Pokemon LEGENDS: Z-A - Recent Happenings Thread

[Ishiftyounot]

So... I ended up restarting Legends: Z-A again. I wasn't really enjoying my team a ton as it felt like their usage was unbalanced - turns out traded experience meant Dragonite and Eelektross levelled ahead of everyone else so I barely got to use them if I wanted to keep even levels. I'm also in reality not hugely into (Mega) Delphox - the Mega itself is cool, but the species in general just isn't my vibe and it felt like I was using her all the time rather than my starter or Slow experience duo. I could make more excuses but honestly I just wanted a clean slate and to use Mega Evolutions I was actually into from the start, rather than ones I convinced myself I was into liking more than I did.

To that end, I went back to Tepig as my starter. I do like Mega Meganium and I'd argue it was really good for this game, but Tepig was my guy from day 1 and Mega Emboar is just incredible. I can forgive the 3D model having no neck because it's such a cool design and honestly? Not a lot of Emboar enjoyers from the Z-A teams I've seen. I do enjoy being unique. Plus it means Taunie uses only Johto starters! Fitting I guess. I named my Tepig Porkchop and he has been delightful from the get-go, crushing Zach to get me to Rank Y and was a sturdy fighter to help me get two more team members.

Cleffa is my second team member - much like my first Z-A team from October! I am a big Mega Clefable fan and whilst friends almost convinced me otherwise... she's pretty damn cute and the fairy wings sell it for me. Helps that it got an SIR in the newest TCG set coming out. Fairy is also just a broken type in most games so that doesn't hurt too badly. Fast experience group may suck but I'm going to make the effort to ignore my team being equally levelled and instead get equal battles, so I expect Cleffa to out-level everyone before long. Mine is named Twinkle and she's already prepared to evolve (after one Roserade Tea) but until she proves her mettle in the Z-A Royale she won't be doing so.

Froakie makes its grand return as my third team member, one of the few Pokemon to be on all 3 of my major Z-A teams. I do like other Water type Mega Evolutions! Starmie was a genuine contender because I like that goofy guy, but the ninja frog is just too cool to not be added. Not much to be said there. Chespin replaces Delphox on this team, because Mega Chesnaught is probably in my top 5 new Mega Evolution designs. It just looks so cool and I was sad I never got to use it on my first Z-A team as it wasn't released yet. Will 2 Fighting types be a problem? Not likely. I like to think it and Tepig are friends anyway, and I used Tepig to beat it all 3 times so maybe there's a rivalry there! Who's to say?

Progress-wise I'm only 4hrs in and literally just received Chespin (and took some photos of everyone which you can see below) - I'm still only Rank Y and need to beat Yvon but right now my focus is the side missions, exploration and completing the Pokedex. To avoid over-levelling as much as humanly possible I'm only catching one Pokemon of every species, and also not capturing anything that's a higher level than my team. Meant I had to flee from a Hawlucha and I've had to ignore the few Swirlix/Spritzee I've found but such is life! I also need to take everyone to a Café for photos, not sure which ones yet but I'll have a look! I suspect I'll have 4 evolutions by the time I can get my exhibition match done.

Spoiler: Screenshots of my Z-A team:

Legends: Z-A Team:

Porkchop the Tepig, Level 16 ♂
Rash Nature
Headbutt, Fire Spin, Flame Wheel, Rollout

Twinkle the Cleffa, Level 15 ♀
Bashful Nature
Swift, Fairy Wind, Disarming Voice, Work Up

Frogue the Froakie, Level 14 ♂
Sassy Nature
Swift, Water Gun, Bubble Beam, Aerial Ace

Juggernaught the Chespin, Level 14 ♀
Impish Nature
Headbutt, Shadow Claw, Vine Whip, Rollout

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

Just caught a Dedenne and a Dratini today. Found the former randomly. Thankfully didn't scare it off. Had to go around to a better location to catch Dratini.

Been trying to do some leveling up some of my lower level Pokemon lately.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Just caught Zygarde by constantly reviving and healing the Shiny Alpha Avalugg that I caught earlier this month. Haven’t tried out its Mega yet. But I plan on using it for the rest of the DLC.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

I've played for a couple more hours today in Legends: Z-A and have made it to Rank W, beating Yvon and Xavi to do so. Yvon was pretty easy with Cleffa, Froakie and Tepig all picking up a win against Spritzee, Swirlix and Vivillon respectively - defeating her meant I could finally evolve my team to their next stages! I did take them to a Café first though for more photography in their base forms. Xavi was going to be more of a challenge I thought, but surprisingly he wasn't. Quilladin beat Venipede with Rollout into Aerial Ace, Frogadier beat Roselia of all things thanks to Ice Punch and Aerial Ace, Clefairy just about claimed the win against Kadabra thanks to Light Screen and Draining Kiss healing, and Pignite won handily versus Furfrou with its new STAB Fighting attacks.

