Let's Play Pokemon Legends Z-A, Part 3: Desire Grand Prix

Last we left off, we're about to enter the Z-A Royale properly, and we're immediately selected for a promotional match from Rank Z to Rank Y. Well, with 26 letters in the alphabet, we need to get going! And with a full party of six, it is time to run around in the night and start fighting everyone in my path. In this first Battle Royale, the zone appears in the same location that it did in the prologue, a bit of a mass of back-alleys near Hotel Z. 

Team MZ gathers together, although Naveen doesn't really seem to be particularly productive and just mutters vaguely supportive-but-not-really words. Lida is also there, and she notes that the whole point of recruiting new members is to have them compete. Lida and Taunie talk a bit about how trainer battles work, and I'm so happy that after the last couple of open-world attempts, we're finally having the 'aggressive trainers' back. Trainers will spot me and fight me, but I can also sneak-attack them by launching my Leafages and Tackles at them. 

And the battles are of course not too difficult, initially. An office lady with a Bellsprout stands in my way, and is psychic'd to defeat by my Ralts. Each battle gives me points to get to the promotional ticket,  but also medals that will be converted into Poke-Euros at the end of the night. Lida then gives me a tutorial to sneak up at an enemy, which I completely botch. 

The next guy is a backpacker trainer who fights me with Bunnelby and Fletchling. Chikorita handles the Bunnelby easily, and Mareep zaps the other bird out of the sky. I'm not sure if I'm keeping any of these team members other than Chikorita, but even if I do I feel like I'm going for Kalosian Pokemon. I have seen a couple of mega-evolutions on the ads that have been playing in real-world streets so I can't say I'm entirely unspoiled, but I also don't know if we're getting regional evolutions like Legends Arceus or not. 

The last trainer has a Weedle and... I don't remember if he has anything else, but I beat him. That gest me enough points to go to the promotional match. The promotion match, interestingly, happens outside the Battle Zone... but because I wanted to explore everything, I walk up to a policeman with a Pidgeotto at the end of the Battle Zone. 

Boy, that Pidgeotto trainer. 

Zooming in on him marks him as a Rank X trainer to my Rank Z. I mean, that's just two ranks higher, it's not like he's not at the tail-end of the alphabet... but that Pidgeotto is actually properly evolved, meaning that it's likely to be level 18 or above, and it absolutely demolishes four-sixths of my team, one-shotting everything in its path. I had to Dark Souls roll away from the trainer who was chasing me. Damn police and their attack birds!

This is giving me flashbacks to the demon Alpha Rapidash from Hisui. 

Anyway, thankfully the promotional battle takes place outside of the Battle Zone, so I have time to visit the pokemon Center. Interestingly, a dude in blue jacket stands outside of the Pokemon Center, and this is the ball-collecting guy. He collects all the Pokeballs that I toss and miss. I don't know if it's just the balls that miss the Pokemon, or if it includes the balls that break when the Pokemon breaks free, but he's apparently some kind of scavenger that gives it back to me. ...how did you know these are my balls, sir? But okay. Cute little service. 

Taunie is waiting for me in a nearby seat, and directs me towards where the promotional fight is going to happen... a taxi parking lot, surrounded by taxis. Our enemy,  Zach, has a day job of a taxi driver! I walk down towards the taxi lot, and I giggle at the random NPC that talks about how taxi drivers that get angry at customers that couldn't pay would challenge them to battle. Zach does this whole deal where he complains about how kids think it's so hard to go from Rank Z to Rank A. Which might have a point, honestly, I have been taking this too lightly and if it wasn't the tutorial level in a video game, he might be spouting some wisdom. Unfortunately, he's... not the most sane. 

I love that our Rotom Phones both fly out and even slam at each other and have a bit of a little beef as they register the official match. 

I tell Zach that it's a 'piece of gateau' for me to climb up to the next rank, and Zach shares to us his very noble taxi driver's dream. He's going to reach Rank A, and fulfill his wish... abolish all forms of non-taxi transport in Lumiose. The lunatic!

And it's like... there's not even any other transport in Lumiose other than walking and taxi. You don't see much cars, and the trains are strictly outside of Lumiose. There used to be Gogoat services, but NPCs have mentioned that this has been shut down due to the setting up of Wild Areas. So Zach's just insane! And even if we're taking things a bit less literally and assuming that there are a lot of offscreen vehicles, making it so that only taxis are legal is just going to raise a whole lot of problems. 

And Zach, the taxi driver... sends out a Slowpoke. Okay, yeah. Not the most threatening start. Pear the Chikorita very easily take down Slowpoke, especially she learned Razor Leaf off-screen (the game doesn't tell you, you just kind of have to check in the available moves to assign panel every now and then) and that means that her entire rotation is now offensive. Zach's second Pokemon? A Pidgey, which falls very easily to my Mareep's Thunder Shocks and Thunder Waves. Love that Thunder Wave sends a series of concentric lightning rings now. 

