Pokemon X and Y not only took the beloved video game franchise to the 3DS, but also brought the series into 3D. While we’re finally returning to the region of Kalos with Pokemon Legends: Z-A, fans are asking for the return of an underrated feature from the original games.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A will take place entirely in one location: Luminose City. While some are already disappointed by the new game’s seemingly restricted exploration, others are hoping we can see the return of an underrated Pokemon X and Y feature.
Pokemon X and Y introduced fans to Sky Battles, a type of fight that could occur between two creatures that could fly. In these matches, Pokemon don’t hover above the ground like in every other game, but took their battles to the skies above. Unfortunately, this feature never made a return, even in other 3DS games.
In a Twitter post by Pokemon influencer LewTwo, they expressed a desire to see Sky Battles return in future games. While the system was highly criticised at launch, the influencer called Sky Battle haters a bunch of liars.
“Sky Battles were such a good idea you were all f**king lying,” they said to mixed responses. “The idea of intentionally designed mirror matches using Pokemon's type system is such a good idea and I cannot believe they never really revisited the concept.”
Fans expressed a desire to see a return of the feature, or at least an expanded version that makes the location you fight in matter. For example, underwater battles would require water types and such.
“I’ve longed for a trainer near a river, or with a bird pokemon to challenge you to a battle that made the environment matter,” one fan said.
Despite this, over ten years since X and Y’s release, some Pokemon fans never want Sky Battles to return. With the feature’s debut riddled with limitations, any player who refused to have a flying Pokemon - or a creature with levitate - wouldn’t even get to see the feature while playing the game.
“They were a cool idea, it’s just that the implementation was kinda ass,” one fan explained. “A finite amount of them to do, most of them out of the way, and the weird inconsistencies. Like a tonne of Flying/Levitators couldn’t even participate in them because they lacked flying animations.”
“I like the concept but, if I recall correctly, you can through the game without ever really interacting with it and the systems are never made much more complex or interesting (ie: a gauntlet of battles or a team with no flying types),” said another. “It’s been a while since my last X/Y replay so I may be wrong.”
With the huge number of flying Pokemon with bespoke animations in new games, including Scarlet and Violet, we could definitely see the return of Sky Battles in the future. With a new generation of Nintendo Switch on the way, could Pokemon bring these battles back with a brand new style?
Pokemon Legends: Z-A releases simultaneously on Nintendo Switch systems in 2025.