What Does the “A” Stand for in Pokemon Legends Z-A?

A new Pokemon Legends game has finally been revealed, but its title—Pokemon Legends Z-A—is throwing a lot of people off. Just what does that “A” stand for in Pokemon Legends Z-A?

Why Is the New Pokemon Legends Game Called Z-A?

Currently, not much is known about Pokemon Legends Z-A. With just a glimpse of a brief trailer that highlights the words “urban redevelopment plan,” we’re not given much to go off of. But knowing the lore of Pokemon X&Y and the fact that Z-A is a Legends game, we’re given a few clues to work with.

AZ is the King of Kalos

The “A” in Z-A (and the title as a whole) is almost certainly a reference to the character AZ. In Pokemon X&Y, AZ is a character strongly tied to the game’s lore as the former king of the Kalos region. About 3,000 years prior to the events of X&Y, AZ was involved in a bloody, long-lasting war between two countries that used Pokemon as powerful tools to be discarded in battle. AZ brought an end to the conflict by annihilating both sides of the war with a machine he built, the Ultimate Weapon, out of grief for the Floette forcibly taken from him and lost to war. He then buried the weapon, and we find him 3,000 years later as a despondent homeless man on Route 13 in the Kalos region.

You probably won’t be witnessing the events of Kalos’s calamitous war in Pokemon Legends Z-A since the new Legends game almost definitely takes place far, far after the fact, considering we’ll be developing an urban sprawl. But given that AZ is a historical figure granted eternal life and exists in modern Kalos, it’s reasonable to assume he’ll be present and accounted for in Legends Z-A.

Z-A is a Reference to Time

The most obvious explanation for the “A” in Legends Z-A is that it’s a simple reference to time. Taking place in the past, we’ll be starting backward at point “Z” and moving forward to point “A.” I hear some of you mumbling theories that Pokemon Legends Z-A will take place in a more modern setting or even the future, but I cry malarkey to that.

The word “legends” inherently implies a historical context, and the statement from the Pokemon Company that the game involves a plan to “shape the city into a place that belongs to both people and Pokemon” implies that Pokemon are not yet integrated into Lumiose City. And if you’ve played Pokemon X&Y, you know modern Lumiose City already deeply integrates Pokemon into its design, going so far as to use domesticated Gogoats as a common form of transportation.

What’s more, if you look at Parisian history (Lumiose City is based on the city of Paris), Paris underwent a period of significant restoration and redevelopment during the 1800s—around the same time that Legends Arceus takes place. All of this points to another 1800’s setting for the new Legends game, hence “Z-A.”

Z is a Reference to Zygarde

The “Z” in Pokemon Legends Z-A is undoubtedly referring to the legendary Pokemon Zygarde. The stylization of the letter even shows off a black hexagonal pattern similar to Zygarde’s skin. How “A” relates to Zygarde is anyone’s guess, but the green, veiny Y-like pattern on the letter within the game title could indicate a couple different things: a new form for Zygarde or a new legendary Pokemon.

As it stands, Zygarde has three separate forms: 10%, 50%, and Complete. The Zygarde we find in Pokemon X&Y is the 50% form, but Zygarde is a complex creature composed of many living cells, and the more cells collected, the larger and more complex its shape becomes. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “A” in Z-A is a hint at a new form for Zygarde, something like “Zygarde-Alpha.” The legendary Pokemon Palkia and Dialga both received new Origin forms in Legends Arceus, so it stands to reason Zygarde could get a similar treatment in Legends Z-A, which would fall in line with the Pokemon’s morphing nature.

Alternatively, perhaps we’ll get an entirely new legendary Pokemon based on the letter A in Pokemon Legends Z-A. It’s no secret that the legendary Pokemon in X&Y are inspired by the letters X, Y, and Z, so perhaps an A-shaped Pokemon will be introduced to oppose or complement Zygarde. Notably, Zygarde’s role in nature is to preserve the ecological order of things, and when anything comes along to disrupt Xerneas and Yveltal’s roles to give and take life, Zygarde moves to intervene. It’s entirely possible Xerneas and Yveltal somehow come together to form the “A” in Z-A, provoking an attack from Zygarde.

Of course, this is all just speculation and guesswork. Personally, I’m of the strong opinion that Game Freak should have just kept the title to “Pokemon Legends Z” for something more comprehensible, a better mouthfeel, and a knowing nod to the Pokemon Z game we never got. But perhaps that title doesn’t quite contain the complexity that Z-A conveys. Either way, we can’t know for sure until the game releases in 2025.