When Pokémon Legends: Z-A was first revealed, all of us instantly set to work speculating on when it might happen within the Pokémon timeline. Not the place, we knew that: it takes place completely in Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X and Y’s Kalos area. However provided that Legends: Arceus was a time-traveling narrative going again a whole lot of years into Sinnoh’s previous, we had each expectation based mostly on trailers that Z-A can be many, a few years in Lumiose Metropolis’s future.
We had been incorrect! We now know precisely when it takes place, and it isn’t practically as large a leap as you’d assume.
We have been taking part in Pokémon Legends: Z-A for overview and the embargo has now lifted. So we will verify, from first-hand expertise speaking to a number of characters (most of which we sadly cannot immediately cite or present because of the ongoing embargo restrictions), that Z-A takes place simply 5 years after the occasions of X and Y. It is not a time touring narrative, it is a direct sequel that provides a follow-up to most of the characters and conditions launched in X and Y.
As an example, we already know that you simply get to hang around with AZ, a 3,000-year-old man who performs a pivotal function in X and Y. We additionally know that Mable, a former member of Group Flare, takes on the function of Pokémon professor on this sport and sends you out to catch Pokémon with varied challenges. Different characters you may keep in mind from X and Y present up as effectively, a few of them dramatically modified, however we won’t and will not spoil them simply but.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A being a direct sequel is definitely a fairly large deal. The Pokémon universe has been actual hand-wavey with how the completely different video games and areas relate to 1 one other through the years. Whereas there have been some direct sequels earlier than (Gold and Silver after Purple and Blue, Black and White 2 after Black and White, and many others), later video games have launched time journey (Legends: Arceus), various universes (Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire), and mainly each sport has implied that every one the opposite video games’ places and monsters exist in the identical world, however occasions happening in these video games could or might not be canon relying on which one you are taking part in. The Pokémon timeline, if drawn out, in all probability seems to be much more ridiculous than the Zelda one at this level.
However in case you had been questioning what occurred to a lot of the important solid of X and Y 5 years after the occasions of the sport, right here you go: that is only a simple sequel! In hindsight, we should always have seen this coming once they named it “Z-A” after X and Y.
My review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now reside, if you wish to take a look at my impressions of the primary 24 hours, with a full overview coming subsequent week. I’ve additionally been writing about how the Nurse Pleasure job is now open to individuals who do not look precisely similar to the unique Nurse Pleasure after 27 years in Z-A.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You could find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Acquired a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
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