If you've grown up watching the Pokemon anime series like me, chances are that in every Pokemon game you've pictured yourself as Ash Ketchum in some kind of way. Battling gyms, filling up your Pokedex and trying to live out your anime fantasies with a bunch of cute critters by your side – what more could a scrappy young trainer ask for? However, despite playing all the best Pokemon games throughout the years, I've only really gotten that feeling of partnership that we see Ash and Pikachu possess with the 2018 Switch games, Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee. The problem is, all the best (and cutest) features from those games haven't returned since, and I've spent just under a decade crying about it like a depressed Sobble… That is, until I started playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A.
If you haven't experienced the joy that was Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee (aka some of the best Switch games of all time), let me quickly explain what Game Freak gave us before cruelly tearing it away for Pokemon Sword and Shield, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. In Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee players either have a Pikachu or Eevee as their main companions, depending on what version of the game you purchased. Your companion would sit on your shoulder while travelling, you could pet them, and even dress up in matching outfits.
Never have I felt such a strong sense of camaraderie than spending quality time with my Eevee, and seeing our matching hats during cut scenes constantly had me giggling. It was also downright adorable to pat their head, and a crime that we never got anything close in the rest of the Switch games. However, Pokemon Legends: Z-A does give us new ways to interact with Pokemon, and for the first time in six years, I have hope that we're stepping in the right direction towards companion building once again.
Building a new Pokemon future
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is revolutionary in a lot of ways. Its real-time battle mechanics and story centered around making your way up to Rank A via various nighttime brawls feels straight out of an anime series, as we point out in our Pokemon Legends: Z-A review. But, aside from the big flashy features here you'll discover a ton of small details that really encourage you to spend time with each and every Pokemon on your team.
Some of my favorite little features include running around Lumiose City with a Pokemon by your side, and noticing that they each have their own individual sound as their feet pitter-patter on the sidewalks next to you. Coffee shops and restaurants where a small cutscene with you and your Pokemon play is another highlight, giving you the opportunity for aesthetic snapshots while also building up friendship points. For reference – raising your friendship level via coffee dates can be used to evolve some Pokemon like Riolu, so they don't feel like a complete after thought either.
And, the most surprising and popular feature of all that is helping myself and other people bond with their virtual critters individually: fashion. Pokemon Legends: Z-A has given us some of the best styles, and most options in terms of clothes that we've ever had from a Pokemon game, period. Let's be honest: the tracksuits and brightly coloured tights of Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet didn't exactly scream Vogue, did they? But, open TikTok and you'll see the community taking full advantage of Z-A's styling and sharing outfits that match the color scheme or vibe of their various Pokemon.
Over the last few weeks I've seen a ton of different Pokemon posing with their trainers and becoming a constant out of ball companion during story progression and side mission completion. It's clear that myself and a large part of the community are utilizing all these new customization options to the fullest extent and have created some of the best dressed partnerships inadvertently in the process.
While the new game doesn't let you pet your Pokemon like in Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee or let you ride your Pokemon either (let me grip a Snorlax's belly as my main mode of transport again goddamit), how the community is using fashion, and the one on one nature of the coffee spots, feels incredibly reminiscent of Ash and Pikachu's dynamic. It also made me realise why recent Pokemon games have been missing that particular sense of wholesome magic since 2018.
Partners not caretakers
In Pokemon Sword and Shield, and also in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the way we treat our Pokemon is more akin to a daycare. In Sword and Shield you set up camp, feed them curry and watch as they all chase after a ball. In Scarlet and Violet it is much the same except this time picnics are involved and you can wash them as well. It's hard to truly bond with any of your team like this as grabbing the attention of one Pokemon running about tends to be finicky, and a bit of a chore.
If I wanted Tamagotchi elements, I'd play Digimon. I play Pokemon for the feeling of cute adventure while also yearning to have my own Pikachu-like partner with my favourite Pokemon by my side. I want to interact with my partner, pet their heads, and see them appear with me in all my cutscenes again.
Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee understood the assignment, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A has glimmers of it built in with its cute coffee shop Pokemon dates and easy-access photo mode. Hopefully, seeing all the love for Pokemon via viral fashion screenshots and fans' absolute joy towards individual bonding instead of group like settings from Z-A will poke Game Freak to give us back the petting function, coordinated clothes options, and those magical one on one moments with our favourite companion from the Let's Go games.
It may be a long shot and wishful thinking, but if Ash Ketchum could become World Champion after a few decades of battling and befriending wild Pokemon, then surely Game Freak can give me my perfect Pokemon game as well.
For more creature collector goodness, check out our list of the best Digimon games, and the best games like Pokemon to play today.
