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Anything that cannot Mega Evolve cannot join in on the battles, so there's going to be some provisos in place (though it's easy to circumvent, as Z-A is centered around Megas, and gives you a ton of them for free). All Pokemon will have their stats scaled to level 50 for the season, and since you can catch up with all previous Mega Stone rewards, now is a great time to play.
Here are all the Season 16 rewards on offer for ranking up:
To participate in Ranked Battles, open the main menu, then select Link Play, and then select Ranked Battles. An internet connection is required, so please make sure you can connect to the internet beforehand. On the Z-A Battle Club screen, you’ll have one more chance to edit your team, and then you can press the A Button to get ready for battle. After you select your team, matchmaking will begin to search for opponents around your rank.Battles have a three-minute time limit, so don't feel like you're jumping into a huge commitment. When a Pokémon faints, you'll go back to the starting point, then re-enter the fight. You can swap your Pokémon three times in a battle (until you're knocked out), and at the end, rankings are based on the number of Pokémon defeated (and points gained in battle).
After all that, you'll get a total point score, then potentially be promoted up the ranks. You'll start at Z, then go to A, and your rank cannot decrease during the season. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is.
It's a pretty breezy and fun way to play Pokémon Legends: Z-A after you're done with the main story and the DLC,
- Released
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October 16, 2025
- ESRB
- Developer(s)
- Publisher(s)
- Engine
Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
Game Freak, Creatures Inc.
Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
Proprietary