Pokémon Legends: Z-A Mega Evolves With Game-Changing Rules This Week
Overview & Key Takeaways
Season 16 for Pokémon Legends: Z-A begins in a few days, and we have the details of which Pokémon are banned and when it starts.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is once again changing up its online battle ruleset. Season 14 restricted teams to only Flying-type Pokémon, while last season only made Water-types usable.
On Thursday, Season 16 introduces a new ruleset to the fray. According to Serebii, only Pokémon who can Mega Evolve will be available for Ranked Battles. Mega Stones will be the only holdable item allowed, too.
Mega Evolution is Pokémon Legends: Z-A's main battle gimmick. By holding their species' specific Mega Stones, certain Pokémon can temporarily Mega Evolve in battle, altering their appearance and boosting their stats. Only the final Pokémon in an evolution line can Mega Evolve, but not every final evolution has a Mega Stone yet.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A returned several Mega Evolution forms from earlier in the franchise's history, and introduced plenty of new ones. Some of them, like Mega Starmie, are the stuff of nightmares, while others, like Mega Victreebel, are literal perfection.
While the new ruleset limits Ranked Battles to just a few dozen different Pokémon, you'll still be able to toss several fan-favorites into battle, like Charizard, Gengar, and Lucario. Pokémon added in the Mega Dimension DLC, like Tatsugiri, will also be usable in battle. Use our guide on Mega Evolutions and Mega Stones to see everyone who will be available in Season 16 and to figure out how to get their Mega Stones.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Ranked Battles pit four trainers against one another using the game's unique real-time mechanics. You'll have a team of three Pokémon and will earn a point for each time you knock out an opponent's Pokémon. What level your team is at won't matter as all Pokémon will be set to level 50.
Like last season, Season 16 will reward you with Greninjite, Delphoxite, Chesnaughtite, Baxcalibrite, Sceptilite, Swampertite, and Blazikenite stones for ranking up from Rank Y through Rank S, respectively. Check out the full list of rewards on Serebii.
You can start Mega Evolving your Pokémon for ranked battles when Season 16 begins Aug. 27, and it'll run until Sept. 17. This month has been a big one for Pokémon fans as Pokopia's Bubbly Basin expansion was released, The Pokémon Company gave away a ton of free stuff for Pokémon Worlds, Pokémon announced a new collaboration with Polaroid, and everyone lost their mind over some donuts.
