Characters / Pokémon: Recurring Archetypes

Main Character Index > Recurring Archetypes

With so many Pokémon in the franchise, it is perhaps inevitable that the games' designers sometimes fall back on familiar patterns between generations. Pokémon that serve similar roles as far as gameplay, availability, and lore. Looking alike or sharing real world animal basis is only one element. Though subjective, this is for the ones that feel alike, or that there's more pointing towards intent than coincidence in how the Pokémon Company uses them.

It's notable that Gen II had a lot of Early-Installment Weirdness. The archetypes were still mostly unbuilt, and many Pokémon were shared between the two accessible regions.

However many archetypes were clearly reprised in Gen III and Gen V, both of which were Soft Reboots with limited access to monsters from previous Gens. In cases like these it might be important to rely on archetypes to ensure the games feel like a Pokémon experience (Gen V in particular has a lot of one off Expy's to previous mons that haven't recurred in other Gens to fully be considered an archetype). The archetypes bring a sense of familiarity and reinforce the cadence of the franchise in each new entry.

As a Long Runner, later games are more likely to experiment with the archetypes instead of playing them completely straight yet again. And with games from the Switch era onward not including the entire dex, several monsters just reprise their own role instead of getting a new direct counterpart.

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The Early Game Archetypes

In the early game, players are eased into the adventure with these archetypes. You'll find most of these monsters in fields and forests.

Trainers learn basics of the games' mechanics through them such as Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors, high catch rates that only require the default balls, level-up evolution etc.

While weaker in stats overall, they are many players' first companions and meant to be very appealing. People may keep them around for sentimental reasons later in the game despite more powerful options becoming available.

The First Partner Trio

The First Partner Trio

The First Partners of Gens I-VIII. Even Pikachu and Eevee if you squint at the bottom

^{The Grass Starters}

^{The Fire Starters}

^{The Water Starters}

Informally (and for some time, officially) called the Starter Pokémon. The Big Three. They are, true to name, the first Pokémon you receive in the core series games. Entrusted to you by the regional Professor, they come in three different types: Grass, Fire, or Water. Your rival gets one you don't choose, teaching a basic Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors relationship between them.^note Earlier games always have the rival choosing the starter stronger to yours, while some later games have the rival choosing the starter weaker to yours; some games have two rivals who take both. Since abilities were introduced, first partners get one of three abilities that are type variants of each other: Overgrow, Blaze, and Torrent, which boosts the power of their primary type when their HP gets low.

Storywise, the first partners are intended to play The Hero role among your party for your first play through. In gameplay, they are the first customization option on your RPG experience: a choice of build or stats. In the Super Smash Bros. series, the concept of the first partner trio along with the player character is represented by the "Pokémon Trainer" fighter (based on Red/Leaf from FireRed and LeafGreen), who stands in the background while the player interchangeably controls Kanto's first partner trio in different stages of evolution.

Pokémon of this archetype:

Grass-type Starters: Bulbasaur line (Gen I); Chikorita line (Gen II); Treecko line (Gen III); Turtwig line (Gen IV); Snivy line (Gen V); Chespin line (Gen VI); Rowlet line (Gen VII); Grookey line (Gen VIII); Sprigatito line (Gen IX)

Fire-type Starters: Charmander line (Gen I); Cyndaquil line (Gen II); Torchic line (Gen III); Chimchar line (Gen IV); Tepig line (Gen V); Fennekin line (Gen VI); Litten line (Gen VII); Scorbunny line (Gen VIII); Fuecoco line (Gen IX)

Water-type Starters: Squirtle line (Gen I); Totodile line (Gen II); Mudkip line (Gen III); Piplup line (Gen IV); Oshawott line (Gen V); Froakie line (Gen VI); Popplio line (Gen VII); Sobble line (Gen VIII); Quaxly line (Gen IX)

Pokémon that only have elements of this archetype:

Starters of different types: Pikachu & Eevee ^note Used as the player and rivals respective starters in Yellow, and again in the Let's Go remakes now letting the player to choose Eevee as well. When used by the player they are not allowed to evolve (Gen I)

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• Breakout Character: Being a Starter Mon vastly increases a Pokémon's chance of gaining widespread popularity and recognition. In particular, all three Kanto first namer lines (especially Charizard), Blaziken, Greninja, and Cinderace have become major icons of the franchise.
• Can't Drop the Hero: Strongly averted. You could release them forever as soon as you catch your first Com Mon, or trade them at any point in time. Still, the game reminds you of your first partner choice through The Rival, and sometimes other characters.
  • Played mostly straight in Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee. You can’t release your respective first partner at all, and while you can switch them out of your battling party, they’ll never leave your side in the overworld.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Green Means Natural, Fire Is Red, and Water Is Blue (and Pikachu is Yellow). The Grass-types may also be part plant, and the Fire-types are sometimes literally on fire. The first games in the series were named after their respective colors.
• Critical Status Buff: Their default ability is either Overgrow, Blaze, or Torrent, which increases the power of Grass/Fire/Water moves respectively by 1.5 when they are at one-third of their health.
• Crutch Character: Zig-Zagged. Their decent starting level of 5 and quick access to their early game STAB move means that, barring a few inconvenient matchups, they can usually solo the early game with no issue. The game is designed for the player to rely on them at the outset if not the entire game if they end up overleveled. They can all easily overpower generic trainers and early Com Mons. When it comes to gyms, depending on them is a rough answer to Difficulty Levels for how much grinding or catching and trading it takes to win.^note Famously, Bulbasaur and Squirtle dealing 4x STAB damage to breeze through Brock on their own and at least having a defensive resistance to Misty, where Charmander is inconvenienced by dealing x0.5 to both and is weak to Misty's Bubblebeam, without getting an advantage on a gym until the fourth. Gen V goes out of its way to challenge this playstyle by giving the first gym the advantage with the Elemental Monkeys regardless of your choice in BW, and then having a neutral Normal Gym up first for B2W2.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Applies to the whole game, but the first partner trio adheres to one of the simplest RPS trios of types. Grass beats Water, which beats Fire, which beats Grass - though the secondary types of their final forms play with this sometimes:
  • In Gen IV, Torterra is Grass/Ground, Infernape is Fire/Fighting, and Empoleon is Water/Steel, meaning every member is capable of dealing super-effective damage to the other two. ^note Except Empoleon, whose STABs are only neutral against Torterra, but Torterra has a double weakness to the Ice Beam that Empoleon is practically guaranteed to run.
  • In Gen VI, Chesnaught is Grass/Fighting, Delphox is Fire/Psychic, and Greninja is Water/Dark, creating a second parallel triangle of super-effectiveness in the same direction as the primary one.
  • In Gen IX, Meowscarada is Grass/Dark, Skeledirge is Fire/Ghost, and Quaquaval is Water/Fighting, creating a reverse triangle along with the classic first partner one.^note Except for Skeledirge's Ghost type, which is only neutral against Quaquaval but is immune to its Fighting-type moves in turn.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: As your first choice in your RPG experience, they sometimes mirror a classic jobs system:
  • Gen VI does this most explicitly with Chesnaught, Delphox, and Greninja in that order by number.
  • In Gen VII, Incineroar (a Heel wrestler with high physical stats) is the Fighter, Primarina (a Squishy Wizard with high special stats) is the Mage, and Decidueye (an archer with balanced stats and Ghost typing) is the Thief.
  • Gen IX features this as well, with the added twist that each first partner's final evolution is inspired by a type of entertainer. Quaquaval (a Dance Battler based on Brazilian capoeira and carnival dancers) is the Fighter, Skeledirge (a singer using Magic Music) is the Mage, and Meowscarada (a Dark-type Stage Magician) is the Thief.
• Green Thumb: The first numerical starter line in each Pokédex is that of the Grass-type starter.
• The Hero: The closest monsters to being main characters. They get a lot of facetime in the marketing. Their designs give them pretty strong "canon" personalities (i.e. Sobble is anxious, Scorbunny is energetic.) They're also heavily associated with the human lead characters. Protagonists in spinoffs and marketing materials almost always have them. However the player's first partner choice basically only influences some rivals' teams, with you being free to bench and even release them as you soon as you catch another Pokémon. Only in Yellow and Let's Go do they play a deeper role.
• Jack of All Stats: In the earlier games, the starters tend to have pretty well-rounded stats, so they can help out in any situation you get into early on. The later-introduced first partners slowly bucked this trend, though their first forms are still usually well-rounded.
• Limit Break: Several starters take part in having "battling gimmicks". The Galar starters have Gigantamax forms, the Alola starters have exclusive Z-moves, the Hoenn starters have Mega Evolutions, and the Kanto starters have both Gigantamax forms and Mega Evolutions.
• Making a Splash: The third numerical starter line in each Pokédex is that of the Water-type starter.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Only one of the first partners is given to you at the start of any playthrough. In most games, the only way to get the others is by trading.
• Playing with Fire: The second numerical starter line in each Pokédex is that of the Fire-type starter.
• Recurring Boss: At least one rival's Ace will be a starter, so you'll watch one you didn't pick steadily grow as an adversary over the game. Generic NPCs rarely use Pokémon from any of these lines.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Their first forms are usually designed to be adorable and highly appealing.
• Secret Art:
  • The archetype as a whole has two sets of them, both of which have one for each type. These moves must be taught by a designated tutor somewhere in each game.
    • The first set, introduced in Gen III, consists of Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, and Hydro Cannon. These moves have the same effect as Hyper Beam: 150 power, 90% accuracy, and causes a recharge on the following turn.
    • The second set, introduced in Gen V, are the Pledge moves: Fire Pledge, Water Pledge, and Grass Pledge. While the moves are rather standard on their own, if two first partners use different Pledge moves in doubles, the two will unleash a powerful Combination Attack with a secondary Field Power Effect on the opponent's side. The "secret" part is later downplayed slightly, as they are shared as of Gen VII with the Elemental Monkeys while Grass Pledge alone can be taught to Silvally.
  • It's also become common practice to give first partner Pokémon their own exclusive moves in their debut generation/game, though these moves usually get subjected to Uniqueness Decay later on. This started in Gen III (with Sceptile, Blaziken, and Swampert getting exclusive access to Leaf Blade, Blaze Kick, and Muddy Water, respectively), but it didn't become a recurring trend until Gen VI.
• Starter Mon: These Pokémon are the Trope Namer.^note The term "starter" was and remains the long-time informal designation for these Pokémon, a term that was quickly adopted for official media. However, starting with Gen VI, the term "starter" was phased out in favor of "first partner" instead, though the "starter" term still crops up from time to time. They're always the first Pokémon you receive, and a handy partner to keep throughout the game.

