The highly anticipated Pokemon Legends: Z-A made a spectacular appearance at the Pokemon World Championships 2025, offering attendees an exclusive 20-minute gameplay demo. This preview unveiled groundbreaking mechanics, including an enhanced Mega Evolution system and fresh exploration elements in Lumiose City, building tremendous excitement for the game's October 16 launch on Nintendo Switch platforms.

Following the successful reception of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, developer Game Freak has doubled down on innovation for Z-A. The recent showcase of Dragonite's Mega Evolution created significant buzz, and the live demo further amplified expectations through its dynamic combat system and expansive city exploration.

Attendees including prominent gaming journalists experienced Z-A's revolutionary mechanics firsthand. Lumiose City's map divides into 10 distinct districts featuring at least 6 Wild Areas and 9 Pokemon Centers. Captured Pokemon visibly populate the map when hovering over explored regions, creating a living, breathing urban ecosystem.

The demo confirmed several quality-of-life improvements:

• Streamlined move management combining TMs and relearnable techniques
• Environmental puzzles requiring field moves like Rock Smash
• Two methods to obtain Mega Stones: collecting Mega Shards or defeating powerful foes

Combat introduces innovative mechanics:

• Moves operate on individual cooldown timers (stronger attacks = longer waits)
• Instant Pokemon switching during battles
• Strategic item usage with 10-second cooldown penalties
• Visual stat change indicators beneath health bars
• 'First Strike' damage bonuses for surprise attacks

Revolutionary Mega Evolution System

The demo's highlight showcased Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokemon - powerful wild creatures requiring special tactics:

• Only Mega-Evolved Pokemon can significantly damage Rogues
• Mega Evolution requires collecting energy orbs dropped by damaged Rogues
• Trainer Mega Evolutions last one minute (extendable via additional orbs)
• Multiple Mega Evolutions possible per battle
• Defeating Rogues rewards type-specific Mega Stones