Z-A Season 5 is actually bringing your worst nightmares to life (quite literally)

Andrea is an editor at Game Rant, where she has been writing professionally about video games for nearly five years. She became a gamer for life at 7, thanks to a copy of Pokemon Red and her Game Boy. As a Destiny 2 and Pokemon fan, Andrea loves games where she’s tasked with thinking strategically. When she is not editing, Andrea writes about games she likes and finds new ways to create content for Game Rant.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Dimension DLC came out about one month ago, and it introduced several new ways to play the game, find your favorite critters, shiny hunt, and even get a ton of free Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. Whether the expansion is for everyone is up for debate, as it has roguelike elements like randomized and time-limited Hyperspace Areas, but it’s hard to argue against the fun it can bring to the table with many returning Pokemon and new Mega Evolutions. Regardless of where you stand, if you want to get all the ranked rewards in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, you have to play through each season, and Season 5 may be when your worst nightmares come to life.

This is due to a few key factors tied to how the DLC works, what the seasonal model entails for ranked battles and rewards, and how Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Legendary and Mythical Pokemon can reshape PvP massively. The reasons are:

Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Darkrai is nightmares incarnate and the main plot point of the DLC, and in battle, it’s incredibly powerful thanks to its absurd 165 base Special Attack and 130 Defense and Special Defense.
Season 5 allows players to use most Legendary and Mythical Pokemon in the game, and the list of new entries includes:
- Mega Sceptile
- Latias and Mega Latias
- Latios and Mega Latios
- Heatran and Mega Heatran
- Darkrai and Mega Darkrai
- Cobalion
- Terrakion
- Virizion
- Keldeo
- Meloetta
- Genesect
- Hoopa
- Volcanion
- Magearna and Mega Magearna
- Marshadow
- Zeraora and Mega Zeraora
- Meltan
- Melmetal
In order to get Mega Sceptile in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, you need to play ranked battles in Season 5, meaning you will either have to use or face constantly Legendary and Mythical Pokemon.
Some of the Legendary and Mythical Pokemon becoming available in Season 5 are hard to get because they rely on RNG, as there is no way of manipulating the special scans you will get. This means you may not get them before or even during Season 5, if you haven’t already, and the process can be dragged out for days if you also want to shiny hunt Latias, Latios, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion.

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All Features for Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Mega Dimension DLC Confirmed So Far

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is about to get its Mega Dimension DLC, and players can expect many new Mega Evolutions, returning Pokemon, and more.

All Returning Legendary and Mythical Pokemon in Legends: Z-A Season 5

Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s DLC Legendaries and Mythicals are many; to be exact, there are 20 of them, plus another 5 from the base game. Not all of them are legal in the upcoming Season 5, which means that the list is as follows:

Xerneas (Not legal)
Yveltal (Not legal)
Zygarde (Not legal)
Diancie (Not legal)
Mewtwo (Not legal)
Heatran (Legal)
Volcanion (Legal)
Cobalion (Legal)
Terrakion (Legal)
Virizion (Legal)
Keldeo (Legal)
Meloetta (Legal)
Genesect (Legal)
Hoopa (Legal)
Marshadow (Legal)
Meltan (Legal)
Melmetal (Legal)
Darkrai (Legal)
Latias (Legal)
Latios (Legal)
Kyogre (Not legal)
Groudon (Not legal)
Rayquaza (Not legal)
Magearna (Legal)
Zeraora (Legal)

As per The Pokemon Company, you can only use Lumiose Pokedex numbers from 1 to 227, and Hyperspace Pokedex numbers from 1 to 127, including numbers 131 and 132. This excludes Xernes, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie, Mewtwo, Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza in Legends Z-A.

Of these Pokemon, there are some with a rather large pedigree in competitive battles. The most prominent examples are:

Terrakion: One of the best Focus Sash holders around with Swords Dance and STAB Rock and Fighting-type moves,
Terrakion
has plenty of options for coverage.
Latias and Latios: Mega Latias and Latios can dish out some incredible damage and will have rather low cooldowns due to how Speed works in the game.
Genesect: Genesect has one of the best types in the series and will most likely replace Golisopod in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.
Darkrai: The base form and Mega
Darkrai
can be quintessential counters to Armarouge in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, while being rather bulky and powerful attackers with good coverage.
Magearna: This Pokemon has the best type combo in Pokemon games with Steel/Fairy, and now it has access to a Mega Evolution that makes
Magearna
even more OP.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Season 5 Ranked Battles Are History Repeating Itself

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These Pokemon will most likely be on every team, which reduces diversity and also forces a specific meta where you have to be able to counter them. Terrakion will most likely be one of the most used Pokemon in Legends: Z-A when Season 5 starts on January 7, and the same goes for Magearna. Since these are both weak to Ground, Pokemon like Garchomp will remain at the top of the meta, repeating the same cycle as Season 2 and 3 with Xerneas and Mewtwo.