The Rattata

The Rattata | The Common Mammal

The Normal-types of Gens I-VIII

A two-stage mon that is particularly common on early game routes, if not throughout the entire region. The archetype comes in two general flavors: the original, more common Normal-type in the vein of Rattata (informally called "the rodent"), and the less common Dark-type based on Poochyena. Early-game opponent trainers such as Youngsters, Lasses, and Grunts may favor them.

They are based on a variety of field and urban mammals that live near humans (such as rabbits, raccoons, badgers, mongooses, cats, foxes, and dogs). They are generally designed to be unremarkable, typically evolving once around level 20 and having a final base stat total in the lower 400s. Moderately useful early on, but poor coverage options, plain typing and low stats make them obsolete quickly. However they may have abilities (like Runaway or Pick Up) that make them a good Utility Party Member if you have extra space in your party. In addition they can usually learn a lot of field moves in Generations that use HMs.

Pokémon of the main Rattata sub-type: Rattata line (Gen I); Sentret line (Gen II); Zigzagoon line (Gen III); Bidoof line (Gen IV); Patrat line (Gen V); Bunnelby line (Gen VI); Yungoos line (Gen VII); Skwovet line (Gen VIII); Lechonk line (Gen IX)

Pokémon of the Poochyena sub-type: Poochyena line (Gen III); Purrloin line (Gen V); Alolan Rattata line (Gen VII); Nickit line (Gen VIII); Maschiff line (Gen IX)

Pokémon similar to this archetype: Lillipup line ^note A three stage line, and competes with Patrat in the same Gen for the Normal-slot. (Gen V); Wooloo line ^note Competes with Skwovet in the same Gen for the Normal-slot and is less common overall Galarian Zigzagoon line^note A Dark regional variant of a previous Rattata (like Alolan Rattata) but has a third form and competes with Nickit in the same Gen for the Dark-slot. (Gen VIII)

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• Beware of Vicious Dog: The Poochyena, Nickit, and Maschiff lines are all canid in design, and they all have the Dark-type to denote their vicious nature.
• Boring, but Practical: In the games with HMs, they tend to serve the purpose of the team's "HM slave".
• Com Mons: Found everywhere on land routes. Their evolved forms tend to be mediocre at best, but can be useful early on due to being fully evolved sometimes as early as level 20 and having faster than average leveling rates. As the game progresses, though, their uninspiring stats and movepools will really start to hold them back.
• Combat Pragmatist: Both sides of the archetype tend to learn moves based on trickery to stay relevant, like Bite and Sucker Punch. The Dark-types of course get more mileage out of them.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Johto is notably the only region that doesn't have a standalone Normal-type, as it shares the Rattata line with nearby Kanto. While the Sentret line is a Rattata in almost every sense, it is only found during the daytime and exclusive to early routes.
  • Visually, most Rattatas are in neutral colors like brown, beige, and gray to convey being Normal-type. The original Rattata itself is a bright purple which is usually reserved for Poison-types. This was less noticable on the Gameboy's monochrome screen anyway, and Raticate is a more typical brown color.
• The Generic Guy: They're about as unremarkable as you can get with Pokémon, often being Normal type, having perpetually subpar stats, and closely resembling very common everyday animals.
• The Goomba: Other than being an HM Slave in the relevant generations, their primary purpose is to give an easy common opponent both as Wild Pokémon and on opponent trainers on routes.
• Non-Elemental: The Rattata is always Normal-type, though some second forms like Bibarel and Diggersby also gain secondary typings.
• Percent Damage Attack: Many of the Normal-types have access to the move Super Fang, which always halves the target's HP. While they won't win battles this way, it gives them a bit of utility should you keep one of them into the later levels.
• Predators Are Mean: They Dark-types are more geared towards carnivorous predators and are meant to be more vicious than the more herbivorous/omnivorous Normal counterpart.
• Rat Stomp: While they aren't always rodents, they are virtually guaranteed to be the first Pokémon you encounter in the wild and in a trainer battle, and they consistently serve as weak, early-game enemies that let the player get used to the game's UI.
• Rodents of Unusual Size: The Pokémon of this archetype tend to be rodents much larger than their real-life counterparts. The Zigzagoon, Bidoof, and Bunnelby lines are notable exceptions; the Zigzagoon line being precious puppies^note they're tanooki (raccoon-dogs) with elements of badgers; the badger elements are more prevalent in Linoone and Obstagoon, the Bidoof line being beavers (which are quite large relative to other rodents^note in fact, the second-largest rodents behind capybaras), and the Bunnelby line being rabbits.
• Unpleasant Animal Counterpart: The Rattatas (or rather the Zigzagoons) to the Poochyenas. Zigzagoon and Poochyena replace each other in the opening sequences for Ruby & Sapphire and Emerald. Yungoos and Alolan Rattata are expressly rivals. Both sides of the archetype are found on low level trainers like Youngsters, Lasses, Evil Grunts but the Grunts tend to favor the Dark-types when available.
• Utility Party Member: A number of the Normal-types learn several Hidden Machine moves, which makes them surprisingly good at map utility. The Bidoof line in particular is capable of learning almost all of Gen IV's HMs.

The Pidgey

The Pidgey | The Common Bird

The Common Birds of Gens I-VIII

A Flying-type, either three-stage or two-stage, these Pokémon can be found everywhere in their regions alongside their fellow rodents. While they also often appear on the early-game opponents, their evolution, stats, and typing can be useful throughout the game. If nothing else, they can be useful as HM Fly mounts to quickly ferry you between towns. Their stats are typically on the low side, but with a better typing and more utility they can last longer in the party than the likes of Rattata.

Pokémon of this archetype: Pidgey line & Spearow line (Gen I); Hoothoot line (Gen II); Taillow line & Wingull line (Gen III); Starly line (Gen IV); Pidove line (Gen V); Fletchling line (Gen VI); Pikipek line (Gen VII); Rookidee line (Gen VIII); Wattrel line (Gen IX)

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• Airborne Mook: Being Flying-types, they're this when encountered in the wild or sent out by another trainer. While the archetype is most firmly established on land sharing space with The Rattata, both Wingull and Wattrel play with it by being common over sea routes instead.
• Blow You Away: They are always partial Flying-types, fitting of birds. Despite being the mascot of Flying-types, Rookidee is the first and only of them to ever be pure Flying in any of its forms.
• Com Mons: Like the common rodents, they are ubiquitous on land routes and pretty unremarkable in their base forms. They do have greater potential overall than the Rattatas.
• Crutch Character: Zig-Zagged. Some members of this archetype, like Hoothoot and Pikipek, start out strong but fall off as you progress. Others, like Spearow and Taillow, are most powerful early on, but can still make it to the end of the game. Still others, like Starly and Rookidee, are full-on Disc One Nukes that never stop being useful to a team.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • Gen I had two basic birds, Pidgey and Spearow as unpleasant animal counterparts to each other. Pidgey being docile, or heroic three stage mon, and Spearow as an aggressive two stage mon. Some of the birds in later regions would take on Spearow traits, as below:
  • While the "Pidgey clone" is one of the more recognizable archetypes, Generations II and III played with the mold more than most. In Johto, Pidgey reprises its role as the Common Bird as it does in nearby Kanto in the daytime, but Hoothoot replaces it at night to emphasis the new clock mechanics. In Hoenn, Taillow has more similarities to Spearow, being less common and more aggressive, while Wingull is about as common as Pidgey, but in water as opposed to tall grass. Starly in Generation IV was the first real Common Bird to play most of Pidgey's characteristics straight, and almost every succeeding generation has followed its lead. Still Hoothoot and Taillow are grouped with the Pidgey clones in marketing, and Ash had the new "Pidgey" for the first 6 generations of the anime, further solidifying them as part of this group.
• The Generic Guy: Similarly to the common rodent Pokémon, these Pokémon tend to closely resemble everyday animals and have little in the way of supernatural abilities. Later generations would play with their typings, stats, and abilities to make them stand out more.
• Later-Installment Weirdness:
  • Rookidee is the only one to be pure Flying-type instead of being part Normal-type. However, it does gain the Steel-type in its final form.
  • Paldea's resident "common bird", Wattrel, is not a direct Pidgey clone unlike every other common bird from Generations IV-VIII. Instead, it functions as an Electric-type take on Wingull, a bird extremely common on water routes instead of on land.
• Mascot Mook: Ash always had one in his lineup for the first six Gens, boosting the popularity of the archetype above its counterpart rodent. Corviknight is also omnipresent as a taxi service in Gen 8. Gen 7's Pikipek's line never got a ton of spotlight in its day, but was the ace of an Elite Four member.
• Noble Bird of Prey: With the exceptions of Unfezant (a pheasant), Toucannon (a toucan), and Corviknight (a raven), all the regional early birds end up as raptorial avians upon reaching their final forms — Pidgeot is a Mix-and-Match Critter resembling a cross between a finch and an eagle; Noctowl is an owl; Swellow is a swallow mixed with a swallow-tailed kite; Staraptor is called "Mukuhawk" in the Japanese version but resembles a generic crested raptor mixed with a starling; Talonflame is an ornate hawk-eagle in all but name.
• Non-Elemental: The main bird was always Normal-type alongside their Flying-type until Gen VI.
• Warp Whistle: They're commonly used as Fly mounts to quickly travel between towns. Even though HMs have been eliminated since Gen VII, the idea of using the Common Bird as a Fly mount is referenced in Sword and Shield, where a Corviknight taxi service serves as the game's fast travel option. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl also has a Staraptor fulfilling the role of the Fly Hidden Move.

Early Bugs

Caterpie & Weedle | The Early Bug(s)

The Early Evolving Bugs. Not pictured: Gens II, VI, and IX

A Bug-type, found in early routes usually associated with "early forests" such as Viridian Forest and Santalune Forest.

They mainly exist to teach the mechanic of evolution early in the game, as they often evolve earlier than practically all other Pokémon. They may reach their second or even third stage by level 10. Earlier members of the archetype can be useful in the early game thanks to their base stat totals in the high 300s or low 400s and status effects, but they are generally outclassed anywhere later than the early game. Some that reach their final form at higher levels can be more powerful, especially those from later generations.

Three-stage versions usually resemble the larva, pupa, and adult stages of complete Metamorphosis of many Real Life insects, while two-stage versions are like incomplete metamorphosis with a regular younger form and bigger form-type evolution. They typically come in one of two flavors, a rounder one that may be flying and a sharper one that may be part poison, evoking the original Butterfree and Beedrill. .

