WMG / Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Wild Mass Guessing for Pokémon Legends: Z-A

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Pre-Release WMGs

First teaser trailer (February 27, 2024 - Present)

Possible starter trio.

Given the context of the setting, the starter trio of the game will associated with France.

• Grass-Type
  • Snivy's line is confirmed to be designed after Lady Oscar from France-set manga The Rose of Versailles, as well as French aristocrats in general.
• Water-Type
  • Piplup, as Empoleon is based on Napoléon Bonaparte.
• Fire-Type
  • Torchic. The Gallic Rooster is a national symbol of France.
    • Considering that Blaziken is the poster 'mon for Mega Evolution, confirmed to be returning in this game, having Torchic as the fire starter would also help introduce the concept to new players.
  • Scorbunny. La Soule, a type of sports originating in France, is said to be an ancestor to modern-day football. Also, Napoleon Bonaparte was once attacked by rabbits.
• General group
  • Kalos starters will be reused as this game's starter, with the twist that they'll gain Mega-Evolutions.
  • The Elemental Monkeys. These guys have been conspicuously absent from all games on the Switch so far. One of the last remaining Pokemon with this status.
  • Convergent evolutions of the starters or others.

The starters in this game will all get new Mega Evolutions.

This seems like a given. It makes perfect sense with them re-introducing Mega Evolution to the main series.

The setting of this game will be a newly unified Kalos.

Within documents from Lysandre Labs in X and Y it is mentioned how at some point AZ unified Kalos with technology unseen for that era. While the futuristic setting may indicate that it is a future Kalos, it may actually be AZ's technology from before the war.This may be why the trailer ends with Lumiose's remodeling plans seen on a paper blueprint. Through the remodeling of Lumiose we will learn more of AZ and the backstory of Kalos before its indication, similarly it will be revealed how said technology ultimately leads to Kalos being dragged into war.

The game will take place in the Kalosian equivalent to late-1800's France.

Historically, the apparent renovation of Lumiose City could match up with Haussman's renovation of Paris (1853-1870) and the construction of the Eiffel Tower (1887-1889).

• This would also be roughly the same time period that Legends Arceus took place in (Japan's Meiji Period).
  • There are a few signs that the game might be taking place in a time period equivalent to the 1960s or later instead, most notably the outfits of the individuals shown in the trailer looking relatively ill-fitting for France in the 1800s and the redevelopment planning company appearing to be named Quasar (with its logo clearly being based on one and its name listed underneath appearing to vaguely spell out the word), a term that only came about in the 1960s.

Alternatively, the game will take place in the present day.

It will take place after Pokémon X and Y, but either concurrently or shortly after Pokémon Scarlet and Violet with the Kalos region dealing with another large-scale conflict, this one involving a Legendary Pokémon whose name begins with "A" causing trouble around Kalos. Rather, it might be that the "Pokémon Legends" name indicates that its story is structured differently than a standard Pokémon game, with a goal other than To Be a Master, and not that it's set in the past (or future). If so, this may be the second part of a trilogy of "Pokémon Legends" games, with Arceus set in the past, Z-A in the present, and some upcoming one set in the future.

With this game, we'll finally have seen every Pokémon appear on the Switch.

The only Pokémon that have yet to appear in a Switch game are the Patrat line, the elemental monkeys (Pansage, Pansear, Panpour, and their respective evolutions), and Furfrou. Furfrou was already confirmed in the trailer, and Watchog and the elemental monkeys can all be caught in X and Y.

Paradox Pokemon will return

Rumors before this game's reveal said that there would be an expansion on "Paradoxes", albeit they were for Unova and not Kalos. That being said, there's still a possibility that Paradox Pokemon will return.

