Summary
Pokemongames gave life to one of the world’s most beloved franchises all the way back in 1996 with the Japan-only release ofPokemon Red and Green, and up to the release ofPokemon Legends Z-Anext year there are and have been multiple traditions in the series. Modern games tend to break those traditions to create new gameplay avenues for the franchise, such asPokemon Scarlet and Violetgetting rid of tall grass entirely and only featuring overworld encounters. Likewise,Pokemon X and Ybroke some traditions as well when they first came out, and nowPokemon Legends Z-Acan atone for one of Gen 6’s biggest sins.
It’s too soon to determine exactly what thegameplay loop ofPokemon Legends Z-Awill be when the game launches, but it’s fair to assume that it will not only feature a good chunk of existing pocket monsters, but also add new ones - or at least, new regional forms and Mega Evolutions. While many fans are holding their breath for a potential Charizard Z Mega Evolution inPokemon Legends Z-A, there’s something else the game can try to undo a big Gen 6 mistake, and that is adding both multiple new Pokemon and a sub-Legendary trio.
Pokemon Legends Z-A Needs Its Own Kalos Legendary Trio
Pokemon Legends Z-A Can Mend a Broken Streak of 17 Years
One of the biggest traditions inPokemongames up to Gen 6 was that every generation featured its set or sets of three sub-Legendary Pokemon. Sub-Legendary Pokemon are not exactly an official category, but they essentially group upall Legendary Pokemonin the series that are normally available in VGC tournaments or even in-game battle facilities. From Gen 1 and up to Gen 6, every game featured at least one of these trios, starting with Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, and ending with Gen 5’s Swords of Justice (minus Keldeo) and Forces of Nature.
Gen 6 featured no new sub-Legendary trio, breaking a 17-year streak at the time. Gen 7 followed with the four Tapus rather than a trio proper, Gen 8 had only two duos in the form of the new Regis and Glastrier and Spectrier, and then Gen 9 had both the Treasures of Ruin quartet and theLoyal Three in Kitakami. As such,Pokemon Legends Z-Acould introduce an all-new Kalos sub-Legendary trio that would kill two birds with one stone - first, it would remedy Gen 6’s mistake, and then it would also add never-before-seen Kalos Pokemon to fix another massive problem.
Pokemon Legends Z-A Can Undo Gen 6’s Biggest Mistake
Pokemon Legends Z-A Has The Perfect Blueprint to Add New Kalos Pokemon Over Mega Evolutions
Arguably, the biggest issue with Gen 6 was that it added the smallest number of new Pokemon ever in any mainline games, and while the addition of Mega Evolutions partially makes up for it due to them being entirely new designs, it was a rather exclusive one-time gimmick. Instead,Pokemon Legends Z-Acan add new Mega Evolutionsto the roster and dramatically increase the number of native Kalos Pokemon. This could even be explained in various ways in terms of lore, regardless of whenPokemon Legends Z-Ais set.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus had several species of Pokemon not native to Sinnoh, and some of them even from games after Gen 4’s era. Pokemon Legends Z-A can easily do the same with no big lore implications if the time setting is different than the original Gen 6 games.
In fact, a huge part of Kalos lore is the existence of the ultimate weapon and the fact that the king fired it 3,000 years before the current time. IfPokemon Legends Z-Ais set before this canon event, then having new Kalos Pokemon species would make sense with the idea that some of them went extinct afterward. On the other hand, ifPokemon Legends Z-A’s Lumiose Cityis in the future, these new Pokemon species could be revived from fossils and other remains by scientists, for example. There are many ways forPokemon Legends Z-Ato fix what was wrong with Gen 6 games, and adding new critters is the single most important thing the game could do.
Pokemon Legends Z-A
The sequel to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon Legends: Z-A takes Pokemon trainers back to the Kalos region’s Lumiose City.
