Right now, my party in Pokémon Legends: Z-A consists of Jolteon, Houndoor, Meganium, Aurorus, Aerodactyl, and Talonflame. Oh, and also Tyrantum, Absol, Greninja, Charizard, Delphox, and Kadabra. And Haunter and Camerupt. And, of course, Bois, everyone’s favorite Heracross. Can’t risk getting lost in those wild zones without Bois.
All 15 of those Pokémon aren’t literally in my active party at any given time, but there are a number of gameplay systems in Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s story mode that effectively allow me to roll with a bench of 15 Pokémon, meaning the classic six-Pokémon limit is meaningless. It makes Legends: Z-A more convenient to play than many of its predecessors. It also makes for a less intentional, less strategic game.
Pokémon games have long put limitations on how many Pokémon you can cart around with you. As a trainer, you can have up to six Pokémon in your party at any given time. Any Pokémon beyond that (come on, there are literally hundreds to catch) are sent to the Pokémon Storage System, which consists of a series of “boxes.”
In older games, you need to return to a PC — often located at Pokémon Centers — to swap out any Pokémon from your boxes to your party. Starting with 2018’s Let’s Go, Pikachu! And Let’s Go, Eevee!, though, you can access your boxes from anywhere via your menu. Those games also added a feature that automatically shares experience points earned from battles across all six Pokémon in your party. Both features persisted into 2019’s Sword and Shield and 2022’s Scarlet and Violet, and while I didn’t look twice at them in the mainline Switch RPGs, I’ve found them more egregious than ever in Legends: Z-A.
This is entirely due to how battles work in Legends: Z-A, at least in its single-player component. Compared to the turn-based system of previous mainline Pokémon games, Legends: Z-A adopts a real-time battle system. In Battle Zones — appropriately named areas of Lumiose City where you fight Pokémon battles and sometimes win free cups of coffee — trainers will stand behind the first Pokémon they’ll send in a battle, making their opening hand completely transparent. You can fight that Pokémon with whoever is currently in your party. Or you can open up your boxes, swap in a Pokémon with the best type advantage, and start the battle with a huge leg up.
If I see a Battle Zone opponent with a Snover, for instance, I’ll send out Charizard or Houndoor. A Pidgeot? It’s Jolteon’s or Aurorus’ time to shine. A Machop? Out comes Kadabra or Delphox. A Stunfisk? I will run. Far away. And never look back.
There are pretty much no repercussions to swapping out your primary fighters whenever it’s most advantageous, especially if you roll into Battle Zones with enough healing items to keep your Pokémon in good shape. And since your entire party gains experience points, the whole team can level up at a consistent pace. Despite having 15 Pokémon I regularly cycle through, I haven’t felt that any of them have been lagging in levels. (My party’s hovering around the low 40s, as of this writing.)
Without limitations, there’s really no reason to commit to a six-Pokémon team. I certainly find juggling 15 Pokémon fun in its own way, and have no intention of stopping; in fact, I only expect my team to grow as I keep grinding the ranks up to A and eventually start encountering legendary Pokémon. But I do miss the restrictions earlier games placed on how frequently you could swap out your core six Pokémon.
In older Pokémon games, you had to be more intentional in crafting your party. Venturing forth on a route between towns meant making careful choices about who to bring with you — and, more critically, who to leave behind. Sticking with that level 6 Starly you caught on Route 201 until it became a level 60 Staraptor who wiped the Sinnoh Elite Four was a mark of commitment. Grinding a Magikarp who only knows Splash into a Gyarados stacked with Aqua Tail and Waterfall was a mark of commitment. Sticking with fragile Larvitar until it evolved into a Tyranitar? Or Bagon until it evolved into Salamence? Dratini until it evolved into Dragonite? Marks of commitment, all. It showed you went through thick and thin with your Pokémon. There’s a level of forced camaraderie that just isn’t present to the same extent in Legends: Z-A.
There’s a reason Ash and Pikachu are heralded as they are in Pokémon canon. One chose the other, and they stuck together, and that was that. I certainly like all 15 of my Pokemon in Legends: Z-A. But none are my Pikachu.