Pokémon of this archetype: Caterpie & Weedle lines (Gen I); Ledyba & Spinarak lines (Gen II); Wurmple branched lines^note to Beautifly & Dustox (Gen III); Kricketot line (Gen IV); Sewaddle & Venipede lines (Gen V); Scatterbug line (Gen VI); Grubbin line (Gen VII); Blipbug line (Gen VIII); Tarountula & Nymble lines (Gen IX)

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• Big Creepy-Crawlies: They're always Bug-types. In their final stage, they're normally only medium-sized by Pokémon standards, but some like Scolipede can reach large sizes.
• Blow You Away: Pokémon of the "Caterpie" subtype tend to end up Flying-type on their final evolution.
• Crutch Character: The earlier members of the archetype plus the Scatterbug line are able to evolve into their final form earlier than other mons — some as early as level 10 — at the expense of having weaker base stats in their final form. This can help players overcome early challenges such as the Early-Bird Boss more easily, but are eventually overshadowed by other Pokémon once they reach their final forms. However, this overlaps somewhat with Magikarp Power in Generation V and beyond, where most of them learn Quiver Dance at the very end of their level-up movepool and are among the few Pokémon to do so. Even with their mediocre stats, they are more than capable of contributing in the lategame and can potentially even sweep entire teams of statistically stronger Pokémon as long as they can find opportunities to set up (which the AI will give them many of).
• Increasingly Lethal Enemy: Usually they have low HP, Defenses, and no reliable recovery making them easy to eliminate. But they can run strategies that get increasingly annoying the longer they're allowed to stay on the field. They might boost their own stats (through moves like Swords Dance or Quiver Dance) or be a Trap Master (with Sticky Web, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes). They can also spam status effects (Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Poisonpowder, Toxic especially if they have Compound Eyes to boost the accuracy of these moves) in between to give them time to set up. The Ledyba line uniquely uses barriers (Light Screen and Reflect) to boost defense rather than directly antagonizing the enemy. If you don't take them out immediately, they can cripple an entire team.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: Starting with Generation V, members of this archetype have started to avert the early-evolving Crutch Character aspects pioneered by Caterpie and Weedle by evolving at higher levels with appropriate stats while still retaining the three-stage evolution reflecting real-life complete Metamorphosis. The Scatterbug line is one exception, being a deliberate throwback to Caterpie, while the Grubbin line throws the idea of reaching the final form early completely out the window and into a raging bonfire, as evolving Charjabug into Vikavolt requires either leveling up in a late-game area (in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, & Ultra Moon) or using a Thunder Stone (in Sword & Shield). On the other hand, the Blipbug line is a sort of compromise between the original intentions with the Early Bug and later designs, reaching its second form at level 10 while reaching its final form at level 30, again with appropriate stats.
• Metamorphosis: While most Pokémon go through this as part of their Evolution Powerup, the Early Bug often uses real-life complete metamorphosis (from larva, to pupa, to imago) to illustrate the evolution mechanic early on for newer players. This applies even to ones that are based on arthropods that in real life don't go through a pupal stage, in which case they enter a stage that resembles a pupa in some way (namely with the body becoming more compact and less mobile in some way).
• Poisonous Person: Pokémon of the "Weedle" sub-type tend to be Poison type.
• Psychic Powers: Following Butterfree, they usually learn low-level Psychic-type moves like Confusion and Psybeam. The Blipbug line takes it further by becoming a Psychic-type upon evolution.
• Status Effects: The Caterpies have a tendency to learn the "powder" moves usually used by Grass-types, such as Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, and Poison Powder.
• Super Mode: Beedrill has a Mega Evolution while Butterfree and Orbeetle have Gigantamax forms.
• Unpleasant Animal Counterpart: Early on, these Pokémon tended to come in pairs, with one being friendlier-looking and the other being more intimidating.

The Oddish & Bellsprout

The Oddish & Bellsprout | The Early Plant(s)

A Grass-type Pokémon based on a plant that appear in early sections of the games. They usually have a three-stage evolutionary line, with the final stage requiring something special (usually an evolution stone) in order to be achieved. Their base stats tend to land in the high 400s.

As the first Generation came with version-exclusive pairs, sometimes this archetype comes in twos.

Pokémon of this archetype: Oddish line & Bellsprout line (Gen I); Lotad line & Seedot line (Gen III); Budew line^note Roselia debuted alone in Gen III, but gained a pre-evolution and stone evolution in Gen IV, making it this for Diamond & Pearl, not its native Ruby & Sapphire (Gen IV); Cottonee line & Petilil line (Gen V); Bounsweet line (Gen VII)

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• Green Thumb: They're always Grass-types.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: Steenee requires leveling up while knowing Stomp in order to evolve into Tsareena instead of a stone like the others.
• Magikarp Power: Their first forms tend to be quite weak, with low stats and shallow movepools. They tend to get a big power boost in their final forms, though.
• Planimal: Being Grass-types, this comes with the territory.
• Power of the Sun: Nearly all of them have at least one ability that works under Sunny Day conditions, and several need a Sun Stone to reach their final evolution.
• Status Effects: A lot of them make use of the "powder" moves, such as Sleep Powder and Poison Powder.

The Paras

The Paras | The Spore Mushroom

An archetype that has appeared in every odd-numbered generation until to at least Generation IX, these Pokémon are all based on mushrooms. They are Grass-types found rather early on and usually evolve in the 20's, but what makes this archetype particularly unique is the move Spore, which is exclusive to this archetype and is the only perfect-accuracy move that causes Sleep. The general archetype likely persists entirely to provide access to this move.

Pokémon of this archetype: Paras line (Gen I); Shroomish line (Gen III); Foongus line (Gen V); Morelull line (Gen VII); Toedscool line and Brute Bonnet^note by way of being related to Amoongus (Gen IX)

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• Forced Sleep: While far from the only Pokémon move to cause this, the Spore move unique to this archetype takes this further by being the only 100% accuracy move that immediately causes sleep when it hits.^note The only other 100% accuracy sleep-causing move is Yawn, but it requires that the target remain in battle for two turns before sleep activates.
• Fungi Are Plants: They are mushroom-based Pokémon and classified as Grass-type alongside other plant-based Pokémon.
• Green Thumb: They are always Grass-type.
• Mushroom Man: They share a common basis in mushrooms.
• Piñata Enemy: They may hold the Tiny Mushroom or Big Mushroom items that can be sold for money or exchanged for services.
• Secret Art: Spore, which is fittingly called Mushroom Spore in Japanese, is exclusive to this archetype.
• Status Effects: In addition to their sleep-inducing Spore move, they also share the Effect Spore ability (except for Toedscool, who has an exclusive ability), granting them a 30% chance to retaliate against contact-making moves by triggering poison, paralysis, or sleep on the opponent. Notably, Effect Spore is only found on this archetype as a normal ability, with other Pokémon only receiving it as a hidden ability.
• Stone Wall: Most of them are durable, but are lacking in speed to prevent them from completely negating most opponents by getting Spore off before they can even move. The only exceptions are Breloom, which is more of a Glass Cannon, and Toedscruel, which has a good 100 speed, but its ability gives it negative priority on status moves as an Obvious Rule Patch.

The General Game Archetypes

Once you get past the first gym or two, the adventure opens up. As you explore more dungeons, caves, lakes, and buildings, the Pokémon diversify even more.

The Pikaclone

The Pikaclone

Not pictured: Pawmi line

Thanks to Pikachu's role as a Series Mascot, the idea behind it expanded to a whole spiritual line of Pokémon sharing many of its elements: the Electric-type, a rodent-based design, and noticeable Blush Stickers on their cheeks. While Pikachu has an evolutionary line, Pikaclones almost never evolve.

Pokémon of this archetype: Pikachu line (Gen I); Pichu ^note Can be lumped with the Pikachu line, but a newly introduced baby form for Gen II that was meant to be "the next Pikachu" and Marill line^note A water type with some design similarities that was popular pre-release (Gen II); Plusle & Minun (Gen III); Pachirisu (Gen IV); Emolga (Gen V); Dedenne (Gen VI); Togedemaru and Mimikyu^note Togedemaru is a straightforward example, Mimikyu is a Ghost/Fairy-type that deliberately but poorly mimics Pikachu in order to make friends (Gen VII); Morpeko (Gen VIII); Pawmi line (Gen IX)

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• Blush Sticker: They all have colored cheeks, and they aren't just there to make them look cute; the Pokédex explains them as being "electric sacs" that they use to generate their electrical attacks.
• Breaking Old Trends: Pawmi is the first species of the archetype since Pikachu itself to have evolutions.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Despite also having Togedemaru in Generation VII, Mimikyu serves as this for the Pikaclone archetype, disguising itself as a Pikachu in an attempt to be loved.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The archetype is a series staple, but Generation II didn't exactly follow it to the letter. The intended Pikaclone is Pichu, a pre-evolution for Pikachu rather that a unique new line. The fanbase also took to the Marill line, which debuted early in the anime and had incidental similarities to Pikachu such as a rodent design, zig-zagging tail, two-stage evolution, with a baby pre-evolution introduced a generation later, and placement in the Fairy egg group. It was even given the Fan Nickname "Pikablu" in its day. The archetype wasn't well and truly established until Generation III, where Plusle and Minun established the obligatory non-evolving electric rodent for each generation from then on.
• Fragile Speedster: Speed is always their strongest stat. Pachirisu has good Special Defense, however.
• Mascot's Name Goes Unchanged: They usually keep their Japanese names in most regions, which gives each of their names a uniquely Japanese feel among other localized names.
• Our Fairies Are Different: All of them except for Pichu (Undiscovered) and Emolga (Pure Field) are in the Fairy Egg Group, while Dedenne is an actual Fairy-type.
• Popularity Power: Is it any wonder that the most popular Pokémon spawned an entire archetype of its own?
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: With their soft, friendly designs and Blush Stickers, all of them are very cute. Because of this, all but one of them are in the Fairy egg group, which includes generally adorable Pokémon, and even then, the one exception, Emolga, isn't any less adorable than the others.
• Rodents of Unusual Size: They are quite big compared to their real-life inspirations.
• Secret Art: In Generations VI and VII, Nuzzle, a weak Electric-type physical move that guarantees Paralysis, was this to the archetype. Generation VIII broke with this, not only denying the Galarian Pikaclone Morpeko the move, but instead giving it to the Yamper and Toxel lines.
• Shock and Awe: The "main" members of the archetype always Electric-type. Mimikyu greatly downplays this however; it is Ghost/Fairy-typed and naturally learns no Electric-type moves, but it can learn a few Electric-type moves by machine in acknowledgement of its imitation of Pikachu.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Despite having a "new Pikachu" in every Generation, the original Pikachu always sticks around to get top billing. For example, marketing often packages the three new starters and Pikachu, rather than the three new starters and the new Pikaclone, despite Pikachu only officially having starter status in Kanto. Even Pokémon Horizons: The Series (post Ash retirement) puts the new Captain Pikachu in a more prominent role than the Pawmi that roams around the ship.

The Magikarp

The Magikarp

Water-type Pokémon that share a common quirk: they start out very weak, but can achieve high stats. The way they do this is dependent on the species: Magikarp itself must reach Level 20 but the others require a special gimmick to evolve and/or achieve their special powerful forms. While there are several Pokémon that go under the umbrella of Magikarp Power (the bugs, pseudo-legendaries, Abra only using Teleport to Alakazam being a Game-Breaker, and Cosmog going from sharaing Magikarp's stat total to sharing Mewtwo's in its final form, etc.) these Water-types tend to have this be their defining characteristic.