New Pokemon

Much like Arceus before it, it's very likely that Z-A will have new species/regional variants to pick from.
Regional Variants

• Kalosian Alcremie
• Kalosian Grafaiai
• Kalosian Gothita + Kalosian Gothorita
• Kalosian Falinks
• Kalosian Persian
• Kalosian Rapidash
• Kalosian Copperajah
• Kalosian Metagross
• Kalosian Milotic
• Kalosian Indeedee
• Unovan Runerigus

Brand-New Evolutions

• A new evolution for Breloom
• A new evolution for Kantonian Farfetch’d
• A new evolution for Kantonian Mr. Mime
• A new evolution for Johtonian Corsola
• A new evolution for Hoennian Linoone
• Two new evolutions for Charcadet
  • Midoriegis: Fire/Steel "green shield" Pokémon. More defensively oriented.
  • A yellow one who focuses on defense named Jaunaegis, and a green one who focuses on setting up traps named Camouverde.
• Kalos-exclusive Gothita evolution
• A new evolution for Druddigon based on a gargoyle.

Paradox Pokemon

• Bloom Antler (Past Paradox Xerneas)
• Iron Reaper (Future Paradox Yveltal)

New Species

• The "A" Pokémon in "Z-A". Part-Grass (because green) or part-Water (the pattern on the letter looks a bit like fish scales)

Zygarde will get a Mega Evolution

Despite having several forms already, with this being a game wholly dedicated to Zygarde, it'd make sense for it to get a Mega. Bonus points if it continues its Ragnarok theming with 10% (Fenrir), 50% (Jormungandr) and Complete (Hel) forms and just go straight to becoming like Surtr, complete with a burning sword-wand-stick weapon.

• Either that, or Zygarde Complete Forme can be activated immediately when sent out, instead of waiting til Zygarde's HP hits a certain threshold.
• Alternatively, it gains new forms, such as a 5% form based on Ratatoskr for example.

It'll be a large city-building storyline similar to Colony 6 or Tarrey Town

This game is about the "urban redevelopment" of Lumiose City, and Arceus vastly sets itself apart from the mainline games with its own unique systems and mechanics. So it'd make sense for Z-A to do something similar: in this instance, have the player actively gather materials and watch the city evolve, attracting more people to settle into the city as you do so, similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 1's Colony 6 or Breath of the Wild's Tarrey Town. Granted, it'd be difficult considering the game is solely based in Lumiose City, but this Troper is sure there's a way.

Guesses for new Mega Evolutions

Since Mega Evolution has basically been confirmed to return with this game, it’s entirely possible that we’ll finally been seeing new Megas for the first time since 2014. This serves as a place to guess about which Pokemon could get Mega forms for this game.

