The Kalos starters — Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie — may not be the starters forPokémon Legends: Z-A, but you can still catch them in Lumiose City.
The X and Y trio are available fairly early on in your journey, but you will have to complete a few extra steps to get them. The three Pokémon can only be caught after you’ve completed each of their respective side quests, so if you’re beelining the story, you might end up missing them.
Here’s how to get the Kalos starters in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
How to get the Kalos starters in Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Before you can get the Kalos starters, you’ll need to complete Main Mission 5, “The City in the Shadow of Prism Tower.”
Once you’ve completed the challenges that Emma gives, more side missions will appear on your map — three of which are for Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie.
The three side missions can be found in the following areas:
- “A Feisty Chespin” — North of Restaurant Le Wow in the Rouge District, between Rouge Sector 2 and Académie Étoile
- “Get Well, Fennekin” — Northwest of Prism Tower, Magenta Sector 2
- “A Challenge from Froakie” — Northwest of theJaune Pokémon Center on North Boulevard
For more information on how to complete each side mission, check out the sections below.
‘A Feisty Chespin’ walkthrough
On the road between Rouge Sector 2 and Académie Étoile, you’ll find a Chespin standing in front of a taxi cab.To get the Chespin, you’ll need to challenge them to a battle and defeat them three times in a row. Chespin are grass-typePokémon, which are weak to flying-, poison-, bug-, fire-, and ice-type Pokémon. Luckily, these Pokémon (except for ice-types) are fairly abundant in the early game, so make sure to bring at least one with you before you challenge the Chespin. It’s also important to note that this Chespin is level 14, so try to get your party around the same level or higher.
After you defeat Chespin three times, they’ll join your party without using any Poké Balls.
‘Get Well, Fennekin’ walkthrough
In Magenta Sector 2, you’ll find a Fennekin resting on the floor. Interact with Branche to learn that the Fennekin is actually feeling a little sick. To help Fennekin feel better, you’ll need to head to Café Classe, which can be found just beside the Vernal Pokémon Center on Vernal Avenue. Talk to the old man sitting at the table, who will tell you to grab a revitalizing twig in Wild Zone 5. Once you’ve made it to Wild Zone 5, make sure to turn on guidance for the mission, so you can see the locations of the revitalizing twigs marked on your screen. You’ll soon realize the revitalizing twigs aren’t just on the surface level ready for you to grab. Instead, you’ll need to do a bit of exploring to find them.
There are two ways to get into the area with the revitalizing twigs: clear the sludge in the northwestern corner of Wild Zone 5 or clear the sludge in Bleu Sector 3. As you’re already in Wild Zone 5, clear the sludge in the northwestern corner of Wild Zone 5 by using a water- or psychic-type move. You’ll want to follow the lower path with even more sludge, but be warned that there is a level 27 alpha Whirlipede on the other side of the tunnel. You can battle them if you want, but we recommend just running past them. There are a lot of twigs scattered around the area, but the correct revitalizing twig will always be the last twig that you pick up.
Quickly scoop up all of the twigs until you get them all, and return to the sickly Fennekin. Give them the revitalizing twig to nurse them back to health. Afterwards, you’ll complete the side mission and they’ll join your party.
‘A Challenge from Froakie’ walkthrough
Froakie can be found on some scaffolding just north of the Jaune Pokémon Center. Interact with Surv, the construction worker beside them, to learn that this Froakie is actually a parkour master. To have Froakie join your party, you’ll need to complete three obstacle courses in a set amount of time. The first two obstacle courses are relatively close to the starting point and just require you to follow the path to the top.
As for the third obstacle course, it’s located to the east of the Rouge Pokémon Center at the northernmost point of Lumiose City and it’s the hardest of the bunch. This obstacle course features two gaps that seem to be impossible to cross without some sort of gliding ability, but you can make it across the gap by rolling. The two gaps can be found just after the first ladder and near the end of the obstacle course. Get close to the edge and press Y to roll across the gaps to complete the parkour challenge.
After you’ve finished all three challenges, Froakie will join your party.
