Pokémon Legends: Z-A facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pokémon Legends: Z-A |
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North American key art
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| Developer(s) | Game Freak |
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| Director(s) | Haruka Tochigi |
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| Designer(s) | Rei Murayama |
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| Writer(s) | Toshinobu Matsumiya |
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| Series | Pokémon |
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| Release date(s) | 16 October 2025 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is an exciting action role-playing game that came out in 2025. It was created by Game Freak for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. The game is a new adventure in the world of Pokémon and is the second game in the Pokémon Legends series, after Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
This adventure is a follow-up to the popular games Pokémon X and Y and takes place completely inside the amazing Lumiose City in the Kalos region. The game was released on October 16, 2025, and many players and critics enjoyed its new style of battling. There is also extra content you can get, called Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension, which will be released on December 10, 2025.
Contents
How to Play
Your adventure in Lumiose City begins when you choose one of three special starter Pokémon: the Grass-type Chikorita, the Water-type Totodile, or the Fire-type Tepig. These Pokémon come from the Johto and Unova regions.
Exciting Real-Time Battles
Unlike many other Pokémon games where you take turns to attack, Legends: Z-A has fast-paced, real-time battles. This means you can move your character and your Pokémon around the battlefield to dodge attacks and find the perfect spot to strike. It's all about quick thinking and strategy!
A fan-favorite feature, Mega Evolution, is back! During a battle, you can collect Mega Energy by dealing damage. Once you have enough, you can Mega Evolve your Pokémon, making it incredibly powerful for a short time. The more you battle, the longer your Pokémon can stay in its awesome Mega form.
The Z-A Royale
At night, parts of Lumiose City turn into special Battle Zones. Here, you can join a thrilling competition called the Z-A Royale. You can challenge other trainers you find wandering around, but be careful—they can challenge you too! Winning these battles helps you earn points and climb up the ranks.
The game is also full of fun side quests. You can find bonus cards with special goals to complete. Finishing these quests gives you points that help you move up in the Z-A Royale.
Play with Friends
You can connect with other players in the Battle Club. In this multiplayer mode, up to four friends can team up in Link Battles to see who can defeat the most Pokémon in a set time. You can also challenge others in Ranked Battles to test your skills and earn rank points. Plus, you can customize your character's look with lots of cool new options.
The Story of Lumiose City
Setting the Scene
The game is set entirely within Lumiose City, the heart of the Kalos region, which you might remember from Pokémon X and Y. The city, which looks a lot like Paris, is undergoing a huge "urban redevelopment project." This is a plan to make the city a perfect place where humans and Pokémon can live together in harmony. As part of the plan, special "Wild Zones" have been created for Pokémon to live naturally inside the city.
Your main goal is to become the best trainer in the Z-A Royale tournament. You'll start at Rank Z and battle your way up to Rank A. If you make it to the top, you'll be granted a special wish! But as you explore the city, you'll discover a strange mystery: some wild Pokémon are Mega Evolving all by themselves and becoming very powerful and hard to control.
Your Adventure Begins
The story starts five years after the events of Pokémon X and Y. You arrive in Lumiose City as a visitor and quickly make a new friend, either Taunie or Urbain. They give you your first Pokémon and introduce you to the Z-A Royale.
As you start winning battles and climbing the ranks, you get noticed by the company in charge of the city's redevelopment. They ask for your help to solve the mystery of the "Rogue Mega Evolutions." You'll team up with new friends and even get help from the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde.
Your journey will lead you to uncover secrets about the city's past and the source of the strange Mega Energy. You'll face powerful boss battles against these Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon. In the end, you and your friends, along with Zygarde, must work together to save Lumiose City from a great danger. After saving the day, you and your friend use your wishes to make the Z-A Royale an ongoing event for everyone to enjoy.
Making the Game
Pokémon Legends: Z-A was first announced to the world on February 27, 2024, during a special Pokémon Presents video. Fans were very excited when the trailer revealed that Mega Evolution would be returning from X and Y.
Over the next year, more information was shared about the game's story and new gameplay features. On October 16, 2025, the game was released for both the Nintendo Switch and the new Nintendo Switch 2. Before the game came out, new Mega Evolved forms for the starter Pokémon from X and Y were also revealed.
An expansion for the game, called Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension, was also announced. This downloadable content (DLC) will add a new story featuring the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa and will even introduce two new Mega forms for Raichu. The Mega Dimension DLC is planned for release on December 10, 2025.
Lucky fans who attended the 2025 Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, California, even got to play a special demo of the game before it was released.
