New details on how Mega Evolution works in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, first look at Lumiose City map

Hands-on impressions are starting to come in for Pokemon Legends: Z-A with the game making a playable appearance at the Pokemon World Championships, and new details have surfaced about how Mega Evolution works.

Mega Evolution is one of the key mechanics in the upcoming title. A feature returning from Pokemon X and Y, some creatures can become stronger and chance appearance when they transform. There’ll even be some new Mega Evolutions this time around.

Here’s the full roundup of how Mega Evolutions work in Pokemon Legends: Z-A:

• When your Pokemon deals damage, the opposing Pokemon will drop Mega Energy
• The trainer has to pick up the orbs of Mega Energy to fill the Mega Gauge
• Once the Mega Gauge is full, you can Mega Evolve your Pokemon
• Press the right joystick to Mega Evolve
• You can Mega Evolve multiple times per battle as long as you collect enough Mega Power
• The Mega Gauge will decrease slowly, however you can keep dealing damage to the opposing Pokemon and picking up energy orbs to refill your gauge

Also, on the topic of Rogue Mega Evolved Pokemon, they will look to attack you and not your Pokemon, so evading is important. It’s possible to die, and apparently the game is more difficult than previous entries.

Aside from the above, we have a couple of other tidbits. First, unlike Pokemon Legends: Arceus, there are held items in Z-A. However, there are cooldowns for each item. One way in which Z-A are Arceus are similar is that once again, there are no abilities. Natures are still present and a shop sells mints.

Finally, here’s a look at the Lumiose City map in Pokemon Legends: Z-A:

Pokemon Legends: Z-A arrives for both Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch on October 16, 2025. In other news, a special distribution for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet just started – get the details here.