Azure skies shine as a joyous chorus of people and Pokémon fill the streets of a sprawling cityscape. Old and new faces are coming together for a bold new adventure in which the natural and urban worlds collide.  

After a full year with no news, on Feb. 27, also known as Pokémon Day and the anniversary of the first Pokémon games, Game Freak and the Pokémon Company dropped the latest trailer for the upcoming “Pokémon Legends: Z-A,” coming late 2025. 

While the trailer itself is just under two minutes long, it showed a number of key features and information on the upcoming game. 

As reported previously, the game is set entirely in Lumiose City, based on Paris, in the Kalos region. The city now has a number of expansions and details added to make the city more to scale compared to its original iteration on the Nintendo 3DS, which was first seen in the 2013 games “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y.” 

Surprisingly, the trailer revealed that unlike the previous “Pokémon Legends” game, “Pokémon Legends: Arceus,” this game is not set in the past but rather what appears to be the near future after the events of X and Y, but the exact time has not been specified.   

The game will focus on expanding the city to make it more habitable for Pokémon and people alike. 

One of the more exciting features of the trailer was the revelation of real-time battles and dodging, something that has not been seen outside of the Pokémon anime. This new mechanic is sure to bring with it new play possibilities and experiences for old fans and new fans alike.

There will also be wild zones where you can catch Pokémon and battle other trainers scattered throughout the city. 

Furthermore, moves used will have a certain area of effect, the distance a move will travel and how the move impacts the battlefield. This includes moves like earthquake which hit multiple targets and stealth rock which now appears as sharp rocks in the air that must be avoided by the opponent.  

Another interesting and somewhat surprising choice was the selection of first-partner Pokémon, which include Chikorita, Tepig and Totodile.

This breaks the trend from the previous “Pokémon Legends” game by including two Pokémon from the same region, in this case the Japanese inspired Johto region.  

AZ, the former king of Kalos and creator of the ultimate weapon, returns from X and Y, along with his partner Pokémon Floette, a special Floette which has a special form known as the Eternal Flower form. 

This form of Floette is notorious for having been part of a canceled event for the original games. This trailer is the first time it’s been seen in-game so hopefully players will finally get a chance to experience playing with this unique Pokémon. 

In the Pokémon lore, these characters are known to be over 3,000 years old and have gained immortality due to the effects of the ultimate weapon, a giant crystal-like flower that can harvest the energy of living beings, which devastated the region. 

This destroyed many lives and created what became known as mega stones. These stones are necessary for mega evolution, a core mechanic of this game. Mega evolution is a temporary in-battle power up that drastically changes the strength and appearance of a Pokémon. 

In Z-A, AZ is now a hotel manager and guide of sorts for the player with the hotel acting as a home base. Interestingly, he gives the player character a jacket reminiscent of the legendary Pokémon Zygarde.  

This also calls into question the other legendary Pokémon of the region, Xerneas and Yveltal, representing life and destruction and together with Zygarde the source of power for the ultimate weapon. 

With this Zygarde connection and with the ultimate weapon being in the game’s logo, it seems that this game will finally complete the story of Zygarde as it never received any attention in the original games. 

Other interesting characters include Jett, CEO of Quasartico Inc. and the one funding the expansion of the city, and her secretary Vinnie. Their looks were very appealing and Vinne looks strong yet sweet with his Pokémon hair clips.  

Jett’s outfit is a fierce looking businesswoman with gray business dress covered in her company’s logo, a celestial phenomenon known as a quasar.

Vinne is dressed in a gray business suit and green shirt and shoes. This outfit is very evocative of Mega Rayquaza so hopefully we’ll see it make an appearance in the game. 

As of now, the game is set to release on the Switch but with the Switch 2 on the horizon it is very likely that it will be playable on both.