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* OvershadowedByAwesome: This has happened to some extent in the sixth generation. Even though it's still very powerful, it's generally eclipsed by other dragons like Dragonite and Mega Charizard X, who have more bulk, sheer power, and opportunities to set up Dragon Dance. Salamence also lacks a way to break past many Fairy-types.
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* NoSell: To Electric-type moves. Vibrava and Flygon are also immune to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
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* NoSell: To Electric-type moves. Vibrava and Flygon are also immune to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate. Trapinch's Hyper Cutter ability prevents Attack drops that are not self-inflicted.
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* ShownTheirWork: Antlion larvae are vicious and predatory, and dig sloped holes to trap prey, which explains Trapinch's high Attack and its Arena Trap ability.
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* ButtMonkey: Generally speaking, the only time a player regards Luvdisc is to sneer at it, beat it up, or rob it.
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** Kyogre is also known as [[PurposefullyOverpowered "The King]][[UpToEleven of Ubers"]] on Smogon and other competitive communities.
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** Kyogre is also known as [[PurposefullyOverpowered "The King]][[UpToEleven King]] [[UpToEleven of Ubers"]] on Smogon and other competitive communities.
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* PurposelyOverpowered: Their associated held item, Soul Dew, is prevented from working in the Battle Tower and similar facilities. Seeing that its effect is always having an extra Calm Mind, on an already strong Pokémon, this is justifiable.
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* PurposelyOverpowered: Their associated held item, Soul Dew, is prevented from working in the Battle Tower and similar facilities. [[GameBreaker Seeing that its effect is always having an extra Calm Mind, on an already strong Pokémon, this is justifiable.justifiable]].
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* FanNickname: The Legendary Golems
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* FanNickname: The Eon Duo, the Lati Twins, and Lati@s.
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* PlayingWithFire: Strangely [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Along with [[MakingASplash Kingdra]], they are the only Dragons without access to Fire-Type attacks.
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* FanNickname: [[WeatherControlMachine The Weather Trio]].
** Kyogre is also known as [[PurposefullyOverpowered "The King]][[UpToEleven of Ubers"]] on Smogon and other competitive communities.
** Kyogre is also known as [[PurposefullyOverpowered "The King]][[UpToEleven of Ubers"]] on Smogon and other competitive communities.
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* CriticalHitClass: With Focus Energy and a Scope Lens, all of their attacks become critical hits.
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* CriticalHitClass: With Focus Energy and a Scope Lens, all of their attacks become critical hits. Flygon can use this to spam Draco Meteor without drawback until it runs out of PP.
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* ForMassiveDamage: Ice types will wreck it.
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* ForMassiveDamage: Ice types will wreck it.Vibrava and Flygon.
* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: Flygon's base Special Attack is just 20 points below its physical Attack, so it can run special movesets if [[MinMaxing min-maxed]] right.
* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: Flygon's base Special Attack is just 20 points below its physical Attack, so it can run special movesets if [[MinMaxing min-maxed]] right.
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* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: Seviper's Attack and Special Attack are equal (100, which is good) and it has good moves for both offensive kinds.
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** It also got a unique Hidden Ability, Toxic Boost.
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** It Zangoose also got a unique Hidden Ability, Toxic Boost.Boost.
* StatusBuff: Seviper is one of the few users of Coil, which boosts its good Attack and helps with poor Defense. It also naturally learns [[StatusBuffDispel Haze]].
* StatusBuff: Seviper is one of the few users of Coil, which boosts its good Attack and helps with poor Defense. It also naturally learns [[StatusBuffDispel Haze]].
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* UngratefulBastard: What does Salamence do when it finally achieves its long-held dream of flight? Be a {{Jerkass}} to everyone.
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* TookALevelInBadass: The critical hit mechanics in Gen VI mean if Salamence uses Focus Energy while holding a Scope Lens, all of its attacks become critical hits. This allow it to use Draco Meteor with impunity.
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* TookALevelInBadass: The critical hit mechanics in Gen VI mean if Salamence uses Focus Energy while holding a Scope Lens, all of its attacks become critical hits. This allow allows it to use Draco Meteor with impunity.without drawback.
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* CriticalHitClass: Absol gets Slash, Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, and Stone Edge, and as an ability it gets Super Luck, giving all of these moves a 25% chance for a critical hit without any other modifiers. No other Pokémon gets as many attacks with high critical hit ratios, and none of the other Pokémon with Super Luck can abuse it like Absol.
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* CriticalHitClass: If Absol gets has Slash, Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, and and[=/=]or Stone Edge, and as an Edge; has the ability it gets Super Luck, giving all of these moves a 25% chance for a Luck; and is holding an item that raises critical hit without any other modifiers.rate; all of its attacks are guaranteed to be critical hits. No other Pokémon gets as many attacks with high critical hit ratios, and none of the other Pokémon with Super Luck can abuse it like Absol.
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* CriticalHitClass: With Focus Energy and a Scope Lens, all of their attacks become critical hits.
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* CriticalHitClass: Using Focus Energy with a Scope Lens will turn all of their attacks into critical hits.
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* CriticalHitClass: They can use Focus Energy with a Scope Lens to make all of their attacks critical hits. Those Draco Meteors are going to hurt.
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* TookALevelInBadass: The critical hit mechanics in Gen VI mean if Salamence uses Focus Energy while holding a Scope Lens, all of its attacks become critical hits. This allow it to use Draco Meteor with impunity.
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* CripplingOverspecialization: It's got a deadly Attack stat...but that's all it excels at, barring Mega Evolution.
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* CripplingOverspecialization: It's got a deadly Attack stat...but that's all it excels at, barring Mega Evolution.
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* CripplingOverspecialization: It's got a deadly Attack stat...but that's all it excels at, barring Mega Evolution.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Gen V gave it Adaptability via the Dream World, which makes STAB worth double and made both Waterfall and Crunch hit like a truck, but its horrible Speed and mediocre bulk still kept it from being a major threat. Come Gen VI, and it received Aqua Jet, which solved the Speed issues, as well as buffed versions of Knock Off and Crabhammer; coupled with Adaptability, Crawdaunt is looking like it might finally receive some time in the spotlight.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: It has ''the'' biggest movepool of any non-legendary Pokémon besides Smeargle; plenty of OU Pokémon would ''kill'' for Absol's movepool. Due to Absol's stats, however, 90% of the moves it can learn are ''completely useless'' to it.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: It has ''the'' biggest movepool of any non-legendary Pokémon besides Smeargle; plenty of OU Pokémon would ''kill'' for Absol's movepool. Due to Absol's stats, horrible Special Attack, however, 90% of the moves it can learn are ''completely useless'' to it.it, and its similarly dreadful Speed means that it will be killed before it can do anything.
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** TookALevelInBadass: Vanilla Absol has monstrous Attack and a fantastic movepool that it can't even use because it's slow, terribly brittle, and has awful Special Attack. Mega Absol has base Attack on par with Groudon and Zekrom, a highly respectable base 115 Special Attack , and ''Starmie's'' base speed. Coupled with its movepool, Mega Absol turned from [[AwesomeButImpractical a highly impractical]] GlassCannon to [[AwesomeButPractical an unholy terror]] who, while still fragile, is fast, powerful, and versatile enough to wipe out almost anything capable of posing a serious threat to it short of a Mach Punch user. And as a bonus, it's ''immune'' to status moves and switch-forcing moves like Whirlwind, making it deadly against stall teams.
