Overview

• A demo at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships showcased a shift from turn-based encounters to movement-focused real-time trainer battles
• Rogue Mega Evolution boss fights will target trainers directly through a new energy-orb gauge that supports multiple or prolonged transformations
• Held items, absent in Legends: Arceus, are confirmed to return and will be governed by cooldown timers to prevent spamming
• Early impressions compare Z-A’s combat tempo to action titles like Dark Souls and report a noticeably steeper difficulty curve
• The newly announced Z-A Battle Club will offer four-player ranked and private online or local matches capped at three-minute real-time skirmishes