• Falinks: Mega Evolutions tend to be popular Pokemon, first and foremost, and Falinks is one of the most popular Pokemon from the Gen before the current one.
• Jynx: Audio files exist of Jynx in Pokemon Home feature a take on the species call very similar to that of Mega Evolution.
• Flygon: As it was planned to have one but it was prevented by artist block at the time.
• Golurk: While Gen 5 was mostly passed over for Megas, Golurk is one of the more popular ones from the gen. Given that the game's subtitled is ZA and AZ uses a Golurk in X and Y, it'd make sense as his ace if he returns.
• Mega Charizard Z. It will be Fire/Flying, and evolve from a regional variant of Charizard that's Fire/Dragon.
• Slowking: Slowbro has one, so Slowking may as well.
• Froslass: Glalie has one, so Froslass may as well.
• Kleavor: Scizor has one, so Kleavor may as well.
• Mega Venusaur Z and Mega Blastoise Z: Charizard has two Mega Evolutions so the developers will give the other two Kanto starters two Mega Evolutions.
• Hawlucha: Being one of the most popular Gen 6 Pokemon, it would be among the ones that would be in-line for a Mega Evolution.
• Galarian Slowbro: To explore how a Pokemon with a Regional Variant and a Mega Evolution works.
• Naganadel: As weird as it sounds, the idea of the Ultra Beasts returning for this game as a sort of callback to Zygarde being in the Alola region could be possible. And that could lead to the one confirmed starter UB line to get a Mega of their own.
• Kalosian Metagross: Similar to the above, showing a divergent between Metagross native to Kalos and those (regular Metagross) that are not.
• Mega Mewtwo Z: In an identical vein to Mega Charizard Z, except this has the benefit of Mewtwo being the first Mega Evolution revealed.
• Spidops: To redeem it from bad stats in SV.
• Alolan Exeggutor: It and Alolan Ninetales are the poster children of regional forms, and if they were to start giving regional forms mega stones they'd be the logical choice.
• Alolan Ninetales: See above.
• Arcanine: Not only was Growlithe only found in the friend safari in the original Kalos games, but it is also a popular mon without a Mega Evolution.
• Ninetales: Same as the above.
• Kingambit: Kalos is known for its history of kings. It may gain a massive Sp. Atk increase in exchange for a drastic drop in speed.
• Dragonite: Every Pseudo-Legendary barring Dragapult, Kommo-o, Baxcalibur and Dragonite has received some form of revisit over the years. As the first three are still relatively fresh to a degree, Dragonite is the most overdue for a revisit, so a Mega Evolution is most probable.
• Butterfree: Could become a Bug/Psychic-type to compliment Mega Beedrill.
• Sigilyph: Also one of AZ’s Pokémon. It may even be the signature Mega Evolution user of Olympia’s ancestor.
• Torkoal: The last of AZ's Pokémon.
• Pyroar: It may be the main of a Lysandre ancestor/descendant in contrast to him, the way that Togekiss got a lot more focus with Volo than Garchomp.

"Entirely within Lumiose City"...

In the form of a future version of Kalos from which Lumiose City has grown to encompass the entire Kalos region within its borders. Think something along the lines of Coruscant from Star Wars but on a more country-type scale.

The game will have six major chapters.

Besides perhaps a prologue chapter, each chapter will focus on one of the five paths out of Lumiose City and the town or city you'll reach if you keep going in that direction—Route 4 and Santalune City, Route 5 and Camphrier Town, Route 13 and Coumarine City, Route 14 and Laverre City, and Route 16 and Dendemille Town—followed by the climactic chapter. Other towns and cities may factor into the game and the story, particularly distinctive ones like Snowbelle City, and ones story-important in X and Y, like Geosenge Town, but they'll be part of the nearby route/city's chapter.

AZ will play a major role.

That it's titled "Z-A" is not a coincidence that it shares the same letters as AZ's name. Maybe now, we'll also get to see AZ's Floette in battle too.

Ouroboros will serve as an Arc Symbol

• The game's title is Z-A, which can be read as from Z to A, from an end to a beginning, a cycle, like an Ouroboros.
• 50% Zygarde is serpentine, and Ouroboros is usually depicted as a serpent (or at least reptilian at bar minimum)
• Lumiose City is an almost perfect circle, and Ouroboros is generally depicted as a circle.

A 10% Zygarde will serve as your Canine Companion until you gather enough Zygarde pieces to turn it into its 50% form in the story's climax

Given that the Z on the game's logo has hexagons symbolic of Zygarde, it's possible that Zygarde will serve as a deuteragonist in the main plot, with you having its weak 10% form accompanying you throughout the game just like Cosmog and the Raidons before it, and eventually you gather enough plot-mandated Zygarde cells and cores until it can transform into its stronger 50% form, with its 100% form later available in the postgame.

The reason why the entire game will take place in Lumiose City is because some disaster has rendered everywhere else in Kalos uninhabitable during the story, hence why Lumiose has to be redeveloped to accommodate survivors and refugees

This may also be why Zygarde is getting a prominent role: For a guardian of the land and a keeper of balance, a significantly cataclysmic disaster definitely will alarm it and force it to spring into action.