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** TookALevelInBadass: Vanilla Absol has monstrous Attack and a fantastic movepool that it can't even use because it's slow, terribly brittle, and has awful Special Attack. Mega Absol has base Attack on par with Groudon and Zekrom, a highly respectable base 115 Special Attack , and ''Starmie's'' base speed. Coupled with its movepool, Mega Absol turned from [[AwesomeButImpractical a highly impractical]] GlassCannon to [[AwesomeButPractical an unholy terror]] who, while still fragile, is fast, powerful, and versatile enough to wipe out almost anything capable of posing a serious threat to it short of a Mach Punch user. And as a bonus, it's Magic Bounce makes it not only ''immune'' to status moves moves, entry hazards, and switch-forcing moves like Whirlwind, making but it deadly against stall teams.actually reflects them back at the user. That Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave you're trying to keep it from getting stupid with? Yeah, that's gonna come right back to hit you in the face.
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** TookALevelInJerkass: Considering that its previous evolved forms were mainly noted for their desire to fly compared to Salamence.
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*** Becomes FridgeBrilliance when you realize that Seviper's Japanese name is Habunake, which comes from the Habu, a real-life black viper that is actually the most common snake species in Japan used in illegal mongoose cage fights.
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* NaturalWeapon: Seviper literally has a knife for a tail. A ''poisoned'' knife.
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* {{Nerf}}: Salamence got hit ''hard'' by the introduction of the Fairy-type. Along with Hydreigon, Salamence took it the worst. The power creep of [[ActionInitiative priority attacks]] in Generation 6 was bad for Salamence too, making it much more of a GlassCannon.
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* {{Nerf}}: Salamence got hit ''hard'' by the introduction of the Fairy-type. Along with Hydreigon, Salamence took it the worst.Fairy-type. The power creep of [[ActionInitiative priority attacks]] in Generation 6 was bad for Salamence too, making it much more of a GlassCannon.
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* DifficultButAwesome: Dusknoir is notable for being the first of two MightyGlacier Pokemon that can learn both Trick Room and Pain Split.[[labelnote:*]]The other is Cofagrigus.[[/labelnote]] Trick Room turns it into a LightningBruiser, and properly-used Pain Splits with its mediocre HP are ''much'' more reliable when it moves first, crippling the opponent while healing itself before the enemy can even fight back.
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* DifficultButAwesome: Cacturne's got good Attack, but its poor Speed and defenses mean that it usually gets knocked out before it can utilize its offensive might. However, [[TheChessmaster a player who is good at predicting their opponent's next move]] can fully utilize Cacturne's beastly offense by using Sucker Punch to hit hard before the opponent gets to attack, and Focus Punch to hit even ''harder'' if the opponent isn't ''trying'' to attack. [[note]]The former move only works if the opponent is attacking the user, and the latter will fail if the user is hit.[[/note]] It also has the ability Sand Veil, which means if there's a sandstorm up[[note]]A sandstorm can be brewed by sending out a Tyranitar or Hippowdon.[[/note]], there is a 20% chance that the foe's attacks will miss Cacturne enitrely. Long story short: Cacturne may look like a novelty, but in the hands of a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], it's ''a force to be reckoned with''.
** OvershadowedByAwesome: There are Pokémon out there that are better at those moves than Cacturne, and don't require as much strategy to use effectively.
** OvershadowedByAwesome: There are Pokémon out there that are better at those moves than Cacturne, and don't require as much strategy to use effectively.
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* {{Youkai}}: Snorunt is a cross between the yukinko (coat-wearing snow fairies) and Zashiki-warashi (household fairy children). Froslass is based on a Yuki-onna. Glalie itself may be based on the Okubi, a giant head that appears in the sky as omens of doom.
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* {{Youkai}}: Snorunt is a cross between the yukinko (coat-wearing snow fairies) and Zashiki-warashi (household fairy children). Despite this, it has not been retconned to Ice/Fairy type. Froslass is based on a Yuki-onna. Glalie itself may be based on the Okubi, a giant head that appears in the sky as omens of doom.
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The page for the Generation III Pokemon grew so large that it had to be split. This page has the tropes for numbers 320-386. For the rest, go [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIITreeckoToSharpedo here]].
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The page for the Generation III Pokemon Pokémon grew so large that it had to be split. This page has the tropes for National Pokédex numbers 320-386. For the rest, go [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIITreeckoToSharpedo here]].
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* NoSell: To OneHitKO moves if it has its Hidden Ability Sturdy.
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* MakingASplash: For some odd reason, it can be bred to know ''Hydro Pump''.
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* {{Badass}}: Salamence.
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* {{Badass}}: Salamence.Salamence, in spades. This is the Pokemon that singlehandedly managed to sweep the entire Gen 3 Metagame with virtually no effort, and directly lead to a ''huge'' increase in the presense of Water and Steel types in the higher tiers.
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* LightningBruiser: Awesome stats all around. Some GlassCannon tendencies, but compensates for its low defense with Intimidate.
* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: The infamous [[FanNickname MixMence set]].
* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: The infamous [[FanNickname MixMence set]].
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* LightningBruiser: Awesome stats all around. Some GlassCannon tendencies, but compensates for its low defense with Intimidate.
Intimidate. Its incredibly well distributed pseudo-legendary stats managed to let it act as a counter to virtually any Pokemon that wasn't already set up. Things like Forretress went down to a single Fire Blast, Hydro Pump let it take down Intimidate-weakened Aerodactyls, and its base 100 speed barely outsped anything else that came close to a counter, notably '''[[OlympusMons Rayquaza]]''', who it could take down with just two Dragon Claws.
*[[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: MagicKnight: The infamous [[FanNickname MixMence set]].
*
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* SecretArt: Salamence is the only non-legendary Pokémon to naturally learn Fly.
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* SecretArt: Salamence is the only non-legendary Pokémon to naturally learn Fly.Fly, besides [[OlympusMons Rayquaza]]
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* OvershadowedByAwesome: Not only was it introduced in the same generation that gave us Gardevoir, but it's not available until you reach Mt. Pyre; by that time, you could have caught an Abra, a Ralts, or even a Spoink, all of which are leagues ahead of this awful thing.
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* {{Psychopomp}}: Dusknoir's job is to lead wayward spirits home.
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The page for the Generation III Pokemon grew so large that it had to be split. This page has the tropes for numbers 320-386. For the rest, go [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIITreeckoToSharpedo here]].
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!! Wailmer and Wailord (Wahleko and Whaleo)
[[quoteright:166:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/320-321_736.png]]
Whale-like Pokémon that are Water-typed and are somewhat based on inflatable objects like beach balls and blimps. Wailmer was among the first Generation III Pokémon to be revealed to the public. Currently, Wailord holds the position of the longest Pokémon in existence (measuring at a whopping 47 feet and seven inches). Their HP is rather massive.
* GentleGiant: Applies to ''both'' members of the evolutionary line, since Wailmer is said to be one of the largest non-evolved Pokémon.
