Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s starters make their debut in new trailer

Like its predecessor, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is bringing back three classic starter pokemon to get you started on your next adventure.

Though Pokemon Legends: Z-A will likely introduce a number of new creatures, Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile will be the first three partner pokemon you can choose between as you journey into the depths of Lumoise city. The starters were the star of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A teaser The Pokemon Company's debuted during this year's Pokemon Presents. Details about the game are still sparse, but we now know a little bit more about how its battles will work.

Like other Pokemon games, you will be able to fight wild pokemon found throughout certain areas, but rather than just launching attacks turn-by-turn, Legends: Z-A will require players to think strategically about the range moves have and where their monsters are on the battlefield. The video - which focuses on how moves can have different ranges of effect and levels of damage depending on a pokemon's position on the field - makes Legends Z-A's battling look a bit like fighting in Diablo.

The video also emphasizes how, because the game is set entirely in Lumiose, many of the areas where wild pokemon can be found are special locations like alleys and rooftops where the creatures are learning to cohabitate with humans. Like in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, players will be able to catch monsters without battling in some cases by simply throwing pokeballs at them from a distance.

That mechanic in particular should make the game feel much more fluid than Scarlet and Violet, but we won't know for sure until Pokemon Legends: Z-A debuts for the Switch family of system some time later this year.