ZA's most popular new Mega Evolution is Mega Starmie

As Pokemon fans close out Pokemon Legends: ZA 2025, and most Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have been voting for their favorites at The Game Awards, it's a sweep for your old favorite, Charizard.

GameWith conducted a survey in Japan and, after receiving over 18,000 votes, the results are in. Pokemon fans were asked which Pokemon from Legends: ZA was their favorite, with a separate category for the game's Mega Evolution. This opened the door for Charizard to win both awards, as Mega Charizard X Form topped the Mega Chart.

Charizard Clean Up in Pokemon Legends: ZA's Year End

The unofficial award that was unavailable for Charizard, however, was one for Best New Mega Evolution. Legends games don't tend to introduce entirely new Pokemon to the series, reintroducing the Mega Evolution mechanic through Legends: ZA brought an array of new Mega Evolved Pokemon, and I don't need to tell you which of the new additions got the most votes.

Spoiler: It wasn't Dragonite.

The most popular new Mega Evolution introduced through Pokemon Legends: ZA was of course Mega Starmie. The leaked designs of the Mega Starmi cast doubt on whether the rest of ZA's leaked details were accurate because surely it wouldn't just be a regular Starmi with long legs, right?

Mega Slowbro, Mega Starmie, and Mega Victreebel in front of the Prism Tower in Pokemon Legends ZA.

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Weird-looking Mega Evolutions in Pokemon Legends: ZA

Why does Mega Victribel look, you know… look like this?

Turns out the leaks were right, and that's Mega Starmie. However, despite the simplicity of its design, the Mega Evolved member of the original 151 has gone down a storm with Pokemon fans. Mega Starmie quickly became a meme, turned into a piece of KFC virtual fried chicken, and is now considered the best new Mega Evolution introduced with Pokemon Legends: ZA.

Starmie has been given a new lease on life by Legends: ZA

Mega Starmie's popularity also helped boost the regular version of Pokemon in the standard rankings. Starmie was the 12th most popular Pokemon in Legends: ZA, ranking higher than the likes of Gengar, Rayquaza, and Umbreon, all of which often reach near the top of the Favorite Pokemon chart regardless of parameters. It didn't have the push it needed to overtake Gardevoir, though, who remains a firm favorite for many Pokémon fans for, well, reasons.

Player defeats Mega Starmy in Pokemon Legends: ZA.

On the Mega side of things, there was a lot of love for Mega Zerora, after Charizard and Starmie one and two. Zeraora's Mega Evolution wasn't added to the game until its Mega Dimension DLC was released earlier this month, almost as impressive as Starmi's High Rank. Surprisingly, Mega Dragonite isn't at the bottom of the pile despite the visceral reaction to its reveal. The winged-dragon-type surpassed Mega Lucario Z and Mega Absol, among others.