I've also been working on exploration, the Pokedex and side missions although I haven't done quite as much on all of these. I forgot I had the Dig TM by the time I fought Xavi last time so I evidently didn't go to Hotel Richissime (as you get the TM near there), and I forgot to go back to Wild Zones 2 and 4 at night to get Staryu and Honedge so I had to go do that. With my restrictions on capturing anything that is a higher level than my team it also meant no Pidgeotto from Wild Zone 5, so that one remains incomplete - I'm raising a Pidgey up to 18 to get it that way though! I have done all the currently available side missions though beyond the Flabébé one (I'm missing blue/white) and any that became available from beating Xavi so that's fine.

What's next on the agenda? I need to do the next bout of side missions, find a blue and white Flabébé, battle Lida to progress the story, explore a bit more and find that Dig TM and capture everything I'm missing in Wild Zone 6 (Buneary, Swablu, Houndour, Meditite). Oh and I need to take my team to a Café each for more photography now they've evolved! I've got my screenshots of them below, I'm trying to keep them somewhat consistent location-wise? My starter at Hotel Z, Froakie at Bleu Plaza (where you can catch one in Wild Zone 16), Cleffa where you can find them in Wild Zone 19 and Chespin... in a random park? Could've done it on Wild Zone 17 land but it's kind-of boring...

Spoiler: Z-A Team Screenshots - Evolved:

Legends: Z-A Team:

Porkchop the Pignite, Level 22 ♂
Rash Nature
Power-Up Punch, Rock Smash, Flame Wheel, Rollout

Twinkle the Clefairy, Level 22 ♀
Bashful Nature
Magical Leaf, Headbutt, Draining Kiss, Work Up

Frogue the Frogadier, Level 22 ♂
Sassy Nature
Quick Attack, Ice Punch, Bubble Beam, Aerial Ace

Juggernaught the Quilladin, Level 22 ♀
Impish Nature
Aerial Ace, Bite, Bullet Seed, Rollout

 

[UltraGlitterCat]

I am finally rank E and have the roto glide feature. I just started looking in the new wild zones that opened up: caught stunfisk, clauncher, and furfrou. I went to look for rogue mega Hawlucha and talked to Lida but he wasn't there. He seems to have moved to a new rooftop that I will check later.

Oh I got more screws, another Canari plush (the experience one) and I found an Eevee on a rooftop! I know they'll be more widely available when Wild Zone 20 opens up but that's a long way off and so that's a cool find. Also found an Alpha Dratini, now Dragonair. Pretty cool.

 

[Yveltal91057]

Just wasted a Sparkling Level 3 Ground Donut and failed a shiny Krookodile. R.I.P

 

[UltraGlitterCat]

Beat Mega Hawlucha. Now going to train my Manectric and Absol (So I have a Mega that can do super effective damage to Mega Banette.) I'm hoping that when that's done I can finally access the sewers for Inkay and I believe Skrelp too. I've been waiting so long for my friend Malamar.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

No major progress since my last post beyond getting to the point where I can now fight Vinnie! I focused on my to-do list from before, hunting down the white and blue Flabébé (I had to Google where the blue ones were found... then found one on a rooftop by chance) and clearing Wild Zone 6 for the Pokedex before fighting Lida and finishing off the side missions available. The museum Spewpa one is considerably less fun the third time around...

Rintaro was my next opponent in the Z-A Royale, and thanks to me once again having a Fire-Water-Grass starter core he was not difficult in the slightest. I then fought Rogue Mega Absol and won handily with AZ's Lucario, which nabbed me access to Mega Evolution! I did not use it against Taunie though - Pignite beat her Bayleef with ease, Clefairy just barely clinched it against Croconaw thanks to Magical Leaf + Draining Kiss healing, and then Quilladin went up against Mega Manectric and actually won thanks to somehow dodging a Fire Fang by repositioning for Bullet Seed? Not sure how we managed that.

I then talked to Vinnie, did the other side missions available at this stage, captured everything in Wild Zone 7 and 8, took my Pokemon to a Café each to snap some cute photography and got my ticket to do my exhibition match! But before that... 5th team member time, which is once again Dratini! I just love Mega Dragonite so it had to make it on the squad - hopefully Slow experience group doesn't cause me any issues? Clefairy being in the Fast experience group has been fine so far.

