Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks to finally bring my anime-inspired dreams of truly active combat to life

Pokemon Legends: Z-A still has plenty of mysteries left to it, but the recent extended look at the upcoming Switch game during the Pokemon Presents 2025 showcase also revealed a bunch of reasons to get excited about the title ahead of its release in 2025. Details on Lumiose City's "urban redevelopment plan," the returning starter Pokemon – Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile – and Mega Evolution are all well and good. But what truly has me ready to play right now is that it would appear that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is finally cashing the check written by the '90s anime's combat.

Essentially, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is adding real-time combat with positioning. What moves you're using, when, and where your opponent is and what they're doing actually come into consideration in the new Pokemon game. While that might sound pretty bog-standard for modern video games, it's a massive departure for Pokemon as a game with its, at least historically, turn-based battles. Every major Pokemon game has, by and large, been about standing in one spot and slapping your opponent with moves over the course of several turns.

Meowth, that's right

If you're an old man like me, or maybe just old in general, you might recall that the Pokemon anime series isn't… exactly like this. Pretty much from the start, Ash and Pikachu were dodging, dipping, ducking, diving, and dodging pretty much out of the gate. Mechanically, the games have always allowed evasion where a move might miss, but there was never a responsive element in the way that the anime might often use.

In the games, an enemy Horsea using Water Gun doesn't allow me to carefully and tactically respond with Thunderbolt to take advantage of the water even if Ash (may he rest in peace) might have Pikachu respond with Iron Tail to bat away certain attacks. The two fighting styles were entirely distinct, and if you both watched the anime and played the games, the difference was (and is) pretty stark.

While not specifically referencing the anime series, the official Pokemon Legends: Z-A website does make a point to call out that the combat is a series first. "In previous titles in the Pokémon video game series, Pokémon took action once per turn," the description reads. "In Pokémon Legends: Z‑A, Trainers and their Pokémon will move around in real time during battles, and Pokémon will unleash their moves when their Trainers command them to."

An Extended Look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A! - YouTube

Watch On

You don't need to take my word for it. Or even the Pokemon website's word for it. You can see this real-time combat in action in the latest Pokemon Legends: Z-A trailer for yourself. And given there's still several months ahead of its release later this year, it seems fair to speculate that we've only seen the tip of the Bergmite, so to speak, thus far.

Admittedly, this is all in anticipation of a system that might not be as robust as I'd like. I'm excited about a couple bits of gameplay footage from a much larger game, and who knows whether what we've seen and been told is actually representative of the final Pokemon Legends: Z-A experience. It wouldn't be the first time a new Pokemon got me excited only to let me down.

But maybe Pokemon Legends: Z-A really does pull it off. Real-time combat, even aside from the anime of it all, is a huge change of pace that might make combat feel truly impactful. All signs point to the Legends series being a place where Game Freak is willing to experiment a little bit and push the boundaries. Pokemon Legends: Arceus has a laundry list of differences compared to, say, Pokemon Sword and Shield. And as someone that grew up with both the Pokemon games and the Pokemon anime, it seems perfectly reasonable to hope that the two finally perfectly dovetail decades later.

Get the run down on the Pokemon Legends Z-A Starters and Pokemon Legends Z-A Mega Evolutions.