Does Pokemon Legends Z-A take place in the past or future?

Text reads Pokemon Legends Z-AThe Pokemon Company

Game Freak and The Pokemon Company are bringing back a fan-favorite series, but while a previous entry was set in the past… Pokemon Legends Z-A’s place on the timeline isn’t quite as definitive.

The Pokemon Company recently shocked fans and players everywhere, defying any expectations for a Pokemon Legends Johto, or even Pokemon Black and White remakes, and instead flipped the script, delivering Pokemon Legends Z-A.

From information gleaned so far, Pokemon Legends Z-A seems to take place in the region of Kalos, specifically Lumiose City, a setting originally introduced in Pokemon X and Y. So if we know where the game is set, the question is when the game is set, as the clues so far are confusing, to say the least.

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Does Pokemon Legends Z-A take place in the past or future?

A screenshot from Pokemon Legends Z-A shows a Sylveon in a busy cityThe Pokemon Company

At the time of writing, there is no official word on when Pokemon Legends Z-A, but from the clues in the trailer as well as the fact that Lumiose City already exists, it seems slightly more likely that Pokemon Legends Z-A is set to take place in the future.

The original trailer for Pokemon Legends Areus did a lot to stress the timeline placement of the game, showing Pokemon trainers in the past, and revealing that Hisui is the region that would eventually become Sinnoh.

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There are very few details for Pokemon Legends Z-A so far, but a post from The Pokemon Company UK uses the words “Urban redevelopment plan: Lumiose City”, which alongside the use of wireframe animations in the trailer to emulate a Tron or Matrix-esque style, seem to point towards the future.

A screenshot from the Pokemon Legends Z-A trailer shows a wireframe image of a cityThe Pokemon Company

We will have to wait for more details to make any declarative statements, but for now, the evidence seems to point toward Pokemon Legends Z-A happening in either the near future of Kalos, or perhaps even the far future.

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That’s all we know about Pokemon Legends Z-A for now, but if you want to learn more about the upcoming title, read more of our great guides below:

Does Pokemon Legends Z-A have Mega Evolution? | Where does Pokemon Legends Z-A take place? | Every Pokemon in the Pokemon Legends Z-A trailer confirmed