We knew that Pokemon Legends: Z-A was going to be set in the Kalos region, but one of the biggest surprises from the gameplay reveal trailer had nothing to do with the new features or Pokemon, but rather who would appear in the game.
As the trailer shows off the various NPCs you’ll interact with in Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s more modernized Lumiose City, one of the characters that was given a segment was AZ, an old man with a Floette. For anyone who’s played Pokemon X or Y, it should be immediately evident who this is. AZ was arguably one of the most important characters in that game, and it was frustrating how little Gen VI utilized him. Seeing him pop up in Z-A not only makes a whole lot of sense, but it gives the series a chance to finally fill some of the glaring holes in Gen VI’s story.
If you have never played X or Y, AZ was a towering and enigmatic man who only appeared in a handful of moments. We knew very little about him, as most of the history surrounding him was kept in supplemental texts that only tangentially referenced him. For most Pokemon characters, that’s nothing too special. A lot of characters within the world of Pokemon don’t get a lot of development, and even then, most of it isn’t essential. Yet for some reason, Game Freak decided to make AZ one of the most important characters not just in the game, but in all of Pokemon.
In the lore of the Kalos region, 3,000 years ago — well before Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Pokemon X & Y — a war raged between two neighboring kingdoms. AZ was the king of one of them and he and his soldiers rounded up Pokemon to be used as tools to aid humans in the war. When his beloved Floette died in the conflict, in despair, he built a weapon powered by Pokemon lifeforce to attempt to revive his companion, only to instead use the weapon to end the war. This action resulted in the loss of countless lives, both human and Pokemon. In grief, AZ wandered the lands trying to atone for his actions, which leads to the events of X & Y. After a final fight against your protagonist, his Floette, who gained eternal life due to the activation of the ultimate weapon, returns to him and forgives him of his sins.
There’s a lot to unpack with that story, but that’s kind of the point. For such a deep and world-shaking series of events, none of the Gen VI games, including the Gen III remakes Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire did anything with this. So many unanswered questions lingered, like the events of the war, the cause and nature of AZ’s immortality, and just what exactly he’d been up to for 3,000 years. For a generation that featured some of the weakest narrative elements, like the embarrassing motivation of Team Flare and the absolute nothingburgers that were your rivals, having such a richly detailed and complex character just shoved into the background was unbelievably aggravating. Plus, for all of the importance AZ had in the events of the region, you only meet him a total of three times — once on Route 13, another in Team Flare’s hideout, and then at the finale where he just… appears.
I know that Pokemon isn’t exactly a series known for its complex plot, but when it wants to have a story, it can pull out a decent one. The example that immediately comes to mind is N’s arc from Gen V, which spends the entire game fleshing out the character’s philosophy and how the members of Team Plasma have intentionally elevated him into a messianic figure. Then there’s the Aether Foundation in Pokemon Sun & Moon, which was fascinating because of the way it explores the family dynamics between Lusamine and her children. Honestly, the story is usually the last thing I care about in a Pokemon game, but when a story is good, it helps to elevate the rest of the adventure — and Pokemon Legends: Z-A can and should have a good story.
So with AZ’s return, I’m excited to see what Pokemon Legends: Z-A can do with him. He’s operating a hotel that will serve as a main base of sorts, so will he serve as a mentor to the player? Will he be drawn more into the events of the plot? Will we get to see more of this ancient war that broke out thousands of years ago? What about his Floette? It was such an important Pokemon in the lore of Kalos, it’d be cool to see how a Pokemon that’s literally immortal interacts with modern-day society.
Is it likely that any of that will happen? Probably not. Game Freak, now more than ever, seems very averse to rocking the boat. They would rather keep the status quo and only make incremental changes to the franchise, and having a plot that could radically alter the lore of Pokemon may be a bit too extreme for them. It’s very probable that Z-A will just be more of the same milquetoast Pokemon fluff. Still, it’s nice to think that Pokemon Legends: Z-A can finally give Gen VI the proper justice its most fascinating character deserves.
