Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Multiplayer Features Are Gen 7 All…

The Pokemon games have been criticized a lot lately for their overall lack of innovation, but Pokemon Legends: Z-A seems to be addressing those complaints. Despite being a successor to 2022's Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Game Freak's upcoming RPG is unlike any of the mainline Pokemon games that came before it. For the first time in the series' history, Pokemon Legends: Z-A will feature a real-time combat system. Rather than retaining the static turn-based battle mechanics of its predecessors, the game's combat will require players to keep a close eye on the positioning of their characters, the movement of their own Pokemon, and the timing of the attacks they use.

Although Pokemon Legends: Z-A will shake up the series' gameplay formula in a number of ways, it will also bring back one staple feature of the franchise that its predecessor lacked: online multiplayer. Pokemon Legends: Arceus may have been a favorite among fans, but it was one of the only games in the core Pokemon franchise that didn't feature a multiplayer component of any kind (aside from trading). Perhaps in response to some of the feedback to this design decision, Game Freak has decided to give multiplayer a far larger presence in Pokemon Legends: Z-A by introducing a new mode that's strangely reminiscent of a forgotten Gen 7 feature.

Pokemon Legends Z-A is Getting a 4-Player PvP Multiplayer Mode

During the 2025 Pokemon World Championships in Anaheim, California, The Pokemon Company revealed that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will feature an online PvP multiplayer component known as the Z-A Battle Club. In this mode, players will be able to challenge up to three other players in a stage and defeat each other's Pokemon within a three-minute time limit. Every time one of their Pokemon faints, players will return to their starting point and re-enter a battle with the HP of their Pokemon fully restored. The more Pokemon a player defeats, the more points they will obtain, thus increasing their overall ranking.

Sometimes, players can find Mega Power Orbs scattered across a stage during a battle. These can not only cause their Pokemon to Mega Evolve, but they can also give them some temporary stat boosts.

Players Can Choose to Play Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Battle Club Mode Either Competitively or Casually

pokemon-legends-z-a-reveals-z-a-battle-club-online-four-player-battle-mode-three-minutes-to-score-knockouts

Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Battle Club is divided into two separate formats. The first format, called Link Battles, is basically the regular version of the game's multiplayer component. The Ranked Battles format, meanwhile, focuses more on competitive play, and it features in-game incentives to encourage players to increase their worldwide rankings. According to The Pokemon Company, every time a player wins a PvP match or climbs up a rank in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, they will gain rewards depending on the season that the game is currently in. Additional rewards will even be granted based on the final rank that a player has by the end of a given season.

The Z-A Battle Club Has a Lot in Common With the Battle Royals in Pokemon Sun and Moon

While the Z-A Battle Club does seem like a refreshing new addition to the Pokemon series, seasoned Pokemon fans will probably notice that the feature bears a striking resemblance to the Battle Royal mode introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon. Like the Link and Ranked Battles in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Battle Royals in those games also involved four players fighting each other simultaneously. Held at the Battle Royal dome in the Alola region's Akala Island, this mode came in four different ranks, each of which was increasingly more difficult than the last. The more Battle Royals a player won, the more ranks they could unlock.

The Battle Royal Mode and the Z-A Battle Club Are Distinct from Each Other in Some Ways

Despite the similar concept they share, Pokemon Sun and Moon's Battle Royals and Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Battle Club do differ significantly in a few areas. Battle Royals, for example, are not constrained by any time limits, but they do place a restriction on the number of Pokemon that a player can have at any given time. Players can carry as many Pokemon with them as they want in the Z-A Battle Club, but they can only have a total of three Pokemon in a Battle Royal match. It's worth noting that Battle Royals could also be played in single-player with other NPCs, so they were better than Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Battle Club in that regard.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image