Game Freak is finally admitting ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’ is dead with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

In the Jurassic era of Pokémon games, in the early 2000s, I remember taking my Game Boy Color to meet up with school friends to trade using a link cable. I had a copy of Pokémon Silver and traded with kids who had the Gold exclusives I didn’t have, like Gligar and Ursaring. I also evolved my Kadabra into Alakazam with quick touch trades.

While I loved to capture more Pokémon back then, especially because I lived in the ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’ era of the anime, I never had the ambition of completing the Pokédex, even in the endgame. It was virtually impossible. I couldn’t find starters in the wild, and some Legendary Pokémon were version or event exclusives I never had in my country.

Some Pokémon felt rare because the real-world effort you had to put in to obtain them was borderline impossible, so owning them felt like a big accomplishment. Completing the Pokédex felt like this utopian dream that kept me playing after finishing the story in hopes that I could eventually do it. The true endgame was about this endless pursuit of owning all Pokémon.

Wait, how did I catch them all?

Fast forward to the Nintendo DS and 3DS eras, and the online connectivity of the Global Trade System melted most barriers to catching all Pokémon. Trading Haunter for another one to evolve into Gengar was simple, and offering the two Turtwig you bred to get Chimchar and Piplup was easy.

It became even easier with Sword and Shield on the Nintendo Switch, since you could now catch fully evolved trade Pokémon like Scizor. A generation later, catching Legendary Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet became a matter of grinding Snackworth’s quests that weren’t too hard.

It became so easy to complete the Pokédex lately that it’s not memorable anymore. I’ve registered all Pokémon of the regional Pokédex in every game since X and Y, but I can’t even remember how some of them got there. I had never completed the Pokédex in the games before online features, like Pokémon Emerald.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A continues with that trend of making all Pokémon easily accessible and simplifying completing the Pokédex in the endgame. But for the first time, the game seems to admit that capturing them isn’t as important as battling in the Z-A Royale. Game Freak is finally saying: Don’t worry about the Pokédex, you will catch them all. Your new endgame is battling nonstop.

Gotta battle ’em all

Legends: Z-A has some rare Pokémon spawns like Hawlucha and Dratini, but all barriers to completing the Pokédex are also easy to pass. Starters are found in the wild or as gifts from Side Missions. All Legendaries are catchable in the story or right after it, and you can trade Pokémon to evolve with anyone in the world using Link Codes.

While in past games you would beat the Elite Four and spend a long time trying to catch every Pokémon and complete your Pokédex in the endgame, now you either hunt for shinies or grind the online ranked ladder instead. Battling became so core to the endgame that ZA’s Pokédex Research will force you to fight 1,000 trainer battles to complete all requests.

Legends: Z-A even ties important items like Greninja’s Mega Evolution stone, Greninjite, to ranked battles. There’s no big endgame for those who want to collect Pokémon, but there’s an endless ranked online Z-A Royale ladder if you like the combat.

Despite completing the Pokédex today being easy, it’s still fun. However, I do miss some kind of middle ground, a challenge that’s simple yet demanding that would make completing the Pokédex more meaningful and memorable. It could be a Pokémon that only evolves via local trading, or that’s only available during a certain season, or maybe a Pokémon GO integration where you have to physically be somewhere else to catch that Pokémon.

I’m fine with battles becoming the focus in ZA and future games, as long as completing the Pokédex becomes more memorable than trading with strangers online at random.