Bench Trick: Fast-Forward Day or Night in Pokémon Legends: Z‑A (Day ~16 min, Night ~8 min)
If you want to skip from day to night (or vice versa) in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the game makes it simple: sit on a bench and choose to fast-forward. Below you’ll find the exact steps to change the time, where benches usually are, and how long each day and night lasts in real time.
How to change the time of day in Pokémon Legends: Z-A
To switch between day and night, go to a bench and interact with it. Specifically, stand in front of a bench, press A, and select “kill some time here”. The prompt will ask whether you want to fast-forward from day to night or from night to day; pick the one you need and the game will advance the clock.
Where to find benches and restrictions
Benches are scattered around the city, and there is usually one outside each Pokémon Center. However, you can’t use the bench fast-forward option immediately after starting the game. Instead, you must progress through some of the early tutorials before the bench prompt appears.
How long is the day/night cycle in Pokémon Legends: Z-A?
In our tests, daytime runs for about 16 minutes and night for about 8 minutes when you’re standing around doing nothing. Put another way, roughly one real-life minute equals one in-game hour.
That said, the cycle can stretch. For example, when we spent the evening battling in the Z-A Royale, visiting Pokémon Centers, and playing normally, the night lasted nearly 18 minutes. Therefore, time appears to pause or slow during some cutscenes, battles, and other interactions, which changes the effective length of a given day or night.
Extras to keep in mind
The game also gives visual and verbal cues about the changing day: it will warn you when the sun is setting or rising, and you can check the small blue or red circle around the minimap in the top-left corner to see how much day or night you have left.
