Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s Rogue Mega Evolutions Explained

As the second Pokemon Legends game, fans expected Pokemon Legends: Z-A to mix things up compared with more traditional main series entries. After all, Legends: Arceus was far from typical in many regards. But as Legends: Z-A brings back the popular Mega Evolution mechanic from Pokemon X and Y, it’s tweaking the lore in some unexpected ways. Adding new Mega Evolutions is one thing, but where Legends: Z-A really breaks the mold is with its new Rogue Mega Evolutions.

In Pokemon X and Y, Mega Evolution was introduced as a rare phenomenon. You needed a Mega Ringa nd a specific Mega Stone to Mega Evolve your Pokemon. Since then, Mega Evolution has followed a relatively similar pattern across the Pokemon franchise. You need a trainer, some kind of Mega Stone or similar item, to make it happen. It’s often implied that a strong bond between trainer and Pokemon is also required. But in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, wild Pokemon are suddenly Mega Evolving.

What is Rogue Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends: Z-A

The core plot drivers of Pokemon Legends: Z-A center on some key changes happening in Lumiose City. The Urban Redevelopment plan has introduced Wild Zones and other changes intended to help Pokemon live more freely in the city. But alongside these intentional changes, a strange new phenomenon has arrived in Lumoise City – Rogue Mega Evolution.

When Legends: Z-A begins, strange new Mega Crystals have been cropping up all over the city. You can break them to collect Mega Crystals to help Mega Evolve your own Pokemon, but they also seem to be linked to the strange new Megas popping up around the city. In some cases, wild Pokemon previously not thought to be able to Mega Evolve have been found in their Mega forms. And generally speaking, they’re none too happy about it.

Finding and battling these Rogue Megas will play a part in the gameplay loop of Pokemon Legends: Z-A. These wild Megas serve as Raid-like boss battles in the game, with you and some of your friends from Lumiose working to take down these agitated Megas. Many of the newly revealed Megas will likely be featured in these Rogue Mega battles, so get ready to contend with new boss Pokemon like Mega Victreebel and beyond.

Rogue Megas Defy Existing Lore, But That’s Kind of the Point

When it first came out that wild Pokemon would Mega Evolve in Legends: Z-A, some fans were pretty upset. After all, this goes against a lot of the lore previously connected to Mega Evolution in the franchise. This tricky phenomenon requires specific items and situations to trigger, and wild Mega Evolution goes against all that. But after seeing it in the game and learning a bit more about how it will work, I’m okay with it.

If wild Pokemon were suddenly Mega Evolving left and right with no acknowledgement that it’s unusual, that’d be one thing. But setting up a new, Rogue Mega Evolution scenario as a key mystery you solve in Legends: Z-A is something else entirely. The game acknowledges that this is outside the norm, and figuring out why it’s happening is part of your journey in the game. In that way, breaking the lore is very much intentional. It’s by design, and it’s one of the things that will keep us progressing in the story of Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

After playing the game for just a short while, I came away eager to return to Lumiose City to solve the mystery of Rogue Mega Evolutions. While I’m likely to spend a lot of time losing those fast-paced real-time battles, the story is going to pull me through, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

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