The Pokémon universe is one of the most profitable in the video game industry. Following the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, the ninth-generation installments on Nintendo Switch, the franchise has proven to be in impressive form, generating great revenue and offering immense content for players to squeeze the most out of its possibilities. With the content for those games now finished, it's time to look to the future of the license, with the shadow of Nintendo Switch on the horizon.

Through Pokémon Presents, which is held every year in February to coincide with the original release of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in Japan, the company usually presents its future projects to define what will complete the year across the various projects the license has on various platforms. The next production of Game Freak, the company responsible for the Pokémon games, surprised the entire community with its unexpected announcement and proposal, which was different from everything that had been said prior to the event. It turns out that it won’t be returning to the Johto and Unova regions, but to Kalos, the location of the sixth generation released on Nintendo 3DS.

The Lumiose City Development Project

After all the rumors pointing to remakes of Pokémon White and Pokémon Black, which still aren’t ruled out for a late 2024 release, and a possible return to the Johto region under a different format, finally, the big announcement was Pokémon Legends Z-A. The title will focus on the past of the Kalos region, more specifically, that of its capital city, Lumiose City, one of the largest cities that exists in the Pokémon universe and which is based on the city of Paris, with a clear reference to the Eiffel Tower in the Prism Tower, the central monument that served as an Electric-type gym in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y.

At the moment, what this new game will entail is a mystery, but Game Freak has officially confirmed that it’ll take place entirely in the city of Lumiose, so it won't be like Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where you could explore different environments in the region of Hisui, formerly Sinnoh, to capture Pokémon of all species and discover what the history of the fourth generation's past hid. Here, Game Freak is going for something totally different and unique, with the largest city the Pokémon universe has ever seen.

The title will explore the coexistence between humans and Pokémon while building the main city of the region. As such, beyond catching creatures in the town itself, building and customisation tasks are also expected to be available to offer something different from what has been seen in the franchise so far. It’s also confirmed that it’ll be an action RPG, so the main gameplay mechanics will focus on controlling the character, who can be injured by Pokémon, and the battle system will be slightly different from what the license is used to.

As for the storyline, no details have been released yet. However, it appears that Zygarde could play a major role, due to the presence of the letter Z in the title, offering a tribute to the legendary after the absence of a Pokémon Z in the sixth generation. The proposal may also delve into the lineage of the kings of Kalos and the importance of Yveltal and Xerneas in their culture, icons of death and life respectively in Pokémon mythology, so it could be one of the most adult stories in the entire franchise.

The Pokémon finale for the Nintendo Switch generation

Set for release in 2025 on Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Legends Z-A is set to be the last Pokémon game to see the light of day on the Japanese company's current system. Everything seems to indicate that 2026 or even late 2025 could bring about the release of the first title from the license on the hybrid machine's successor, though what it could be is a mystery. However, the shadow of the tenth generation, an iconic moment for the franchise, is beginning to loom on the horizon, potentially coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the first installments.

While there are various rumors that the remakes of Pokémon White and Pokémon Black could still complete the 2024 calendar, as otherwise, it would be the first year without a major Pokémon release since 2015, it appears that Game Freak aims to close the Nintendo console cycle in style. The Pokémon Company has already given warning that the poor technical performance of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet could affect the development of the franchise's next projects, so the Japanese studio may take a little more time to make a more polished game that will cap off the Nintendo Switch run with a formidable result through the construction of Lumiose City.

For the moment, we can only wait for new details on the project, but it looks set to be one of the most impressive games in the franchise before making the leap to a new generation of consoles that could start again with an adaptation project (Pokémon Let's GO, remakes...) before presenting what could be the biggest leap in the series with the tenth generation. The impact of Pokémon Legends Z-A has been colossal, just as its final result is expected to be in order to bring one of the best periods of the license in its entire history to a close.