How will Pokemon X and Y’s story tie into Pokemon Legends: Z-A?
Posted on March 10, 2024 by Ethan in Features, Switch
When you ask a Pokemon fan which set of games has the best story, they’ll probably say Black and White (or their sequels). You likely won’t get many fans telling you that Pokemon X and Y’s story is their favorite, and it’s easy to see why! It’s safe to say that a good chunk of X and Y’s development time was dedicated to the new 3D graphics — which meant a lower emphasis on story. That being said, X and Y does have some interesting lore that isn’t often discussed. With the recent announcement of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, we think lots of threads from X and Y are going to be fleshed out into something special. Today, we’re going over Pokemon X and Y’s lore and what kind of plot points you could expect to see in Pokemon Legends Z-A next year.
AZ and the ultimate weapon
A really obvious potential plot point for Pokemon Legends Z-A is right in its name: AZ. He appears a few times in Pokemon X and Y, but most of the lore behind him is explained rather than shown – Legends Z-A has the opportunity to do the reverse. AZ is the former king of the Kalos region, and the original creator of the ultimate weapon you see Team Flare working with during X and Y’s main story. The silhouette of the ultimate weapon appears in the Legends Z-A logo, so we’ll definitely be seeing it again.
Around 3,000 years ago, AZ received a Floette from his mother who became his best friend. Unfortunately, Kalos was involved in a terrible war at the time, and soldiers from Kalos took Floette away to fight on the front lines. To AZ’s dismay, Floette was killed during the war and its body was returned to him in a small coffin. He worked tirelessly to create a machine that would bring it back to life – the machine that would eventually become the ultimate weapon. AZ succeeded, and his Floette was reborn into Eternal Flower Floette – a unique Pokemon that is coded into X and Y, but was never obtainable by legal means. That might change in Legends Z-A!
After reviving his Floette from the dead, AZ decided he wasn’t finished. He converted his machine into a weapon that would end the war once and for all. To get revenge on those who originally took Floette from him, AZ used the ultimate weapon to completely wipe out both sides of the war. Seeing this, Floette felt guilty that AZ used its death as motivation to destroy so many people and Pokemon. Despite being resurrected, it left AZ because his heart was filled with hatred and the desire for revenge.
Interestingly enough, AZ himself was affected when he used his machine to revive Floette. He both became immortal and incredibly tall as a result of exposure to the machine. In Pokemon Legends Z-A, it’s entirely possible that we see AZ before, during, or immediately after his construction of the ultimate weapon. It also seems likely that we’ll see Eternal Flower Floette again – we might even be able to catch it this time!
How does the ultimate weapon relate to other regions?
This part is 100 percent speculation, but there are a few interesting connections that Legends Z-A could establish. For one, Kalos isn’t the only region that had a king – Paldea did, too. And there’s a giant crater in the center of it. While this is completely unconfirmed, it’s possible that Kalos was at war with Paldea. It’s said that AZ used the ultimate weapon to completely destroy both sides of the war. Though there’s no big crater in Kalos, it could very well be that the Great Crater of Paldea was formed by the ultimate weapon’s power. That said, it’s also possible that it was simply formed by something like an unrelated falling meteor instead. Still, it’s interesting to think about.
In Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, AZ receives a bit more background. Steven Stone’s father, the president of Devon Corporation, names the ultimate weapon’s power Infinity Energy – which appears to be its official name now. If the ultimate weapon plays a key role in Legends Z-A, we might hear characters referring to its power as Infinity Energy. Good to know!
What kind of Zygarde lore could we get in Pokemon Legends Z-A?
Zygarde is certainly going to appear in Pokemon Legends Z-A. The first letter of its name is in the title! It’s a good thing, too, because Zygarde is in serious need of additional lore. Outside of the anime, Zygarde is the least developed “third Legendary” of all time. In Pokemon X and Y, it simply sits inside a cavern waiting to be caught. Though it receives a tiny bit more lore in Pokemon Sun and Moon, it’s clear that whatever was originally planned with Zygarde and its relation to the Pokemon world did not come to fruition. We’re hoping that Pokemon Legends Z-A fixes that and adds lots more lore to Zygarde’s past.
