Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Dimension DLC added a new Mega Evolution for Heatran, and now it’s officially coming back in just three months. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is currently running a special season where players can only use Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution, keeping the competitive scene interesting and fresh after rulesets dedicated to Water and Flying Pokemon. The game is a major departure from the standard battle style of the series, giving up turn-based combat in favor of live battles with move cooldowns and animation canceling.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is now very intertwined with the development and future seasons of Pokemon Champions. In fact, many of Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Evolutions have yet to be ported over to the new main battling hub for the series, though Pokemon Champions is making small, steady steps in this direction. Fans haven’t been happy with all the new Mega Evolutions due to sometimes having underwhelming abilities in Pokemon Champions, but still, Mega Dragonite and Mega Floette just won the World Championships two days ago. While a few months away, Mega Heatran is now officially coming back in 2026.
Mega Heatran is Officially Coming Back on December 1 2026
The closing ceremony at the Pokemon World Championships 2026 shared news about what’s to come for the franchise, including a new Pokemon Champions roster on September 8 and a teaser of Mega Heatran coming back to the game as well. Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Absol Z, Mega Lucario Z, and Mega Garchomp Z have all been confirmed for Pokemon Champions on September 8, whereas Heatran was only shown briefly in the trailer and left out of the new Regulation M-C announcement. That means Mega Heatran will return on December 1, 2026, when Regulation M-D goes live, which aligns with what Pokemon leak aggregator Centro Leaks stated.
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The official Nintendo of America account on Twitter shared a post about Regulation M-C’s content, also stating that it will run from September 8 to December 1, essentially confirming Mega Heatran’s release date. Mega Heatran will be the first Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Champions, presumably alongside others, so it will be interesting to see how it will fare in the meta. Furthermore, Heatran is the only Fire/Steel Pokemon in the series despite being added all the way back in Gen 4. Normally, it has either Flame Body or Flash Fire as abilities, with the former having a chance of burning attackers when hit with contact moves, and the latter making it immune to Fire moves and powering up its Fire moves by 50% when hit with Fire. It’s unclear if Mega Heatran will have one of these abilities or something new entirely.
Fire/Steel with Flash Fire can be particularly good in VGC because Fire becomes an immunity rather than 1x damage, and allies can proc an extra 50% damage when hit by Fire moves to boost Mega Heatran’s damage. The Mega Z Pokemon got different abilities from their original forms, so there is a chance that Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Heatran will also get something else in Champions.
Whether Mega Heatran will be used in the best double battle teams in Pokemon Champions remains to be seen, but this is already a very powerful Pokemon with great stats, and it could become an incredible Trick Room carry. This is because Mega Heatran has only 67 Speed, but it packs high HP and Defense, as well as a whopping 175 Special Attack and 141 Special Defense. Time will tell how strong it will be, but fans can now circle December 1 on their calendars.
- Released
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October 16, 2025
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
