Pokemon Legends Z-A Breaks One of The Biggest Cycles in The Franchise

Summary

This year’s Pokemon Day was quite different from the past years due to the Pokemon Presents being much shorter and featuring back-to-back reveals instead of the usual split presentations, and the announcement ofPokemon Legends Z-Aproves just as much. Coming out of nowhere after multiple rumors regarding possible newPokemonJohto and Unova games,Pokemon Legends Z-Ais both refreshing and quite mysterious, taking players back to Kalos in a new adventure. Based on rumors and leaks, a newPokemon Legendsgame seemed off the table, let alone one based on Gen 6, and the fact thatPokemon Legends Z-Ais coming next year and it was also the only new title to be announced already breaks a massive cycle for the franchise.

It’s possible thatPokemon Legends Z-A’s 2025 releasewill help with the rumored Nintendo Switch 2’s own release, as it currently may lack big launch titles. Even if that is not the case, players did expect a new game to come out this year, and it wasn’t unrealistic either, especially considering the series' pattern so far. However, by releasingPokemon Legends Z-Ain 2025 and not revealing new games for this year, with Gen 10 looming on the horizon, this may be the sign that a huge era has come to an end - that of remakes.

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Why Pokemon Legends Z-A May Mean No Gen 5 Remakes

Pokemon Legends Z-A’s Release May Signal The End of an Era

One of the main reasons why Unova games were such a credible rumor ahead ofPokemon Day 2024is that Gen 5 remakes seemed inevitable. After all, there have been remakes of every generation from Gen 1 to Gen 4, and Unova was next in line. Yet, with no announcement in sight for new Gen 5 titles andPokemon Legends Z-Acoming next year, there may be no Unova remake for the foreseeable future (and no remake in general), something that may also be due to The Indigo Disk.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC features a plethora of callbacks to Gen 5, which all seemed like big hints at what was to come. However, some of thebest Unova easter eggs in The Indigo Diskseemed crafted to let players relive the original Gen 5 experience through different lenses, to the point that this may have been the intended way to “remake” Unova games. Gen 9’s The Indigo Disk features characters related to those from Unova, it is itself set in Unova, and even brings back old areas from Gen 5, like Chargestone Cavern and a small-scale version of the Nature Preserve.

Pokemon Legends Z-A Marks The End of Pokemon Remakes

After Pokemon Legends Z-A and The Indigo Disk, There May Never Be Gen 5 Remakes

With the possible reveal and launch ofPokemonGen 10 in 2025, andPokemon Legends Z-Anow taking the spotlight for a possible Q1 release next year, there just doesn’t seem to be a lot else to expect from the mainline series at the time being. Even ifPokemonGen 10 gamesare moved out of 2025 and into 2026 to honor the 30th anniversary of the franchise, it seems unlikely that Gen 5 remakes will see the light of day in between those releases.

There is still the chance thatGen 5 remakesare outsourced, much like Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were, but even then, these games would have likely been announced for 2024 or 2025. More importantly, seeing how poor the reception for the outsourced Gen 4 remakes was, it seems far more probable that The Pokemon Company simply decided to do away with remakes as a whole, breaking a cycle that started all the way back in 2004 withPokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. If this is the case, Unova fans may have to wait for a newPokemon Legendsgame to explore the region once more, and if The Indigo Disk was meant to be that “game,” then the wait may very well be a long one.