Summary
The excitement of Pokemon Day’s announcement ofPokemon Legends: Z-Ahas sent the online community into full speculation mode as this unexpected reveal opens the door for tons of possibilities about the series' future. While many fans were predicting a newPokemon Legendsgame to be revealed during this Pokemon Presents, few would have predictedPokemon Legends: Z-A, a game set in the Kalos Region’s Lumiose City, to be the star of the show. While there is still a lot left unrevealed about the game, its title suggests a major character from the Gen 6 games will play a key role in its plot.
A lot of the speculation ahead of the Pokemon Presents showcase included theories about a potentialPokemon Legendsgame set in theJohto Region or the Unova Region. However, both of those regions have already received a lot of attention through past remakes and sequels. Comparatively, the Kalos Region has always felt like it was missing some pieces of lore, givenPokemon X and Ynever got a third version or sequel, but nowPokemon Legends: Z-Acan finally do the region the justice it deserves and give a mysterious character like AZ a more complete story.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Title Suggests AZ Could Play a Major Role in the Game
Coming off the heels of the massive popularity ofPokemon Legends: Arceus,Pokemon Legends: Z-Atakes the samePokemon Legendsconcept and translates it to a region that was in desperate need of a new game. What seems to set this new game apart from its predecessor, aside from the urban setting within Lumiose City, is the odd and somewhat confusing choice for its name. Rather than subtitling the game after aMythical Pokemon like Arceus, the decision to give the game the subtitle of “Z-A” might imply that the character AZ will be the focal point of the game’s story.
AZ is a very enigmatic character that players might recall from Gen 6’sPokemon X and Y, where he appears on several occasions to offer cryptic dialogue about the Ultimate Weapon. It’s later revealed that AZ is an ancient king of Kalos who participated in a great war that saw the loss of his beloved Floette, causing him to create the Ultimate Weapon to end the conflict. At the end ofPokemon X and Y, AZ challenges the player to a battle, and having had his heart liberated by the player’s care for their Pokemon,AZ’s Floettefinally returns to him.
AZ Lore that Pokemon Legends: Z-A Needs to Address
While it might seem like AZ’s story arc is mostly complete following the ending ofPokemon X and Y, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the character thatPokemon Legends: Z-Awill hopefully address. An obvious mystery this game should address is how a 3,000-year-old king is still alive in the modern day. Given thePokemon Legendsgames' tendency to involve time travel, there could be some sort of plot device involving AZ traveling in time between the modern era and his original time, similar toIngo inPokemon Legends: Arceus, which could explain how he came to exist in the modern story ofPokemon X and Y.
Aside from his apparent age, another strange aspect of AZ’s design is his enormous height, as he is the tallest known person in the mainlinePokemonseries. The explanation for his massive height and extreme age has been associated with his exposure to the Ultimate Weapon, but the games never really go into how or why this exposure resulted in these physical changes. Perhaps amajor plot point ofPokemon Legends: Z-Awill be discovering the secret of the energy used in powering the Ultimate Weapon that resulted in AZ’s physical changes and how it connects to the physical changes Pokemon undergo when they Mega Evolve.