And Zach's final Pokemon is a Pikachu! Sucks to be you, Zach, I've got the starter that resists electricity. Chikorita packs up the Pikachu, and Zach just sadly claps, noting that this is his hundredth time watching someone else get promoted instead of him. I want to be sorry for him, but he's also a doofus who wants to replace all forms of transport in favour of taxis, so... can't be too sad at 'Le Z Éternel'.

I rank up from Z to Y, and I'm approached by a lady in a spy bodysuit and a trenchcoat... She praises for my battle, and this is... EMMA! Emma! Yes! Emma, or Essentia, is a NPC featured in XY's post-game storyline, where she is part of Looker's little storyline. Mild spoilers for a 12-year-old game, but Emma turns out to be mind-controlled by a Tron-like suit that takes over her body and makes her commit crimes while she's asleep under the alter-ego of Essentia. We have to track this back to the Team Flare scientist Xerosic. I've always had a soft spot for Emma (and Xerosic) for having a nice little secondary story in a game whose main story is a bit flat. And seeing Emma back fills me with a bit of joy. 

Emma is acquainted with Taunie and AZ, and she introduces herself as a detective entrusted with the protection of Lumiose City. Yes, Emma, that is what Looker charged you with after your redemption! Glad to see you're still doing that, and adapting Looker's trenchcoat! Emma is apparently investigating some suspicious Pokemon when she saw our battle, though she does not elaborate at all. She says something cryptic to Taunie about how she hasn't found the person Taunie is looking for.... before she literally Naruto-sprints away. 

I... bless you, Emma. You're fun. 

With Emma off, I gather with the rest of Team MZ in Hotel Z. Naveen tries to play it down by saying that technically I did 'merely' just beat Le Z Éternel, but Taunie hypes up the fact that this is my very first proper debut and how I totally did some very impressive things in battle. Yep, I spammed Razor Leaf and Leafage! Much strategy! Taunie reveals that 'MZ' stands for... Mega Evolution and Hotel Z. Not very creative, are you? AZ shows up and congratulates me, and notes that Emma couldn't have joined their mysterious cause due to her own commitments to her duties. AZ notes that he hopes the competition will carve the most powerful Mega Evolution user. Okay? 

Zygarde Cell-chan watches us as Taunie prepares dinner for us and... she... creates a tower of curry surrounded by croissants. I don't... I don't? I mean, Taunie, you're nice and all, but a croissant curry? I.... I must admit that I am not the most adventurous in food. But Naveen has an even stronger reaction: "I reject that monstrosity altogether". Damn, bro, okay. Taunie did lampshade that Naveen always finishes whatever she cooks, but Naveen also comes from a family that teaches him not to waste food... and besides, he seems to be eating just a sandwich instead of the curry tower monstrosity. 

As the day closes, we continue the next day with Taunie bringing me out for another trip, where we're supposed to go to Prism Tower. Naveen bemoans that we wouldn't be able to enjoy the tower properly due to some construction work around the tower, which I assume is going to be plot-relevant. 

As we come out, a group of workers led by what appears to be a Goron from Legend of Zelda come up. The workers wear shirts with... some anime girl on it? Are these idol-groupie construction workers? Okay? The Goron person is Tarragon, and they have fixed up the outside of the hotel. There's a bit of rudeness where Tarragon notes that it's not like they've got a lot of guests. Tarragon mentions someone called 'Canari' that could've promoted the hotel for us, but the conversation quickly devolves to Tarragon loving to make 'scaffolding obstacle courses'. Which just sounds insanely dangerous and a lawsuit waiting to happen. But I don't know, the Kalosians apparently can just jump off the sides of buildings without shattering their kneecaps, so maybe the Poke-French are just built different!

Tarragon tells me to collect Colorful Screws from these scaffolding platformers, and then gives me one of the presents that I might get... a Red Canari Plush, which is... a doll of a person? I don't think Canari is a Pokemon? That charm is like a mini Lucky Egg charm, increasing experience points by a little bit for the whole party. 

Taunie gives a bit of a tutorial about the strange, tumour-like pink rocks growing everywhere,  which has encroached upon our shortcut ladder. These pink crystals are called Mega Crystals, and I can smash them with any move, even weak ones like Tackle and Peck, and gather the Mega Shards to be exchanged for something. 

I climb up the buildings after that and follow Taunie around, Assassin's Creed-ing through various rooftops until Taunie randomly appears on street level. She just yells at me to jump. Against all common sense, I do jump... and right before hitting the ground, the Rotom Phone ends up breaking my fall as a levitating parachute. Just like how it was in Scarlet/Violet, I feel that even if a levitating ghost-friend exists, doing that will still wrench my shoulders out of their sockets. 