Collecting Zygarde cells will be a game-spanning quest similar to the Spiritomb wisps in Legends Arceus

• It's a perfect setup.
• It's pretty obvious that this was supposed to be in Pokémon Z before it was scrapped, so they just threw it into Pokémon Sun and Moon. It's likely that the game will involve collecting Zygarde cells, just like that game.

The player character will be the same one from X and Y thrown into the past. Since they would already have knowledge of Mega Evolution, they end up becoming the trainer to "discover" it.

Since the player character from Legends Arceus was implied to be the same one from Diamond and Pearl isekai'd into the distant past, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume something similar could happen for this game's protagonist.

You will be able to evolve trade evolution without needing to trade to another game.

In the previous Legends game you could evolve trade evolutions just with an item.

Lumiose City will be signifigantly larger (or at least more explorable) than it was in X and Y

Since the game will take place "entirely within Lumiose City", the city itself will be much, much larger than it was in the original games. More areas will be explorable and (going by other theories going around) it will make use of different enviroments in order to capture a greater amount of Pokemon.

Ash-Greninja will return in some form

Yes, even though the form itself was retconned away in Scarlet and Violet (and even the anime itself), we might get it back in the form of some lore on where the form came from.

If ancestors of modern characters appear, Lysandre's ancestor will be the Big Good

Like what they did with Legends Arceus, if it takes place in the past and implied ancestors of modern characters appear, Lysandre's ancestor will be the big good, much how like Cyrus' ancestor was in Legends Arceus

Pokemon from Gens 7-9 will be added into the Kalos Pokedex

This theory could hold more water if the game is set in the present day and/or near future. After the events of X and Y, Pokemon from Alola, Galar, and Paldea will show up in Kalos. Bonus points if they get new Megas too. This is also a place to guess which of these Pokemon will show up. Two obvious candidates would be Dundunsparce and Kingambit, as their respective pre-evolutions were already in the Kalos Pokedex in X and Y.

Terapagos will be involved in the plot

Although Terapagos is slumbering in Paldea instead of Kalos, those two regions are nevertheless adjacent to each other, so if Terapagos' power can reach all the way to Kitakami, it's not unreasonable to think that it can leak to Kalos. Hence, there are several ways in which Terapagos may get involved, culminating in its discovery as part of the climax or Dénouement.

• Terapagos' power includes time travel, which opens the possibility of Calem/Serena being isekai-ed by Terapagos into PLZA's time frame much as how Arceus was responsible for yanking Rei/Akari to Hisui.
• Unlike regular Terastalized Pokémon, Terapagos' Terastalization changes its base appearance and, most importantly, bumps up its BST by 100 points. This is exactly the same effect as Mega Evolution, hinting that either there'll be a slight retcon that Terastalization and Mega Evolution are actually related, or that unlike in XY, Mega Evolution in PLZA is actually a variant of Terastalization that just so happens to have a similar effect as Mega Evolution. Furthermore, it is known that the stones that induce Mega Evolution came from space, and there has been some indications that Terapagos likewise also came from space. Lastly, while it's likely just cosmetic, the two mechanics have somewhat similar visuals: The affected Pokémon is enveloped by something (an egg-like structure for Mega Evolution, crystal formation for Terastalization), before the casing shatters to reveal the modified Pokémon.
• Prism Tower at the center of both Lumiose City and Kalos could be where Terapagos or at least crystals from Area Zero are housed allowing for this thus explaining the tower's name as well. Terapagos' actual presence will also reinforce its Violet entry that said that there used to be more of it.
• This could also lead to a popular theory from Scarlet and Violet that says that the Ultimate Weapon was fired at Paldea, further leading credence to this theory.
• Zygarde and Terapagos are both visually associated with hexagons (moreso with Zygarde), and thus there's a chance this game may reveal that this isn't a coincidence.

