Mega Evolution in Pokémon Legends: Z-A — How the Meter, Mega Stones and Mega Shards Work

Mega Evolution in Pokémon Legends: Z-A is no longer a transformation you switch on once and keep for the whole battle. It runs on a meter. You charge that meter by fighting, press the right stick when it is full to transform a Pokémon holding its Mega Stone, and then watch the gauge drain while the form lasts — topping it up with Mega Power orbs if you want to stay transformed for longer. It is a resource to manage now, not a button to press and forget.

How does the Mega Evolution meter work?

The gauge sits in the corner of the screen once the mechanic unlocks during Main Mission 9, and it fills in two ways. Landing attacks on an opponent with any of your Pokémon builds it steadily, and fighting Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon is faster still, because they shed glowing chunks of Mega Power that you can run over and collect. When the meter is full, switch to the Pokémon holding the correct Mega Stone and click the right thumbstick. That Pokémon transforms, and from that moment the gauge starts draining.

While Mega Evolved, your Pokémon hits harder, gains the stat profile and sometimes the typing of its Mega form, and can spend Mega Power on Plus Moves — powered-up versions of moves it has mastered, marked with a G+ symbol. Because the form burns the same resource it costs to strengthen those moves, there is a constant little decision running underneath every big fight: spend the gauge on spectacle now, or hold the form a few seconds longer. When the gauge empties, your Pokémon reverts. Nothing is wasted, though — you can refill the meter and Mega Evolve again in the same battle, which older games never allowed.

What do you need to Mega Evolve a Pokémon?

Three things. Your Trainer needs the Key Stone, which arrives through the story set into a Mega Ring. The Pokémon needs to hold its own species-specific Mega Stone — Gengar holds Gengarite, Lucario holds Lucarionite, and there is no sharing them around. And in almost every case the Pokémon must be in the final form of its evolutionary line before the option appears at all. Your chosen starter's Mega Stone is handed over during Main Mission 10, which is also roughly when the wider system opens up properly.

Mega Stones reach you through several channels. Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon — wild Pokémon that have Mega Evolved without a Trainer, fought as boss battles through the story — reward you with their stones when beaten. The Stone Emporium in Lumiose City sells a selection for ordinary money. Ranked Battles hand out others, including the Kalos starters' stones. And Quasartico Inc. trades a rotating stock of stones for Mega Shards, with its selection growing as you encounter more Mega Evolutions out in the city.

What are Mega Shards, and where do they come from?

Mega Shards are a currency earned by smashing the clusters of pink Mega Crystals that have sprouted all over Lumiose City as a side effect of the Rogue Mega Evolution phenomenon. Send a Pokémon to attack a cluster and it shatters, paying out shards and a little experience for the Pokémon that did the work. You will find crystals on streets, rooftops and tucked down side passages, and breaking them as you pass quickly becomes second nature.

At Quasartico Inc., shards buy Mega Stones — commonly a few hundred per stone, with the stock priced in tiers — and, once your team is well stocked, small Exp. Candy for 8 shards apiece is a sensible way to spend the leftovers. Treat shards as a collecting habit rather than a grind: the city is generous with crystals, and the stones you actually want will mostly be affordable by the time Quasartico is allowed to sell them to you.

Which new Mega Evolutions did Z-A introduce?

Alongside the returning favourites from the X and Y era, the base game introduced 26 brand-new Mega Evolutions. The full debut list is: Mega Barbaracle, Mega Chandelure, Mega Chesnaught, Mega Clefable, Mega Delphox, Mega Dragalge, Mega Dragonite, Mega Drampa, Mega Eelektross, Mega Emboar, Mega Excadrill, Mega Falinks, Mega Feraligatr, Mega Floette (for Eternal Floette), Mega Froslass, Mega Greninja, Mega Hawlucha, Mega Malamar, Mega Meganium, Mega Pyroar, Mega Scolipede, Mega Scrafty, Mega Skarmory, Mega Starmie, Mega Victreebel and Mega Zygarde. The three Kalos starters finally getting Mega forms is the headline for long-time players, while Mega Dragonite and Mega Zygarde give two of the series' most famous Pokémon the treatment fans had requested for years. The Mega Dimension expansion has since added further new forms on top of these, sold separately from the base game.