A new Pokemon Direct was broadcast at the crack of dawn today, and fans were bursting with hope that the next generation of Pokemon would be revealed in some form. We didn’t QUITE get that — the Direct was mostly about mobile games — but we did get a teaser for something interesting.
The teaser showed Pikachu running through a Tron-like representation of a city as it built itself up from wireframe structures. As Pikachu ran and turned corners, other Pokemon started appearing, and then the camera pulled back to reveal a glowing Lumiose City, the central metropolis from Pokemon X and Y.
Were we getting a remake of X and Y? Those were on the 3DS; even though that was ten years ago, it felt too soon. No, not quite — the logo kicked in at that point, and revealed this to be a Pokemon Legends game. Pokemon Legends Z-A, which will use the region established in those games.
Pokemon Legends is a somewhat new spinoff for the Pokemon series — so far it consists of only one title, Legends Arceus, released on Switch about two years ago. The game’s open-world setting, streamlined mechanics and realistic approach to the aesthetic won it instant fans (myself included). Some people demanded the mainline games start using the Legends formula, but while Scarlet and Violet were open-world, they remained traditional otherwise.
The final thing the trailer reveals is a 2025 release window. The fact that this teaser contains no gameplay footage and the release is so far away is leading some to speculate we just saw the announcement for a Switch 2 game. No one can confirm that, but even if Nintendo doesn’t release the Switch 2 until March 2025 (like a recent report suggested), this game would still be in the right time frame. It’s possible!
More about Pokemon Legends Z-A should be revealed in the coming months.