The Ultra Beasts will somehow get involved, and Naganadel could be able to Mega Evolve

Similar to how Zygarde showed up in their game, the Ultra Beasts would return to the main series by popping up in this game. Not only would we see Mega-Evolved Pokemon go up against the Ultra Beasts, Naganadel could become the first one to get a Mega. Since Poipole has been confirmed to be a starter in the world that it's from, along with how popular it was back then, it could be possible for its evolution to get a Mega of its own. Maybe the Ultra Beasts could even play some sort of role in the story as a sort of invasive threat that Zygarde will have to deal with.

An equivalent to the Paris Catacombs will be introduced.

Since the action is seemingly limited to Lumiose City, making the Catacombs available will give the player more room to explore. Or they can go further and include the entire Mines of Paris (as the catacombs is just part of the entire underground mine system).

The plot will be a nature vs. human development type of story.

The teasers imply that developing Lumiose City is gonna be a major part of the gameplay. Zygarde is the guardian of the ecosystem. It probably won't react well to humans encroaching on the nature it protects.

Lysandre, The Player character and their friends will appear in Legends Z-A.

In X Lysandre tried to curse the playable character and his friends with immortality and he was in the area that would have been effected but it wasn't confirmed if he succeed or if he is still alive.

Emmet is going to appear.

Because whatever threw Ingo into the past Hisui also threw Emmet into the future Lumiose City or something. In particular, if the game indeed includes an equivalent of the Mines of Paris, Emmet could very well be found there as a follow up to their Japanese Punny Name: Whereas Ingo, whose Japanese name means going up, helps you with mountain-climbing, Emmet, whose Japanese name means going down, will guide you through the underground.

Possible Starter Regional Variant evolution types

• Piplup
  • Water/Ground: Master of Europe, master of the earth.
  • Water/Ice: It's a penguin, and it would match the mightiest mark Tera Type.
  • Water/Ghost
• Snivy
  • Grass/Dark: Royalty in Pokemon has been noted before by the Alolan Meowth line, which became Dark-type.
  • Grass/Poison: To reference the Basilisk of European Folklore, famous for its venom, and potentially also Poison Ivy, like its namesake.
  • Grass/Fairy
  • Grass/Rock: To lean more into its paralysing glare, which could be translated into petrification. It would also match up the Tera Type of Cyanro's own Serperior.
• Torchic
  • Fire/Flying: To lean more into the bird end of the Gallic Rooster. It also matches the mightiest mark Tera Type.
• Scorbunny
  • Fire/Fighting: The often lamented combination returning to represent competition in sport a la Passimian. It also matches the mightiest mark Tera Type.
  • Fire/Steel

The company responsible for Lumiose's redevelopment will be called "Flare Construction"

Much like how Team Galactic in the past was an expedition team that the protagonist joins in exploring Hisui, Team Flare in the past would be a respectable construction company that will be spearheading the redevelopment of Lumiose City. The head of the company, possibly an ancestor/descendent of Lysandre, will closely parallel Baron Haussmann in terms of personality and ambitions...though unlike flat out genocide like their descendent they will possibly want to turn Lumiose into a global icon that eclipses every other region.

• While what it does is unconfirmed, it has been noted that Lumiose's redevelopment has the involvement of a company apparently named Quasar, which fit in the solar flare connotation of Team Flare. It's also interesting to note that the company's logo, a disk object seemingly pierced by a line, is evocative of a collapsed star, with the disk being an accretion disk, and the lines being GRB.

There will be two villains, working against each other as well as the player.

One will be aiming to use the power of Xerneas to make themselves immortal, while the other will be aiming to use the power of Yveltal to commit mass genocide.

• Or perhaps their goals may be more mundane: The Xerneas-themed villain wants to "bring new life" to the city and ends up causing things like overpopulation, landscape mismanagement via the proliferation of shanties, or destructive vandalism on the city's ancient landmarks to accommodate more denizens, while their opposing Yveltal-themed villain wants to quash all progress and modernization because they love Lumiose the way it is and leads witch hunts on unwanted visitors and innovations.

