Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Mega Evolution Curse Can Still Be…

Pokemon Legends: Z-A has some surprising candidates leaked to receive Mega Evolutions in the upcoming game. What is unfortunate about some mons getting Megas is that they have the potential to fall victim to the series' Mega Evolution curse, where they lose out on potentially getting a new regional evolution in a future generation. However, there are four leaked Megas for Pokemon Legends: Z-A that may be able to break this curse, just not in the most traditional way.

The majority of the creatures leaked to be getting Mega Evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Z-A only stand to benefit from a new form. Mega Evolution gives a Pokemon a drastic stat boost, turning some of the worst mons into competitive contenders when they Mega Evolve. Unfortunately, for mons who haven't fully evolved before receiving a Mega form, they may be hindered in future generations if they can't get a standard regional evolution.

Even if Evolutions for These Leaked Pokemon Legends: Z-A Megas are Unlikely, They Can Still Break the Curse

Pokemon Fan Creates Futuristic Mecha Form for Skarmory

4 Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Leaked Mega Evolutions Are Single-Stage Mons

Out of all the Megas leaked for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, only four are mons that don't already have any sort of evolution. These include:

Skarmory
Falinks
Drampa
Hawlucha

These mons are all solid creatures that need a little something more to push them into being top-tier battlers, and Mega forms could certainly do the trick. However, past single-stage mons that have received Megas, like Mawile and Kangaskhan, went from mediocre to overpowered, only to regress back into obscurity when Mega Evolution was removed in Gen 8. These critters would have benefited more from permanent regional evolutions so that they could maintain their relevancy even without Mega Evolution.

pokemon fan crates card evolution for falinks

Zygarde is also leaked to get a Mega Evolution, but as a Legendary Pokemon with multiple forms already, it's unlikely to be in line for an evolution in a future generation.

As single-stage critters, receiving a Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends: Z-A essentially prevents these mons from ever getting a future regional evolution since Mega Evolution is supposed to push a fully-evolved Pokemon beyond the power they are normally capable of. While Mega Evolution will increase the stats of these mons, their base stats when not Mega Evolved put them somewhere between 465-500—more or less around the same as a middle stage evolution. So, these critters could definitely benefit from a standard evolution in a future game, but there is another way the Mega Evolution curse could be broken for them.

Pre-Evolutions Could Allow These Critters to Break the Mega Evolution Curse

With standard evolutions off the table for mons getting new Megas, these four single-stage critters could be perfect candidates for pre-evolutions in the future. Having a pre-evolution means their Mega form can still exist without going against the established lore of the Mega Evolution mechanic, while still allowing room for these mons to get permanent stat improvements. A pre-evolution itself won't necessarily help improve a mon's stats, but it gives the creature a justification for giving its base stat total a small boost.

Even a 50-point base stat total increase could bring these four mons on par with other powerful two-stage evolutions like Arcanine and Lucario. Skarmory and Drampa in particular have often been the subject of fan-created pre-evolutions, with Skarmory hailing from Gen 2, where Baby Pokemon were first introduced. It's unlikely these pre-evolutions will be added in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, as the game is rumored not to be getting any new critters aside from Mega forms, but the groundwork for a future generation to include both pre-evolutions and Mega Evolutions for these mons could be laid by their treatment in Legends: Z-A.

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