]

The biggest gag would be if the whole game is set in Lumiose City hehe~ thing is a red herring and there’s a substantial, explorable Kalos after a plot event. Attack On Titan but the Titans are Megas. I just don’t see how the game being locked inside a city is viable but I’m ready to eat crow Corviknight!

Also re: Legends mechanics; Gamefreak’s MO has been making each generation/game unique in some way by adding and removing mechanics. I think the fundamentals of Legends will be here (catching, crafting, focus on the player) but I don’t think literally anything else is set in stone.

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

Haussman did a great Job in Paris, so I guess we'll have a lot to do