My team is doing pretty good, Clefairy has been KO'd a couple of times though so it could do with evolving again. I have a Moon Stone already from some rooftop shenanigans so maybe I'll do that before Vinnie, or as a reward for beating him. Pignite, Quilladin and Frogadier are all pretty strong and everyone is getting equal use so far, so I'm happy.

Legends: Z-A Team:

Porkchop the Pignite, Level 30 ♂
Rash Nature
Power-Up Punch, Rock Smash, Fire Punch, Rollout

Twinkle the Clefairy, Level 30 ♀
Bashful Nature
Magical Leaf, Psyshock, Draining Kiss, Bubble Beam

Frogue the Frogadier, Level 30 ♂
Sassy Nature
Dig, Ice Punch, Bubble Beam, Aerial Ace

Juggernaught the Quilladin, Level 30 ♀
Impish Nature
Dig, Bite, Bullet Seed, Rollout

Seraphim the Dratini, Level 29 ♂
Gentle Nature
Brutal Swing, Water Pulse, Breaking Swipe, Twister

 

[Luthor]

Got Swampert's mega stone. Glad the mega crystal limit has raised but unfortunate its taken this long. Could have saved me a lot of time but am finishing off the remaining tms and collecting some more berries for Zeraora's donut.

 

[Zhydra]

Got Swampert's mega stone. Glad the mega crystal limit has raised but unfortunate its taken this long. Could have saved me a lot of time but am finishing off the remaining tms and collecting some more berries for Zeraora's donut.

Grats and good luck.

My little adventure went pretty smoothly until I started getting to B. (Had a team of Zeraora, Megearna and a Swampert that earned his mega stone. Grass moves suck when you're big brawler is 4x week to it.)

 

[UltraGlitterCat]

I found my second Eevee on a random rooftop. I beat mega Banette and got my challengers ticket so tomorrow I will fight ivor and reach rank D. I've been looking for male ralts but only found females so far, including an alpha. Really like this game, it's fun!!

 

[UltraGlitterCat]

I just found a Larvitar on the rooftops, so cool. And I finally have my Gallade (I found like 5 female Ralts before a male appeared.) I have maxed all the Canari plushes except the gold one. And I am Rank D and have just found myself indebted to the Rust Syndicate, thanks Urbain. Not sure what exactly that changes for me but Lida was pretty annoyed by it. Well I'll see what happens next, fun game.

 

[Yveltal91057]

Shiny alpha male Noibat is terrifying and almost caused me to black out a few times. Never again…

 

[epithumia]

so... even though I wasn't planning on getting this one, I cracked and did it last night after seeing VaskoGames' playthrough.

I chose Totodile as my starter and completed the tutorial so I could start exploring on my own. as of now, I've caught all available species on wild zones 1-5, just missing Meditite on WZ6. managed to catch the alpha Bellsprout even though I was underleveled. browsed all the clothing stores I could find to pick my outfit, the trainer customization is very cool. defeated the trainer that wants to host a marathon to boost my rank. finished the Chespin and Fennekin side quests and now I'm stuck on Froakie's, but what can you do.

my party so far:
Antonio the Totodile
Velma the Litleo

on rotation: Skiddo, Espurr, Flaafy, Whirlipede, Fletchinder

 

[UltraGlitterCat]

Froakie was tricky for me too. It took 6 tries to be fast enough on the final challenge. But now I've done a lot of climbing on small ledges to collect screws so I'm much better at it. Good luck, Froakie is a great addition to a team.

Did you get the female Ralts mystery gift? I think it is still active and she's very useful. Welcome to Lumiose.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

I have been playing Legends: Z-A since my last post, but I have not made a ton of progress. That's okay though, I'm having fun doing my own thing with the side missions and photography! I'm only now about to start the Canari bits and challenge her to reach Rank E...

Turns out from my last post I'd also gotten my Challenger's Ticket, so I was a smidge under-levelled to fight Vinnie! I'd also caught my sixth team member - Crackle the Tynamo - and added them to the team around this time although they were not involved in the battle to reach Rank F. It is not the best Pokemon as was the case on previous playthroughs, but I know it won't be too long before I have Eelektross! My partner associates the line with me even before I used it in Z-A, so now I'm kind-of obligated to use it every time now. Vinnie himself wasn't too hard despite being at equal levels - Frogadier beat Houndoom, Quilladin beat Sharpedo, Pignite beat Buneary and Clefairy walled Mega Drampa to clinch the win! For her efforts I evolved Clefairy into Clefable, and took a lovely post-win-post-evolution photo for our efforts!