Pokémon of this archetype: Magikarp line (Gen I); Feebas line (Gen III); Wimpod line & Wishiwashi (Gen VII); Finizen line (Gen IX)

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• Magikarp Power: Not only does this archetype contain the Trope Namer, but it's defined by its members starting out very weak and having some sort of unique gimmick to reach high levels of power.
  • Magikarp line: Simply reach Level 20.
  • Feebas line: Level up with a maxed-out Beauty stat in the relevant games, or (starting with Generation V) trade with a Prism Scale.
  • Wimpod: Reach Level 30, retreats when its HP is below 50%
  • Wishiwashi: Reach Level 20, and keep its HP above 25%.
  • Finizen line: Reach Level 38 in multiplayer, then switch it out and back in.
• Making a Splash: Most members of the archetype are pure Water-type. Those who aren't are still Water-typed alongside another typing.
• Necessary Drawback: The ability-based members of the archetype have base stats that surpass Pseudo-Legendaries (totaling above 600), but have a catch to them that prevents their Super Mode from being superior to a normal evolution.
  • School Form Wishiwashi is both extremely slow and has very low HP. Both of these are coupled with its school breaking when its HP falls below 25%.
  • Palafin must be switched out of battle and switched back in, therefore losing momentum for its team and potentially exposing itself to danger on the latter stipulation.
• Sea Serpent: Both Magikarp and Feebas evolve into massive, powerful snakelike beasts.
• Socialization Bonus: Feebas can evolve in games without Contest Stats (and sometimes even then) by trading with a Prism Scale. Finizen has a more atypical variant where it evolves by reaching a certain level in multiplayer.
• Super Mode: Wishiwashi achieves its power not through evolution, but through its ability once it reaches Level 20. Finizen, on the other hand, composites the Feebas and Wishiwashi methods by evolving through a Socialization Bonus, then achieving its own special form through its ability.
• Unfortunate Name: While Magikarp (Koiking in the original Japanese) is an Ironic Name, the first forms of several of the others have Punny Names that point out how Pathetically Weak they are.
  • Feebas from Feeble. Wimpod from Wimpy. Wishiwashi from wishy-washy. The most complimentary of them, Finizen, comes from ordinary citizen, in contrast to its superhero-like evolved form.
  • Their Japanese names respectively include puns for poor, cowardly, weak or frail, and ordinary.

The Geodude

The Geodude | The Main Rock-type

A Rock-type Pokémon that can be found in an early cave such as Mt. Moon or Granite Cave. Because of their three-stage evolution and high physical-oriented stats, they can seem like powerful team members to keep throughout the game. However, due to the Rock type's high amount of weaknesses and their special-oriented flaws, they tend to be hard-to-use at best from mid-game and on.

Pokémon of this archetype: Geodude line (Gen I); Aron line (Gen III); Roggenrola line (Gen V); Rolycoly line (Gen VIII); Nacli line (Gen IX)

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• Achilles' Heel: A crippling flaw that tends to keep them out of the late game, they usually have a secondary typing that magnifies at least one (usually two) of the Rock type's weaknesses into a double weakness. Roggenrola and Nacli avert this by being pure Rock type.
• Crutch Character: They can be found early on and have both decent stats and powerful moves for that point in the game, but later on they tend to plateau due to their low Special Defense, low Speed, and more common weaknesses. This is most present in the early members of the archetype; later ones, such as Rolycoly and Nacli, have the tools to remain useful later in the game despite their weaknesses.
• Dishing Out Dirt: They're always Rock-type, usually also having a secondary typing to go with it.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: The Rolycoly line balances between being a Stone Wall and a Mighty Glacier. While it has the highest defensive stats of this archetype, and possesses the traditionally low Speed, it foregoes the high Attack of others in favor of an equally mediocre Atttack and Special Attack. It also has a surprisingly high Special Defense for the standards of this archetype, although it's still susceptible to its two double weaknesses.
• Mighty Glacier: Speed is almost always their lowest stat, even more than their Special Attack, but compensate this with their high Attack and even higher Defense.
• Rock Monster: With the exception of the reptilian Aron line, they are creatures entirely composed of rock pieces. While the Geodude and Roggenrola lines are made of ordinary rocks, the Rolycoly and Nacli lines are instead made of the human-used coal and salt, respectively.
• Socialization Bonus: Two of them (Geodude and Roggenrola) can't reach their final evolutionary stage without being traded with someone else.
• Super Mode: Aggron has a Mega Evolution while Coalossal has a Gigantamax form.
• Weak to Magic: Special Defense tends to be one of their lowest stats, which isn't helped by their greatest weaknesses frequently (and before the Special split exclusively) skewing towards the Special side.

The Abra

The Abra | The Main Psychic-type

A multi-stage Psychic-type line most notable for being among the most human-looking Pokémon, usually looking rather feminine. Being Psychic-types, they naturally have great special-oriented stats offset by poor physical stats with HP and Speed being hit-or-miss, usually with a stat total in the low 500s. They often take time to train up, but when fully evolved, make very good partners well into the late game.

Pokémon of this archetype: Abra line (Gen I); Ralts line (Gen III); Gothita line & Solosis line (Gen V); Hatenna line (Gen VIII)

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• Confusion Fu: Most have access to moves from a wide array of types that can play off their amazing Special Attack.
• Cute Monster Girl: Due to their highly feminine appearances, the Ralts, Gothita, and Hatenna lines are very cute in each stage. Adding to this, the Gothita line has a 3 females to 1 male ratio, while Hatenna is entirely female. This may have been inspired by the entirely female Jynx line, which were also part Psychic. However, Jynx is more used by Ice specialists like Lorelei over Psychic specialists, and was part of a trio with Magmar and Electabuzz before becoming Out of Focus.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Pokémon of this archetype are well-known for having very feminine appearances, but the originator of the archetype, the Abra line, is very masculine in appearance and even has a 3 males to 1 female gender ratio. The Ralts line eventually codified the feminine looks for the archetype, and later archetype members have added on to this by being either mostly or entirely female.
• Hu Mons: This archetype is defined by its members closely resembling (often feminine) humans.
• Magikarp Power: They start out very underwhelming and take a while to reach their final forms, but once they do, they get a massive increase in power. As an example, Ralts has lower stats than the Trope Namer and Kirlia is the weakest of all non-cocoon evolved Pokémon, yet both Gardevoir and Gallade are strong Pokémon both capable of Mega Evolution.
• Psychic Powers: Very potent powers at that.
• The Rival: While Alakazam and Gengar were made counterparts in lore, later examples of the archetype would have a built in counterpart. The Gothita and Solosis lines to each other, and the Hatenna line to the Impidimp line.
• Super Mode: Alakazam, Gardevoir, and Gallade are all capable of Mega Evolution, while Hatterene has a Gigantamax form.
• Trope Codifier: The Ralts line established the feminine characteristics of this archetype.

The Fake Item

The Fake Item

The Poké Ball Decoys

Items in the Pokémon series are generally represented by Poké Balls that litter the landscape or other items. However, due to this, several Pokémon have been introduced that take advantage of this fact, and bear a similar design in order to trick players into running into them. Generally they are fairly balanced in their stats, albeit excelling in a few areas and falling flat in others.

Pokémon of this archetype: Voltorb line (standard form only) (Gen I); Foongus line (Gen V); Galarian Stunfisk (Gen VIII); Greavard line (Gen IX)

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• Animate Inanimate Object: They're almost all based on Poké Balls.
• Chest Monster: Essentially what their gimmick is; tricking you into thinking it's an item before revealing it's a Pokémon. Voltorb, Foongus, and Galarian Stunfisk all resemble the Poké Balls that represent items on the overworld in their generations, while Greavard instead mimics the sparkling item pickups in Scarlet and Violet.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: While the player may be tricked into activating a Voltorb or Electrode thinking it was an item ball, this is only because they use the same icon on the world map. In-Universe, a Poké Ball can fit in a ten-year-old's palm, while an Electrode is a little over three feet in diameter. In non-game material, they're simply living land mines rather than Poké Ball fake-outs. Foongus is appropriately much smaller, Stunfisk only shows its small Poké Ball-shaped mouth while concealing the rest of its body, and Greavard also conceals its body, only showing the little flame on its head which resembles an item on the ground.

The Two-Stage Pollutant

The Two-Stage Pollutant

Two-stage Poison-type Pokémon in the mold of Koffing and Grimer. They tend to appear in odd-numbered generations and embody something thematically related to poison, such as pollution or acid. They don't always get along; Muk and Garbodor, in particular, are natural enemies.

Pokémon of this archetype: Grimer line, Koffing line (Gen I); Gulpin line (Gen III); Trubbish line (Gen V); Varoom line (Gen IX)

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• Blob Monster: They're mostly somewhat shapeless, and the Grimer and Gulpin lines in particular are living blobs of sludge.
• Green Is Gross: Alolan Grimer, Alolan Muk, Gulpin, Trubbish, and Garbodor are green, while Galarian Weezing produces clouds of pale green gas.
• Land, Sea, Sky: The Grimer, Koffing, and Trubbish lines are based on liquid, gaseous, and solid waste respectively, forming a take on this trope focused on pollution.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: The Varoom line otherwise plays the archetype straight as being based on a pollutant (engine exhaust) and evolving at Level 40 (comparable to Muk's 38 and Garbodor's 36), but mixes it up by being a Steel-type in addition to its Poison type and having a more definite shape as a living combustion engine.
• Muck Monster: Grimer, Koffing, and Trubbish are all formed from living pollution. Varoom is a downplayed example, allegedly being an engine cylinder given life by a strange toxin.
• Poisonous Person: They're mostly pure Poison-types, except for Alolan Grimer and Muk which gain secondary Dark typing, Galarian Weezing who gains a secondary Fairy typing, and the Varoom line which is entirely Steel/Poison.
• Technicolor Toxin: Most of them are primarily purple or green. The Varoom line is mostly metallic, but its exhaust pipes are tipped with purple sludge.

The Multiplying Metal Object

The Multiplying Metal Object

A Pokémon that evolves by apparently merging with other members of its kind, rather than simply metamorphosing on its own. They tend to be three stage evolutions, part Steel-type, and quite powerful by their final form.