How Z-A's battle will be shaken up

Legends: Arceus shook up the battle system of mainline Pokemon games by having stats determine how many attacks your Pokemon can do before its foe's turn, replacing EVs and IVs with Effort Levels that directly affect stat growth, and Agile/Strong Style attacks that either do quicker or stronger attacks respectively. That being said, it is currently uncertain whether or not Arceus's battle system will be transferred over to Z-A and how much of it, but there could be other ways this game's battle system could be changed up:

• The ability to take advantage of your environments by having your Pokemon move around anywhere you wish and take cover similar to XCOM, except where your Pokemon is can affect your stats/power.
• The ability to hold more than one item at a time, allowing Pokemon to get more effects.

Every Pokémon that had a Mega Evolution in the past are returning.

Since the game hints at Mega Evolution being a key part of the game, priority may have been put on the complete roster of Mega Evolved Pokémon. To that end, this would mean species like the Weedle line, the Swablu line, the Meditite line, the Snover line, and such, will return.

Every fossil to date will be available.

Pokémon Sword and Shield had every fossil Pokémon available with the conspicuous absence of the Cranidos and Shieldon lines, which were likely saved for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has the reverse but equally conspicuous absence of all fossil Pokémon except for the Cranidos and Shieldon lines. Just as Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde were the only major Legendary Pokémon not coded into Scarlet and Violet, undoubtedly in anticipation of Z-A, so are the fossils (and Old Amber) and the Pokémon you can obtain from them, with the possible exception of the Galar fossils.

• Alternatively, the complete restoration of the Fossilized Bird, Fossilized Drake, Fossilized Fish, and Fossilized Dino will be available in this game due to having access to better fossil restoration technology, handled by someone other than Cara Liss.
  • Alternative alternatively, Dracovish, Dracozolt, Arctovish, and Arctozolt would be confirmed to have actually existed in prehistorical times, considering Max Raid Battles for them existed in Sword and Shield.
  • Alternative alternative alternatively, both an original set of four fossil mons and Cara Liss's embodiments of 'WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE!' will be available.

A New Eeveelution will finally appear.

Considering that we haven't had one since 2013 and the last time one was seen was in a Kalos game and this new Legends will be in Kalos it's the opportunity for a new Eeveelution to finally appear.

The Game will have Megas A and Megas Z

The game will not only have Megas Z but also Megas A, that's why it has ZA in the title, two new types of Mega will be part of the game (and Charizard will have both, obviously).

At least one new Mega Evolution that's introduced will be broken enough to be in Smogon's "Anything Goes" tier.

We all know Game Freak loves to introduce hilariously broken Pokémon every now and then, so what better time to do that then when they're bringing back Megas?

• If this game is like the previous Legends game, there probably won't be a PvP mode beyond trading Pokemon and the game is largely going to be a single player experience. It took until Scarlet and Violet, a game where players can battle each other to properly assess how competitively viable the Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Legends Arceus fared. So for a Pokemon to be really broken, it'll depend on if any new Megas would even be usable in Gen 10 or whatever future games are being planned.

All major trainers will have Mega Evolution in-game

One oddity about the Gen 6 games compared to later games is that the central mechanic, Mega Evolution, is not common. In the original XY the only trainers beside the player to use Mega Evolution were Korrina, Lysandre, your rival, and Diantha, while in games with Z-Moves, Dynamax, and Terrastrialization the process is far more common being used by all Gym Leaders/Trial Captains, rivals, and even random trainers. Legends Z will avert this and have a lot more trainers fight you mega to mega, after which it would then be decided to keep it to a select few, hence the later Tower of Mastery.

Legends Z-A will play a lot like a Yakuza game

Legends Arceus was heavily inspired by Monster Hunter, with separate open levels and larger monsters to fight, right down to some of it's aesthetics being very Monster Hunter-esque. But with Z-A entirely being based in Lumiose's City, it gives one the idea that this game will be inspired by the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series.

