It's no secret to anyone who knows me that my favorite Pokémon is Gardevoir. As a gen three kid with a love of fairy and psychic types, Gardevoir ticks all the boxes, and it even has a powerful Mega Evolution form. So, I already knew that my Pokémon Legends: Z-A team would feature a Gardevoir, but Nintendo and Game Freak's choice of pre-order bonus gave me an even better idea: what if I used the mystery gift Ralts as my starter Pokémon?
Normally, I follow a very similar formula with every Pokémon game that I play: I choose the fire Pokémon as my partner, and I never box my starters. That was until Pokémon Legends: Z-A launched. I was already struggling to choose a starter Pokémon for this game as, although I'm a fire-type trainer through and through, I'm not a huge fan of Tepig, so I was leaning towards Chikorita. As soon as I decided to use Ralts as my starter, the decision ultimately became meaningless, but I chose the grass Pokémon anyway, because I think Chikorita is severely underrated.
As much as I love the little guy, I'll be the first to admit that, in earlier Pokémon generations, Ralts is pretty weak. Prior to Pokémon X and Y, it was only a psychic type and had a pretty abysmal early learnset. Combine that with the lack of exp share and exp candies, and training up a Gardevoir became a labor of love. This Ralts, however, that you get as a Pokémon ZA mystery gift for pre-ordering the game, is a fantastic early-game team member.
With only three weaknesses and access to fantastic fairy and psychic-type moves like Psybeam, Draining Kiss, and Disarming Voice, Ralts can confuse and take down many early-game opponents in Legends: Z-A. Ralts and its evolutions can even learn Magical Leaf from a TM, making it a pretty decent stand-in for Chikorita's evolution line.
Speaking of evolutions, seeing as Ralts evolves to Kirlia at level 20, and then Kirlia becomes Gardevoir at level 30, the line has a very similar progression to all the other Pokémon Legends: Z-A starters, so using Ralts doesn't leave your team lagging behind.
My Gardevoir and I go everywhere together, taking down trainers in the Z-A Royale, calming Rogue Mega Evolutions, and catching the various critters in the Pokémon ZA wild zones. Of course, the experience isn't perfect. Gardevoir cannot deal with ghost, poison, or steel Pokémon, and two of those three types become very relevant when you meet a certain character and his crew. But, this isn't an early Pokémon game, so the rest of my team is trained up to counter any Gunk Shots or Steel Wings the enemy throws at me, so that Gardevoir can keep on shining.
@pockettactics What happens if you use the Mystery Gift Ralts as your starter in Pokémon Legends: Z-A? Daz explains how Ralts became the unexpected MVP of Lumiose! For all things handheld gaming visit our website - pockettactics.com Join our Discord while your there! 👾 #nintendo #pokemonlegendsza #pokemoncommunity #pokemon #Gardevoir
Even if you're not as Gardevoir-obsessed as I am, you should think twice before immediately boxing your mystery gift Ralts. It's a great companion, offers fantastic type coverage for the early game, and it comes with a Gardevoirite ready to go! If you're still considering hopping into the latest Pokémon adventure, take a look at our Pokémon Legends: Z-A review.