Pokémon of this archetype: Magnemite line (Gen I); Beldum line (Gen III); Klink line (Gen V); Honedge line (Gen VI)

Pokémon that only have elements of this archetype: Alolan Diglett line^note Only has two evolutionary forms, are also based on organic creatures, Meltan line^note Only two evolutionary forms, and the second form, unlike the others of this archetype, are a full on fusion between the Meltan, (Gen VII); Gimmighoul line^note Only has two evolutionary forms, the first form isn't a Steel-type (Gen IX)

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• Animate Inanimate Object: Metal objects like magnets, gears, and swords have all been used here.
• Boss Battle: Many of them are the Signature Mon of a master level trainer. Metagross with Champion Steven, Klinklang with Plasma Boss Colress (who also has Magnezone and Metagross in his party), Aegislash and Alolan Dugtrio with Elite Four members Wikstrom and Molayne, respectively.
• Cyclops: A good deal of them have at least one form where they only have one eye.
• Extra-ore-dinary: All members of this archetype are Steel-types. Diglett is pure Ground but got a Steel regional form, though it's still only a two-stage evolution.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Their Pokédex entries state that they evolve by fusing with other members of their kind, but in-game, a singular one of these Pokémon can evolve all by itself.

Fossils

Fossil Pokemon

Fossil Pokémon with their real-life inspirations, excluding the Galarian Fossils

A duo of Pokémon that can be obtained via Fossil Revival. Usually, you are given the choice between one out of two fossils to obtain and later revive, though there may be a way to obtain the other, particularly post-game. Fossil Pokémon specific to this archetype were originally always Rock-types with late evolutions, though more variation began appearing much later.

Pokémon of this archetype: Omanyte & Kabuto lines and Aerodactyl (Gen I); Lileep & Anorith lines (Gen III); Cranidos & Shieldon lines (Gen IV); Tirtouga & Archen lines (Gen V); Tyrunt & Amaura lines (Gen VI); Dracozolt, Dracovish, Arctozolt, and Arctovish (Gen VIII)

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• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Dracozolt, Dracovish, Arctozolt, and Arctovish are Mix-and-Match Critters that Came Back Wrong as a result of a faulty Fossil Revival process.
• Dishing Out Dirt: The Pokémon that play the archetype straight are always Rock-type. The Galarian fossils notably break the trend of fossils always being Rock-type.
• Fossil Revival: The means by which you receive them. You must acquire its fossil from somewhere, then bring it to a scientist specializing in reviving from fossils.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: The Galarian fossils break several conventions of previous fossil mons. They are not Rock-type, there are four of them, none of them evolve (unlike the fossil mons from every previous generation (except for Gen I)), and they don't have the typical gender ratio of 7 males to 1 female that all previous fossil mons have since they don’t have a gender at all, presumably because they're combinations of body parts from completely different species.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: The Dracozolt, Dracovish, Arctozolt, and Arctovish Pokémon, which are formed through a combination of two different fossils, one for the body and one for the head.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: In most cases, you are given the choice of only one of the fossils, though later on you may find the opportunity to get the other.
• Prehistoric Animal Analogue: They are inspired by real-life extinct animals, from some of the most famous dinosaurs to invertebrates and fish.
• Sixth Ranger:
  • Aerodactyl, due to not being a member of a duo, having no evolutions (though it does have a Mega Evolution), and not even being revived from a fossil. Instead, Aerodactyl is revived from Old Amber, an item that existed alongside the fossils used to revive Omanyte and Kabuto, and available regardless of which fossil was picked earlier in the game. It otherwise fits the archetype, being a prehistoric, partial Rock-type Pokémon revived from an item, with its status being a case of Early-Installment Weirdness.
  • Dracozolt, Dracovish, Arctozolt, and Arctovish, due to not being part of a duo, having no evolutions, lacking the Rock-type, and not being true prehistoric creatures. Instead, each of these Pokémon is created through a combination of two different fossils, one for the body and one for the head. The combination of fossils determines the Pokémon's types, none of which are Rock-type. And none of these Pokémon ever actually existed in nature, instead being chimerae artifically created from different parts of Pokémon that did exist.

Paired Species

Because the games are paired, several Pokémon mirror each other (foils, rivals, version exclusive counterparts, etc.) to encourage trading. Some pairs, however, go further than most. These pairs are so closely related that they have all the hallmarks of being an evolutionary family, but typically aren't linked by evolution in game. The games consistently make a point to pair them in their appearances. Notably, Gen III introduced a lot of these alongside double battles.

Counterparts

Counterparts

They look alike, have similar names, and share a base stat total as if from branching evolutions. Despite having all the hallmarks of being an evolutionary family, they are not directly linked in gameplay.

Pokémon of this archetype: Hitmonlee & Hitmonchan, later including Hitmontop (Gen I); Plusle & Minun, Lunatone & Solrock (Gen III); Throh & Sawk (Gen V); Oranguru & Passimian (Gen VII)

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• Birds of a Feather: Often partners, or friendly rivals.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Gen II is the weird one.
  • Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan were unrelated in Gen I. In Gen II, they got a baby form and a third member. No other pairs have ever been retroactively linked like this.
  • Pinsir and Scyther were just version exclusive counterparts in Gen I. Both received evolutions in Gen II's betas. Somewhere in development, however, it was decided to separate Pinsir and Heracross into a cross-gen thematic duo, while Scyther still evolved into Scizor. Down the road, this also had the weird effect of giving us Mega Pinsir, Heracross, and Scizor, but because only fully evolved Pokémon are capable of Mega Evolution, there is no Mega Scyther.
  • Scyther and Scizor. Uniquely, the thematic duo here is formed from a Pokémon and its immediate evolution. Scyther is the only Pokémon that doesn't change base stat total upon evolving. Scyther and Scizor are equally powerful, just differently balanced (like all other thematic duo pairs). This would be reprised with Kleavor making them three that share stat totals.
• Foil:
  • The original Hitmons split fighting techniques between kicking and punching.
  • Scyther cuts while Scizor crushes.
  • Pinsir and Heracross are Japanese Beetle Brothers.
  • The Pikaclones are positive and negative electrical charges.
  • Lunatone and Solrock represent the moon and sun, respectively.
  • Throh and Sawk split fighting techniques between grappling and striking, or judo and karate.
  • Oranguru and Passimian represent the mind and body. They may also stand in for coaches versus players.
  • Tatsugiri and Dondozo fit the Brains and Brawn archetype, and are based on a piece of sushi and a sushi chef.

Gender-Based Counterparts

The Nidorans | The Gendered Duo

Two complementary single-gender species. These Pokémon take sexual dimorphism to the point of literally being different creatures. The Nidoran's may have been separate lines because Gen I predated assigning gender to almost every Pokémon. However, later generations would introduce all female and all male separate species, some of which produce eggs that hatch into either. And while legendaries are typically of the genderless undiscovered gender group in gameplay, in lore they sometimes get this treatment too.

Pokémon of this archetype: Nidoran female & male lines (Gen I); Tauros and Miltank (Gen I and Gen II); Volbeat & Illumise, Latios & Latias (Gen III); Rufflet & Vullaby lines (Gen V); Solgaleo and Lunala^note Genderless in-game, but described as gendered evolutions of the Cosmog line, Solgaleo male and Lunala female (Gen VII); Hatenna & Impidimp lines (Gen VIII); Zacian and Zamazenta^note Genderless in-game, but described as siblings, Zacian the sister and Zamazenta the brother (Gen VIII)

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• Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: Male and female counterparts that aren't even considered to be the same Pokémon.
• Olympus Mons: Several times over for Rule of Symbolism. But odd considering legendaries can't breed (in daycare conditions at least). As with other legendary archetypes below, this may be first derived by the more feminine Mew and masculine Mewtwo pair in Gen I.
• One-Gender Race: Technically these are pairs of one gender races.
• Pale Females, Dark Males: The male counterparts tend to have darker or more saturated colors.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Played straight with Latias and Latios. Inverted on three occasions. Nidoran female is blue, while the male is a pinkish purple. Volbeat is a red male to Illumise's blue female. Zacian is Cyan and Zamazenta is a dark Magenta color.
• Pink Means Feminine: Miltank and the Hatenna line are pinker than their male counterparts.

Enemies

Enemies

Pokémon that are direct territorial rivals to each other, possibly as a predator/prey relationship. Note while some Pokémon are said to hunt others (from Pidgeot eating Magikarp to Tinkaton hunting Corviknight), these Pokémon are made with their predator-prey relationship first and foremost, often in how they're grouped in the Pokédex or in their very builds.

Pokémon of this archetype: Zangoose & Seviper (Gen III); Durant & Heatmor (Gen V); Yungoos & Alolan Rattata lines (Gen VII)

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• Carnivore Confusion: The Pokémon series stresses the personhood of each monster making a point that battles are purely for sport, and being coy about whether even humans eat them. These pairs are straight-up about them attacking and eating each other in a more animalistic way.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: In X and Y, their rivalry takes effect when they're encountered in the wild. If encountered in a Horde Battle, wild Zangoose and Seviper will gang up on each other before going after the player, essentially turning the fight into a Protection Mission if you want an opportunity to catch the one that's by itself. Similarly, wild Durant can occasionally be found fighting a Heatmor, though it stands a better chance of surviving against them.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: If you stuck a Zangoose and a Seviper together in a Daycare, they'd be more likely to copulate than kill each other — they share an egg group. (The same goes for Yungoos and Rattata, though this trope is averted for Durant and Heatmor, who have completely different egg groups.)
• Hollywood Evolution: Oddly averted. It's implied that some of their attributes are driven by survival needs in a relatively realistic manner.
  • Zangoose developed poison immunity from generations of fighting Seviper.
  • Durant evolved a steel shell to protect from being eaten, but this ironically actually made it more vulnerable to Heatmor's fire. Though it could be interpreted as Heatmor eventually developing fire capabilities to bypass Durant's steel armor, not having previously had such power before.
  • Yungoos is an invasive species introduced to quell the Rattata population, but they became nocturnal and took on Alolan forms to avoid them. In their evolved forms, Gumshoos is a detective where Raticate is a mob boss.

The Late, Legendary, and Mythical Archetypes

The monsters that let you know you're coming to the end. Like starters, they are also "main characters" who serve more traditional roles in the story like the Sword of Plot Advancement, the Signature Mon of the Big Bad, the Final Boss, or an Optional Boss who gives you a Purposely Overpowered reward by catching them.

Because Gen I had very few legendary mons, their various attributes served as prototypes for ideas that became separate archetypes down the road.

The Pseudo-Legendary

The Pseudo-Legendary

Not pictured: Dragapult, Hisuian Goodra, and Baxcalibur

Three-stage Pokémon that are rare and/or only found late in the game, they are, when fully evolved, the strongest among non-Legendary Pokémon in stats. Their final base stat totals are always 600, which put them above the minor legendaries such as Zapdos and Entei. They are almost always Dragon-type.