I next had to take on the Rogue Mega Slowbro/Camerupt/Victreebel which I was even more under-levelled for, and ill-equipped with no Mega Evolutions on the team itself. A surprising lack of Plus Moves too, which is the alternative to Mega Evolution for dealing damage. I decided to split the team into duos for each Rogue Mega, which worked out pretty well? Tynamo started versus Slowbro before Quilladin finished the job when they got overwhelmed, my newly evolved Dragonair was able to weaken Camerupt with Whirlpool + Water Pulse before Frogadier came in to finish the fight, and Clefable got Pignite set up with Mega Energy (or whatever it's called) so it could spam +Flame Wheel and +Flamethrower! Didn't do too badly, needed a couple of healing potions for some of the fights but given I'm under-levelled and non-Mega'd I considered it fair game.

From there... this has basically been it. I found out Canari was my next Z-A Royale opponent, beat up Naveen to find out where she'd be, cleared the Royale for a Challenger's Ticket and that's where I'm at. Doing so evolved my starter trio into Emboar, Greninja and Chesnaught respectively so I decided to do some Ranked to get the Greninjite and Chesnaughtite! Mega Emboar was pretty handy for doing that actually, maybe it's a secret anti-meta threat? I doubt it but would be funny if true. My team is now over-levelled of all things! I'm on par with Canari now even before I have my fight with Tarragon and the Canatic dude, and possibly some side missions? I can't remember.

Spoiler: New Team Members

Spoiler: New Evolutions

Legends: Z-A Team:

Porkchop the Emboar, Level 39 ♂
Rash Nature
Power-Up Punch, Rock Smash, Heat Crash, Rollout

Twinkle the Clefable, Level 39 ♀
Bashful Nature
Psyshock, Dazzling Gleam, Draining Kiss, Magical Leaf

Frogue the Greninja, Level 39 ♂
Sassy Nature
Ice Punch, Night Slash, Water Shuriken, Aerial Ace

Juggernaught the Chesnaught, Level 39 ♀
Impish Nature
Pin Missile, Brick Break, Bullet Seed, Rollout

Seraphim the Dragonair, Level 36 ♂
Gentle Nature
Brutal Swing, Breaking Swipe, Dragon Rush, Whirlpool

Crackle the Tynamo, Level 37 ♀
Modest Nature
Thunder Wave, Tackle, Spark, Protect

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Froakie was tricky for me too. It took 6 tries to be fast enough on the final challenge. But now I've done a lot of climbing on small ledges to collect screws so I'm much better at it. Good luck, Froakie is a great addition to a team.

Did you get the female Ralts mystery gift? I think it is still active and she's very useful. Welcome to Lumiose.

I actually had to redo the final trial twice. I surprisingly didn’t find it as difficult as I thought those challenges would be as usually I'm not good at less than a minute time challenges in games.

 

[epithumia]

Froakie was tricky for me too. It took 6 tries to be fast enough on the final challenge. But now I've done a lot of climbing on small ledges to collect screws so I'm much better at it. Good luck, Froakie is a great addition to a team.

Did you get the female Ralts mystery gift? I think it is still active and she's very useful. Welcome to Lumiose.

the real problem was keeping calm and not throwing the switch out of the window every time I fell off the narrow planks lol but I've managed to complete it after a few tries getting familiar with the scaffolding course. turning the camera around until I was facing the planks straight ahead did the trick for me.
got all 3 of the Kalos starters but I'm not using any of them on this run.
and yeah, I did get it, but I gave the Gardevoirite to an alpha Ralts I caught that had a better nature. I'd forgotten how funny it is having HUGE critters on my team.

*

I just defeated Canari and got to rank E to get access to a few more wild zones. next goal is catching an alpha Inkay to add to my team. I'm about 28 hours in and I'm not really hurrying to complete the main story, just exploring, doing side quests, trying to put my party together and... shopping for clothes. all the money I've gotten so far has been spent on clothes :B

- party:
Antonio the Feraligatr
Karim the Krookodile (alpha)
Veectoria the Victreebell (alpha, mega)
Eric the Venusaur
Leona the Pyroar (exchanged the previous one for an alpha)
Isadora the Gardevoir (alpha, mega)
Wilhelmina the Scolipede (exchanged the previous one for an alpha)

- also training: Tyrunt, Roserade (alpha), Starmie (alpha), Eelektross, Talonflame (alpha), Florges
- supporting megas: Medicham, Houndoom (alpha), Sharpedo

 

[Tsukuyomi56]

Completed the quest for Lucario Z’s Mega Stone, so now have all Mega Stones that does not need a NSO subscription. Got lucky with getting a donut with Sparkling Power Psychic Lv 3 and Catch Power Lv 2 which I used to catch a shiny Beldum in a Beast Ball. Now waiting for Home compatibility to go live so I can bring over my shiny Eelektross in a Friend Ball from Violet (along with the Mystery Gift for Garchomp Z’s Mega Stone).