* HealingFactor: Can be bred with Aqua Ring, which, in a sense, provides this(especially thanks to their massive HP pools).
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: ...[[BrickJoke The other half of the trope namer]].
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Although the colossal HP can only compensate to a degree for the lackluster defenses.
* NoSell: Its original two abilities. Oblivious makes it immune to attract effects, while Water Veil protects it from burns.
* OneHitKO: Can be bred with Fissure.
* RequiredPartyMember: Alongside Relicanth, was needed to access the Golems.
* SecretArt: Prior to Generation V, the only Pokémon to learn Water Spout naturally, apart from [[OlympusMons Kyogre]].
* SquareCubeLaw: Wailord's mass is too light for its volume, which makes it ''less dense than helium''. Then again, this may be considered ShownTheirWork, considering it's classified as the Float Whale pokemon.
!! Numel and Camerupt (Donmel and Bakuuda)
[[quoteright:133:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/322-323_9293.png]]
Making their home around Mt. Chimney, these camels store magma inside their humps and release them when using Eruption and Lava Plume. Numel are also quite dull, being rather unfeeling to pain (though not as much as Slowpoke). They excel in Attack and Special Attack but lack in Speed. Water-types absolutely wreck them due to their Fire[=/=]Ground typing.
* CriticalHit: Camerupt's Hidden Ability is Anger Point, which causes its Attack to max out when it's hit with one of these.
* DelayedReaction: Numel only.
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* ForMassiveDamage: [[KillItWithWater Water is its major weakness.]]
** It's helped a bit by its Solid Rock ability, which cuts a quarter of the damage from any super effective attacks it takes.
* [[MagmaMan Magma Mon]]: Associated with volcanoes.
* MightyGlacier: Very slow, but good Defense and it hits like a tank with both offensive types.
** GlassCannon: Though those defenses are often not enough, considering it has a double weakness against a [[MakingASplash very common attack type]], and is too slow to get priority more than occasionally. However, it ''is'' a very powerful attacker, and is capable of giving good hits from either the special or the physical side.
** EliteTweak: Get it into a Trick Room, and even {{Smogon}} admits that it can truly be a force to be reckoned with.
* NoSell: To Electric-type moves. Numel's Oblivious Ability prevents infatuation or Taunt, and its Hidden Ability Own Tempo prevents confusion. Camerupt's Magma Armor prevents freezing.
* OneHitKO: Can naturally learn Fissure.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire-type.
* SecretArt: Prior to Generation IV, the only Pokémon to learn Eruption naturally, apart from [[OlympusMons Groudon]].
* SuperSpit: Oddly, despite being a camel, the Stockpile/Swallow/Spit Up moves need to be bred onto it.
* UnstoppableRage: Camerupt's Hidden Ability is Anger Point; hit it with a CriticalHit and its Attack will ''quadruple.'' Doesn't matter if its Attack was at 25% of its normal value, ''it's still going to be 400% of its normal value.''
!! Torkoal (Coatoise)
[[quoteright:102:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/324_8579.png]]
Also living on Mt. Chimney is this tortoise that stores coal in its shell. When agitated, it blows out black smoke to disorient the enemy. In battle, it surrounds itself in White Smoke to prevent anyone from lowering its stats. Its defense is its best stat and has average stats everywhere else except for Speed, which is absolutely abysmal.
* CriticalHit: Its Hidden Ability Shell Armor lets it avoid these, giving it a decent advantage where [[StoneWall taking hits is concerned.]]
* DeathOrGloryAttack: Can learn Overheat.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Can learn Rapid Spin naturally.
* EyesAlwaysShut: It has never been seen with his/her eyes open.
* MightyGlacier: Unusually for a pure Fire-type.
** GlassCannon: Through use of Shell Smash. Unfortunately, its Speed is so low that even the move's Speed doubling effect won't help Torkoal outrun much.
** StoneWall: Though its typing and lack of recovery outside of Rest + Sleep Talk hurts its hit taking abilities a bit, it learns both Iron Defense and Amnesia naturally to help bolster both of its defenses.
* NoSell: Its White Smoke ability lets it ignore opposing effects that reduce its stats (note that this does not apply to Torkoal itself using something like Overheat).
* PlayingWithFire: Fire-type.
* SmokeOut: With the smoke coming out of it, it learns Smog and Smokescreen in addition to the White Smoke ability.
* TurtlePower: It's a fire turtle! You would think you would see a water or earth turtle in Hoenn, but no! You get something even more awesome!
!! Spoink and Grumpig (Baneboo and Boopig)
[[quoteright:114:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/325-326_3057.png]]
A strange Pokémon if there ever was one: The piglet has no back legs, so it gets around by bouncing on a springy tail, however, the bouncing action performs an even more vital function: It keeps its heart pumping, so if it stops bouncing, its heart stops and it will die. It also carries a large pearl on its head which apparently amplifies its psychic power. It becomes more normal (for a Pokémon at least) when it evolves into Grumpig.
* AsTheGoodBookSays and StealthPun: "[D]o not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
* BlushSticker: Spoink sports a pair.
* MessyPig: Crossed with a spring.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Thankfully, Spoinks don't die when you knock them out!
* OvershadowedByAwesome: A solid Psychic-type--too bad Hoenn offers ''two'' families (Abra and Ralts) of that type with better offensive stats (king for in-game use) and movepools far before it can be found.
* PowerIncontinence: Apparently, that pearl not only serves to amplify psychic power, but also (according to the ''Mystery Dungeon'' games) it also serves as a sort of counter-weight for the Spoink's bouncing, otherwise the bouncing gets a little out of control.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Spoink.
* SpringCoil: Spoink has this, and must bounce on it or face death by cardiac arrest.
* StoneWall: Grumpig is a great Special wall.
** MightyGlacier: Also has decent Special Attack.
* SupernaturalIsPurple: Even though they're Psychic types and not Ghosts.
!! Spinda (Patcheel)
[[quoteright:90:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/327_200.png]]
This odd Pokémon is a common sight in the ash-covered Route 113. It has two motifs going for it: the patches on a Spinda's face differ from individual to individual, much like a fingerprint. Using an algorithm in the coding, there are over ''four billion'' combinations for face patches. The second motif is that its movepool and abilities [[IncrediblyLamePun revolve]] around spining and dizziness. It's not a Pokémon that's going to win battles for you, but it's at least one you aren't likely to forget.
* ButtMonkey: To Website/{{Smogon}} in particular, but if another Pokémon is compared to Spinda in any way, odds are good that it's not a compliment.
* CastOfSnowflakes: There are 4,294,967,296 spot patterns, meaning you're not likely to see the same kind of Spinda twice.
* ConfusionFu: Quite literally, most of its abilities and moves have to do with confusion.
* DrunkenMaster: Emphasized by the Teeter Dance move which confuses the opponent with its wobbly dance.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Learns Rapid Spin.
* JokeCharacter: Worthless except for a few gimmicks with Assist and Contrary.
* MasterOfNone: Spinda's stats are all equal... and they all suck.
* NoSell: To Ghost-type attacks.
* PandaingToTheAudience: Based on the red panda.
