Summary
This year’s Pokemon Presents livestream has finally given fans a look atPokemon Legends: Z-A’s gameplay, and many enthusiasts of the franchise are already discussing a few interesting theories regarding the freshly-revealed protagonists of the games. The Pokemon Company has once again done something a little unexpected with these characters, with the playable protagonists ofPokemon Legends: Z-Anot really bearing much resemblance to the original Gen 6 protagonists as many players had imagined.
Many players had expected theprotagonists ofPokemon Legends: Z-Ato look likeX and Y’s Calem and Serena afterPokemon Legends: Arceushad previously pulled a similar move by having its playable characters share many similarities with the classic Gen 4 protagonists. Instead,Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which is revealed to be releasing sometime late this year, will be introducing a pair of new playable characters that instead look suspiciously like certain other characters from throughout the franchise. This reveal quickly got fans speculating, and a number of competing theories are already circulating the online community.
Perhaps the most prevalent theory at present is that the playable characters inPokemon Legends: Z-Aare related to, or perhaps even the children of,Pokemon X and Y’s Professor Sycamore. The similarities are most easily recognized in the upcoming title’s male protagonist, with the character’s hair featuring the same dark shade and curly style as the Kalos region’s beloved Pokemon Professor. While this idea is certainly plausible, an interesting piece of information found on thePokemon Legends: Z-Apageof the officialPokemonwebsite explains that the game’s protagonists arrive in Lumiose City for the purposes of sightseeing, potentially suggesting they originate from a different region altogether.
Fans Have Multiple Theories About the Identities of Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Protagonists
A different theory that other fans put together is intriguing though extremely unlikely overall, as was quickly pointed out by many otherPokemonenthusiasts. This alternate idea suggests thatLegends: Z-A’s protagonists may even somehow be Ethan and Lyra, the playable characters in the Gen 2 games, in the modern day, or at least related to them in some way. Some fans were drawn to this idea by certain similarities in these characters' eye colors, hairstyles, and even similarities in their outfits, althoughLegends: Z-Adoes harbor a tangential connection to the Johto region in thattwo of the game’s starter Pokemonare confirmed to be Gen 2 starters.
The main problem with this idea is that, from the perspective of the core-series games' canon, Ethan and Lyra would be in their thirties at this point. Longtime fans of thePokemonseries have essentially watched Red, theoriginal protagonist from the Gen 1Pokemontitles, grow up over the years as he has appeared across several titles throughout the decades. While anything could realistically happen by the timePokemon Legends: Z-Areleases, it’s most likely that the game’s protagonists will be totally new named characters that fans will get to step into the shoes of once the game releases late this year.
