Source is apparently this Famitsu article but I ofc can't read it because it's all in Japanese. Do let me know if anything else interesting is in there
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Pokémon Presents - Pokémon Day 2025 - Pokemon ZA Info & Pokemon Champions Announced
- Thread starter DHR-107
- Start date
Source is apparently this Famitsu article but I ofc can't read it because it's all in Japanese. Do let me know if anything else interesting is in there
Excuse the doublepost, but I discovered there's one last bit of juice to squeeze out of the Legends Z-A trailer
Y'know that stinger about the "promotion match"? Well according to this video much more evocative terminology is used in the Japanese version, instead calling it a "rank up match". Lumiose League is happening boys (presumably with a similar structure to Arceus but with sanctioned battles getting you points instead of mass-catching and research tasks, idk something like that)
Y'know that stinger about the "promotion match"? Well according to this video much more evocative terminology is used in the Japanese version, instead calling it a "rank up match". Lumiose League is happening boys (presumably with a similar structure to Arceus but with sanctioned battles getting you points instead of mass-catching and research tasks, idk something like that)
It's kinda wild to see Tochigi in the director's role considering he has never occupied that position before (outside of his small indie projects), and for one of the biggest media franchises on the planet, no less!
My hype for this game has been pretty deflated tbh.
Presentation-wise, this seems to be the same old tired animations we've seen in SV, but with Megas in the mix and a fresh coat of paint.
The big, big question is, "What is the single-player content in this game?"
Honestly, it's easy to monetize this game. Drip is life, and nobody really minds when cosmetics are tied to money because they don't affect gameplay. To have competitive mons, you'll also need to buy the games. That's the main goal of the game, anyway.
It's not about what the player base can do to make this game financially viable, it's what the game can do for the player base.
I assume any single player content will be akin to PBR: various stadiums with different rulesets. A tournament styled one, random one, a rental one, blah blah blah. Since megas & tera are here probably some variant rules on offer kinda of like what PWT did with all the battle sytems per tourney.
Which is honestly not that much different than what Stadium 1 & 2 had, people just overvalue the Gym Leader Castle and (dramatically) minigames. Genuinely even if there wasnt a mobile game that has everyone immediately leap to F2P with $$$$ microtransactions, I wouldn't have expected like...a story mode or anything.
Which is honestly not that much different than what Stadium 1 & 2 had, people just overvalue the Gym Leader Castle and (dramatically) minigames. Genuinely even if there wasnt a mobile game that has everyone immediately leap to F2P with $$$$ microtransactions, I wouldn't have expected like...a story mode or anything.
This is why I had said that the best chance of the Frontier coming back was Champions.
The Frontier boils down to similar stuff that PBR did, but with more
The thing about PWT/Gym Leader Castle is that they're more memorable and tie in better with the other games in the franchise, which is in their best interest to boost sales.
Adding Gym Leader Castles and certain gimmick facilities (I expect the Factory/Challenge Cup to be a HUGE hit in a game like this) isn't something beyond the reasonable scope of the game while also making it considerably more attractive as a product.
Like I said in an earlier post, it's going to be a guaranteed flop if all it has is Transfer, VS, and Ranked.
I even wonder if VGC 2026 might have it. ZA is late 2025, which means the next main series game after that won't be until late 2026. This means that either VGC 2026 features Champions, or TPC is stuck with four years in a row of Scarlet/Violet VGC. We've never had four VGCs in a row use the same game, and it breaks the usual "limited dex -> expanded dex -> legendaries allowed" three-year pattern, making me wonder if TPC is going to try to do something interesting vs. something more boring in the unprecedented fourth year.
Even if you count DLC as a new game, we've never had three years of the same game + DLC combination in a row either.
Even if you count DLC as a new game, we've never had three years of the same game + DLC combination in a row either.
Indeed, speculation regarding the use of Champions for Worlds 2026 isn’t uncommon at the moment. And I can see why- it not only neatly solves the issue of having to use SV for a fourth year, but also allows for any new Megas and Pokémon introduced in LZ-A to have their VGC debut, especially if they aren’t programmed into the Gen 10 games. Additionally, by having both Tera and Megas in Worlds 2026, the Gen 9 competitive circuit would end with a bang.
Regardless, I’m of the mind that Champions won’t be used for Worlds 2027, with the Gen 10 games being used instead. I feel that the bulk of development for the Gen 10 games is occurring without the existence of Champions in mind and will have the usual built-in ranked battles for intended use in VGC.
At the very least, I’d expect the Gen 10 titles to be used for Worlds 2027 and 2028, with Champions being used again for Worlds 2029 or 2030 depending on the slated release for the Gen 11 games. After that, it may very well be that the mainline games will no longer have ranked matches programmed into them and will defer to Champions for that purpose, but I’m aware that I’m getting way ahead of myself with this.
