Pokemon Legends: Z-A is Likely a Sequel to X, But Not Y

This article discusses supposed leaked plot details from Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A finally has the chance to be the follow-up to Pokemon X and Y that never was, bringing the closure to the Kalos Region that the Gen 6 games lacked. While it's not a definitive third "Pokemon Z" version, Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks like it will be following up on some of the unanswered questions left by X and Y, including the whereabouts of AZ after he is reunited with Floette. However, one leak points to the return of a character that X and Y seemingly closed the book on, suggesting that one Gen 6 game is the canon version of the two.

While the most exciting leaks to come out about Pokemon Legends: Z-A are the new Mega Evolutions alleged to be present in the game, some plot details have also leaked and suggest one character's story didn't end with X and Y. Team Flare's Lysandre is said to return in Pokemon Legends: Z-A despite seeming to meet a pretty grisly end during the climax of Pokemon X and Y's story. There is one potential explanation for Lysandre's survival in Legends: Z-A, but the key is hidden in the minor differences in how the events of the two versions play out.

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All Pokemon Legends: Z-A Rumors and Leaks Explained

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is coming out in a little less than four months, and both leaks and rumors have surfaced online about what it entails.

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By Andrea Trama

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Rumored Lysandre Return Would Make X's Ending Canon

This portion of the article contains spoilers for Pokemon X and Y.

How Lysandre's Fate Changes Between Pokemon X and Y

During the finale of the Team Flare plot in Pokemon X and Y, players are tasked with preventing Lysandre from activating the Ultimate Weapon located beneath Geosenge Town to avoid the devastation he seeks to enact on the planet. Lysandre's goal is to destroy everything ugly and imperfect while preserving beauty for eternity, utilizing the version's specific Legendary Pokemon to accomplish half of this goal (Xerneas is the Life Pokemon and Yveltal is the Destruction Pokemon).

However, it's because of the differences between these two creatures' powers that the events of X and Y's story play out slightly differently between versions. When players defeat Lysandre in X, he vows to use the Ultimate Weapon to force immortality on everyone in the building as a last-ditch effort, while in Y, he attempts to kill everyone instead. This final act ends up destroying the Ultimate Weapon and collapsing the building around Lysandre, leaving him trapped below Geosenge Town while the player escapes.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Will Likely Pick Up Where X Left Off

Presumably, if Lysandre's use of the Ultimate Weapon at the end of X and Y does what he claims it will do, he is simply killed in Y's version of events. In X, though, he may be alive and immortal, just trapped beneath the rubble of Geosenge Town. As such, there may be a way that he escaped between the events of X and Y and Legends: Z-A to reappear as a villain in the upcoming game, which could help bridge the gap between the timelines of the Gen 6 and Gen 9 games.

Taking this route to bring Lysandre back as an antagonist runs into the problem of alienating Pokemon Y players. Usually, the minor plot differences between Pokemon game versions have little impact on the overall outcome of the story. Without Pokemon Legends: Z-A, it likely wouldn't matter whether Lysandre dies or becomes a trapped immortal because the impact on X and Y's individual stories is the same. But retconning Lysandre's role in Legends: Z-A suddenly means that one version of events is more canon than the other, making Pokemon Y feel like the inferior version in hindsight.

It's possible that Lysandre's return in Pokemon Legends: Z-A is explained in a different way, potentially through something like a multiverse or time travel scenario. Doing so could avoid the discrepancies between X and Y's versions of events.

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