The upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A already has a teaser trailer and a location, but there’s no confirmation yet about what time period it takes place. The game will be the second in the new line of Pokémon Legends games, which started with a journey to Sinnoh’s past in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. The Legends games take place alongside the main story games, further building on their worlds. By separating the games from the main titles, they’re allowed to travel to different locations and even different times.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus sent players back in time to a period before Pokémon and humans learned how to co-exist. Speculation abounds regarding whether Pokémon Legends: Z-A will also take place in the past, or whether it will travel to the future, instead. It was announced that the game will be based in the Paris-inspired Lumiose City, within the Kalos Region of Pokémon X and Y. But there’s been no confirmation yet about its time period.
What The Pokémon Legends: Z-A Teaser Trailer Reveals About Its Setting
It Takes Place During A Period Of Rebuilding
The official announcement trailer of Pokémon Legends: Z-A on The Official Pokémon YouTube channel states that the game will take place in Lumiose City. Players will embark on a new adventure in a city that’s undergoing an “urban development plan.” The story will unfold in a period of rebuilding, to make the city a home for humans and Pokémon to coexist peacefully.
The video shows a rendering of a building with some people and a large Pikachu, drawn with what seems to be traditional pencil and paper. As the trailer progresses, though, the style shifts to a futuristic view consisting of neon blue, Tron-style lines. A new city rises, made up of those glowing lines.
Viewers are given a glimpse of city sidewalks, restaurant tables, beautiful arch overpasses, and more. Colorful computer renderings show Pokémon and people living together in this city. For the final shot, the image changes back to a weathered paper, with a hand-drawn overview of Lumiose City. The merging of old and new styles makes it hard to determine what time period the game will be set in.
Why Pokémon Legends: Z-A Might Be Set In The Future
The Trailer’s Style Points To It
After watching the trailer, most people assumed that Pokémon Legends: Z-A would take place in the future. The video’s style strongly suggests a futuristic setting, as the city is computerized with neon renderings. One prevailing fan theory centers around the powerful Pokémon Zygarde, suggesting that many years in the future, the city will be leveled by the powerful Pokémon. The game will then see players through the rebuilding and restoration of the city back to its former glory.
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What Is The Next Pokémon Game?
With no new Pokémon games out in 2024, a lot of fans may be wondering what the next Pokémon game is – and when it’s expected to release.
The Pokémon franchise has been heading toward the future in general. The open-world Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the last titles in the franchise, are a much more modern take on the games. Z-A might follow this trend and have a modern or even futuristic environment, taking the games in a brand-new direction.
Why Pokémon Legends: Z-A Might Be Set In The Past
It May Be Inspired By Historical Events
Although the style of the trailer seems to imply a futuristic setting, there’s just as much evidence that the game will actually be in the past. For one thing, Pokémon Legends: Arceus focused on historical times, so it’s possible that all the Legends games will do the same. The language of the trailer supports this, too, with the same emphasis as Arceus had on building a space for Pokémon and humans to live together.
In addition, the top-down view of Lumiose City that’s seen at the end of the trailer is the way Lumiose appears in X and Y. This makes it less likely that the “redevelopment plan” is referring to a rebuilding of the city at some point in the future.
The final bit of evidence that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will take place in the past actually has nothing to do with the Pokémon world. Lumiose City is based on the very real city of Paris. Between 1852 and 1870, Paris underwent a renovation program commissioned by Napoleon III and led by Georges-Eugène Haussmann. The restoration project rebuilt the city of Paris as a safer and more welcoming city, and it’s possible Z-A could be based on this time period.
The project added more public parks and communal squares, as well as fountains and aqueducts – all things that are seen in the redevelopment plan shown in the Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer. Choosing Lumiose City as the setting for this game is probably not a coincidence, and players may get to experience this period of restoration that’s inspired by real-world history.
Why Pokémon Legends: Z-A Might Be Set In Both The Past And The Future
Time Travel Isn’t Out Of The Question
Pokémon Legends: Z-A might take place in the future or in the past, but it’s also possible that it will do both. The franchise has been playing around with rifts in time and space. The protagonist of Arceus, for instance, is a modern trainer sent back in time, while Scarlet and Violet have introduced Pokémon from the past and the future.
Even the name of the upcoming game, Z-A, implies that there may be time travel involved, with players moving from Z to A. The trailer supports this idea even more by merging traditional styles with a futuristic one. Players may get to see the city of Lumiose built and shaped into its state in the present, then watch it evolve in the distant future.
After the success of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, fans are hungry for more stories like the Arceus arc. Whether Pokémon Legends: Z-A takes place in the past, the future, or both, it will be a welcome return to the Kalos region.
