A major exploit has been discovered in Pokémon Legends Z-A, and the game isn’t even out yet. Fans who played the PLZA demo have uncovered a major battle exploit that will allow you to take out most trainers regardless of their level.
Pokémon Legends Z-A Poison Exploit Breaks the Game
Players have already managed to break the Pokémon Legends Z-A demo by discovering a massive exploit. In a video that surfaced on X, a fan trying out PLZA at Gamescom 2025 stumbled upon the ultimate cheat code in the game’s battle system. According to the clip, players can Poison another trainer’s Pokémon and then abuse the new Switch timer feature to pause battle while their opponent continues taking damage.
In the video demonstrating the exploit, a low-level Weedle is able to take out a level 18 Pidgeotto with ease. The way the exploit works specifically is that you have your low-level Pokémon inflict Poison status on your opponent. When your weak Pokémon then gets knocked out, you purposely refuse to switch to your next Pokémon. While the “Switch” timer is counting down, your opponent will keep taking Poison damage every second, even though the battle is currently on pause.
Because Pokémon Legends Z-A has real-time combat, there is now a “Switch” cooldown, which gives players time to think about which monster they want to select next for battle. The only problem is that Pokémon that have already been poisoned continue to take damage during this cooldown phase. Yeah, it’s pretty broken. The PLZA player basically showed that you can have a level 4 Pokémon taking out level 18 trainers with this method.
Strongest Starter Pokémon in PLZA
With the new Poison-type exploit being discovered, it actually gives us an idea of which Pokémon are the strongest in Pokémon Legends Z-A’s early game. While some of these Pokémon have been confirmed in trailers, most of the game’s Pokédex has been revealed in various PLZA leaks. However, based on the Pokémon we know are likely in the game, some early strong contenders would be Weedle and Ekans.
Although Poison Sting only has a 30% chance of inflicting Poison status on enemies, the game allows you to spam the move over and over in combat. Chikorita and Trubbish are also great choices, as they unlock Poison Powder in their beginning levels. All that said, here is a list of the best early-game Pokémon you can use to abuse the Pokémon Legends Z-A Poison-type exploit:
- Ekans (Poison Sting)
- Arbok (Acid)
- Weedle (Poison Sting)
- Bellsprout (Poison Powder)
- Gastly (Acid Spray TM)
- Chikorita (Poison Powder)
- Bayleef (Poison Powder)
- Meganium (Poison Powder)
- Spinarak (Poison Sting)
- Ariados (Poison Sting)
- Roselia (Poison Sting)
- Trubbish (Poison Gas/Acid Spray)
- Garbodor (Sludge)
- Skrelp (Acid)
Of course, there are more powerful Pokémon in the game. But these are the characters you can catch fairly early into the story and have access to Poison status moves. Honestly, this exploit has kind of solidified my decision that Chikorita is the best PLZA starter Pokémon. The fact that it has Poison Powder means you can go around taking out higher-level trainers than you early on. Hey, no one ever said the Z-A Royale tournament was fair.
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