The Pokémon Company got a huge pop this week when they unveiled a double-whammy of announcements directed squarely at the wrestling fan in all of us. First and foremost, they revealed a Mega Evolution for the lucha libre inspired Pokémon Hawlucha. They followed this up by announcing on the official Pokémon website that they would be hosting a sponsored event with Mexican lucha libre promotion CMLL. All of these things are intended to promote Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the latest Pokémon game releasing this fall.
The Pokémon x CMLL event is scheduled to take place on September 25, 2025 at 8pm EST (or 7pm CST, local time) at Arena Mexico, the largest wrestling-specific arena in the world. For those of us who can’t make it to Mexico for the show, it will be broadcast on CMLL’s YouTube channel for free.
Not much is known about the event itself at this time other than it is being advertised as a “showcase” of lucha libre, which can mean a multitude of things.When it comes to pro wrestling, licensed and sponsored events or matches are probably the closest things to “non-canon” as you can get. So if you’re a fan of CMLL or the world of lucha, whatever happens here probably won’t affect any ongoing storylines; conversely, if you know very little about CMLL and its talents, you won’t need to get caught up on much to enjoy the showcase.
Hawlucha itself was a Pokémon that debuted in the 6th Generation of Pokémon games, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, back in 2013. It was the first ever Fighting/Flying-type Pokémon in the franchise’s storied history, and appropriately is based on the high-flying style of lucha libre. In addition, its design also takes inspiration from the outfits of Aztec warriors. It played a prominent role on protagonist Ash Ketchum’s team in Pokémon the Series: XY, one of the many anime series based on the games (and appropriately, the one lauded for its fight and action sequences).
Ash’s Hawlucha had a rivalry with a Machamp centered around being “champion of the forest,” which was referenced in the promotional build-up to the reveal of Mega Hawlucha. A special video showed the showboat bird coming up short against a Machamp, only for the bond between Trainer and Pokémon to give way to Mega Evolution, a special transformation that certain Pokémon have that temporarily sends their power into overdrive. It isn’t unlike a babyface wrestler getting a dramatic second wind in a big title fight. This was the third new Mega Evolution unveiled for the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A, following Mega Dragonite and Mega Victreebel.
Official render of Mega Hawlucha
Mega Hawlucha’s design obviously takes immense inspiration from the more “pageantry” side of lucha libre, or special costumes luchadores wear at big events. For specific inspirations, it resembles the gear of Ultimo Dragon, one of the most influential grapplers of this generation and is most famous for holding ten different championships simultaneously. In fact, Mercedes Mone of All Elite Wrestling is currently on a run that is somewhat of an homage to this “belt collector” gimmick where she just sees how many belts she can hold at one time. It also has hints of a super sentai costume, adding another layer of depth because Ultimo Dragon himself is of Mexican-Japanese descent and innovated combining the Mexican lucha libre and Japanese puroresu styles.
For those curious, CMLL has no relation to AAA, the other major lucha libre promotion in Mexico. In fact, the two promotions have had a fiery rivalry for a number of years, and might take a turn now that AAA is owned by international wrestling powerhouse WWE.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A releases on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 16, 2025.