Pokémon of this archetype: Dratini line (Gen I); Larvitar line (Gen II); Bagon line and Beldum line (Gen III); Gible line (Gen IV); Deino line (Gen V); Goomy line (Gen VI); Jangmo-o line (Gen VII); Dreepy line (Gen VIII); Frigibax line (Gen IX)

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• 11th-Hour Ranger: Some of them can be found in their fully evolved forms right before the end of the game, allowing them to join the final battles, ready to kick some ass without the need of raising it up to begin with. For instance, Metagross can be found in the Giant Chasm in Black 2 and White 2 right before the climax of the Team Plasma plot, Hydreigon can be found in Victory Road in X and Y, and Dragapult can be encountered in Max Raids near the end of the game in Sword and Shield.
• Achilles' Heel: Most fully-evolved pseudo-legendaries have a defining double weakness, in order to keep them more balanced with weaker Pokémon.
  • The most common double weakness is Ice-type attacks, which is shared by Dragonite, Salamence, and Garchomp, all of whom are dragons that possess an additional typing weak to that type.
  • Kommo-o and Hydreigon both possess two of the three types that are weak to Fairy-type attacks, making them both doubly weak to them.^note The latter was originally an aversion before the introduction of the Fairy-type.
  • Tyranitar is doubly weak to Fighting-type moves.
  • Metagross, Kalosian and Hisuian Goodra, Dragapult, and Baxcalibur all avert this, as Kalosian Goodra has only one type, and the others' typings don't result in stacked weaknesses (although Dragapult is weak to both of its own types, and Baxcalibur's Ice type leaves it with several regular weaknesses).
• Breakout Character: The pseudo-legendaries are routinely among the most popular and iconic Pokémon of their generations, being subjected to heavy marketing, being used as the ace Pokémon (or at least part of the team) for major endgame trainers, and most games will have past pseudo-legendaries natively available. Even less popular pseudo-legendaries like Kommo-o and Salamence still rank very high in popularity polls.
• Boss Battle: Their fully evolved forms are either the Signature Mon or at least a team member of endgame bosses such as the eighth Gym Leader, the villainous team Boss, the Elite Four, or the Champion.
• Foil: The Pseudo-Legendaries to the Early Bugs. Both archetypes are three-stage Pokémon, but while the Early Bug is very easy to evolve but gets outclassed later than the early game, the Pseudo-Legendary is difficult to evolve, but is highly rewarding to use in the late game. The contrast is best shown off by the Larvitar and Bagon lines, both of which have clear larval, pupal, and imaginal stages like the Early Bug.
• Infinity -1 Sword: They are designed to be the strongest among non-Legendary Pokémon, their fully evolved forms having stats that rival even Legendaries themselves.
• Late Character Syndrome:
  • With few exceptions, pseudo-legendaries in their debut generation tend to suffer from this, as they are only available when you've explored most of the region. The fact that their initial forms have low stats, they fully evolve at very high levels (usually around those of the initial fights with the Elite Four and Champion), and that they require a lot of experience to level up also does them no favors. Put in the effort to grind them up, though, and you'll be very happy that you did so.
  • This is sometimes averted by pseudo-legendaries that appear after their debut generation, particularly later on in the series, as they may appear much earlier on than that generation's debuting pseudo-legendary.
• Lightning Bruiser: Salamence and its Mega Evolution, Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Mega Metagross all have good Speed, have strong stat boosting moves, good to great bulk, and great attacking stats (with Hydreigon focusing on Special Attack and the rest with Attack). Comparatively, however, all of them boast high stat totals that exceed even some Legendary Pokémon.
• Magic Knight: All pseudo-legendaries are capable of attacking from either the physical or special end, with one attacking stat typically being more pronounced than the other. This is accompanied by their broad movepools, allowing them plenty of options for either physical or special attacks.
• Magikarp Power: Their initial stages tend to have low stats for the point in the game they are found, usually a base stat total of 300 (with Dreepy's being even lower at 270). Most of them also evolve later than the vast majority of other Pokémon. For reference, among Pokémon with a three stage evolution line that evolve only through level, the average level of the first evolution is 23, and the average level of the second evolution is 36. For the pseudo-legendary lines, those averages are instead 34 and 52, respectively.^note The Deino line is particularly egregious about this, evolving first at level 50, and second at level 64, which is higher than all other Pokémon. By the time it reaches its first evolution, over half of the other pseudo-legendary lines will have reached their second (Bagon and Goomy lines at the same level, Gible line at level 48, and Beldum and Jangmo-o lines at level 45). If all of that wasn't enough, they require a high amount of experience points to level up. But when they fully evolve, they rival actual legendaries.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The vast majority of them are Dragon-types. Only the Larvitar and Beldum lines avert this.
• Super Mode: Some of them are capable of Mega Evolution, namely Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, and Garchomp.
• Ultimate Life Form: Paradox Pokémon, which are seemingly versions of Pokémon from the past or future, generally have superior base stat totals than their current forms, implying that these mons were and/or will become stronger at some point in their evolutionary history. The only exceptions are the three Paradoxes derived from pseudo-legendaries — Roaring Moon (Salamence), Iron Jugulis (Hydreigon), and Iron Thorns (Tyranitar) — which actually have inferior base stat totals to their modern counterparts, implying that pseudos are at the peak of their evolutionary history right now.

The Invasive Species

The Invasive Species

Incredibly powerful and deadly Pokémon who are critical to the plots of their games of origin. The members of this group have been displaced from their proper worlds/timelines and their introduction into this one is an ecological disaster waiting to happen. They typically are a single stage Pokémon with 570 BST^note Though Poipole only has a BST of 420 while Nagandel caps out at 540, Roaring Moon, Walking Wake, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, Iron Valiant, Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, and Iron Crown all possess a BST of 590, and Koraidon and Miraidon each boasts a whopping 670 BST and an ability that boosts their most noteworthy stat.

Pokémon of this archetype: Ultra Beasts^note Nihelego, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, Xurkitree, Celesteela, Kartana, Guzzlord, Stakataka, Blacephelon (Gen VII), Ancient Paradox Pokémon^note Great Tusk, Scream Tail, Brute Bonnet, Flutter Mane, Slither Wing, Sandy Shocks, Roaring Moon, Walking Wake, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, Future Paradox Pokémon^note Iron Treads, Iron Bundle, Iron Hands, Iron Jugulis, Iron Moth, Iron Thorns, Iron Valiant, Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, Iron Crown (Gen XI)

Pokémon who are atypical examples of this archetype: Poipole line^note Despite being an Ultra Beast, Poipole evolves into Naganadel as apart of a two-stage evolutionary live rather than a single-stage one like its contemporaries. It is also relatively passive for an Ultra Beast and has never played an antagonistic role in any Pokémon media (Gen VII), Paradox Duo^note They possess different signature abilities from their brethren, in addition to not following the traditional naming conventions for Paradox Pokémon, at least not normally, as Koraidon and Miraidon are also known as 'Winged King' and 'Iron Serpent' respectively. (Gen XI)

Pokémon that only have elements of this archetype: Deoxys^note Introduced well before the archetype was cemented and has no plot significance in its introductory generation but does fit the broad strokes of the concept being an otherworldly Outside-Context Problem (Gen III), Cosmog line, Necrozma^note The Light Trio is viewed as being similar in nature to the Ultra Beasts due to their ability to open Ultra Wormholes but aren't officially considered ones themselves. Additionally, Solgaleo and Lunala are a part of a three-stage evolutionary line rather a single stage one (Gen VII), Eternatus^note Fills a similar role in the narrative, but is a single Pokémon divorced from others. (Gen VIII)

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• Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted. Despite being incredibly aggressive and deadly, they are essentially just displaced wild animals acting out of fear and/or natural instinct rather than genuine malice. Once caught, they can be just as affectionate as any other Pokémon.
• Badass Adorable: They include the likes of Kartana, Poiple, Scream Tail, and Iron Bundle, all of which are as threatening as they are cute.
• Boss Battle: You tend face an uncatchable, wild specimen towards the mid-game to serve as your introduction to these otherworldly creatures: The Alola games have you fight a Nihelego in Aether Paradise and depending on whether you're playing Scarlet or Violet, the Quaking Earth Titan will either be Great Tusk or Iron Treads.
• Introduced Species Calamity: In their places of origin, many of these creatures are simply just normal Pokémon. In the regions the player encounters them, they're forces of destruction that threaten to upset the natural world of Pokémon.
• Knight of Cerebus: The stakes tend to rapidly escalate once these guys enter the picture. Notably, amongst their numbers are some of the few Pokémon who've been explicitly confirmed to have killed and/or seriously injured humans, namely Nihilego (who has parasitized a human) and Koraidon/Miraidon (who have killed/mortally wounded a human).
• Living Macguffin: They are the objects of obsession for the Big Bads of their debut games, who seek to live amongst them despite the disastrous consequences that would come about from unleashing them upon the world.
• No Biological Sex: All of them are officially genderless and incapable of breeding in-game.
• Numerological Motif: The Ultra Beasts are themed on prime numbers, with there always being a known amount of species equal to a prime number, their base stats are all prime numbers^note except for Naganadel's Speed of 121, and they learn moves only at prime number levels except for level 1. Similarly, not counting Koraidon and Miraidon, the base stats are all odd numbers for Ancient Paradox Pokémon and even numbers for Future Paradox Pokémon.
• Odd Name Out: They tend to be referred to by vague titles to highlight their enigmatic nature: The Ultra Beast are codenamed "UB ___" based off of their most notable features while the names of the Paradox Pokémon come across more as broad descriptions than actual names. However this is ultimately Downplayed, as all the Ultra Beast are given genuine names upon being caught. Conversely, the Paradox Duo, "Winged King" and "Iron Serpent", initially followed the naming convention before being renamed Koraidon and Miraidon respectively, implying that it's possible that the other Paradox Pokémon may also one day receive proper names of their own.
• Olympus Mons: Averted. Despite possessing stats comparable to legendaries, none of them are inherently special or unique. In fact, most of them are actually fairly common in their natural habitats.
• Outside-Context Problem: None of them are native to the Pokémon World as we know it, the Ultra Beast being from different dimensions and the Paradox Pokémon being from either the prehistoric era or distant future. They are also far more powerful and aggressive than the standard Pokémon and could potentially devastate entire regions if left unchecked.
• Rule of Seven: The archetype was created for Generation VII. There are seven original Ultra Beasts (before Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon added more), seven Ancient Paradox Pokémon, and seven Future Paradox Pokémon introduced in the base game. Paradox Pokémon always learn new moves at levels that are multiples of seven.
• Status Buff: The Ultra Beast all possess the ability Beast Boost, which raises their dominant stat by one increment for every Pokémon they defeat. The Paradox Pokémon possess similar abilities, Protosynthesis for the Ancient Paradoxes and Quark Drive for the Future ones, which are activated by sunny weather and electric terrains respectively. Koraidon's Orichalcum Pulse and Miraidon's Haldron Engine are essentially upgraded versions of the standard Paradox abilities, as not only do the boost the Paradox Duo's stats, but they also cause the field conditions that allow their respective branches of Paradox Pokémon activate their own stat boosts.
• Version-Exclusive Content:
  • Buzzwole, Kartana, and Blacephalon are exclusive to Sun/Ultra Sun, while Pheromosa, Celesteela, and Stakataka are exclusive to Moon/Ultra Moon.
  • The Ancient Paradox Pokémon can only be found in Scarlet. Conversely, the Future Paradox ones are only available in Violet.

