Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s Worst Side Mission Disrespects Nearly Three Decades Of History

Pokémon Legends: Z-A launched earlier this month, on October 16, for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and there hasn’t been a day since its release that I haven’t played it. I’m having a really great time with it, but that’s not what I’m writing about today. No, I’m here to write about the disrespect Legends: Z-A has shown not only me, but the most beloved set of starters in Pokémon history. 

About five to seven hours into Legends: Z-A, after a gruelingly slow and boring sequence of tutorial missions, you’ll have the opportunity to fight a designated trainer and achieve Rank W in the game’s titular tournament. After that battle, Mable, the Pokémon professor of Lumiose, will ring your Rotom phone (side note: remember when Rotom was basically a Mythical or Legendary Pokémon back in the day, but is now a pocket monster that apparently everyone literally carries in their pocket?), giving you a side mission called “A Call from Mable.” 

Now, you don’t have to complete this side mission immediately, but if you know how simple side missions in Legends: Z-A are at this point in your Lumiose journey, it’s easy to commit to doing so. 

To complete it, head to the Pokémon Research Lab and take the elevator up to Mable’s office. Once here, you’ll see three familiar Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. 

Image Source: WoW Quests on YouTube

There’s no pomp and circumstance for the most iconic starter trio in series history; there’s no buildup to this moment; you just walk into a room and there they are. And wouldn’t you know it, after a few lines of dialogue, Mable is asking you to select one and take it with you on your journey. 

I made my way to Mable’s office in the late hours of the night, casually enjoying what Lumiose has to offer. At this point, I didn’t (and still don’t) have any idea what I was shaping my Pokémon party into. I selected Totodile, obviously, as my starter in Legends: Z-A and had already captured a Gastly that I was happy with, but the other four slots on my team – anybody’s guess. Imagine my shock when I’m told to select a Kanto starter, and then imagine that shock multiplied when I try to leave Mable’s Office but am told I can’t until I choose Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. 

Image Source: WoW Quests on YouTube

I desperately wanted to get out of that office – I was not prepared to make this decision. I had no idea which hole I needed a Kanto starter to fill in my party, aside from likely not needing Squirtle, my personal favorite, since Totodile already covers Water-type on my team. I thought I could just leave the office and return to select one of these Pokémon later, ideally hours further into my journey, when I have a better idea of which Kanto starter would make more sense on my team. Instead, I was hastily forced to make a decision I didn’t want to make.

This moment felt highly disrespectful to me, as a player and Legends: Z-A trainer, but it also felt disrespectful to the legacy of these starters. For many Pokémon players, the Kanto starters are the starters, the Pokémon we’re still so attached to all these years later. I wish Legends: Z-A rose to the occasion when gifting us one of these monsters, though perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised since this isn’t the first time a Pokémon game has lazily handed over the Kanto starters. You could argue this entire sequence is a callback to Pokémon X and Y, which similarly force you to select a Kanto starter without notice early in the game. But still, is Game Freak not aware of the history these three Pokémon carry? You’re not asking me to pick just any Pokémon; you’re asking me to reach back into time and select a piece of my childhood to take with me into the future. Act like it. 

Callback or not, it’s the same ambivalence here in Legends: Z-A that I tasted back in X and Y. 

I’m not a game designer and won’t pretend to know the optimal way to dole out a Kanto starter, but I have been playing this series long enough to know Game Freak understands how to handle the gravity of specific monumental Pokémon, like its Legendaries. Climbing the floors of Rayquaza’s Sky Pillar, the sealed chamber puzzles you must complete to get the Regi-trio (Regirock, Registeel, Regice), the roaming dogs of the Johto region – these are all great examples of how Game Freak properly handled the gravitas of specific Pokémon, and I’m not asking the team to treat the Kanto starters as Legendaries, but they deserve more than a 30-second side mission. 

Ultimately, I put my Switch 2 down and talked through my decision-making with my wife next to me. Charmander is the easy pick, right? Who doesn’t want a Charizard? But I actually went with Bulbasaur. When you select one of these starters, they let out a small cry with a lil’ animation, and Bulbasaur reminded my wife of our pup, Sparrow, and that was that. 

So now, my permanent party features Croconaw, Ivysaur, and Gastly, with three more spots open. I just hope I’m not forced into a confrontation with my past, my history with this series, and my love for these pocket monsters again when it comes to rounding out my team. 

For more, read Game Informer’s Pokémon Legends: Z-A review. 

Which Kanto starter are you going to pick in Pokémon Legends: Z-A when the time comes? Let me know in the comments below!