Taunie shows off the second Wild Zone, which is a nice little park with some wooden bridges over ponds and rivers. Taunie lets me wander around this wild area for a bit, although I can't explore too much outside of the park, as the Rotom Phone and Taunie's words kind of lock me on the railroad. 

This little park has quite a bit of Pokemon. Most common are the Budew, who are super timid and just escape if you don't sneak up on them. The waterways are filled with Magikarps, and some Patrat lurk around the grass. Kakuna lurk silently from trees. But most notable is Binacle, who just... this marine barnacle just... waddles around in this random park in the city? Mable was right, the ecosystem is a bit fucked. I've always had a soft spot for Barbaracle, although I'm not sure if I want Binacle to be my Water-type for this playthrough. Kalos does have a couple of other interesting Water-types.

I am disappointed that despite being in a wild area with a small river and some wooden bridges, Binacle isn't found in either of those... but on just a random patch of grass. Boo! BOO!

Again, this whole ecosystem and urban redevelopment thing is raised slightly by some of the NPCs outside of this circular Wild Area, with a couple of policemen discussing how all these Pokemon appearing is weird, but at least they're not bothering anyone. 

After running around Wild Zone 2, destroying Mega Shards, and being blocked from exploring all other directions by Taunie, she brings me to the Nouveau Cafe, which is a little coffee bar operating from outside the side of a van. It looks very Team Flare coded, with bright orange colours and NPCs with very fancy hair colour. No doubt that these two baristas will probably become side characters down the line, by virtue of their fancy anime hair. The lady that interacts with us has hair that reminds me specifically of Hisuian Zoroark. 

Anyway, Taunie and I sit down to drink the 'Ember Roast' (other available coffee roasts are named after stronger Fire-type moves) and we have a nice time looking at Prism Tower... until a guy that's totally a mafia bodyguard shows up. Vinnie is dressed in a fancy suit, with green gloves, shoes and undershirt. He's built like a gorilla... and would have been intimidating if he doesn't have a cute little Buneary scrunchie around his hair. Vinnie introduces himself as the Quasartico CEO's secretary, 'although more like an errand boy'. Vinnie seems likable enough and he knows Taunie, an after apologizing on behalf of Quasartico for the Prism Tower's closing, he leaves. 

I find a Pokemon Center, and an NPC there tells me that I should make a habit to go to Pokemon Centers because they get registered as travel spots. Fast travel? Absolutely, man!

We're supposed to go to the Looker Bureau to meet Emma, and we reach Rouge Plaza. A crowd is gathered nearby a Wild Area, though, which we'll check out next time!

Random Notes:

• But no, seriously, what the fuck was that Pidgeotto. 
• This new battle system does make everything feel a bit more fresh, as even older moves like Thunder Wave or Screech have new effects and animations that matter because of their AoE or range. It really does breathe a fair amount of life into these earlier battles! 
  
• Chikorita also learns Disarming Voice, which is... most certainly an interesting move for her but I suppose if there's a Grass-type starter that deserves Fairy-type moves, it is the Chikorita line. 
• The cafe near Hotel Z is called Cafe Introversion, which honestly sounds like a great name to call a coffee shop. 
• A random painter mumbles about how the scaffolding in the urban development might be considered 'modern art'. I know art is subjective, but... no, ma'am.
• Pikachu is back into speaking in garbled poke-voices instead of the voice actress in this game. I prefer that a lot! Have all Pokemon speak in garbled cries, or have them all use anime voices, but not a mixture!
• The Holovators are... interesting. I get why they included it, so we don't have to animate a climbing animation (Breath of the Wild, as fantastic as the game otherwise is, made me absolutely loathe just waiting to climb) but it feels a bit janky to me.
• The curry that Taunie uses to make the croissant curry is noted to come from Galar. Fantastic, I played Sword and Shield, the protagonists put a lot of insane shit into those curries so I'm not particularly enthused that the curry's going to taste natural at all, let alone paired with croissant. 
• "I eat many other things, but I draw the line at croissant curry."
• Pink crystals make me think of Diancie. She doesn't seem to be a legendary Pokemon to make her stuff grow out of control, but I really love the idea that this game is going to let the other Kalosian Pokemon that never got the spotlight in games to shine. 
• I got a Quick Claw from a random vendor who was out of crepes. I mean... sure? Those things don't exactly correlate, but okay?
• I absolutely love the little Pokemon-themed posters around town. My favourite is probably Whismur with a little worker's hat on the construction sites. 
• In Wild Area 2, there's a random building with the Aerial Ace TM on top. I wasn't planning to have Fletchling long term, but between Aerial Ace and learning Ember naturally, it's probably my second-most-useful teammate.
• Another person with a stated Z-A Royale wish is a Furisode Girl in Rouge Plaza, who comments that if she wins she's going to make everyone wear a Furisode outfit. Neato.