The Minor Legendary Team

The Minor Legendary Team

A group of legendaries designed around a single theme. Often referred to as legendary trios, they have since grown to include fourth rangers or just been a larger group to start with. Compared to the "mascot" Legendary teams, they are considerably less powerful, though still powerful among most other Pokémon, and therefore allowed in Battle facilities and official tournaments.

Pokémon of this archetype: Legendary Birds^note Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres (Gen I); Legendary Beasts^note Raikou, Entei, and Suicune (Gen II); Eon Duo^note Latios and Latias and Legendary Titans^note initially Regirock, Regice, and Registeel; later Regieleki and Regidrago (Gen III); Lake Guardians^note Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf (Gen IV); Forces of Nature^note Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, and later Enamorus and Swords of Justice^note Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, and Keldeo (Gen V); Guardian Deities^note Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini (Gen VII); Galarian Legendary Birds^note Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres (Gen VIII); Treasures of Ruin^note Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Chi-Yu and Loyal Three^note Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti (Gen IX)

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• Fire, Ice, Lightning: How they were introduced, though they've moved away from being strictly three members over time.
• Infinity -1 Sword: They are not Purposefully Overpowered like mascot Legendaries and even surpassed by fully evolved Pseudo-Legendaries in raw stats, but they are still quite powerful and are generally available far before the mascot Legendaries.
• Olympus Mons: Albeit at the lower end of the scale when it comes to legendaries.
• Our Cryptids Are More Mysterious: Whereas most people assume all legendaries are meant to be like gods, it's more common for minor legendaries to be akin to cryptids and in-universe urban legends — the Legendary Birds in particular are clearly presented in the games as only being exceptionally rare and powerful and not truly godlike. Latios and Latias even moreso, as the Pokédex claims that they travel in groups.
• Sequel Escalation: The original bird trio were essentially extremely rare and powerful animals. In every generation since, they have become more integral to the legends and lore of their respective regions, some outright being called deities.

The Version Mascots

The Version Mascots

The Pokémon that appear on the cover art. Since the games come in pairs, the mascots tend to represent some sort of duality. When the enhanced version comes out, the duo is revealed to be a trio whose third member may represent balance.

This archetype is never exactly the same from game to game, though its purest form was defined in Gens III and Gen IV. In most cases, they are Legendary Pokémon that are far above both common wild Pokémon and minor Legendaries, often treated as major deities in their own right and having the highest stats in the game. Because of their overwhelming power, mascot Legendaries are generally banned from official tournaments and battle facilities.

Pokémon of this archetype:

Mascot Legendary Teams: Tower Duo^note Lugia and Ho-Oh (Gen II); Weather Trio^note Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza (Gen III); Creation Trio^note Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina (Gen IV); Tao Trio^note Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem (Black & White versions) (Gen V); Aura Trio^note Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde (Gen VI); Light Trio^note Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma (Dusk Mane & Dawn Wings versions) (Gen VII); Hero Duo^note Zacian and Zamazenta (Gen VIII); Paradox Duo^note Koraidon and Miraidon (Gen IX)

Pokémon similar to this archetype: The Kanto Starters and the Mew Duo^note as outlined below, elements of the archetype come from combining traits of Charizard, Venusaur, & Blastoise and Mewtwo & Mew. (Gen I)

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• Climax Boss: They usually are faced at the end of the "villainous team" plot. The mascots who play this straight are those from Ruby and Sapphire, Gen IV, the Gen II remakes, Gen VI, and Gen VII. Others zig-zag the trope: Rayquaza in Emerald is awakened by the player in the main story but can only be fought (and caught) in the post-game; the Gen V mascots are fought before the last boss(es) of said plot; the Gen VIII mascots are the Climax Boss of the post-game plot, and before then they play a role similar to Rayquaza. The Kanto Starters for obvious reasons aren't hunted by the main villain team nor do they have a significant role in the plot, but depending on the one the player chose, the one in the boxart can be the Final Boss of the rival's team during their championship battle.
• Color Contrast: There’s always a reddish-warm colored one and a bluish-cool colored one. The third member is usually green or yellow to complete Chromatic Arrangement. Usually the cool colored one comes first in Pokédex order, regardless of how the games were named.
  • Note in the Kanto games, Venusaur was Charizard’s first cool colored mascot counterpart in the Japan only Red and Green, a role that would be reprised in FireRed and LeafGreen in all regions. This tied in with the tradition of the Grass starter coming first in dex order.
  • In Gen V, this is downplayed to eye color. Reshiram is a blue-eyed white dragon, Zekrom is a red-eyed black dragon, Kyurem is a yellow-eyed gray dragon. In the sequels, Black Kyurem is associated with blue lightning, and White Kyrurem is associated with red fire.
  • In Gen VIII, Zacian has mainly blue fur and a more pastel palette, while Zamazenta is mainly red and more saturated. In a subversion of Red Oni, Blue Oni, it's Zacian who wields a sword and has higher Attack and Speed stats while Zamazenta holds a shield and has Defense and Special Defense as its peak stats. Note that they are both Primary Color Champions, especially in their powered-up forms.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The Kanto games are the only ones to use starters as version mascots.
  • The Kanto games also had two enhanced versions. Blue was the original third version in Japan. Yellow was actually a fourth version that uniquely tried to bridge the games and the anime, despite codifying the idea of a third version worldwide.
  • Kanto doubled down on starter mascots again in the Let's Go series with Pikachu and Eevee. Then again, its only real alternative is Mewtwo.
• Foil: The paired mascots are direct counterparts in abilities, design, or lore.
  • Charizard's fire contrasts with Venusaur's grass or Blastoise's water.
  • Ho-oh is a rainbow colored bird of the heavens, while Lugia is a monochrome bird of the depths.
  • Groudon is a red behemoth of the land, Kyogre a blue leviathan of the seas. Rayquaza represents the ziz of the skies.
  • Dialga is the hard-edged master of time, and Palkia the smooth master of space. Giratina represents antimatter and chaos.
  • Reshiram is a white dragon of truth, and Zekrom a black dragon of ideals. Kyurem is the empty husk left behind when the two split apart. It can Fusion Dance with either of the others to approximate its orginal form, but all three still have never recombined together.
  • Xerneas represents life, while Yveltal represents death. Zygarde represents the delicate balance of nature whose cells can scatter and combine as needed.
  • Solgaleo represents the sun, where Lunala represents the moon. Necrozma is a prism that feeds on their light.
  • Zacian is the sword, Zamazenta is the shield, Urshifu is the armor, and Calyrex the crown. Together they make a full set of regalia. Eternatus could be said to represent a cannon, or a dragon to be slain.
  • Koraidon represents the primeval past and Miraidon represents the cybernetic future.
• Interface Spoiler: While they’re pitched as a duo of mascots, it’s immediately obvious that most are actually part of a trio when you just look at the Pokédex. It’s no surprise when Blastoise becomes the mascot of a Blue Version any more than Rayquaza getting an Emerald Version. It was surprising that Zygarde never got a proper "Z Version", though.^note Pokémon Legends: Z-A, rather than a true Updated Re-release of X and Y, is part of the subseries launched with Legends: Arceus and more of a sequel/spin-off of the Kalos games.
• Olympus Mons: Mascot Legendaries are what people think when they think "Legendary Pokémon", being obscenely powerful Mons which are often worshipped as gods.
• Purposefully Overpowered: Mascot Legendaries are generally extremely powerful in both stats and movepools, which leads them to be banned in battle facilities. Only Suicune and Urshifu are exempted from this, the former also being a Minor Legendary.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: The starters of course are the original sword of plot beginnings. In later games, you may be forced to battle or catch the mascot legendary to progress. This happens typically during the showdown with the boss of the evil team, or as a rite of passage before facing the Elite Four.
• Version-Exclusive Content: The mascot of the game you're playing takes the starring legendary role in the main story while the other is a post-game Optional Boss, if not totally unavailable. Subverted by the Kanto Starters. You can only pick one, but which one you pick isn't tied to which Version you're playing… until the Let's Go remakes.
• Zig-Zagging Trope: The common traits of version mascots are constantly mixed up and subverted in every generation. The straightest examples are in Gen III and Gen IV.
  • Several of the tropes associated with version mascots were composited from two Kanto sources:
    • The warm/cool Color Contrast on the cover art came from the Kanto starters. Charizard the warm-colored mascot in Red and FireRed in all regions and the cool-colored mascots being Venusaur (Green in Japan, LeafGreen in all regions) and Blastoise (Blue). Pikachu in Yellow set the standard for Chromatic Arrangement with the "third member". Only Pikachu (only in the anime) was the target of the evil team. While not Legendaries, in the Gen I games, they are one of a kind for their species. In the Gen III remakes and beyond, you can get more by breeding.
    • The Mew Duo is the blueprint for plot-relevant legendaries with a theme beyond color and typing. They represent nature vs technology as the ancestor of natural born Pokémon and a man-made clone/genetic experiment. Mewtwo is also associated with Giovanni the way some team bosses are associated with a mascot legendary, even if Team Rocket isn't obsessed with catching it. In some continuities, he's partially responsible for creating it.
  • Ho-oh and Lugia still weren't pursued by the evil team, but they share Mewtwo's base stat total and appear as proper mascots. They were a true duo, but still ended up getting an enhanced third version. Suicune was thrown in as the mascot due to being the most popular of the Legendary Beasts.
  • Groudon and Kyogre were both pursued by separate evil teams in the same Generation. This was the first time the duality of the mascots was balanced by a third member, Rayquaza, who also got to be the mascot of the third game.
  • Gen IV only had one evil team that was after either mascot, and gave the third member a unique Forme Change in their enhanced game. Otherwise, it echoed Gen III closely.
  • Gen V skipped doing a "Gray Version" for Kyurem, and instead introduced the idea of the third member doing a Fusion Dance with the duo. This gave us the first paired enhanced versions instead of just a single third version.
  • Gen VI skipped any sort of enhanced version for Zygarde, who ended up becoming just a sidequest in Gen VII and had to wait until 2025 (12 years and 3 generations after X and Y) to receive a starring role in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
  • Gen VII introduced the idea of the paired mascots coming from a branched evolution line. For the third member, it reprised both the Fusion Dance with other mascots for paired enhanced versions (Necrozma's Dusk Mane and Dawn Wings modes), as well as giving the third member a unique super mode (Ultra Necrozma).
  • Gen VIII looked like it would reprise Necrozma with Eternatus. However, instead of a new enhanced version, the original versions were enhanced with DLC. The DLC mascots Urshifu and Calyrex don't have much to do with the original duo. Interestingly, it is the first time since Gen I that there are four distinct mascots in a single generation, and like Gen I, they correspond to the full four Red, Blue, Green, Yellow color scheme.
    • Urshifu in itself has mascot-like duality in two forms that evolve from Kubfu. This has echoes of Solgaleo and Lunala both evolving from the Cosmog line in Gen VII.
    • Calyrex has Fusion Dance style duality by combining with Glastrier or Spectrier, much like Kyurem and Necrozma.
  • Gen IX generally followed in Gen VIII's footsteps, but with the Paradox Duo being more the subject of Urban Legends rather than their region's mythology due to their paradoxical nature. In addition, the local evil team had nothing to do with them whatsoever.
    • Ogerpon inverts the "worshipped as deity" bit by virtue of being a Hero with Bad Publicity.
    • Terapagos follows in Necrozma and Eternatus' footsteps by being the source of the regional gimmick, albeit only being revealed in the DLC after being hinted at in the main story.

