It's Officially the End of an Era for Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Ranked Battles Season 9 of Pokemon Legends: Z-A is slowly coming to an end, with the details of Season 10 now being available to all players. While it’s to be expected, Pokemon Legends: Z-A Season 10 clinches that the seasonal structure of the game is officially on redistribution and autopilot mode. As the old saying goes, twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Seasons 1-7 all distributed brand new Mega Stones for players, encouraging even more casual players to check out the competitive game modes. Season 8 did not, but that could have been brushed away because season 8 of Pokemon Legends: Z-A was a special season. Season 9 did not, but that could have been chalked up to coincidence (even if the writing is on the wall). And with season 10 repeating this pattern, it’s clear that the focus on Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles was also planned to move on around Season 7. It’s likely no coincidence that Pokemon Champions has been released and Pokemon Home transfers are available as of April, after all.

Pokemon: Every Mythical & Legendary Pokemon

A complete list of every mythical and legendary Pokemon, including their types, base stat totals and the games in which players can catch them.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Season 1 introduced Greninjite (Mega Greninja), Season 2 introduced Delphoxite (Mega Delphox), and Season 3 introduced Chesnaughtite (Mega Chesnaught). Season 4 then introduced Baxcalibrite for Mega Baxcalibur. Seasons 5 through 7 introduced Blazikenite (Mega Blaziken), Swampertite (Mega Swampert), and Sceptilite (Mega Sceptile), respectively, with the more current seasons (8-10) being on repeat.

It’s still possible that special seasons like Season 8 for Pokemon Legends: Z-A happen, but at this point, that is less likely. It’s clear that The Pokemon Company and every company involved wanted competitive gameplay to turn to Pokemon Champions, especially as it is set to become the host of VGC down the road. Perhaps the companies will pivot, but for now, Pokemon Season 10 is an indication that the game is on autopilot.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles Season 10 Start Time

April 22 at 11 pm PT to May 13 at 7 pm PT///April 23 at 2 am ET to May 13 at 10 pm ET

As confirmed by Pokemon.com, the next season of Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles will begin in the late hours of Wednesday, April 22, 2026 (or the wee hours of April 23 for those not on the West Coast). Players will be able to compete in four-player, real-time online battles with trainers across the world, and players will be able to ascend through the ranks as they play. They begin at Rank Z and move to Rank A, collecting Battle Rewards at the end of each battle, Promotion Rewards as they move through the ranks, and Season Rewards once the Season comes to an end in May.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Mega Garchomp

The Basics of Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles

Ranked Battles have a time limit of 3 minutes, and each time a Pokemon faints, that player is returned to their starting point on the battlefield with their Pokemon fully recovered. Players can only swap active Pokemon three times before one is KO’d, at which time the limit is reset. Players are then ranked from First Place to Fourth Place based on the number of Pokemon defeated (as well as certain actions). These determine the points earned from each match, and upon reaching the maximum points of the current rank, a promotion occurs.

For Season 10, the Eligible Pokemon list includes Lumiose Pokedex Numbers 1-227 and 231, as well as Hyperspace Pokedex 001-127, 131, and 132. Pokemon can be registered if they are level 1, level 100, or anywhere between, but all Pokemon are set to level 50 in battle. There cannot be repeated Pokedex numbers in Ranked Battles, and no duplicated held items are allowed. The excluded Pokemon from Ranked include the following:

Lumiose Pokedex No. 228 Xerneas
Lumiose Pokedex No. 229 Yveltal
Lumiose Pokedex No. 230 Zygarde
Lumiose Pokedex No. 232 Mewtwo
Hyperspace Pokedex No. 128 Kyogre
Hyperspace Pokedex No. 129 Groudon
Hyperspace Pokedex No. 130 Rayquaza

GameRant Quiz

Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles Season 10 Season Rewards

To get your Season 9 rewards, navigate to Linked Play –> Ranked Battles once the Pokemon Legends

Finishing at Rank A	Gold Bottle Cap ×3 Bottle Cap ×5 Seed of Mastery ×3 Big Nugget ×1
Finishing at Rank B to Rank E	Gold Bottle Cap ×2 Bottle Cap ×3 Seed of Mastery ×2 Nugget ×2
Finishing at Rank F to Rank I	Gold Bottle Cap ×1 Bottle Cap ×2 Seed of Mastery ×1 Nugget ×2
Finishing at Rank J to Rank M	Bottle Cap ×1 Seed of Mastery ×1 Nugget ×2
Finishing at Rank N to Rank R	Seed of Mastery ×1 Nugget ×1
Finishing at Rank S or Below

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles Season 10 Promotion Rewards

Pokemon Legends: Z-A players will begin at Rank Z and can be promoted all the way to Rank A. From Rank Y to Rank S, players will also be able to grab some returning Mega Stones: Greninjite, Delphoxite, Chesnaughtite, Baxcalibrite, Sceptilite, Swampertite, and Blazikenite, respectively.

Some Pokemon Legends: Z-A pre-orders are getting canceled without explanation

It’s Not All “Bad News” for Pokemon Legends: Z-A

While more competitive players may feel a little sting from Ranked Battles going into autopilot, the fact remains that Pokemon Legends: Z-A has served, and continues to serve, its purpose in the current Pokemon schema. It’s clear, with its limited budget, that it is more or less a holdover game, whether fans like that or not. It gave fans a little something to play as they await the future of mainline games with Pokemon Winds and Waves. It gave fans something close to Pokemon Z, or the lack thereof, with the Pokemon X and Y generation. It gave fans a little something to play with as they awaited the future of competitive battling in Pokemon Champions (even if the jury is still out on it after a lackluster release). And it was something new ahead of something old with Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Switch release earlier this year.

At the end of the day, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a role-player and what a role-player it is.