This week, in the annual Pokemon Day Pokemon Presents, a new Pokemon game was announced, just as everyone expected. Pokemon has announced Legends Z-A, which was not what anyone expected. A successor to Pokemon Legends Arceus and taking place in the Kalosian City of Lumiose and centering on the legendary Pokemon Zygarde, this game will finally give the Legendary Order Pokemon the spotlight.

When X and Y first released, the previously followed formula mandated that we’d get a second installment in the sixth generation of Pokemon with a Pokemon Z. Like Giratina and Rayquaza before it, Zygarde could be found hidden away in a hidden cave with little fanfare around it. Giratina and Rayquaza received their own titles. For Zygarde, that never happened. Instead, we were given Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire- two of the most beloved Pokemon remakes- followed by the next mainline games, Sun and Moon, which were widely panned by the Pokemon community.

It wasn’t until these seventh gen games came out that we truly experienced Zygarde. The exploration of Z-cells in the games made it feel more like Zygarde belonged in Alola than Kalos, but the legendary mon had no major impact on the story or game. Not to mention, we were introduced to the 10% and Complete forms. While Nintendo hasn’t revealed any information confirming this, the existence of this sidequest and the multiple forms of Zygarde all but guarantee that a Pokemon Z was scrapped.

With the release of Z-A, Zygarde finally gets its opportunity to shine. But the question remains- what will this new adventure look like?

Legends Arceus was a decently-sized open world game that took traditional Pokemon mechanics and gave a twist- repeated captures of Pokemon helped you complete research, your Pokemon could battle wild Pokemon freely, Alpha Pokemon posed a threat to not just your partners, but to you as well. For the first time, you, the trainer, could be a target. All of this led to you curing the crazed Guardians around the region, finally taking down Giratina before it wrought its havoc.

For Legends Z-A, many fans might anticipate much of the same that made PLA successful. An open world, revolutionized old mechanics, alpha Pokemon, the whole bit. But, if PLA set the standard that Legends games won’t be like anything we’ve seen before, what’s stopping Game Freak from changing the game again?

With an opportunity to expand on the grand Lumiose City, heavily implying you will have a major hand in reshaping the city, it seems the perfect opportunity to sprinkle Zygarde cells in hidden corners and nooks that you must unlock through construction. 

Like the Spiritomb quest in PLA, finding the pieces of Zygarde in order to find, form, and strengthen the Legendary of the Land is a winning formula. Will you be hunted by remnants of Team Flare, will AZ come back from wherever he went off to (AZ..ZA…hmm), or will you have to stop a knock-out drag-out fight between the embodiments of life and death? Perhaps, if they are ambitious enough, it will be all and then some.

Legends Z-A, like Legends Arceus, has the potential to flesh out the story of a Pokemon shrouded in obscurity and be one of, if not the greatest Pokemon game yet.