* PowerupLetDown: It gets the impressive Contrary as its Hidden Ability, but has no moves that can abuse it. This can be mollified in two ways; one, by knowing the attack- and defense-lowering move [[TookALevelInBadass Superpower]] from Dream World, or by using Assist (learned via egg moves) to use V-Create, Close Combat, Draco Meteor, etc.
* SecretArt: Teeter Dance, before [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation V]] (others could learn it via breeding).
* TookALevelInBadass: As alluded to in the PowerupLetdown entry above, Spinda just barely subverted this in Generation V, when it got both Contrary and the move Superpower with which to abuse it. Problem is, only Spinda obtained directly from Dream World can have Superpower, meaning it can't have Contrary/Superpower at the same time as the breedable moves it has that ''could'' have made that combo useful, such as Baton Pass and Rapid Spin. As is, Spinda is simply too weak to make much use of it, and tends to either get knocked out or run out of PP for Superpower by the time it can power up enough to be even remotely threatening.
* WingdingEyes: Its eyes are swirls.
!! Trapinch (Nuckrar), Vibrava, and Flygon
[[quoteright:191:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/328-329-330_4363.png]]
Based on the antlion, Trapinch is a Ground-typed Pokémon commonly found in the wild in desert areas. It evolves into Vibrava, which gives it an additional Dragon-type and lowers its Attack while primarily raising Speed. Afterwards, it evolves into Flygon, which returns its high Attack.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: They're based on the antlion, belong in the Bug Egg Group, and learn some Bug-type moves, but they're not bug-typed.
* ConfusionFu: Its typing and Bug affinity affords it access to Ground, Dragon, Rock, Fire, Bug, Flying, and some Dark and Fighting moves, and while its Attack is higher than its Special Attack, both are high enough to allow it to be comfortable attacking from either stat.
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Its stats change drastically as it evolves.
** GlassCannon: Trapinch. It has shockingly high Attack, but its other stats are at the standard levels for unevolved Pokémon (read: not very good), and its speed is among the bottom three of the game.
** MasterOfNone: Vibrava. While it is far faster than Trapinch, said speed is just decent among unevolved Pokémon, and its Attack drops significantly, while its defenses barely increase.
** JackOfAllStats: Flygon significantly improves all of Vibrava's stats, regaining Trapinch's attack, but this time with comparable speed and not far below defenses. None of its stats are particularly standout, but they're high enough to make it strong.
* ForMassiveDamage: Ice types will wreck it.
* MagikarpPower: Trapinch hits like a truck, but it is fragile and VERY slow. When it first evolves, its speed becomes average, but at the cost of its huge attack becoming average as well, and gains virtually no bulk. When it evolves again, however, it is a different story...
* NoSell: To Electric-type moves. Vibrava and Flygon are also immune to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: In this case, Vibrava and Flygon are draconic ''antlions''.
** Also it, along with Gen VI's Noivern-line, are the only dragons that can't be bred with other dragons. It's in the Bug-egg group.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Flygon is by no means ''bad'', it has a great movepool with many different types among both physical and special, it resists or is immune to all entry hazards, and its stats are fair. But its JackOfAllStats status is in sharp contrast to all other fully evolved Dragons who are {{Lightning Bruiser}}s, having much higher stats than it including defenses, and while other Dragons get Dragon Dance or Swords Dance to make them even more powerful, all Flygon has is the subpar Hone Claws. Factor in also that it shares its typing with Garchomp, who outclasses it in every way, and the short of it is that anything it can do, other Dragons can do better.
* StatusBuff: Averted. Despite being a dragon that looks very nimble, it can't learn Dragon Dance or '''any''' buffs beyond Hone Claws.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Arena Trap]] is essentially the Magnemite line's Magnet Pull, with different limitations.
!! Cacnea and Cacturne (Sabonea and Noctus)
[[quoteright:130:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/331-332_9399.png]]
Another pair of desert denizens, Cacnea and Cacturne, being based on cacti, are very well adapted for desert life. They use their thorny arms as clubs to batter their opponents, or they can shoot needles to subdue them. They're also noteworthy of having Sand Veil as an ability, which makes them not only more evasive in a Sandstorm, but also immune to its damage. Cacturne takes on a creepy scarecrow-like appearance and becomes a dark-type. If you're wandering in the desert and notice that the cacti are following you, it's not just heatstroke that's getting to you.
* AlienBlood: Cacturne have ''sand'' for blood.
* AllDesertsHaveCacti: Where you find them.
* CombatPragmatist: Cacturne.
* DifficultButAwesome: Cacturne's got good Attack, but its poor Speed and defenses mean that it usually gets knocked out before it can utilize its offensive might. However, [[TheChessmaster a player who is good at predicting their opponent's next move]] can fully utilize Cacturne's beastly offense by using Sucker Punch to hit hard before the opponent gets to attack, and Focus Punch to hit even ''harder'' if the opponent isn't ''trying'' to attack. [[note]]The former move only works if the opponent is attacking the user, and the latter will fail if the user is hit.[[/note]] It also has the ability Sand Veil, which means if there's a sandstorm up[[note]]A sandstorm can be brewed by sending out a Tyranitar or Hippowdon.[[/note]], there is a 20% chance that the foe's attacks will miss Cacturne enitrely. Long story short: Cacturne may look like a novelty, but in the hands of a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], it's ''a force to be reckoned with''.
** OvershadowedByAwesome: There are Pokémon out there that are better at those moves than Cacturne, and don't require as much strategy to use effectively.
* ForMassiveDamage: To Bug-type attacks and Flying Press.
* GlassCannon: Poor speed, poor defenses, but ''very'' good attack.
* GreenThumb: Grass-type.
* [[ImplacableMan Implacable Pokémon]]: Cacturne form packs to stalk travelers through deserts, waiting for said travelers to wear itself out. Then the Cacturne will beat it up and suck it to a dessicated husk.
* ManEatingPlant: Sucks its prey dry like a vampire.
* NiceHat: Cacturne, at least.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: A vampiric scarecrow cactus.
* NoSell: Cacturne to Psychic-type moves. The line is immune to powder-based moves from Generation VI onwards.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: This one is a scarecrow.
* ScaryScarecrows: Cacturne hunts prey at night when it's weakened by the heat.
* SecretArt: Needle Arm, until Generation V.
** Fittingly, said Gen V Pokémon is a cactus too.
!!Swablu and Altaria (Tylto and Tyltalis)
[[quoteright:150:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/333-334_7791.png]]
Cute blue birds with a cloud theme. Swablu is a regular Normal/Flying type that isn't particularly noteworthy but it does evolve into Altaria, which is strangely a Dragon/Flying type. Unlike most Dragon-types, they're peaceful and sing with beautiful (and sleep-inducing) voices. Its highest stat is its special defense, but ice types still present a problem.
* BlowYouAway: Flying-type.
* ForMassiveDamage: [[KillItWithIce Ice-type attacks]] (not unlike most Dragon-types, really).
* {{Flight}}: Flying-type.
* HeadPet: According to the Pokédex, Swablu enjoys acting like a hat.
* HealingFactor: Learns Refresh and has the Natural Cure ability.
