Pokémon Legends: ZA finally introduces unique nurse fun to Pokémon Centers

The world of Pokémon can sometimes feel a bit idyllic, especially when you consider that any Pokémon center offers free universal health care to all Pokémon via magical healing machines. Since the first game, these Pokémon Centers have been staffed with a group of identical women (skin, hair, eyes, expressions, everything!) who were called Nurse Joy in the anime.

But in Pokémon Legends: ZA, things may look a little different for Nurse Joy at work for the first time.

Pokémon Legends: ZA introduces unique Nurse Joy to each Pokémon Center for the first time in a Pokémon game. While the first one you might encounter looks like a pretty standard Joey, each of the center's female staff members has slightly different features: different skin tones, different eyes, different mouths, and different eyebrows. They still wear the same uniforms and have the same red ponytails, but they now display much less of the pre-1980s Rockette style.

This fits into one of the things I really like about ZA so far: the diversity of characters. In past Pokemon games, towns could start to look a bit the same, as every character in a single trainer class would have the exact same features copied and pasted. That's starting to change in recent games, but Scarlett and Violet took a step back and had most of the cast wearing the same uniforms, once again creating the illusion that every character looks the same.

However, in “ZA”, NPCs not only have different facial features, but their clothing will also undergo some changes. You may still see a few matching characters here and there, but I found athletes sprinting around town in different colored workout gear, and artists wearing different colored aprons. It's a small change, but it adds a lot to the feeling that Lumiose City is actually populated by real people rather than a lot of weird clones.

So congratulations to every woman (read: every woman) who doesn’t look exactly like Nurse Joy from Pokémon Red and Blue , the job is now open to you if you want it! But sorry for the men, because I haven't met men in this industry. Hopefully next game we can get into the 21st century in that regard.

mine Review of Pokémon Legends: ZA is in progress It's live now, if you want to check out my impressions from the first 24 hours, a full review will be posted next week. If you're entering Pokemon Legends ZA, select your Getting Started Pokémonand check out what we're doing Pokemon Legends: ZA Walkthroughmore of our Side mission list Make sure you don't miss a thing. we have one more Pokémon Legends: ZA Picture Bookand most importantly, guidelines All clothing stores and clothing in Pokemon Legends: ZA This way you can capture them in style.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. You can find her posts at BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to [email protected].