Pokémon Legends Z-A: Everything you missed from the new trailer

A new Pokémon Legends Z-A trailer was released during Thursday’s Nintendo direct, bringing with it new information about the next game in the Pokémon series.

While the trailer covered much of the ground of the Pokémon Presents trailers, there are plenty of details that we’ve scoured the trailer for that we think you might have missed. More information about how the brand new Z-A Royale, about where you’ll be able to find certain Pokémon and more are hidden in the trailer, and we break it down below.

We think we may have even spotted a few characters that will make a big impact on the game’s story, as well as the name of the main character.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Z-A Royale explained

The Z-A Royale is a brand-new feature coming to Pokémon Legends Z-A. The battle system, which will see players take on tough opponents, was first teased in the Pokémon Present presentation in February, but now we’ve had our best look at how it is going to work in Pokémon Legends Z-A.

“When night falls in Lumiose City, a battle zone with red borders made from cutting-edge holographic technology will appear somewhere within the city,” stated the trailer.

As you can see in the screenshot below, it appears that although the gates are similar to the wild zones which will be used to catch wild Pokémon, these red gates don’t replace them. Previous trailers have shown clips of what are assumed to be wild Pokémon roaming at night. Couple this with certain Pokémon only appearing at night and we’re now confident that there won’t be a limit on when you can hunt for Pokémon.

The trailer for the game also gave a better indication of how certain mechanics will work in conjunction with battling other trainers. In reference to the main series, if a trainer locks eyes with you, they will initiate the battle. However, there is a twist on this formula. The trailer showed that if a player manages to sneak behind a trainer and their Pokémon, they will have the opportunity to hit the opposite trainer first, using a surprise attack. This will give the player the upper hand in battle.

As you can see in the above screenshot, your wins are tracked in this mode, which will contribute to an overall rank, running from Z to A. According to the trailer, “Only the strongest will claim the top rank, and those who reach Rank A may even have one in-game wish granted.”

This seems like natural path for the main story to follow, similar to Pokémon Legends Arceus, which had the story of the Noble Pokémon, five powerful Pokémon that the player had to defeat, alongside the research quest which saw players filling out the first PokéDex.

A new company, Quasartico Inc, was also teased in an earlier trailer. The company CEO Jett, and her secretary Vinnie were also introduced as new characters in the trailer for Pokémon Legends Z-A.

We now know that during the Z-A Royale, players will have to win enough battles to earn a Challenger’s Ticket. Doing this will give them access to a promotion match against a specific trailer.

The screenshot below shows off how this will work in-game, and also reveals that the protagonist’s name is Harmony (although this will be changeable).

The Map

This new trailer gave us what I believe is the best look at the complete Lumiose City map. While it is unlikely that this image is the in-game map due to the angle of it, it gives us a good insight into the design of the city.

The city appears to be split into 5 zones, all of which have different coloured buildings. All of these districts meet in the middle at Lumiose Tower.

It also appears from the trailer that there are images of trainers all over the map. While the image is too low quality to get a good look at these trainers, some of them have distinct enough outfits that they could be significant characters.

It’s been previously stated by The Pokémon Company that Lumiose City is the only location that we will be able to visit in the game, and based on this map, that appears to still be the case. We already know that there will be some degree of verticality to the game, with some Pokémon appearing on rooftops and some in the waterway that rush around the city, but at this point we don’t believe that exploration beyond the walls of Lumiose will feature in the game.

Cafe

Another thing we have spotted in the latest trailer for Pokémon Legends Z-A are the cafes. Not only is your character shown relaxing at one with their first partner Pokémon, but later in the trailer, the minimap shows that cafes are highlighted to the player.

We believe that this could point to the idea that cafes will serve as Pokémon Centers in Pokémon Legends Z-A. While we could see the cafes being used to heal your Pokémon, we wonder if this will also be where you’ll be able to change your team, or perhaps purchase new outfits for the player.

It’s very likely that due to the size of the city, there will be multiple shops, but it appears on the minimap that cafes are highlighted specifically, pointing to their importance.

New Pokemon

We currently have a constantly growing list of all of the Pokémon we’ve spotted in trailers for Pokémon Legends Z-A so far. We’ll be updating this list as we get more information about the game.

The list also includes Pokémon that haven’t been officially announced but can be inferred due to the presence of other Pokémon in their evolutionary line.

Pokémon Legends Z-A is planned for release in late 2025 for the Nintendo Switch.