* HealThyself: Can be bred with Roost.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Altaria is based on the Blue Bird of Happiness, which comes from a Belgian play that includes a star called Tytalis (Altaria's Japanese name to boot), which is part of the Draco Constellation.
* [[TheMaleIngenueMustBeATenor The Male Ingenue Must Be A Soprano]]: Altaria is the Humming Pokémon, and this family is normally known for grace, cleanliness, and forming fluffier wings when they bond with people.
* MightyGlacier: In contrast to [[LightningBruiser most other Dragon-types]], Altaria has higher defense than offense, and has a moveset more typical of a supporter. Its attack isn't ''low'', really, just much lower than you'd get from other Dragons.
** StoneWall: Its speed is better than its offense, and even then, Wingull's faster.
*** It also has the massive Defense-boosting move Cotton Guard. Notably, of the Pokémon that get it, Altaria has the highest base Defense.
** LightningBruiser: With Dragon Dance, it can boost its near average Attack and Speed and become this.
* NoSell: To Ground-type moves.
* {{Opera}}: Based on song birds and opera music.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: These are more cloudy.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Altaria, VERY different indeed.
* PersonalRainCloud: They can use Rain Dance, and their plumage is made up of cotton.
* [[ThatCloudLooksLike That Cloud Is A Bird]]: Resemble cumulus clouds.
* [[WeatherControlMachine Weather Control Creatures]]: As of Generation V, some Altaria have the power to make everybody ignore weather when in play.
!! Zangoose and Seviper (Habunake)
[[quoteright:154:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/335-336_6211.png]]
Two Pokémon- one a Normal-type and the other a Poison-type- with an intense rivalry that is practically part of their nature. They inhabit Route 114, just outside of Meteor Falls. Trainers will find Zangoose in ''Ruby'' or Seviper in ''Sapphire''. They are both hard-hitters, both having decent offense.
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Owing to their long rivalry, Zangoose has the Immunity ability.
** It got a unique Hidden Ability that, while it means Zangoose can be poisoned, its powers will be boosted if that happens.
* AnimalJingoism: Mongoose vs. Snake.
* ArtificialBrilliance: In Horde Battles where Seviper outnumber Zangoose, they will use Swagger on each other after they're done fighting the Zangoose. Since they always carry Persim Berries in the wild (which cure confusion), this leaves them with doubled Attack, ready to take you out.
* {{Badass}}: Both Seviper and Zangoose are very tough Pokémon. Special mention must go to Zangoose. It may be a Normal-type, but it's nevertheless incredibly tough and actually has several advantages over Seviper. Not quite on legendary level, but still, very above average.
* EnemyMine: They are mortal enemies and have been for quite some time. Doesn't mean they can't [[EnemyMine be on the same team, fight together on a Double Battle]], [[FoeYay or even breed]].
** GameplayAndStoryIntegration: In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', you can encounter both in horde battles... whereupon one of the species will try to ''kill'' the other before they even start attacking you.
* {{Foil}}: To each other.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Zangoose's red patterns are scars, even though they look like a really cool fur pattern. Sounds silly? Check out Seviper's fangs and the blade on its tail. Likewise, the purple patterns struck across Seviper's body are implied to come from Zangoose's claws -- back when they were still purple.
* GlassCannon: Both of them have high offenses, with Seviper able to to hit from both ends, but cannot take a hit.
** FragileSpeedster: Zangoose is ''much'' faster than Seviper and can hit much harder if poisoned and has its Hidden Ability.
* NoSell: Zangoose to Ghost-type attacks.
* NonElemental: Zangoose
* [[PoisonousPerson Poisonous Pokémon]]: Seviper.
* PowerUpLetdown: Toxic Boost may have been a pretty unique ability for Zangoose to take advantage of, but mechanics-wise, it's basically an inferior version of Guts that can't take advantage of burns or strategies that use Snore or Sleep Talk.
* {{Retcon}}: Zangoose's claws were originally purple in its game sprites (but not in its concept art).
* TheRival: To each other, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation even though there are chances of running into both in Dark Grass or finding double battles where both are used against you]].
** In X and Y, though, they can appear in Pokemon Hordes together, and will attack each other while ignoring your Pokémon.
* SecretArt: Seviper's [[BewareMyStingerTail Poison Tail]], until Generation V. Zangoose's [[WolverineClaws Crush Claw]] could always be bred into other Pokémon, but was learnable only by Zangoose in the attack's debut.
** It also got a unique Hidden Ability, Toxic Boost.
* TruthInTelevision: These Pokémon are apparently based on real life natural enemies the mongoose (predator) and the snake (prey).
** {{Irony}}: In that the mongoose {{Expy}}'s rival is named after and looks like a viper. In real life, the mongoose [[CripplingOverspecialization specializes]] against ''cobras''[[note]]meaning that Zangoose really should be ''Arbok's'' enemy, if the ''Pokémon'' franchise wanted to keep things authentic[[/note]]. Vipers strike much faster and less predictably than cobras, and so mongooses absolutely ''suck'' at fighting them.
* WolverineClaws: Zangoose
!! Lunatone and Solrock
[[quoteright:136:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/337-338_2363.png]]
This pair of Pokémon are living meteorites that fell from space. Both of them resemble stellar bodies: Solrock resembles the Sun while Lunatone resembles the Moon. Solrock is more physically-inclined while Lunatone is specially-inclined. Both are also Rock/Psychic and have a small chance of carrying evolutionary stones (Sun Stones for Solrock, Moon Stones for Lunatone). You'll find Lunatone in ''Sapphire'' and Solrock in ''Ruby''.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Lunatone can learn Ice Beam, possibly a reference to the coldness of moonlight.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* {{Foil}}: To each other.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: See "Irony".
* HealThyself: Lunatone can have Moonlight and Solrock can have Morning Sun if (and only if) they were obtained via Dream World.
* {{Irony}}: They cannot learn Moonlight or Morning Sun naturally. Those moves are only obtained through the Dream World.
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: They have a whopping ''seven'' weaknesses (Water, Grass, Ground, Steel, Dark, Bug, and Ghost). Although Levitate removes one of them, that's still a lot.
* {{Lunacy}}: '''Luna'''tone
* TheManInTheMoon[=/=]TheFaceOfTheSun: A little more subtle than most examples.
* MightyGlacier: Solrock on the physical side and Lunatone on the special side.
** StatusBuff: Both can learn Rock Polish to deal with their middling speed. Also notable is that both learn the rather rare boosting move Cosmic Power.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoSell: Both of them to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
* PlayingWithFire: Solrock isn't a Fire type, but it does have some fire moves to use. Quite fitting, being based on the Sun and all.
* PowerFloats: Have the Levitate ability.
* ThePowerOfTheSun: '''Sol'''rock.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Lunatone's in particular are said to fill anyone with fear.
* [[SiliconBasedLife Silicon Based Pokémon]]
* SolarAndLunar: Their schtick.
* StarfishAlien: They're living meteorites from space.
* {{Telepathy}}: Solrock can read minds.
!! Barboach and Whiscash (Dojoach and Namazun)
[[quoteright:138:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/339-340_3169.png]]
Water/Ground type catfish. They possess the ability to cause earthquakes, and are also said to have a limited ability to predict real earthquakes. Unlike real catfish, Whiscash's tail is horizontal, resembling a sea mammal's tail instead of a fish's. Be careful: those whiskers can tickle you into submission and weaken you.
