Pokemon Legends: Z-A makes Mega Stones easier in Ranked Battles

Pokemon Legends: Z-A makes Mega Stones far easier to grab in Ranked – here’s what actually changed

The Pokemon Company is dialing down the grind. With the launch of Season 2 of Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles, the most sought-after Mega Stone rewards are moving dramatically closer to the starting line. Greninjite can now be earned at Rank Y, while Delphoxite sits at Rank S. In Season 1, Greninjite was locked behind Rank K, and Delphoxite wasn’t available at all. That shift isn’t a tiny tuning pass – it’s a rethinking of how quickly players should access headline features tied to the Kalos starters.

Why does this matter? Z-A lets you recruit Froakie, Fennekin, and Chespin early, and each line now boasts a fresh Mega Evolution. The catch has been that those Megas were gated behind Ranked rewards rather than the story campaign, which left a lot of offline-leaning players feeling boxed out. If you’re the type to clear the story and ignore online ladders, watching your starter’s Mega sit behind a competitive mode felt off-brand for a franchise famous for accessibility.

Season 2 doesn’t yank the stones into the story; you’ll still need to touch online. But it changes the calculus: you can secure Greninjite with essentially a single Ranked match. You don’t even need a win – Z-A awards rank points for actions taken in battle (think switches, KOs, tactical plays), not just match outcomes. Perform well and you can jump multiple rungs in one go, turning the climb from Z to S into a rapid sprint for Delphoxite. Game Freak is also tweaking point distribution to be more generous, smoothing out those dead zones where progress used to stall.

The broader message is continuity. The announcement makes it clear Mega Stones will be reissued frequently in future seasons. Read between the lines and Season 3 looks poised to drop Chesnaughtite at a similarly approachable rank and likely relax Delphoxite’s requirement even further. For collectors, that means a short burst of matches across two seasons nets all three stones with minimal grind – and then, if you want, you can retire from Ranked without FOMO.

This move speaks to an ongoing balancing act: prestige versus accessibility. Some competitive purists will see lower thresholds as a handout. Others (a sizable chunk of the player base) just want their favorite starter’s Mega without dedicating weekend nights to ladder anxiety or even remembering to charge a Switch after work. By making the rewards fast and forgiving while still keeping them inside Ranked, the update respects both camps: Megas retain an online provenance, but the time tax is trimmed to minutes, not weeks.

If you’re coming in fresh for Season 2, here’s the quick route. Play a single Ranked match to snag Greninjite at Y – winning helps, but isn’t mandatory. Keep playing well and you’ll accelerate through multiple letters to S for Delphoxite in short order. Thanks to the revised point economy, most players will see movement every match rather than plateaus. Do a couple more games in Season 3 and you’ll likely round out the Kalos trio with Chesnaughtite, especially with the promised reissues.

None of this touches the story campaign directly, so your narrative run remains unchanged; this is strictly about lowering the friction on a marquee feature. It also keeps Ranked lively: even casual trainers have a concrete reason to queue, which is healthier for matchmaking. Season 2 kicks off on Wednesday, November 5, so the path to Mega Greninja and Mega Delphox is about to get very short indeed.

For context, I scored Pokemon Legends: Z-A an 8/10 at launch because it finally feels like Game Freak has hit a confident rhythm in 3D: a brisk, readable exploration loop, a smarter story than expected, and a battle overhaul that’s surprisingly cohesive. The market agreed – the game sold almost six million copies in its opening week. This Ranked update aligns with that momentum: it respects players’ time while showcasing the new Mega designs sooner. That’s a win for collectors, a nudge for lapsed competitors, and a cleaner on-ramp for everyone else.

Bottom line: two short Ranked sessions in Season 2 (and a quick check-in during Season 3) should secure all three Kalos starter Mega Stones. Get in, get your Megas, and play the way you prefer.