As Pokémon Day approached for another year, it was inevitable that a Pokémon Presents would be announced. And sure it enough, a week before saw that announcement. Just what new reveals would be happening at this latest Pokémon Presents? Rumours were going wild for either something based at either the Johto or Unova regions for release this year. What instead arrived was completely unexpected.

After the usual mobile updates to current games, which were swift, the new announcements started. The first of which being… another mobile game. But I’m not disappointed at that, since it’s Trading Card Game based. I love the cards, but don’t really have much space to store them, so have kept to what I’ve currently got. Even if I’ve been tempted by certain special packs.

With Trading Card Game Pocket, co-developed by Creatures and DeNA, the experience of collecting is here. The reveal said we could open two free packs a day, which makes it seem like packs will be available to purchase, too. There was little information given, but battling and trading with friends is also here, with battling being a revised ruleset that seems to do away with energy cards. Or at least it seemed that way.

The cards have been faithfully recreated in this game, featuring the great artwork that always adorns them, including the full art cards. Said full art cards have been expanded somewhat to allow you to enter the scenes that feature on them. No release date was given for TCG Pocket, other than the fact it will release sometime this year. I’ll be looking out for more on this one.

But the largest announcement of the two came last. At first, I had no idea what the trailer was leading to. Urban redevelopment plan? Then some sketches of buildings with a Pikachu running in front of them formed, which transformed into a cyberspace styling of blue lines on black. Pikachu ran through this, past people, Pokémon, and various places. Until the city was revealed by that signature tower. Lumiose City. Kalos.

Then the logo revealed a new legend was upon us. Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Coming in… 2025? The mainline games are taking a break for the first time in almost ten years? That’s certainly news. Which seems to me like Game Freak want to make this as great as possible. Or… it’s meant to be a release for the Switch successor, in which case there’s no possible way it could release this year.

In the final few seconds of the trailer, the Mega Evolution symbol appeared. Could it be the origin of Mega Evolution will be explored here? Could it be that new Mega Evolutions appear here? And what of this redevelopment of Lumiose City? How big is it going to be in this game? And how will the rest of Kalos factor into this game? So many questions! But does allow for some speculation.

Kalos in XY was already split into three sections, with Coastal Kalos, Mountain Kalos, and Central Kalos each having their own section of the Pokédex. With a bit of tweaking, three sectors can be created from this, with each having an exit from Lumiose City. With Lumiose City acting as the base of operations and being freely explorable, getting to one of these sectors is as simple as using the correct exit.

As for Mega Evolutions, I feel these will act as bosses in the same way the frenzied Pokémon of Legends: Arceus were. Except we’ll fully battle them. Bit by bit, new things are learnt about Mega Evolution. Upon the defeat of each of these Megas, they would join your party. Eventually, the first Key Stone would be made, allowing Mega Evolution to be controlled.

I’m excited for a second Legends game. For as much as I love Scarlet-Violet and the true open world those games offered, Legends: Arceus made exploring its world much more fun. It will be a long wait until Legends: Z-A releases in 2025, but I’m sure it will be worth it. And the TCG mobile game will be lovely for me to dig into this year, so it’s not like there won’t be any Pokémon action this year.

Images Taken From:
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket | Announcement | The Official Pokémon YouTube channel
Pokémon Legends: Z-A releases simultaneously… | The Official Pokémon YouTube channel