* [[BroughtToYouByTheLetterS Brought To You By the Letter W]]: Look at Whiscash's head.
* TheCatfish: Based on a Namazu catfish.
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* [[EarthquakeMachine Earthquake Creature]]: Learn Earthquake.
* ForMassiveDamage: To Grass-type attacks and Freeze Dry.
* LethalJokeCharacter: Looks silly, but it can deal a good amount of damage.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Decent defenses and good HP, but it's not winning many speed wars.
* NoSell: To Electric-type moves.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Having the same typing as both Quagsire and Marshtomp/Swampert but with less of a movepool (and less useful abilities) result in it getting little love, despite being decent in its own right. It does, however, get Dragon Dance, which can catch the foe off-guard.
* ShockAndAwe: Can have the Electric-type move Spark bred to it, which works nicely with its Attack and to deal with fellow Water-types.
* {{Youkai}}: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namazu_%28Japanese_mythology%29 They're based off a Japanese myth about giant catfish causing earthquakes]].
!! Corphish and Crawdaunt (Heigani and Shizarigar)
[[quoteright:141:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/341-342_1117.png]]
Water-type Crayfish Pokémon that were apparently introduced from overseas. These fiesty Pokémon are resourceful enough to thrive in any enviroment they're introduced to (as long as there's enough water). When Corphish evolves, it gains the Dark type and becomes viciously territorial and willing to challenge anyone, tossing out any other Pokémon in its area.
* CombatPragmatist: What would you expect from the "Ruffian" and "Rogue Pokémon"?
** Its Hidden Ability is Adaptability, which boosts its Dark attacks even further.
* CriticalHit: Its Shell Armor ability lets it avoid these. Though the fact that Crawdaunt doesn't fare well as a defensive Pokémon causes most players to go for one of its other abilities instead.
** On the opposite side, it naturally learns Crabhammer and Night Slash, allowing it a better chance of inflicting these.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Unlike most {{Expy}}ed species, [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIFamilies Kingler]] and Crawdaunt have steadily been made more dissimilar playwise (while keeping both equally viable) with future generations. Kingler has usable physical bulk, gained Agility (double speed) in Generation 4, and received the ''very'' nice Sheer Force ability (boost damage of moves with a chance of inflicting [[StandardStatusEffects secondary effects]] by 33% but remove the effect chance) in Generation 5; Crawdaunt, on the other hand, has enough special attack to run mixed sets, gets Dragon Dance (raise speed and attack by 50% each) in Generation 4, and the ''very'' nice Adaptability ability (boost the bonus from using attacks of the same type as the user from 1.5 to double damage) in Generation 5.
* [[GiantEnemyCrab Giant Enemy Crayfish]]: Or crawdad, if you prefer.
* GlassCannon: High Attack, but it goes down quickly.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
** Its Hidden Ability is Adaptability, which boosts its Water attacks even further.
* NoSell: To Psychic attacks.
** Its Hyper Cutter ability also lets it ignore effects that would otherwise lower its Attack.
* OneHitKO: Naturally learns Guillotine.
* PowerPincers
* SecretArt: Crabhammer, shared with the Kingler family.
!! Baltoy and Claydol (Yajilon and Nendol)
[[quoteright:112:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/343-344_4442.png]]
Bizarre Ground/Psychic clay figurines brought to life by mysterious means, these Pokémon prefer arid ruins and are able to wield a number of elemental attacks. They are based on the "shakōkidogū", a "Spaceman" figurine from the Jōmon period.
* ActionBomb: Naturally learns Explosion. Combined with its high defenses, it's tough to take out in the wild.
* BeamSpam: Claydol learns a variety of beam-based moves like Psybeam, Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Signal Beam, and Hyper Beam -- notable for the fact that it learns Hyper Beam when it evolves at level ''36'', when most Pokémon that learn it naturally don't learn it until high levels. (Exploud did, however, learn it at level 40 in Generation III.)
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Claydol has eyes all around its head.
* LivingToys: Apparently, both are clay figurines found in ancient ruins that somehow came to life.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* OurMonstersAreWeird
* NoSell: To Electric and Ground-type attacks.
* PowerFloats: Have the Levitate ability.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* StoneWall: Good defenses (its Special Defense is tied with Mr. Mime) which can be amplified by Cosmic Power. (Also the highest Special Defense of all Ground-types.)
** MightyGlacier: It can also dish out quite a bit of damage, when amplified by Calm Mind.
* TronLines: Baltoy.
!! Lileep and Cradily (Lilyla and Yuradle)
[[quoteright:121:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/345-346_603.png]]
Revive a Root Fossil and you'll get this strange creature. Despite being part grass and resembling a plant, this fossil Pokémon is based on a crinoid: a creature related to seastars that are still living in the deep oceans today. It is an extremely slow Pokémon, but it more than makes up for it in its defenses.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* FossilRevival: Revived from a Root Fossil.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Especially Cradily. Some people have trouble figuring out which of its eyes are the real ones. [[note]]The ones in the black part of its face are the real ones.[[/note]]
* GreenThumb: Grass-type, [[http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species:_Lileep_and_Cradily though it's not based on a plant.]]
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Subverted. Despite its type combination being a pair of the two types with the most weaknesses, Grass and Rock cancel out much of each others' weaknesses so that it only has four weaknesses (Steel, Fighting, Bug, and Ice).
* NoSell: {{Switch Out Move}}s with Suction Cups, and Water with its Hidden Ability Storm Drain. They're immune to powder-based moves from Generation VI onwards.
* PaletteSwap: Mentioned only because of an amusing fact: their "Shiny" forms switch colors with ''each other''.
* PrehistoricMonster: Lived on the seafloor 100 million years ago.
* RecurringElement: Fills the same role as the Kanto fossil duo along with Anorith, starting a tradition.
* {{Retcon}}: In-game sprites always showed the two with orange tentacles until Generation V, when they were redone to have pink tentacles like in the official art.
* StoneWall: Practically a ''Diamond'' Wall against special attacks during a sandstorm. Rock-types get their special defense doubled during that sort of weather, and Cradily's base Special Defense is more than respectable. It naturally learns Stockpile (and Spit Up/Swallow) and Amnesia to bulk up even more. And it can have ''[[HealingFactor Recover]]'' bred onto it, or be tutored Synthesis for a similar effect.
** Using Ingrain makes it even more so, giving it a constant HealingFactor and denying any attempts at using a SwitchOutMove on it, making it something of a PoorMansSubstitute for ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Shuckle]]''.
** MightyGlacier: Its offensive stats aren't bad for a defensive Pokémon, and it has excellent STAB coverage (only being resisted by most Steel-types, Grass/Fighting, and Poison/Fighting typed Pokémon).
*** OvershadowedByAwesome: However, other dedicated walls don't require nearly as much setup as Cradily in order to start tanking, which hurts it in the short run, considering the fast-paced metagame. And then there's Blissey, forever setting the bar too high for special walls.
* StandYourGround: Its standard ability is Suction Cups, which makes it unable to be forcibly switched out.
