One of the things people love most about Pokemon is that they evolve. As they level up and become stronger, they change into something new. Yet, while Pokemon have two or three different stages of evolution, each is considered an entirely different creature, complete with its own separate name and Pokedex entry.
Therein lies my problem: I’ve never wanted to evolve my Pokemon that much. Not because I crave tougher challenges, but because they just look too cute and iconic to change. You expect me to raise my sweet little Bulbasaur all the way to Venusaur and not say, “Look how they massacred my boy”?
Usually, this is manageable. Though I’ve not played many of the more recent Pokemon games, it’s generally worked out for me to overpower my little ‘mons with candy and power my way through encounters. Efficient? Optimised? Absolutely not, but it works, and they don’t have to evolve for it to work.
In Pokemon Legends: Z-A, however, I feel I’m left with no other choice than to evolve my team of little guys. Not because the game poses a naturally higher difficulty than any previous ones, but because of Mega Evolution. If you’re not Mega Evolving your Pokemon, then you’re going to struggle.
You Need A Team That Can Mega Evolve
As Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s story progresses, you’ll be gradually introduced to the idea of Mega Evolution, and it becomes a pretty key part of your future battles. Not only will the Z-A Royale ranked battles begin to involve Mega Evolution, but you’ll see it crop up in the Battle Zones, in the dedicated story battles, and in ranked online battles (more on that later).
While you’ll be provided with a Pokemon that can Mega Evolve once it becomes available, you’ll also then be given the means to Mega Evolve your starter Pokemon - Tepig, Totodile, or Chikorita - or more specifically, their final evolutions.
If I want my dear little Tepig to get in on the Mega Evolution action, then I need to evolve him into Pignite, and then Pignite into Emboar, and only then can he Mega Evolve. Otherwise, he’ll probably just have to sit back and watch as other Pokemon do the Mega Evolving.
But even then, any other Pokemon will also have to become its final form. Bulbasaur is my favourite Pokemon, but I’m willing to evolve him up to Ivysaur for the sake of getting stronger, as that form still feels like Bulbasaur. The final evolution of Venusaur, however, just feels like a leap to a different creature entirely, but that’s the only way my Bulbasaur can ever stand up against Mega Evolved Pokemon.
Pokemon are able to use Mega Evolution power to enhance select moves without Mega Evolving, so I’m pushing that as far as it’ll take me for these little dudes.
Not Evolving Makes Online Battles Impossible
I knew I was really going to have trouble, however, when I first stepped into the online ranked battles. I naively took my first evolution Pokemon in, ready to battle it out, have a good time, and work my way up the ranks. We got destroyed. Of course we did.
Other players were out there with final evolutions, Mega Evolving left and right, and tearing through my poor Pokemon despite any level scaling and power balances. I half expected I might face some trouble, but it’s a roadblock. There’s no chance my first evolution Pokemon are going to be making it through those online ranks like this, and I’m not even sure about second evolution at this point.
However, despite the difficulties I face, I continue to stubbornly avoid evolving my Pokemon. At most, I’m willing to evolve Tepig and Bulbasaur to Pignite and Ivysaur, and have them utilise enhanced moves via Mega Evolution power. To balance this, I’ll assemble my remaining team with Mega Evolution in mind, but that means finding all new Pokemon for myself. Perhaps ones that I’ve never battled with before.
With this, I hope to find that balance of what I want from my team, and not be forced to purely evolve everyone beyond my preferred Pokemon, for the sake of Mega Evolution. I’ll create teams prepared for online battles, and I’ll spend single-player time amongst my favourites. I’ll find whatever strategies I need to so that I don’t have to push those final evolutions on my sweet boys.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 79/100 Critics Rec: 65%
- Released
- October 16, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Adventure
