Nintendo has been doing some unique things to help highlight what’s coming up for the Nintendo Switch 2. You heard about a game-specific Nintendo Direct coming tomorrow, and yesterday, The Pokemon Company held the Pokemon World Championships, where players from all over came together to prove that they were the very best like no one ever was. Amidst all of that happening, Pokemon Legends Z-A got a new trailer dropped, and that trailer showcased the first all-new online battle mode in quite a while. Just as important is that this one is perfectly tailored to the spinoff game that’s coming in October.
The mode is called “Z-A Battle Club,” which is a reference to the Z-A Battle Royale that’s happening in the main game. In this mode, four players will battle it out with just three minutes on the clock. The goal is simple: knock out as many of your opponents’ Pokemon before time runs out!
At first, that might seem like a simple task, but when you remember that Pokemon Legends Z-A has a freeform battle system, things get much tougher. Players can decide to go headlong into the enemy to try and get quick knockouts, or they can play it safe, stay back, and wait for the right moment to strike. There are also items strewn around the battlefield that can be collected to help get Mega Energy. In the game, Mega Evolution works slightly differently, and you’ll need to charge up before having your partner transform.
Speaking of partners, you’re not confined to a single one for the battle mode. Instead, you’ll start with one, and it can be knocked out, but then you’ll come back a set time later, have the ability to swap out Pokemon, and then continue the fight! As you’ll see in the video below, the various strategies lead to a truly dramatic finish, as a single move wins the game for the person who was in last place beforehand.
So, what does this mean? First, it confirms the long-standing rumors that the game will have online modes. Second, it highlights how the spinoff series is evolving, no pun intended, as the previous spinoff title with Arceus didn’t have online modes at all. Third, it gives another layer to the new version of Lumiose City, and finally, it means that we still have much about the game to learn before the title drops on the Switch and Switch 2 on October 16th.