According to its Pokedex entry, Zygarde is sort of a mediator in the Pokemon world. When the Kalos region’s ecosystem falls into disarray or is threatened, Zygarde steps in to make things right. As seen in the anime, Zygarde is made up of 100 individual cells. When ten of them are present, they can form Zygarde’s 10% form – which looks like a dog. When 50 of them are present, they can form Zygarde’s normal 50% form. When all 100 are present, they can create Zygarde’s Complete form. This is the form Zygarde uses to punish those who aim to disturb the ecosystem – and it’s said to have enough power to overwhelm Xerneas or Yveltal.
Given how prominent Zygarde seems to be in Pokemon Legends Z-A’s logo alone, it’s safe to say that we might be collecting all 100 Zygarde cells like we did back in Pokemon Sun and Moon. It’s also safe to say that Zygarde’s Complete form will play an expanded role in the game – unlike in Pokemon Sun and Moon, where its cells are spread throughout Alola but Zygarde itself is completely absent from the storyline.
Mega Evolution lore in Pokemon Legends Z-A?
This is something we can expect to see in Pokemon Legends Z-A, too. Unfortunately, it’s unclear exactly where Mega Evolution comes from. In Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it’s said that Mega Evolution originates from Rayquaza itself – who is notably capable of Mega Evolving without holding a Mega Stone. In Pokemon X and Y, it’s said that Mega Stones are regular rocks that received newfound power when AZ fired the ultimate weapon thousands of years ago. It’s possible that Pokemon Legends Z-A chooses the latter, given that there’s no indication Rayquaza will make any sort of appearance in the game just yet.
It’s also possible we get information on how Mega Evolution affects Pokemon. Starting in Pokemon Sun and Moon, many Mega Evolutions’ Pokedex entries began hinting that the process of Mega Evolving actually hurts the Pokemon. For example, if Scizor remains Mega Evolved for too long, its body apparently starts to melt. Another example is Aerodactyl – Ultra Sun’s dex entry states that Mega Evolution is a burden on its body, which makes the Pokemon angry and irritated. Though it’d be a dark concept to elaborate on, we may get more information on how Mega Evolution affects your Pokemon. We could even face a moral quandary of whether or not it’s ethical to use Mega Evolution at all.
Do the Kalos Mythical Pokemon have any lore?
We’ll wrap up here by talking about Pokemon X and Y’s three Mythical Pokemon: Diancie, Volcanion, and Hoopa. In the sixth generation, all three of these Pokemon were simply given to the player as gifts with minimal lore. The good news is that there’s plenty of room to give these Pokemon more interesting lore. Starting off with Diancie, this Pokemon is actually a Carbink that transformed. In the anime, Diancie ruled over a group of Carbink as a princess of sorts. It’s also capable of talking to humans via telepathy. That’s about all the lore Diancie has right now, unfortunately.
Volcanion arguably has the least amount of backstory not just out of every Generation 6 Mythical Pokemon, but out of every Mythical Pokemon period. You’re simply given the Pokemon through events with no explanation whatsoever. It’s implied to have a connection to the locked Power Plant door in Kalos, but nothing ever came of this. All in all, there’s a lot of room for development with Volcanion.
Hoopa, on the other hand, probably has the most lore of the Generation 6 Mythical Pokemon. It’s known for its big ring portals, which were responsible for summoning the Legendary Pokemon you see in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It’s also got an Unbound form, which is accessed via the Prison Bottle item. Maybe we’ll see a side quest about Hoopa and some NPCs sealing its power away by creating the Prison Bottle we use in later games? While we wait for more news, feel free to check out our list of guides for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in the meantime.
Overall, there are tons of threads and plot points we could see developed and expanded upon in Pokemon Legends Z-A. Which of them would you most like to see revisited when the full game launches? Are there any plot points from Pokemon X and Y that we missed? Feel free to let us know down below.
Pokemon Legends Z-A launches worldwide sometime in 2025. The official site is up here.
