ZA's most popular new Mega Evolution is Mega Starmie

Pokemon fans have voted for their favorites in Pokemon Legends: ZA to end 2025, and just like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at The Game Awards, it's a sweep for your old favorite, Charizard.

GameWith conducted a survey in Japan and after tallying more than 18,000 votes, the results are in. Pokemon fans were asked which Pokemon from Legends: ZA is their favorite, with a separate category for the game's Mega Evolutions. That opened the door for Charizard to win both awards, as Mega Charizard X form topped the Mega charts.

Charizard cleans up in Pokemon Legends: ZA's End Of Year Awards

However, the unofficial award not available to Charizard was for Best New Mega Evolution. While Legends games don't tend to introduce brand new Pokémon to the series, the reintroduction of the Mega Evolution mechanic via Legends: ZA brought a slew of new Mega Evolved Pokémon, and I shouldn't have to tell you which of the new additions got the most votes.

Spoiler: It wasn't Dragonite.

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

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

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The weirdest Mega Evolutions in Pokemon Legends: ZA

Why does Mega Victreebel look, you know… like that?

Turns out the leaks were right, and that's exactly what Mega Starmie is. But 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, KFC turned into a piece of virtual fried chicken, and now it has been considered the best new Mega Evolution introduced via Pokemon Legends: ZA.

Starmie has been given a new life by Legends: ZA

Mega Starmie's popularity even helped boost the regular version of the Pokémon's placement in the standard rankings. Starmie was the 12th most popular Pokemon in Legends: ZA, ranked higher than the likes of Gengar, Rayquaza, and Umbreon, all of whom usually end up near the top of the favorite Pokemon list, regardless of parameters. However, it didn't quite have the push it needed to surpass Gardevoir, which remains a firm favorite with many Pokemon fans for, well, reasons.

The player defeats Mega Starmie in Pokemon Legends: ZA.

On the Mega side of things, after Charizard and Starmie at one and two, there was a lot of love for Mega Zeraora. Almost as impressive as Starmie's high ranking since Zeraora's Mega Evolution wasn't added to the game until its Mega Dimension DLC was released earlier this month. Surprisingly, Mega Dragonite isn't at the bottom of the pile despite the visceral reaction to its reveal. The winged Dragon-type ended up surpassing the likes of Mega Lucario Z and Mega Absol.