There’s a whole lot to do in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, between side quests, collecting Pokémon, and taking on the Z-A Royale battle challenge at night. The game will take you through a pretty lengthy tutorial to teach you the basics, but there’s quite a lot that your Pokémon buddies won’t actually tell you about the game.
Below we list some early-game tips that should help you get started early on in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. You’ll definitely get a feel for the game as you play more, but here are some ways to improve your exploration around the city and battles at night.
It’s all about that sneak attack
Getting a preemptive strike is essential, whether it’s for catching Pokémon or battling it out. When trying to catch other Pokémon, you will initially want to hide in bushes and around obstacles as throwing Poké Balls at Pokémon’s backs will yield a higher catch rate. Additionally, some Pokémon, like Espurr, will run away when they sense your presence, so sneaking is your best bet.
Attacking trainers’ Pokémon first while the trainer can’t see you will net you a powerful early strike, which can really help when taking down trainers who may be a bit stronger than you. Also, the move you use as a sneak attack will not go on cooldown, so, if you have a type advantage, you can use a super-effective move two times in a row to quickly defeat the enemy.
Shiny Pokémon make a sparkling sound when they spawn
If you’re worried about missing out on seeing a shiny Pokémon in the wild, don’t fret. The sparkling sound effect from Pokémon Legends: Arceus is back, giving you an audio indicator of when there may be a shiny Pokémon around you. Take a look around whenever you hear the audio, and search for a sparkling Pokémon with a different color scheme.
Pick up wasted Poké Balls at Pokémon Centers
If your aim is a little off and you tossed a bunch of Poké Balls into the void, have no fear — a nice man dressed in blue will give you your balls back. You’ll find them standing outside of Pokémon Centers, but they may only show up once you yeet a ball and miss.
NPCs with yellow text boxes have something for you
Image: Game Freak/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo via Polygon
You definitely do not need to talk to every NPC in this game, but you should talk to the ones with yellow chat bubbles above their heads. They will typically give you items, or even heal you during the Z-A Royale.
Collect the pink Mega Shards, even early on
Early in the game, your companion (Taunie or Urbain) will point out the pink crystal masses on the roads, walls, and rooftops. They’ll note that you can smash these away for Mega Shards, but they don’t even explain where to use these Mega Shards for quite a bit. You’ll use them later to buy Mega Stones, and these stones can cost up to 360 shards, so make sure to break these pink clumps when you see them.
Before you start a battle at night, stack some of the buff cards
During the Z-A Royale, you’ll find floating blue hologram cards on the ground. Picking them up will give you a bonus task that will reward you with more points. These tasks can range from getting sneak attacks off to using certain types of moves. Grab up to three tasks before you get into battle to try to get the most bang for your buck per fight.
If you get a card that you can’t necessarily use, like using dark-type moves when you have no Pokémon that have dark-type moves, you can pick up another card and replace the one you don’t want.
Pokémon can be caught outside of wild zones
Wild zones aren’t the only place you can find Pokémon in Legends: Z-A. Pokémon are scattered around the city and hiding away in trees, on top of stalls, on lamp posts, and even in alleyways. Keep an eye out for roaming Pokémon as they may be without a trainer and free to catch.
There’s more to do at night than just the Z-A battles
Image: Game Freak/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo via Polygon
While you may be tempted to just head straight to the battle zone to gain points and rank up, you should visit wild zones, too. Some Pokémon only come out at night, so you’ll want to peek around to find a bigger variety of Pokémon.
Don’t forget to teach your Pokémon new moves
Your Pokémon will not automatically prompt you to teach them new moves, the way it happens in other games. Instead, as your Pokémon level up, they may get a little light bulb next to their name on the leveling interface, noting that they thought of a new move. You’ll need to manually teach your Pokémon any moves beyond its first four from the game’s menu screen. If you’re mass-leveling Pokémon, it’s easy to forget to change your Pokémon’s moves, so definitely try to pay attention to the XP/leveling UI on the left side of your screen as you play.
Keep your Pokémon’s positioning in mind
Pokémon will move around differently depending on the type of move they’re using. If your Totodile uses Tackle, it will, of course, run up to the enemy Pokémon and tackle it. When it uses Water Gun, it’ll back up, returning to your side, before spraying your opponent. This being said, to take down enemies faster, you’ll want to use similar moves first to avoid wasting time to your Pokémon running back and forth. Use Bite and Tackle, and then use Water Gun and Bubble Beam (or vice versa).
Check shops and areas again after progressing
Keep an eye out for notifications on your Rotom phone saying that local shops have updated their stock. This is particularly important if you have your eye on certain Mega Stones — some of which will only show up after certain story events occur.
More wild zones will also open up as your progress through the game, so don’t forget to check them out.
Your Pokémon can clear nearly all obstacles away with their moves
Image: Game Freak/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo via Polygon
You’ll learn how to Rock Smash away boulders blocking entryways fairly early on, but there’s not really any other guidance about other weird obstacles found around the city. Lucky for you, you can likely get rid of them using various Pokémon moves. Water-type moves will remove piles of sludge and fire-type moves will remove brambles and ice. If you have a bizarre block in front of you, try throwing your Pokémon at it before giving up and turning around.
Heal up before things get dire
During battles and boss fights against Rogue Mega Evolutions, you can heal your Pokémon by opening your menu and using items on them, but there is a cooldown. You won’t be able to rapidly revive or heal your Pokémon once you realize you’re on your last standing Pokémon, so make sure you’re keeping your team healthy over time as to not corner yourself into a bad situation.
Catch those Pokémon!
Sometimes it’s tempting to just blast through the game, nabbing only your favorites and ignoring the rest, but you will want to actually catch and register a variety of Pokémon to your Pokédex. Local researcher Mable needs you to gather data for her, and the rewards are pretty good. There’s also a ton of side missions that involve bringing specific Pokémon to the people in Lumiose City, so it doesn’t hurt to just have them in your PC anyway.
Don’t forget to sell your treasures
As you’re running around Lumiose City, you’ll see a ton of golden sparkles on the ground. If you run over one, you’ll find a variety of items like berries, exp. candy, mints, and more. One of the most valuable items that you’ll find are treasures, which can be sold at a Pokémon Center for money. If you ever find yourself strapped for cash, just remember that you most likely have a hoard of treasures in your satchel.
