Ever wondered why Pokémon Legends: Z-A is called that? There are a few notable coincidences already – Zygarde is likely to be the key mascot of this entry, with the previous game’s being Arceus; and the mysterious character AZ, pronounced as “A, Z” returns here in a seemingly promintent role also – but now we have another explanation, via a new, seemingly quite important feature announced today, as part of the game’s surprise appearance in the Nintendo Direct.
The new feature is called the Z-A Royale, a trainer-on-trainer tournament that takes place in Lumiose City after night falls. Here, the city’s wild areas, previously outlined in Pokémon Legends Z-A’s first full trailer, will turn into Battle Zones, where you can find opposing trainers waiting for you. It’s mentioned that only “fierce” and “highly skilled trainers” are invited to participate, though that’s swiftly followed by footage of you kicking things off with a Lv. 13 Totodile.
Earn enough Ticket Points, meanwhile, from defeating opponents and picking up ‘bonus cards’ by fulfilling certain challenges specified by the cards, and you’ll earn a Challenger’s Ticket, a requirement for undertaking a ‘promotion match’ where you can go up a rank. You’ll start at Rank Z and, you guessed it, eventually climb to rank A – hence, Z-A. Curiously, it’s mentioned that “trainers who reach the top are said to have a wish granted”, which is likely a hint at the feature’s role in the main story. Maybe you need a particular wish granted to defeat this entry’s big bad?
In the trailer we also saw a little bit more of the new, hybrid battle system, that juggles real-time dodging with the order-based attacks of Legends: Arceus, and there are a few nice little twists in there for the eagle-eyed Pokémon fans.