Pokemon Legends Z-A Bringing Back Feature That Was Missing in Arceus

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is the next title in the Legends spin-off series. It is arriving on October 16th for both Nintendo and Nintendo Switch 2, and players can try the game early at both the 2025 Pokemon World Championships and Gamescom before launch day. From these demos, new information about the game is being revealed, including a big change from Pokemon Legends: Arceus. This change brings in an important feature from the mainline games that is necessary for Pokemon Legends: Z-A to work. It remains to be seen, but this will likely have an interesting effect on the new battle system used in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Held items are returning in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. This mechanic was absent from Pokemon Legends: Arceus and has been restored. This may seem obvious, as Pokemon must hold a Mega Stone to Mega Evolve, but The Pokemon Company and Game Freak could have implemented a different method for Mega Evolution.

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Leaks revealed this information, and it appears items will be on a cooldown in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. This is in line with how Pokemon moves work and will prevent players from just spamming potions or other items. However, it is a little unclear if this cooldown applies to both held items and regular items.

While many players are happy to see held items return in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, some are disappointed that abilities are still absent. Abilities are a pivotal part of how Pokemon function in the mainline games. Balancing these with Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s new battle system may have proved too challenging during development, and this may be why abilities were left out.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A features a focus on battling, unlike Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ focus on exploration. This is likely another main reason why held items are returning in this spin-off series, outside of the necessity for Mega Evolution. Held items can have a huge impact on a battle in the mainline game, and this may also be true in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

While fans wait for Generation 10, Pokemon Legends: Z-A will be a fun and unique experience. It is doubtful that its battle system will replace the mainline battle system, but it is a fun experiment. Pokemon Champions is also on the horizon and will see the reintroduction of Mega Evolution to competitive Pokemon.

Are you excited for Pokemon Legends: Z-A? Share your feelings in the comments below, we’d love to talk about it with you!