!! Anorith (Anopth) and Armaldo
[[quoteright:137:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/347-348_7880.png]]
Reviving a Claw Fossil will net you this Rock/Bug fossil Pokémon. Despite being labeled as an "Old Shrimp", Anorith is based on a creature known as an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalocaris Anomalocaris]], which at one meter long was the largest predator in the early Cambrian oceans. When it evolves, it grows legs and vaguely resembles a dinosaur.
* ActionInitiative: Can be bred to know Aqua Jet, allowing it to overcome its rather poor speed.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Bug-type. Notable for being two of the three Bug-type Pokémon with Bug as a secondary type ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVFamilies Skorupi]] is the other one) and the only Pokémon with that type combination to retain it upon evolution.
* CriticalHit: Their standard ability Battle Armor ignores these.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* FossilRevival: Revived from a Claw Fossil.
* FragileSpeedster: Anorith is pretty fast for a Rock-type, as it has the fifth highest Speed among Rock-types. Its Attack isn't half-bad for an unevolved Pokémon, too. But then again, it's an unevolved Pokémon, so its other stats aren't that great.
* [[GiantEnemyCrab Giant Enemy Anomalocaris]]: Armaldo weighs 150 lbs/68 kg.
* MakingASplash: They can learn Water Gun, Aqua Tail, and Water Pulse (by breeding or TM, when Water Pulse was still a TM). Fittingly, they're based on an aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Armaldo hits hard with 125 Attack, but its Speed leaves much to be desired.
** Generation V gives it the power to become a LightningBruiser in the rain via Swift Swim. And there's always Rock Polish, and later on [[ActionInitiative Aqua Jet]].
* MixAndMatchCritters: Armaldo is half Anomalocaris, half ''stegosaurus.''
* PrehistoricMonster: Hunted prey with its deadly claws.
* RecurringElement: Fills the same role as the Kanto fossil duo along with Lileep, starting a tradition.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Anomalocaris is an ancient creature really only mentioned in documentaries and Advanced Placement Paleontology class.
!! Feebas and Milotic (Hinbass and Milokaross)
[[quoteright:141:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/349-350_7987.png]]
A weak, little fish that evolves into a mighty serpent. Reminds you of Magikarp, right? It's actually pretty different. First, Feebas is exceptionally rare; [[ScrappyMechanic it can only be encountered in certain tiles in the Route 119 river (as well as one of the Mt. Coronet underground lakes)]]. Second, it is unique in that it is the only Pokémon that evolves with a contest stat, namely, Beauty. This makes both finding one and evolving one a daunting task.[[note]]In Generation V, this is no longer the sole requirement, as Feebas can be traded holding a Prism Scale to evolve it[[/note]]
* {{Badass}}: Milotic, in a more serene and subdued way.
* BerserkButton: In Generation VI it gained the Competitive Ability, which doubles its Special Attack if its stats are lowered.
* ButtMonkey: All of Feebas' Pokédex entries talk about how ugly and worthless it is, much like with Magikarp. At least they agree that Feebas is a hardy little fish.
* {{Foil}}: To Magikarp and Gyarados, with beauty instead of power.
** Also in temperament. Gyarados is vicious and destructive while Milotic is peaceful and gentle.
* FragileSpeedster: Like Magikarp, Speed (and a minor in Special Defense) is Feebas's only high stat.
* GuideDangIt: You want a Milotic but don't know how to get one? '''GOOD LUCK.'''
** This no longer applies in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'', as not only does Feebas have an easier way to evolve, you can also find out how to evolve it just by calling the Professor on the Xtransceiver.
** It's still nigh-impossible to get one though, given the fact that in Gens 3 and 4 it only appeared in a certain area, and only on four tiles in that HUGE area. Which four tiles? Impossible to tell without trial and error.
* LightningBruiser: Milotic is quite similar to Gyarados, albeit more specially and defensively oriented, has a weak physical attack that it won't be using, and, while Gyarados gets Intimidate to compensate for the lower physical defense, Milotic only needs to get a StandardStatusEffect to get it multiplied by 1.5.
** StoneWall
* MagikarpPower: Even if slightly more useful than Magikarp (Having Light Screen as a clear advantage over it), you aren't going to get anywhere with Feebas. [[LightningBruiser Milotic]], on the other hand...
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* PowerUpLetdown: While Feebas has the nice Adaptability ability as its Hidden Ability, Milotic gets... Cute Charm. It's rather situational and only has an effect against opposite-gender Pokémon. Compared to the ''wonderful'' and oh-so abusable Marvel Scale, it's a major letdown.
* RecurringElement: Inspired by Magikarp only instead of being a weak fish that turns into a strong serpent, it's an ugly fish that turns into a beautiful serpent.
* SocializationBonus: Due to the lack of Beauty mechanics in Generation V, Feebas can be evolved by trading while it holds a Prism Scale.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Among Pokémon.
!! Castform (Powalun)
[[quoteright:170:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/351_166.png]]
A tiny Pokémon that seems to resemble nothing more than a floating head. Castform is best known for changing its appearance and typing with the weather: It becomes a fire type under strong sunlight, a water type in the rain and an ice type in a snowstorm. Its most famous move is Weather Ball, a move that can become certain types under certain weather conditions, much like Castform itself.
* BubblyClouds: Part of what its design is based on. However, [[FreudWasRight it is easy to mistake its lower part for something else]].
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Depending on the weather.
** VoluntaryShapeshifting: But it can control the weather, thus, it can choose its form.
* JokeCharacter: Yeah, it's pretty lousy in a fight.
* MasterOfNone: Its stats are all equal... just barely higher than those of ''[[ButtMonkey Spinda]]''. (Remember how being compared to Spinda is almost never a compliment?)
* NoSell: Without any weather (or just fog), Castform is immune to Ghost-type attacks.
* QuirkyBard: Pretty much introduced as a gimmick to show off weather moves.
* SecretArt: Weather Ball, in Generation III. Changes form along with the weather as well.
** NonElemental: Well, Normal, anyway. Fog.
** PlayingWithFire: Strong sunlight (Sunny Day, Drought).
** MakingASplash: Rainstorm (Rain Dance, Drizzle).
** AnIcePerson: Hailstorm (Hail, Snow Warning).
** DishingOutDirt: Sandstorm (even though Castform lacks a form for them).
** TheCorruption: Shadow Sky. The only way a non-Shadow Pokémon can harness Shadow Power.
* TeruTeruBozu: Based on these.
* [[WeatherControlMachine Weather Control Pokémon]]: But not automatically like other such Pokémon.
!! Kecleon
[[quoteright:86:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/352_5584.png]]
One of the earliest Pokémon of the third generation games to be promoted, Kecleon is a chameleon that's well known for changing its colors and almost becoming invisible, the only exception is the zig-zagged band of red on its torso. This doesn't factor into the game itself, but its ability comes fairly close. Every time it is hit with an attack, it becomes that attack's typing. Much like the red band, this can be its AchillesHeel. In the sixth generation it gained the Protean ability as well, which allows it to change into whatever type of move it just used.
