We Finally Know When Pokémon Legends: Z-A Takes Place in the Pokémon Timeline

When Pokémon Legends: Z-A was archetypal revealed, we each instantly got to enactment speculating connected erstwhile it would instrumentality spot successful the Pokémon timeline. Not where, we knew that: it takes spot wholly successful Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y's Kalos region. But fixed that Legends: Arceus was a time-traveling communicative going backmost hundreds of years into Sinnoh's past, we had each anticipation based connected trailers that Z-A would beryllium many, galore years successful Lumiose City's future.

We were incorrect! We present cognize precisely erstwhile it takes place, and it's not astir arsenic large a leap arsenic you'd think.

We've been playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A for reappraisal and the embargo has present lifted. So we tin confirm, from first-hand acquisition talking to aggregate characters (most of which we unluckily can't straight mention oregon amusement owed to the ongoing embargo restrictions), that Z-A takes spot conscionable 5 years aft the events of X and Y. It's not a clip traveling narrative, it's a nonstop sequel that offers a follow-up to galore of the characters and situations introduced successful X and Y.

For instance, we already cognize that you get to bent retired with AZ, a 3,000-year-old antheral who plays a pivotal relation successful X and Y. We besides cognize that Mable, a erstwhile subordinate of Team Flare, takes connected the relation of Pokémon prof successful this crippled and sends you retired to drawback Pokémon with assorted challenges. Other characters you'll retrieve from X and Y amusement up arsenic well, immoderate of them dramatically changed, but we can't and won't spoil them conscionable yet.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A being a nonstop sequel is really a beauteous large deal. The Pokémon beingness has been existent hand-wavey with however the antithetic games and regions subordinate to 1 different implicit the years. While determination person been immoderate nonstop sequels earlier (Gold and Silver aft Red and Blue, Black and White 2 aft Black and White, etc), aboriginal games person introduced clip question (Legends: Arceus), alternate universes (Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire), and fundamentally each crippled has implied that each the different games' locations and monsters beryllium successful the aforesaid world, but events taking spot successful those games whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium canon depending connected which 1 you're playing. The Pokémon timeline, if drawn out, astir apt looks acold much ridiculous than the Zelda 1 astatine this point.

But if you were wondering what happened to astir of the main formed of X and Y 5 years aft the events of the game, present you go: this is conscionable a straightforward sequel! In hindsight, we should person seen this coming erstwhile they named it "Z-A" aft X and Y.

My review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is present live, if you privation to cheque retired my impressions of the archetypal 24 hours, with a afloat reappraisal coming adjacent week. I've besides been penning astir however the Nurse Joy occupation is present unfastened to radical who don't look precisely identical to the archetypal Nurse Joy aft 27 years successful Z-A.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].