Pokémon Legends Z-A was teased 2 years ago and we didn’t even notice

Eagle-eyed Pokémon fans have spotted what may have been a teaser for Pokémon Legends Z-A two years ago that seems to have gone completely under the radar.

A surprise return to Kalos was revealed in the slew of announcements on Pokémon Day 2024, and the reveal of Pokémon Legends Z-A caught fans off guard—though it seems the predecessor, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, provided a hint at what was to follow.

At the start of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the player character is transported back in time to the Sinnoh region, then known as the Hisui region, and your character certainly stands out from the rest in modern clothing.

Those who picked a male character for their playthrough may not have taken too much notice of the clothes on your back, but one fan has discovered we should have been looking closely as the t-shirt was one that also appeared in Pokémon X & Y.

Pokémon X & Y was the first mainline Pokémon game to include customizable clothes for your character. In the decade following, hundreds of t-shirts have appeared in the series—so why exactly was this one chosen? Could it have been a subtle nod to Pokémon Legends Z-A?

That theory is certainly given more credibility by the fact that those who selected a female character in Pokémon Legends: Arceus began the game in a t-shirt that featured in Pokémon Sword & Shield, a nod to the most recent generation of Pokémon games at the time of launch.

With Pokémon Legends Z-A due to release in 2025, Game Freak surely knew what it had up its sleeves for the years ahead when Pokémon Legends: Arceus landed in 2022, so it may well be that the t-shirt was planted as a subtle nod to its plans.

Those sorts of hints would not be new for the company, which often places teasers within its games on what lies ahead, so perhaps it’s time we all took a much closer look at every release to see if we can crack the code.