Unlike its predecessor, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Legends: Z-A is set entirely within Lumiose City, rather than multiple locations. To freshen things up, the city is broken into different zones, with Wild Pokémon appearing in the day and rival trainers showing up at night.
While it’s an interesting change to Pokémon‘s usual gameplay loop, it can also be frustrating, especially when players want to complete a task that can only be done during the day or night. Thankfully, there’s one tip that makes Legends: Z-A much more enjoyable. The game takes way too long to tell players about a core mechanic, and it’s easy to miss.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Forces Players To Be Out At Certain Times
In order to proceed through the main story in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the player will need to take part in the Z-A Royale, where they rise through the ranks by defeating enemy trainers. Before they can challenge the leader of each rank, they need to win points by defeating trainers and earning points.
However, the enemy trainers only show up at night. This means that those who want to participate in the Z-A Royale will need to hang around and face the rivals, which means waiting for the day/night cycle to switch. It’s a system that can make Z-A feel more closed off than Arceus did, and it can temporarily block players from doing the things they want to do.
How To Switch From Day To Night In Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Luckily, there’s an easy way to switch between day and night in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, one that doesn’t involve spending time chugging coffee at the café. To instantly change between day and night, all players need to do is go up to a bench. After selecting a bench, players will have the option to “Kill Some Time Here.” Doing this will move time forward.
This might seem like a very obvious mechanic, but the game doesn’t tell players about it until you’ve beaten a few ranks of the Z-A Royale. Frankly, it’s something that should have been mentioned straight away, as it’s easy for players not to know that the mechanic exists, and just spend time running around Lumiose City until it switches to night.
Even after the player is informed about the mechanic, it’s really easy to miss, especially for people who aren’t invested in the story. Anyone who is just whacking the A button and trying to get through the slow and boring cutscenes could skip this mechanic’s explanation entirely, especially if they’re not focused on the screen.
The time will transition naturally throughout Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which is something that can be annoying, especially to someone trying to gather points for the next ranked match. Fortunately, this tip gives players control over the day/night switch, meaning they don’t have to wait for time to pass to get back to what they want to do.
Not everyone is a fan of Legends: Z-A, but using benches to change time greatly improves the experience. This way, if players are trying to max out a Wild Zone, or just batter enough trainers to proceed through the story, they can do so on their own timeline.
