We just got a lot of information about Pokemon Legends Z-A during the Pokemon Presents February show, and there are some new movement features coming to the game that will let you parkour and fly around Lumiose city.
Pokemon Legends Z-A will take place entirely within Lumiose city, and it seems to be after the events of X and Y, as Z-A is running a hotel with his resurrected Floette that died in the great war.
The city is being turned into a paradise where people and Pokemon coexist, and you’ll have full access to the rooftops to help you get around the Paris-inspired maze of streets.
You won’t be climbing directly up walls like Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio or Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Link, though. A warp pad will magically teleport you from the street to the roofs, but once you’re up there you’ll evidently be able to jump and climb between them, and use some sort of ball of light to double jump and glide over to more distant buildings.
This seems like a cool addition to the series and should make walking around as a trainer far more interesting than it has been previously. I enjoyed the bike puzzles in Ruby and Sapphire, but that’s the last time it felt like exploration had any meaningful changes made to it.
Pokemon Legends Z-A is due “late 2025,” so there’s no fixed date yet, but we have a window at least. What are the odds the Pokemon Company is holding out until GTA 6 announces its launch dates, like many, many other publishers likely are?