Whenever your Pokemon buddies are in need of healing, you can always depend on that friendly Pokemon Center nurse. These NPCs always had identical character models in mainline Pokemon RPGs, but Pokemon Legends: Z-A turns these attendants into visually distinct characters.
Pokemon Center nurses in Legends: Z-A all share the same hairstyle, featuring those iconic hair loops that recall the Nurse Joy character from the Pokemon anime series. But in Lumiose City, every attendant has a different appearance, with varying skin tones and facial features.
And these characters have their own identities as well–one side mission even has you battle a Pokemon Center clerk named Bien (which translates to “good” or “well” in French). It’s not revolutionary compared to other changes in Legends: Z-A, but it’s a step towards adding some personality to the series.
While these Pokemon Center workers are generally referred to as Nurse Joy by fans, the name is rarely used in the mainline Pokemon games and originates from the anime. The show explains the appearance of all Nurse Joys by making them all nearly identical family members.
The only core games that had Nurse Joy characters by name were Pokemon Yellow and its remakes Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, as those titles were heavily influenced by the anime.
Of course, there’s a lot more to Lumiose City outside of the Pokemon Centers–you can check out GameSpot’s guides for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which is now out for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Our Pokemon Legends: Z-A review calls the game “fitting end to the Switch 1-era Pokemon games,” awarding it a 7/10.
