According to some leaked information on social media, Pokemon Legends: Z-A was originally planned to be set in the Johto region before The Pokemon Company decided on the Kalos region and Lumiose City for the upcoming title. Furthermore, the project that would become Pokemon Legends: Z-A was claimed to originally be split across two versions themed around Ho-Oh and Lugia, respectively.
The Johto region first appeared in Pokemon Gold and Silver as the neighboring region to Kanto from Pokemon's first generation. Johto, in turn, was inspired by the real-world Kansai region of Japan, where the cities of Kyoto and Osaka are located. Along with the addition of 100 new creatures at the time, Pokemon Gold and Silver also introduced several concepts that have since become franchise staples, such as held items, Pokemon Eggs, the Dark and Steel types, and Shiny variants of each Pokemon. Pokemon Gold and Silver were the first games to also feature Legendary Pokemon on the box art, as Ho-Oh and Lugia were the respective choices.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Early Copies Are Already Out in the Wild
Pokemon Legends: Z-A has officially broken its October 16 street release date, as copies of the anticipated game have made it into some users' hands.
Pokemon Legends Could Have Been Based On Johto's Past
Given that Pokemon Gold and Silver had their 25th anniversary in 2024, the two beloved Pokemon games were originally planned to get the Legends treatment before plans changed. According to known Pokemon leaker Centro on Twitter, Pokemon Legends: Z-A was initially drafted as Pokemon Legends: Ho-Oh and Lugia, with two split versions based on Pokemon Gold and Silver. Similar to how Pokemon Legends: Arceus was set in ancient Sinnoh, which was called the Hisui region at the time, Pokemon Legends Ho-Oh and Lugi a would have sent players back in time to the Johto region's past. The premise would have covered how Pokemon trainers came into being, and how Raikou, Entei, and Suicune would be reborn following the Brass Tower's fire that saw it reduced to rubble.
It is currently unclear why The Pokemon Company chose to pivot away from Johto and towards Kalos for Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Needless to say, any leaked Pokemon information should be taken with a fine grain of salt. However, the leaks posted by Centro about Pokemon Legends: Ho-Oh and Lugia were part of a greater flood of information that emerged on October 13. The leaks contained information about Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Pokemon's upcoming tenth generation of mainline games.
While it is uncertain if or when Pokemon will head back to the Johto region, Pokemon Legends: Z-A ended up being the result of those initial drafts. As trainers wait to return to Kalos in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, time will tell if The Pokemon Company will revisit Johto.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 79 /100 Critics Rec: 66%
- Released
- October 16, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