• Also we'll join our Pokemon in beating the shit out of other Pokemon and trainers.

The Unown will feature in the game in some notable way.

They weren't just in the teaser to bait and switch the players about a Johto game, surely.

Like in Hisui, there'll be a few characters who are Ambiguously Related to existing character who don't originate from X and Y

Some such non-Kalosians who may have an Ambiguously Related relative in this game are:

• Raifort. Among the people in Paldea, Raifort is unusual in that her name in both English and Japanese localization is an actual French word (in her case, it's French for horseradish), thus suggesting that she may be of Kalosian descent. In particular, if we indeed will have the Mines of Lumiose as part of the city, said relative may be a spelunker/treasure hunter who scours the depths for treasures, or at the very least an archaeologist who is fascinated with the history of the country (which dated back at least 3000 years plus), thus explaining where Raifort got her love for archaeology and exploration from.
• Ryme and Tyme. By themselves, Ghost type and Rock type don't quite have much in common, but combine them together and add to the fact that, like Ground, Rock is an earthly type, and we have ourselves a pair of types that have something to do with funerals (Ghost represents the dead, Rock a.k.a. Earth represents the burial grounds, especially if we take note that there were some ancient cultures who buried their dead under piles of rocks; heck, stone sarcophagi are essentially the ancestor to modern-day caskets and coffins). If the Catacombs of Lumiose ends up becoming an important landmark, we may have one such character who represent both Ghost type and Rock type and ends up being probably-related to the sisters.
• Cynthia. We already got to see her ancestors, so now we get to see her descendants.
• Fantina. She's already one of the non-Kalosians who engage in Gratuitous French, so perhaps we'll find a relative that over the course of the game decides to move from Kalos to Hisui, which also ties in the previous Legends game.
• Acerola. Assuming that the Alola legendaries play a role in this game (as some of the WMGs below suggest), we may have a member of the Alolan Royal family (of which she claims to be a part of) in Kalos investigating why they are here.

You will be able to evolve a Carbink into Diancie at some point in the game

As not only a Kalos Mythical Pokemon, but the only Mythical Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution, it would be fitting for it to have an important role in the story. If it happens, it would likely be either during the climax of the story or in a sidequest (Like the Manaphy request in Arceus), and to limit abuse it will either happen to a Carbink that doesn't get caught until after it evolves, or can only be done once for example via an item you can only obtain once per save file.

Time travel will be a major gameplay mechanic

The game will require the player to travel back and forth between past and modern versions of Lumiose City. This still keeps the game entirely within Lumiose City, but also adds more variety by creating different versions of the same city to explore. This will also explain the announcement trailer using what appear to be plans from Lumiose City's past juxtaposed with futuristic holograms and people wearing modern clothing.

Starter Evolution Lines

Basic: The original Starter from whichever Generation it was introduced.
Stage 1: A regional variant of the Starter's middle evolution.
Stage 2: An entirely new species of Pokémon instead of the normal final evolution.
Mega Evolutions for the three may or may not be expected to be seen.

The Gen 7 games will actually play an important role in this game

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, there were quite a few references to Pokémon Black and White, including Gen 5 Pokemon like Oshawott, Petilil and Rufflet and even Ingo himself being included in the Hisui region. Perhaps something similar will happen where there are direct references to other regions, including places like Alola, Galar and Paldea.

The main reason I singled out Gen 7 was that while Zygarde is a Gen 6 Pokemon that made its debut in X and Y, it managed to only get its main gimmick in the Gen 7 games of Sun and Moon and the Ultra games. So its fairly likely that Gen 7 will be the most referenced generation, despite it being based in the Gen 6 games of X and Y... Expanding on this...

The Tapu and Magearna will be the main bosses of the game.

