Prolific Pokémon Source Potentially Leaks Legends Z-A's Starters Half a Year Early (2024)

Gaming leaks are among the most common subjects in the industry regarding any anticipated title release. An entire community devotes itself to determining the factual basis of each leak, and whether they are genuine. The community is so vast that there's an entire Reddit hub dedicated entirely to leaks in the Pokémon franchise — PokéLeaks, which has its own Discord server, flairs, and rules dedicated to posting any new leaks properly. As the latest known upcoming Pokémon title as of this article's publishing date, Pokémon Legends: Z-A garners many leaks and rumors.

An Twitter/X account known as "Khu Beating Around the Bush", otherwise known as Riddler Khu, is a prominent Pokémon leaker in the community. As the namesake implies, Riddler Khu usually posts tweets in the form of riddles for others to decipher. Some suggest that Riddler Khu does this to be as intentionally vague as possible, to pretend they were on top of things after each game is released, though others believe they simply have limited information or don't want to be outed by Game Freak. Regardless, Riddler Khu's leaks will likely continue to capture viewer interest for years to come.

One Theory Stands Out Among All Others

Most Pokémon Games Have Three Starters

On Oct. 6, Riddler Khu posted a simple and cryptic tweet: "3 5 8". The most commonly believed theory is that the tweet relates to Pokémon Legends: Z-A's three starters. This theory has credence because Pokémon Legends: Arceus' three starters came from different generations — Rowlet from the seventh generation represents Grass, Cyndaquil from the second generation represents Fire, and Oshawott from the fifth generation represents Water. If it's assumed that these starters are translated from the number set, 7 2 5, then 3 5 8 translates into three similarly outlying starter starters — Treecko from the third generation, Tepig from the fifth generation, and Sobble from the eighth generation.

Since Pokémon Legends: Arceus avoided recycling any of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl's starters despite taking place in the ancient Sinnoh region, it can be assumed that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will similarly avoid recycling Pokémon X & Y's starters despite taking place in Kalos. It's also possible that the final evolutions of all three of these starters will be given different regional forms — Decidueye, Typhlosion, and Samurott have Hisuian Forms with a new secondary type that can be transferred over to the main series' games. Interestingly, transferring them from Pokémon HOME is the only way to acquire these Hisuian forms in , since their respective pre-evolutions will evolve into their regular final evolutions otherwise.

There may be other implications for these final starters, however, since Pokémon Legends: Z-A is stated to take place during an urban redevelopment project in Lumiose City. In other words, this game likely won't take place in the distant past, and the Pokémon series didn't introduce regional forms until Pokémon Sun & Moon — one generation after Pokémon X & Y's debut. Unless Game Freak plans to implement alternative evolutions directly related to an urban setting, these starters are not as likely to receive unique "Luminous Forms". An alternative theory is that these starters' final evolutions will receive Mega Evolutions instead.

As many longtime Pokémon fans know, Pokémon X & Y introduced the Mega Evolution concept, which brings older classic Pokémon a new competitive edge while holding their respective Mega Stone in battle. Some Pokémon, like Charizard and Mewtwo, have two Mega Evolutions. Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire implemented more Mega Evolutions that didn't exist in Pokémon X & Y, including those for each of its starters. It's reasonable to think that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will mark the return of Mega Evolutions after the concept was removed from Pokémon Sword & Shield and onward.

Many Other Theories May Also Emerge

3 5 8 Can Have Any Number of Meanings

If this turns out to be true, then the theory of 3 5 8 representing Pokémon Legends: Z-A's starters loses merit. Treecko's final evolution, Sceptile, was already given a Mega Evolution in Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. While Sceptile could conceivably be given a second one, this may give it a sense of favoritism compared to Emboar and Inteleon, since neither of these Pokémon has a Mega Evolution. Furthermore, Inteleon came out during a generation when Mega Evolution was already removed from the series, so it would be strange for it to suddenly have access to one. When these arguments are considered, 3 5 8 may not represent starter Pokémon at all.

Perhaps there are 358 Pokémon to catch in Pokémon Legends: Z-A — 116 more Pokémon than Pokémon Legends: Arceus' relatively modest roster of 242. This is plausible since Pokémon X & Yonly introduced 72 new Pokémon — the lowest introduced in any new generation, so Pokémon Legends: Z-A could be Game Freak's way of adding new Kalos Pokémon or evolutions that didn't exist in the sixth generation. 3 5 8 could also represent three different elements entirely — for example, there could be three starters, five new evolutions, and eight new Mega Evolutions. This is plausible because Pokémon Legends: Arceus added evolutions to Ursaring and Stantler — two Pokémon that are otherwise unchanged or given regional forms.

Perhaps 3 5 8 doesn't represent Pokémon in any way whatsoever. It's well-known among puzzle aficionados that 3 5 8 represent the fifth, sixth, and seventh numbers of the Fibonacci sequence — a series of numbers where each is the sum of the two preceding numbers, starting with zero and one. Hence, the sequence goes like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on.

It wouldn't be out of place for Riddler Khu to post a potential Pokémon leak based on a famous riddle. If so, the next number would be 13, which symbolizes misfortune and is typically reserved for the "anti-Christ" in Biblical terms. Since Pokémon Legends: Arceus portrays the literal god of the universe, Arceus itself, this could be their way of hinting that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will portray a potential "devil Pokémon", assuming Giratina didn't already count.

Another plausible theory is that 3 5 8 represents 358 days, which could be the intended release date for Pokémon Legends: Z-A. If it's assumed that the date when the tweet was posted — Oct. 6, 2024 — is chosen specifically, then 358 days from that day would be Sept. 29, 2025. Since the game is slated to be released in 2025, this is a plausible release date for the game. It also gives Game Freak plenty of time to build up the game into an alpha stage just in time for National Pokémon Day, which takes place on Feb. 27 annually. This gives Nintendo a chance to advertise some of the game's newest features while giving Game Freak another seven months to polish the game in time for release.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

RPG

Adventure

Franchise

Pokemon

Platform(s)

Nintendo Switch

Released

2025

Developer(s)

Game Freak , Creatures Inc.

Publisher(s)

Nintendo , The Pokemon Company