Pokemon Leggende Z-A, a new era for Nintendo's little monsters!
by Simon Larocca·August 12, 2025
It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? Since little, adorable little monsters, lined up one by one, packed tightly inside thin cables, were giving each other high-fives as they traded places from one GameBoy to another.
L enthusiasm of those glorious times, harbingers of a Copernican revolution destined to change the concept of Video Game, has never waned over time and today we are still here, ready to talk about new, exciting legends on the way.
Quelle of Pokémon, of course. Nintendo will release Pokémon Legends: Z-A on October 16, 2025, the next installment of the perhaps longest-running franchise of all time, alongside Super Mario. Created by Satoshi Tajiri and becoming, in no time at all, a mass culture phenomenon, Pokémon have invaded every known medium: who among you has not, at least once in your life, exclaimed pikapika while imitating the saga’s adorable mascot, Pikachu?
Legitimate sequel to Pokemon X and Y, released as many as twelve years ago for the 3DS, Pokemon Legends takes us inside the city of Lumiose, which was already the setting for the previous adventures. It is a megalopolis infused with cutting-edge technology, however paired with the purest principles of nature, in Pokemon style of course. As a result, in the very first minutes of play we can wander the streets surrounded by tall buildings, green areas seemingly designed to help you relax, and lots of “pocket monsters” (Pokemon is short for Pocket Monster, fun fact!) roaming around. Q-Asar Inc, a mysterious multinational company that has taken care of creating specific areas called “wild zones” inside the city where pokemon can roam free and happy, is definitely not telling the whole truth and will certainly be relevant to the game’s plot.
Let’s talk about the starter pack, the trio of Pokémon from which you will have to select the first companion of your adventure. Here are the official names: Chikorita, Totodile and Tepig. If you think they don’t have the same legendary aura as Pikachu and Eevee… well, maybe that really is so, but tastes vary.
Leaked news about Pokemon Legends are few, but all rather juicy: first of all, the classic turn-based battle mode, a cornerstone of the series for thirty years, will be abandoned in favor of real-time battles, which of course recall many of the elements beloved by those who even today roam the globe playing Pokemon Go. Another element of great interest is the reintroduction of mega evolutions, which have always raised the eyebrows of much of the “purists,” yet are praised by the new generations of Trainers: the eternal dispute between what was and what must be, to posterity the arduous judgment.
So no Gyms? No bratty Trainers popping out of the tall grass shouting “aa-aah!” and challenging you out of the blue? In fact, that’s how it seems. Your mission, as soon as you join the famous Team MZ, will be to protect the city from unspecified threats and wander here and there catching Pokémon while completing various side quests: Game Freak, the game’s developer, has been keen to point out that by exploring the city and uncovering its secrets, the intricate story will take shape, and we can only trust them, even if… I can no longer pretend to ignore the elephant in the room for much longer. How is it possible that in 2025 Pokémon titles are not being refreshed with a graphics upgrade and a truly, truly necessary makeover remains a mystery.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A will burst out of a gigantic Poké Ball in October, and we’ll be there, ready to catch it on the fly to play it and experience a new adventure. Remembering with a bit of nostalgia, amid smiles and laughter, how far those cute and cuddly little monsters have come, lined up one by one inside narrow, tight cables, whose only purpose was and is just one.
Make it entertaining then as now.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
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