Mewtwo is not part of the normal legendary lineup in Pokémon Legends Z-A. The main story and postgame only surface Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde through Lysandre’s late-game questline. Mewtwo sits in a separate, hidden track: an event-locked side mission tied to Mystery Gift items and Mega Stones that are already coded into the game but not yet distributed in normal play.
Where Mewtwo fits in Pokémon Legends Z-A right now
In the current retail version of Pokémon Legends Z-A, you cannot encounter Mewtwo through any standard wild zone spawn, story mission, or postgame legendary quest. The legendary structure is straightforward:
| Legendary / Mythical | How it appears in base game | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Xerneas | Lysandre questline after a ZA Royale challenge | Standard catchable legendary |
| Yveltal | Lysandre questline after a ZA Royale challenge | Standard catchable legendary |
| Zygarde | Multi-phase boss encounter during the same arc | Functions more like a raid boss |
| Diancie | Event-only rooftop quest (already coded, not normally live) | Triggered by an event Diancite |
| Mewtwo | Event-only mission in Lysandre Labs (already coded, not normally live) | Triggered by event Mewtwonite X and Y |
Mewtwo’s presence is fully built out: it has a dedicated mission hook in Lysandre Labs, it uses its Pokémon X/Y boss theme during the encounter, and it can Mega Evolve into both Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y once you have the corresponding stones. What’s missing in normal play are the triggers that light that content up.
How the Mewtwo event is structured in Legends Z-A
Mewtwo is wired as a short, endgame side mission that sits on top of the existing Lysandre content. The structure is simple:
- The mission is postgame-tier: Mewtwo appears around level 70.
- The encounter is placed on B3F of Lysandre Labs, in the “button room” area.
- When the event is active, and you meet the conditions, entering that room triggers a security system cutscene.
- The system scans for Mega Stones, flags “Project M” as high risk, and asks whether to proceed.
- Accepting spawns Mewtwo in the cell-like chamber and starts a standard Legends-style boss encounter where you battle and catch it.
Unlike Diancie’s slightly longer rooftop sequence with additional Carbink allies, Mewtwo’s quest is deliberately short — players describe it as roughly a one-minute story wrapper around a single boss fight. The reward is straightforward: a catchable Mewtwo with three guaranteed perfect IVs, random nature and remaining stats, and a hard shiny lock.
Because it is coded like Xerneas and Yveltal, you are not dealing with a fixed nature or EV spread. You get a high-quality legendary that you can polish later with mints and bottle caps, but you cannot soft reset in front of it in the usual way; the game locks its nature and IVs as soon as the model loads into the field.
What actually unlocks the Mewtwo mission
The Mewtwo event does not exist in isolation. It is tied to two specific items and a hidden event flag:
| Requirement | Role |
|---|---|
| Postgame save (story cleared) | Ensures your party and rank can handle a level 70+ legendary |
| Mewtwonite X | One of the required items the lab scans for at the door |
| Mewtwonite Y | The second required item; both must be in your satchel |
| Event flag 182 enabled | Internal switch that tells the game the Mewtwo event has been distributed |
When everything is in place, the flow looks like this:
- You reach the late postgame, after clearing the main story.
- You receive Mewtwonite X and Mewtwonite Y as online Mystery Gifts. These stones do not exist as normal drops or shop purchases.
- With both stones in your bag, you visit Lysandre Labs, take the elevator to B3F, and walk into the button room.
- The previously inert area powers up, the security system recognises the stones, and the “Project M” sequence begins.
That pairing of stones and flag 182 is intentional. In the in-game dialogue for both Diancie and Mewtwo quests, NPCs explicitly comment on the fact that you are carrying unusual Mega Stones; they react as if these items are special outside distributions rather than something you simply ground out from the usual Mega Shard vendor.
Tip: Do not expect save data from other Switch Pokémon games to unlock this event. Unlike Legends Arceus’s Sinnoh mythicals, nothing in Legends Z-A reacts to having other mainline saves on the console for this specific mission.
Mystery Gift distributions and what to expect
The game treats Diancite, Mewtwonite X, and Mewtwonite Y as a trio of special Mystery Gift items. The side missions that use them are already baked into the shipped build, but nothing in normal gameplay hands out these stones or flips their related flags. The plan is clear: distribute them as free online gifts in a later window.
The pattern around event-only mythicals in recent titles suggests a few practical expectations for Legends Z-A:
- Diancite, Mewtwonite X, and Mewtwonite Y are likely to arrive as separate Mystery Gifts, probably around holiday or anniversary beats.
- At least one of these events is expected to land before the Mega Dimension DLC, so players can bring Mewtwo and Diancie into the new content.
- There is a real chance the stones are time-limited distributions, even if the underlying quests remain in the game forever once claimed.
To be ready, you only need to:
- Finish the main story so that your rank, gear, and Pokémon levels are comfortable around level 70.
- Check the in-game Mystery Gift menu regularly once new campaigns are announced on the official Pokémon site or social channels.
- Claim all free Mega Stone gifts on the same save file you intend to keep as your “main” Kalos save.
How the Mewtwo fight behaves in Legends Z-A
The Mewtwo event uses the same real-time combat framework as other late-game legendaries in Legends Z-A, but with a few notable touches pulled from player accounts:
- Mewtwo uses its original Pokémon X/Y battle theme rather than generic Kalos wild music.
- The encounter plays like other static legendaries: a short intro cutscene, a fade, then a battle arena.
- You battle and catch Mewtwo directly; it is not handed out as a passive reward.
- The Pokémon is shiny-locked, and its nature and stats are decided once it spawns into the world.
Because of the real-time system, control of tempo matters. Status moves like Thunder Wave or guaranteed-paralysis options such as Zap Cannon become especially strong: once paralysis sticks, players report that legendaries can stay locked down for the rest of the fight, giving you as many ball throws as you are willing to spend.
Standard catching tech still matters:
- Night-time + Dusk Ball remains one of the strongest combinations for stationary legendaries.
- Timer Ball in Z-A scales off the number of actions the target has taken, not traditional turn count, rewarding long, grindy fights.
- Mewtwo’s level means having at least one level 80–100 anchor on the team dramatically reduces risk, especially if you want to play with status and cooldown manipulation rather than straight DPS.
Mega Mewtwo, Mega Stones, and future use
The two Mewtwonite variants are not just keys; they are functional Mega Stones once you have Mewtwo in your party. Legends Z-A treats them the same way it treats other Mega Stones:
| Item | Held by | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Mewtwonite X | Mewtwo | Enables Mega Mewtwo X in battles that allow Mega Evolution |
| Mewtwonite Y | Mewtwo | Enables Mega Mewtwo Y in battles that allow Mega Evolution |
The Mega Mewtwo forms are also shiny-locked in this game. If you care about shiny variants, the route will be through Pokémon HOME transfers using an older, valid shiny distribution rather than hunting in Kalos itself.
Because the game heavily leans on Mega Evolution identity — with the Mega Dimension DLC already telegraphing new dual Mega lines like Mega Raichu X and Y — Mewtwo’s dual Megas are almost certainly intended as a centerpiece for high-end content and ranked formats once the event goes live.
Right now, the honest answer to “how to get Mewtwo in Pokémon Legends Z-A” is: wait for the official Mystery Gift rollout, finish the story, and be ready to dive back into Lysandre Labs as soon as the game starts handing out Mewtwonite X and Y. The encounter is already sitting in B3F, sealed behind a powered-down door; all that is left is for the lab to flip the switch.
