Five years after the events of Pokémon X and Y, Lumiose City had begun an urban redevelopment project led by Quasartico Inc. to restore the city's condition after an incident involving Team Flare, creating "wild zones" where Pokémon live in the city. The player character arrives as a tourist to Lumiose City, and befriends either Taunie or Urbain (if the player selected a male or female character, respectively), who gives the player their starter Pokémon: Chikorita, Tepig, or Totodile and brings the player to Hotel Z owned by the 3,000-year old AZ and his Floette. The player then joins the citywide Z-A Royale tournament where participants compete to rise from the lowest Rank Z to Rank A, with those reaching Rank A being granted a wish by Quasartico.
