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I'm not sure precisely when the custom started, but I consistently call every one of my Pokémon trainers Glitch.

Whether it's a core franchise game or a spinoff like Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go — the moniker always stays the same. Glitch alternates from male to female characters, featuring dark and violet locks. Occasionally their fashion is flawless, as seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the latest installment in this long-running franchise (and among the more style-conscious entries). Other times they're limited to the various school uniform designs of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But they remain Glitch.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Titles

Much like my characters, the Pokemon titles have transformed across releases, with certain superficial, others substantial. However at their heart, they stay identical; they're consistently Pokemon through and through. The developers uncovered a nearly perfect mechanics system approximately 30 years ago, and just recently truly attempted to evolve on it with games such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your avatar is now in danger). Throughout all iteration, the core mechanics cycle of capturing and battling with adorable monsters has stayed steady for almost as long as I've been alive.

Breaking the Mold in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus before it, featuring absence of gyms and focus on compiling a Pokédex, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings multiple deviations into that framework. It's set entirely in one place, the French capital-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X & Y, ditching the expansive adventures of earlier titles. Pokemon are meant to live together with humans, battlers and civilians, in ways we've only glimpsed previously.

Far more drastic than that Z-A's live-action battle system. It's here the franchise's almost ideal core cycle experiences its most significant evolution to date, swapping deliberate turn-based bouts with more frenetic action. And it is immensely fun, even as I feel ready for a new traditional release. Though these alterations to the classic Pokemon recipe seem like they create a completely new experience, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as every other Pokemon game.

The Core of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

Upon first arriving in Lumiose City, any intentions your created character had as a tourist get abandoned; you're immediately enlisted by the female guide (for male avatars; Urbain for female characters) to join their squad of trainers. You receive a creature from them as your starter and are sent into the Z-A Championship.

The Championship serves as the centerpiece of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's similar to the traditional "arena symbols to final challenge" progression of past games. But here, you fight a handful of opponents to earn the opportunity to participate in a promotion match. Win and you'll be elevated to the next rank, with the final objective of reaching rank A.

Real-Time Combat: An Innovative Approach

Character fights occur at night, and navigating stealthily the designated battle zones is quite entertaining. I'm constantly trying to get a jump on an opponent and launch a free attack, because everything happens in real time. Moves function with recharge periods, meaning you and your opponent can sometimes strike simultaneously at the same time (and defeat each other at once). It's much to get used to initially. Even after gaming for almost thirty hours, I continue to feel like there's plenty to learn in terms of employing my creatures' attacks in ways that work together synergistically. Placement also factors as a significant part in battles as your Pokémon will trail behind you or move to specific locations to execute moves (some are long-range, while others need to be in close proximity).

The live combat causes fights go so fast that I often sometimes cycling of attacks in the same order, despite this results in a suboptimal strategy. There's no time to pause during Z-A, and numerous opportunities to become swamped. Creature fights depend on feedback post-move execution, and that information is still present on the display in Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it because diverting attention from your opponent will spell immediate defeat.

Exploring Lumiose Metropolis

Outside of battle, you will traverse Lumiose City. It's fairly compact, although tightly filled. Deep into the game, I continue to find new shops and elevated areas to visit. It is also full of charm, and fully realizes the vision of creatures and humans living together. Pidgey populate its sidewalks, taking flight when you get near like the real-life pigeons obstructing my path while strolling in New York City. The Pan Trio monkeys joyfully cling from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon like Kakuna attach themselves to trees.

An emphasis on city living is a new direction for the franchise, and a welcome one. Even so, navigating the city becomes rote eventually. You may stumble upon an alley you haven't been to, but you wouldn't know it. The building design is devoid of personality, and many elevated areas and underground routes provide minimal diversity. Although I haven't been to Paris, the model behind Lumiose, I reside in New York for almost ten years. It's a metropolis where every district differs, and they're all alive with uniqueness that give them soul. Lumiose Metropolis lacks that quality. It features beige structures topped with colored roofs and flatly rendered terraces.

Where The Metropolis Really Excels

In which the city really shines, oddly enough, is indoors. I loved the way creature fights in Sword & Shield take place in football-like stadiums, providing them real weight and importance. On the flipside, battles in Scarlet and Violet take place on a court with two random people observing. It's a total letdown. Z-A finds a balance between both extremes. You will fight in restaurants with diners observing while they eat. An elite combat club will extend an invitation to a competition, and you'll battle in its rooftop arena under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) suspended overhead. The most memorable spot is the beautifully designed base of a certain faction with its moody lighting and purple partitions. Various individual battle locales overflow with personality missing in the larger city in general.

The Comfort of Repetition

Throughout the Royale, as well as quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and filling the creature index, there is an unavoidable sense that, {"I