Going through all the effort of making a dedicated battle center app and using it for one (1) year of VGC before swapping back to Gen 10 for the next few sounds like a really dumb waste of resources? Keep in mind this is coming out on mobile devices so I'm assuming the intent is to do what the mainline games have been unable to fully manage and provide a simple, official, probably free gateway to competitive play. Kinda like how Halo Infinite made its multiplayer free for Xbox Live subscribers*. We don't even know if Champions will be out in time for VGC 2026 which would make your idea even more baffling cuz then the multiplayer battle app has nothing to do in the multiplayer battle tournament circuit
*Yes I know in the end that game kinda sucked and failed but I'm trying to make a point, this was a good call I think? Maybe? Idk
Fair points. I personally can’t see Champions being used for Worlds 2027, at least. That would require a very quick turnaround for all of the Gen 10 additions to be implemented into Champions in time for the VGC season to begin in December or January, and during its release year to boot. Seeing as the development team for Champions is the same as it is for HOME, and the latter has always taken months to add support for the newest titles, the idea of Champions updating in time for the start of the first VGC season for Gen 10 feels quite optimistic.
However, I guess I could see Champions being fully adopted starting with Worlds 2028 and being used from then on. Since the game would be established at that point, perhaps there could even be a concerted effort from both development sides to have Champions updated with the Gen 11 additions shortly after the release of those games so that they can start the VGC season with Champions.
You're failing to see the part where Champions would be used for *all* VGC events going forward, not just 2026 or 2027.
Owning the games is still a requisite to obtain the pokemon (assuming you don't magically have access to a "pokemon creator"), so it's not like they're losing anything there.
Owning the games is still a requisite to obtain the pokemon (assuming you don't magically have access to a "pokemon creator"), so it's not like they're losing anything there.
Perhaps not a creator, but definitely at least a customizer of some kind surely? If you still have to grind and build everything on cart then we're back to the issue of "what the hell is the point" unless they really are gearing up to fully swap the main series to single player only real time battles
Dexit.
For example, Gen 8 had SwSh, PLA, and BDSP and they couldn't battle between themselves as certain parts of each were missing. For example, the Hisuian mons were locked to PLA, a lot of Gen 1~4 mons like Glameow were locked to BDSP, and SwSh had a ton of things that weren't in either like the IoA tutor moves, the Gen 8 mons, and Dynamax.
Since Champions connects to Home, this won't be an issue again. This is EXACTLY why they showed Mega Zard X going up against Tera Water Dondozo, to showcase that regardless of whatever content is missing from each game, Champions will unite (no, not that Unite) them so we can all
I have come to the conclusion that the legends series is going to be a trilogy, and we are in the middle of that trilogy.
Everyone is talking about ZA being “in the future”.
I fundamentally disagree.
I think it goes more like this:
Legends Arceus - Past (Hisui)
Legends ZA - Present (Kalos)
Legends ? - Future (? Johto?)
ZA is not set in Kalos of 13 years ago, it’s set in contemporary Kalos, likely contemporary to Pokemon SV (use of SV Rotom phone in trailer suggests exactly contemporary). Technology and styles are more in keeping with today - there’s nothing in the trailer which screams out “future”, if you step back from the idea that it is “future” Kalos and not just Kalos of today.
A third potential legends game could provide that “future” - as in far more technologically advanced - and it would also neatly wrap up all of the starter groups we have seen to date with two Alola and one Unova starter.
Just because ZA represents a time shift from PLA does not mean it represents the future. It’s meant to be, in my view, a contemporary setting for Kalos.
Everyone is talking about ZA being “in the future”.
I fundamentally disagree.
I think it goes more like this:
Legends Arceus - Past (Hisui)
Legends ZA - Present (Kalos)
Legends ? - Future (? Johto?)
ZA is not set in Kalos of 13 years ago, it’s set in contemporary Kalos, likely contemporary to Pokemon SV (use of SV Rotom phone in trailer suggests exactly contemporary). Technology and styles are more in keeping with today - there’s nothing in the trailer which screams out “future”, if you step back from the idea that it is “future” Kalos and not just Kalos of today.
A third potential legends game could provide that “future” - as in far more technologically advanced - and it would also neatly wrap up all of the starter groups we have seen to date with two Alola and one Unova starter.
Just because ZA represents a time shift from PLA does not mean it represents the future. It’s meant to be, in my view, a contemporary setting for Kalos.
This is definitely reading too much into things. They're picking games and making things based on what their designers want, not based on any particular pattern.
I’m pretty sure people are talking about the future compared to X/Y. Thats always how I interpreted it.
I mean sure, could be. But the over arching contemporary feeling of the game to SV really rings out in that trailer, IMO.
I’m glad we agree, I have seen different interpretations.
I’ll go back to the trenches - just thought I’d raise my head over the parapet briefly!
Home integration isn’t delayed each generation because of development time. It’s because they want you to spend your time capturing all the Pokemon in-game instead of transferring them down.
there are people going thru every piece of promotional art that had starters in them to look for patterns now.
I also doubt that they will have time to integrate everything in time.
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THE MANGA? YAMAMOTO AND KUSAKA DONT EVEN GET THE GAMES EARLIER ANYMORE LOL
the manga artists and pokemon 20th anniversary artists receiving future pattern info: