Summary
Even thoughPokémon Legends: Z-Ahas yet to announce a concrete release date, players already have a solid theory. Revealed during the February 2024 Pokémon Presents,Legends: Z-Ais a second installment in the action RPG spinoff series, but not technically a sequel toArceus. Instead, it’s set in the Kalos region ofPokémon X and Y, and is believed to take place largely in and around Lumiose City.
But even a few months out from its announcement,there’s precious little information to go on. All players know about it is based on a single, conceptual teaser trailer, and anunsubstantiatedPokémon: Legends Z-Aleak. That trailer gave a very broad release date of 2025, which could mean that, at the time of writing,Legends Z-Acould be anywhere from four to 16 months away. That’s far too wide a window, and players have already started to come up with their own theories. Most of these are just questionable products of wishful thinking, but the latest is pretty compelling.
A TCG Set Could Hint At Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s Release Date
What The Pokémon TCG Tells Us About Legends: Z-A
According to the fansitePokéBeach,the scheduledPokémon TCGreleases suggestLegends: Z-Amay not be released until April 2025 at the earliest. This is based on a past trend in which JapanesePokémon TCGsets are typically released within a month or two of a similarly-themed video game. This not only ensures that any new Pokémon added by each video game also become available in the TCG in a timely manner, but also allows the TCG and the video games to effectively serve as marketing for one another.
10 Kalos Pokémon That Must Be In Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in the Kalos region so players will likely expect to see these fan-favorite Legendary and normal Pokémon in the game.
The most recent example of this phenomenon, of course, goes back toScarlet and Violet. The video games were released on July 21, 2025, and,almost exactly two months later, on August 06, 2025, theScarlet exandViolet exdual TCG sets came out in Japan. These sets featurea number of Terastallized Pokémon, a mechanic that was introduced by theScarlet and Violetvideo games.
This is no recent trend, either; it’s been a common release strategy for as long as thePokémonTCGhas existed. In fact, most games come out much closer to the release of their associated TCG sets; theSword and Shieldvideo games were only two weeks before, to use a recent example.
Although very little is known aboutPokémon Legends: Z-A, it is believed to have something to do with the Mega Evolution mechanic. Therefore, all a player would need to do to estimate its release date would be to find a Japanese TCG set prominently featuring Mega Evolutions, subtract two months, and voilà - they could come up with an evidence-based release month. But here’s the problem:no JapanesePokémon TCGset that’s been announced for release in 2025 has anything to do with Mega Evolutions, orLegends: Z-Ain general.
10 Pokémon That Deserve A Mega Evolution In Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Pokémon Legends Z-A Mega Evolutions are being discussed, with the community theorizing that this fan-favorite mechanic may return in the future.
The Glory of Team Rocketis the latest-releasing set currently known to exist, and isn’t due to come out until March 2025 at the earliest. That set, of course, has nothing to do with the Kalos region orLegends:Z-A- it almost certainly has more to do with the titular Team Rocket. Since it’s rare for thePokémon TCGto put out more than one set in a month,the next possible release date for aLegends: Z-Atie-in set (and thus the video game) would be April 2025. And that’s just the earliest possible window.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus' TCG Release Suggests A Different Strategy For Z-A
How Pokémon Spinoffs Do TCG Tie-Ins
However,Pokémon Legends: Arceusused a different, perhaps slightly more discouraging release strategy for its tie-in TCG set, which suggestsZ-Amay follow suit. This is a rare case in whichthe TCG set actually came out first:Star Birth, featuring Arceus VSTAR, on July 13, 2025, andPokémon Legends: Arceuson January 28. It’s hard to say whether this was some brilliant strategy unique to the action RPG spinoff, or just a random fluke of timing, but consideringLegends: Arceus' critical and commercial success, it may be a trendZ-Aattempts to repeat.
Still, that would meanPokémon Legends: Z-Alikely wouldn’t come out until April 2025, unless there’s some secret Japanese set yet to be revealed between January and March. Moreover, if it decides to stick with the TCG-first strategy, that’d meanPokémon Legends: Z-Awouldn’t be out until the second half of Aprilat the earliest - perhaps even later if it trended closer to the two-month window.
The Pokémon Company andNintendo have been quiet aboutLegends: Z-Asince its announcement, which means it’s likely to be in the trenches of development, and it may be a long time until anything concrete is revealed. For the time being, it only prevents disappointment to assume thatPokémon Legends: Z-Awon’t be released until the latter two-thirds of 2025.
Pokemon Legends Z-A
Lumiose City is undergoing redevelopment to create a space shared by people and Pokémon. This second entry in the Pokémon Legends sub-franchise builds off the unique catching and exploration mechanics first established in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
