Pokémon Legends: Z-A will arrive on October 16, 2025, but pre-orders begin on June 5. The Pokémon Company also announced new Mega Evolution merchandise (available now on the Pokémon Center) and confirmed the Pokémon Presents presentation coming July 22.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A will launch on both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2, but if you’re like many gamers and couldn’t get your hands on a Nintendo Switch 2 preorder, you can still play Pokémon when it launches and upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version later through an upgrade pack. While The Pokémon Company didn’t say how much the upgrade pack would cost, similar offers for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are $10. It’s likely that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will be similarly priced.
Both versions of the game will have the same content, but the Nintendo Switch 2 version is said to have a better framerate and sharper graphics.
“Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a new frontier for the Pokémon video game series, blending an RPG story unfolding in a single city with action elements and a real-time battle system unlike anything seen before in the franchise,” the press release reads. “Trainers can look forward to the beginning of a new adventure in Lumiose City—one woven by people and Pokémon together!”
This go-round, players can choose between Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile as their starters, but multiple other Pokémon have been confirmed through trailers. Where the previous Pokémon Legends game took place in the past, Z-A is set in Lumiose City — a location inspired by Paris, France — and blends city life with “Wild Zones” where Pokémon can be caught.
Battles look a little different, too. Rather than static turn-based affairs, positioning matters, and players can get a surprise attack by striking a trainer from behind (as long as you aren’t spotted). Each trainer has a rank, and players start at Rank Z and must grind their way all the way up through Rank A, at which point something amazing is said to happen.
You’ll still have to wait for a few months, but at least now we know when to look forward to the release of the game, and the Pokémon Presents on July 22 will reveal more about what to expect.