Lumiose City is divided into five "slices", each with a plaza in the center. There's a good possibility that these will be the battlegrounds for the game's bosses. Which would include the Tapu of Alola and Magearna. Why would they be in Kalos? A similar question can be asked about why Zygarde was in Alola in the Gen 7 games.

• This harks back to the strange tiki mask souvenir you can buy in X and Y which, out-of-universe, turns out to be a Production Foreshadowing for Alola given that the Tapus resemble tiki masks when they tuck themselves in. In fact, just like how we got Enamorus to complete The Four Gods legendaries in Legends Arceus, we may also get a fifth Tapu.
  • Getting a fifth Tapu seems unlikely, given that there isn't a fifth Alolan island for them to represent. In fact, the base of this particular WMG is suggesting Magearna will effectively be the fifth boss alongside the preexisting four Tapus. Given it stared in a movie with Volcanion before Gen 7 was released, and has a signature move called Fleur Cannon while the Ultimate Weapon from XY resembles a flower, it would fit in quite well.

Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza will get something new

Considering they both have upgraded forms in Gen 6 (Whether Primal Reversion will return alongside Mega Evolution is another can of worms for another day), more notably Rayquaza having a Mega Evolution, the Gen 3 Legendary trio will get something new in Z-A as well. Perhaps where the base versions of the trio represent the mythological creation of the planet, there will be alternate regional variants of the trio (Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos in Galar set a precedent) that represents the more cosmic creation of Earth.

• Groudon: Ground/Psychic: Representing the dust and gas that formed the Earth's core.
• Kyogre: Water/Rock: Representing the comets that delivered water and ice to the Earth.
• Rayquaza: Fire/Flying or Fire/Dragon: Representing the gas released from volcanoes that form the atmosphere on the Earth.

A version of "KISEKI" (the credits song from X and Y) will play during the credits, this time with vocals

It just makes sense for this to happen. An interesting spin would be to never play it with lyrics in the language the game is set to, in order to Keep It Foreign.

The Kalos Mythical Pokémon will be available as Old Save Bonuses.

This is how you got the Sinnoh Mythicals in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, so it makes sense that they'd do that here as well.

• Diancie: Bonus for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, due to Diancie being a crystalline Pokémon, and the prominence of crystals in Scarlet and Violet.
• Hoopa: Bonus for Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Hoopa can create wormholes with its rings, which are similar to the rift that drives the plot of Legends: Arceus.
• Volcanion: Bonus for Pokémon Sword and Shield. Volcanion is a steam-based Pokémon. The Galar region is based on Britain, where the Industrial Revolution began, during which steam power was very important.

Zygarde will receive a Primal Reversion of it's Complete Forme, possibly even Xerneas and Yveltal

With Mega Evolutions in play, Primal Reversions could be too and Zygarde is the mascot.

The game will involve re-introducing Mega Evolution to a Kalos that has forgotten it

The people of Kalos will have forgotten Mega Evolution in the time of this game, and the player will re-introduce them to it.

The A legendary is Kalos' equivalent to Arceus, and corollarily Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde are Kalos' equivalent to Dialga, Palkia and Giratina

The letter A legendary Pokemon will be the Chaos Pokemon.

The A legendary will serve as a foil to Zygarde's status as the order Pokemon. It will be a creation of Giratina with the dragon type and three forms 10%, 50% and 100%.

• While it being a Chaos Pokemon would make sense, does it really need to be related to Giratina in any way? Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde have practically no ties to Sinnoh/Hisui's Creation Trio.

Alternatively, the Chaos Pokémon based on Ginnungagap will be someone else entirely, while the A Pokémon, owing to its possible Grass typing due to the green color scheme, may instead evoke the Yggdrassil itself, just like how Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde evoke some of the beasts who lived in Yggdrassil

For bonus point, given that Ginnungagap is essentially Void Between the Worlds, this Ginnungagap-themed Chaos Pokémon may serve as a hidden villain, in contrast of the A legendary whose appearance is highly-anticipated.

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