The Third Legendary

The Third Legendary

A group that largely overlaps with the Version Mascots. They are generally a secret part of the lore between the paired mascots, and in turn become the mascots of the enhanced version. Since each pair tends to incorporate a theme of duality, the Third Legendary often symbolizes balance between the two. Like the Version Mascots, their role has been largely codified in Gen III and IV.

Pokémon of this archetype: Rayquaza (Gen III); Giratina (Gen IV); Kyurem (Gen V); Zygarde (Gen VI); Necrozma (Gen VII); Eternatus (Gen VIII); Terapagos (DLC) (Gen IX)

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• Anti-Villain: The case for "evil" Third Legendaries: Kyurem has been enslaved by the human Big Bad, Necrozma was driven mad by being forcibly exploited by humans, and Eternatus arguably runs on Blue-and-Orange Morality and may just be trying to feed itself.
• Breaking Old Trends: Eternatus isn't technically the third member of a group alongside Zacian and Zamazenta, but it's their arch-enemy. Its story is also resolved in the paired versions rather than in an Updated Re-release, and it's the Climax Boss of said versions' Legendary Pokémon plot instead of the respective Warrior Pokémon.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Suicune is the first case of a Legendary Pokémon being used as the mascot of an Updated Re-release, but it belongs to an entirely different group than Lugia and Ho-Oh (but is implied to be subordinate to the latter), isn't the focus of the story of Crystal (though it is the focus of a sub-plot), and it doesn't have a Super Mode nor Dragon-typing.
• Eldritch Abomination: Giratina (a draconic insect-like creature), Zygarde (who's The Worm That Walks), Necrozma (an extradimensional entity that feeds on light), Eternatus (a massive, skeletal alien), and Terapagos (a crystalline turtle who can wield the power of all Pokémon types as well as manipulate time itself) all qualify.
• Fusion Dance: Kyurem and Necrozma can do this with either of the respective paired versions' mascots. Zygarde is also this in the lore when switching between forms: it gains or loses the autonomous cells and cores which make up its being.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Since they usually become Ascended Extras in later titles, their appearances as postgame encounters in their games of origin can come across as this.
• Optional Boss: In the original paired versions up until Generation VIII.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Excepting Terapagos,^note Though, technically speaking, his Stellar Tera type means he can wield all Pokémon types, Dragon included they all are part-Dragon type (Necrozma only in its Ultra form).
• Secret Character:
  • In the paired versions up until Generation VII, they are found as Optional Bosses with little to no explanation or plot relevance. This allows them to be the focus of publicity for the Updated Re-release.
  • Has become a Forgotten Trope from Generation VIII onwards. The "original" Third Legendary from that generation, Eternatus, is faced during the base game's story as the Climax Boss, and the changes in the main series's release model — from Updated Re-release to Downloadable Content — means that following plotline-relevant legendaries like Terapagos are the stars of their own DLC campaigns.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: They become more and more villainous with each passing generation. Rayquaza is firmly heroic and quells the fight between Groudon and Kyogre, Giratina acts on its own to stop the human Big Bad but involuntarily threatens reality, Kyurem is enslaved by the Big Bad, Necrozma was originally benevolent but was driven mad by a Game-Breaking Injury that forced it to steal light to survive, and Eternatus is a perfectly sane Walking Wasteland which may or may not be aware of the devastation it causes. The exceptions are Zygarde (who is heroic, and never was the focus of a game) and Terapagos (goes berserk at the climax of his plot and needs to be stopped, but it isn't clear how malicious is he being).
• Superboss: Often this, as they're likely the strongest wild Pokémon a player may find.
• Super Mode: Starting from Gen IV, they all have one (or more), generally with higher stats, doubling as One-Winged Angel for hostile Pokémon:
  • Giratina gains its Origin Forme in the Distortion World or when holding a Griseous Orb;
  • Kyurem can do a Fusion Dance with either Reshiram or Zekrom, becoming respectively White and Black Kyurem;
  • Rayquaza gains a Mega Evolution in the Gen III remakes;
  • Zygarde has a 10% and a 50% Forme. A Zygarde of either Forme with the ability Power Construct turns into the Complete Forme when under 50% HP in battle^note 10% and Complete Formes, and Power Construct, debut in Gen VII; in its native Gen VI, Zygarde is stuck with the 50% Forme.
  • Necrozma has a Fusion Dance process similar to Kyurem, becoming Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings Necrozma; it can become Ultra Necrozma from either of these forms;
  • Eternatus becomes Eternamax Eternatus^note This form is only seen in a boss battle and, briefly, when using the move Eternabeam, but it is otherwise unusable in gameplay.
  • Terapagos switches between three forms: Normal, which is exclusive to non-battle situations; Terastal, which he automatically assumes in battle; and Stellar, which is exclusive to Terastallizing and has Stellar Tera type.
• Undead Abomination: Giratina (a Dracolich whose realm is said to be where dead souls gather), Kyurem (said to be the husk of the dragon who split into Zekrom and Reshiram), Necrozma, and Eternatus (whose names include Greek words for "death"/"dead") are all associated with the concept of death.
• Zig-Zagging Trope: Like the Version Mascot above, how closely each Third Legendary actually adheres to the archetype varies from generation to generation:
  • The prototype for this in Gen II was Suicune as the mascot of Crystal. It has a lore connection to Gold's mascot Ho-Oh, but is wholly unrelated to Silver's Lugia.
  • Gen III and Gen IV are the main codifiers of the archetype, with Rayquaza and Giratina being the Version Mascot of the respective generation's Updated Re-release and belonging to the same trios as the original paired versions' mascots.
  • Gen V and Gen VII experiment with the concept, each having a pair of Updated Re Releases instead of a single one, whose mascot is the fusion between Kyurem/Necrozma and one of the paired versions' mascots.
  • Gen VI eschews this completely, having no Updated Re-release and no role for poor Zygarde, until the release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A in Gen IX.
  • Gen VIII: Eternatus is not a version mascot but plays into Zacian and Zamazenta's story. The DLC mascots Urshifu and Calyrex are unrelated to the base games' narrative.
  • Gen IX: Terapagos plays the archetype straighter compared to the preceding generation, as he's directly connected to the Area Zero plot of the base game, though he too only appears in The Indigo Disk DLC and eschews Dragon-typing for the newly introduced Stellar type.

The Mew-like Mythical

Mew-like Mythical

While Mythicals come in all shapes and sizes, most generations have at least one small pixie like sprite similar to Mew. Like most Mythicals they share a base stat total of 600, and are not obtainable through normal gameplay in their debut generation. The first example, Mew, was subject to many theories as to how to acquire one, most of which did not pan out. As time went on some of them have become slightly easier to obtain, such as Jirachi being released as a preorder bonus for Colosseum. As of the Switch era they may be locked behind DLC.

Owing to the Urban Legend of Zelda and Permanently Missable Content nature in games, they tend to get a starring role for a movie in the anime where they are the ultimate MacGuffin. In lore, they almost always play more support as opposed to combat oriented legendary co-stars. That's not to say they can't throw down when need be.

In the first five generations the straightest examples had a completely even 100 across all six stats, wide movepools, and in 4/5 cases Psychic-typing. Starting around Gen IV they started to incorporate forme changes, and since then the archetype has been increasingly played with. Still, every generation has included at least one cute tiny Mythical as an homage to the original Mew.

Pokémon of this archetype: Mew (Gen I); Celebi (Gen II); Jirachi (Gen III); Manaphy, Arceus and Shaymin (Gen IV); Victini, Keldeo and Meloetta (Gen V); Diancie and Hoopa (Gen VI); Magearna and Marshadow (Gen VII); Pecharunt (DLC) (Gen IX)

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• Ascended Extra: The anime centered movies tend to give these Mythicals a lot more focus and importance than the games do and make them a Living MacGuffin or Damsel in Distress. This makes Legends: Arceus and also Scarlet and Violet notable in this regard as they make these Mythicals play a large part in the story as well.
• Badass Adorable: Despite their small size, they're relatively balanced powerhouses.
• Cute Critters Act Childlike: In the anime, they tend to be portrayed as cheerful and playful, just wanting to have fun. Pecharunt is the dark side of this, being as petulant as its name implies.
• Jack of All Stats: In the straightest examples, they have perfectly balanced stats (100 in each) for a base stat total of 600. Looser examples play with strengths and weaknesses, but still add up to 600.
• Living MacGuffin: Their role in a lot of the anime movies, if not outright being a Damsel in Distress.
• Master of All: Mew is said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon and has the genetic code to be able to use every teachable move in the game. Other mythical fairies have large movepools but are more limited to their type specialties. Arceus obviously doesn't look like the others, but reprises and outdoes Mew's "ancestor of all Pokémon" as the Top God of Pokémon. Like Mew, it can learn all teachable moves (except those that explicitly use hands, since it's a quadruped), goes even further in versatility by changing its type, and each of its stats are 20 points higher than Mew's.
• Out of Focus: Unlike Legendaries, who are either the mascot of the game and/or play a major part of the game's climax, Mythicals tend to be regulated to events and often distributed after the game's main story is over. They aren't even needed to be captured to complete a Pokédex for that reason.
• Psychic Powers: The vast majority have the Psychic-type.
• Riddle for the Ages: They are in-universe seen so rarely that they have their very existence questioned. To emphasize this point they are very rarely, if ever, actually caught in a battle and often given to the player through events.
• Single Specimen Species: Played With. Some of these creatures are legitimately one of a kind such as Jirachi, but there are others which are simply exceedingly rare but otherwise have multiple members such as Manaphy and Phione.
• Wolverine Publicity: Being tiny and adorable, they're always at the forefront of movies, marketing, and merchandise in their respective generations.

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