* AchillesHeel / HoistByHisOwnPetard: It's quite easy for a player to hit a Color Change variant with one kind of move, at which point its elemental type changes. After that, it gets easily exposed to one it's weak to.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The concept of Color Change is cool, but considered to be too easily shaken up to be used effectively.
* BarrierChangeBoss: Its Color Change ability makes it change to the type that it was last attacked with. It can be easily beaten by Dragon-types, due to the type's self-weakness. Ghost also, if you can change its type off Normal first.
** The Hidden Ability it gained in Gen VI, Protean, is arguably this done right, as now it's the ''user'' that controls when Kecleon's type changes and what it changes to, rather than the opponent. As mentioned just below, this has the drawback of making it a bit less versatile, but it still remains to be seen just how useful it can be.
* ConfusionFu: With Protean, the Kecleon's trainer is in control of its type changes, but it's limited to four instead of eighteen.
* EarlyBirdCameo: The very first Generation III Pokémon to appear in the anime, midway through the Johto arc.
* HollywoodChameleons: Blends in with any environment nearly perfectly.
* {{Invisibility}}: Though an uncooperative stripe on its body will give it away.
* NoSell: To Ghost-type attacks by default.
* NonElemental: Initially, anyway. Either of its Abilities ensure that it typically won't stay that way long.
* QuirkyBard: Color Change is clearly a gimmick, nothing else. However, Kecleon's decent Special Defense, good movepool, and the fact that its ability is at least good at fending off opponents without much type coverage to their attacks manages to keep it above being considered a JokeCharacter.
** With Protean, it still kind of falls under this, but giving the control to the user makes it seem as though it can be far more useful now.
* SecretArt: The sole user of Color Change.
!! Shuppet and Banette (Kagebouzu and Jupetta)
[[quoteright:122:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/353-354_2862.png]]
One of two pure ghost families that are caught far into the game, Shuppet and Banette live up to the reputation of ghost types being fairly creepy. Shuppet feed off vengeful emotions and gather where such people live. Banette is more freaky in that it takes on the form of an animate doll searching for the child who discarded it. They have a high attack stat but little else. In Generation 6, Banette gained a Mega Evolution.
* BedsheetGhost: Shuppet, vaguely.
* CastingAShadow: Ghost-type.
* CreepyDoll: Both Shuppet and Banette are abandoned children's dolls, reanimated by a grudge against their former owners.
* DarkIsNotEvil: They feed on negativity; as in, the person feels ''better'' after having its hateful feelings devoured!
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Dusclops got an evolution, while Banette got a ''Mega'' Evolution.
* EmotionEater: Feeds on dark emotions.
* {{Foil}}: To the Duskull line. It is more prominent in ''Sapphire'' while Duskull is more prominent in ''Ruby''. Also, Shuppet is relatively a GlassCannon while Duskull is a StoneWall.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: In ''X and Y'', you can find wild Banette in the Pokémon Village inside shaking trash bins, meaning that they might really be discarded dolls as the Pokédex claims.
* GlassCannon: Very low defenses, but Banette has a nice Attack stat of 115. Probably the only Ghost-type that could actually have reliable STAB before the Physical-Special split of Gen IV.
** While Banette did get a Mega Evolution, its defenses are only slightly improved, so any reasonably powerful attack will still do it in.
* NoSell: To Normal and Fighting-type attacks.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: They're not so much ghosts as they are discarded toys possessed by an evil force said to be the grudge they've held against being abandoned by their owners.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Even in its Physical attacking Ghost niche, it gets outdone by Golurk, [[MightyGlacier who hits harder and can actually take hits itself]].
* SlasherSmile: Banette has quite a gorgeous smile.
* SoulPower: Banette seems to be possessing a puppet.
* SuperMode: Banette's Mega Evolution.
* TakingYouWithMe: Mega Banette is notable for being the only Pokémon that has both Prankster and Destiny Bond, meaning if things are looking bad for it, it can reliably use Destiny Bond before the opponent hits it, taking the opponent down with it if it faints.
* TheTrickster: Mega Banette has the Prankster ability, which makes non-attacking moves go first.
* TookALevelInBadass: Banette's Mega Evolution is best described as Sableye on steroids. Mega Banette is given the Prankster ability so non-direct damage moves have increased priority (including the dreaded Taunt + Prankster combo that Sableye likes so much), and it also has two already-priority attack moves in its arsenal that work with its new '''165''' base Attack. There are only a handful of things that dwarf that Attack stat, those things being Mega Mawile (105 base + Huge Power ability), Mega Heracross (185 base), and ''[[OlympusMons Attack-Forme Deoxys and Mega Mewtwo X]]'' (180 and 190, respectively). In short, it's shaping up to be a complete terror thanks to its ability to both swamp you with status effects and ''seriously'' mess you up if you try and get testy with it.
* {{Zipperiffic}}: Mega Banette gains extra zippers. The ones in its head are really for show, but the ones in its arms and body at least unzip to show its claws and feet, making it look a lot more threatening.
!! Duskull, Dusclops, and Dusknoir (Yomawaru, Samayoru, and Yonoir)
[[quoteright:212:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/355-356-477_1419.png]]
[-''Dusknoir debuts in Generation IV''-]
Another pure ghost family, Duskull and its kin gathers inspiration from a variety of StockMonsters, but mostly TheGrimReaper, Mummies, and the Cyclops. It has a repuation of relentlessly pursuing their quarry, capturing it, and then spiriting it away. It is mostly a defensive monster.
* ActionInitiative: Naturally learns Shadow Sneak.
* BellyMouth: Dusknoir.
* CastingAShadow: Ghost-type.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Dusknoir may look plenty frightening and have some sinister overtones, but at the end of the day, it's a benign guardian of the dead whose job is to lead lost spirits home.
* DifficultButAwesome: Dusknoir is notable for being the first of two MightyGlacier Pokemon that can learn both Trick Room and Pain Split.[[labelnote:*]]The other is Cofagrigus.[[/labelnote]] Trick Room turns it into a LightningBruiser, and properly-used Pain Splits with its mediocre HP are ''much'' more reliable when it moves first, crippling the opponent while healing itself before the enemy can even fight back.
* {{Foil}}: See Shuppet.
* [[CyberCyclops Ghostly Cyclops]]: Dusclops and Dusknoir have only one eye.
** Duskull only has one eye, too. The mask just obscures that. The eye can be seen flitting from socket to socket in ''Pokémon Colosseum'' and related games.
* GhostLights: Naturally learns Will-O-Wisp, letting it [[StandardStatusEffects Burn]] enemies. Good for crippling Physical attackers should its Defense fall short.
* GravityMaster: Naturally learns the move Gravity.
* TheGrimReaper: If Dusknoir's Pokédex entry is to be believed.
* {{Mummy}}: Dusclops.
* NoSell: To Normal and Fighting-type attacks.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Based on the cyclops.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: With Eviolite, Dusclops often is considered better than Dusknoir, since Dusclops' defensive stats can rival that of Shuckle.
** Dusclops, in turn, is considered this in comparison to bulky ghosts like Cofagrigus that can actually do direct damage.
* RealityWarper: Can be taught Trick Room, which reverses the turn order in each priority bracket.
* SocializationBonus: Needs to be traded in order to fully evolve.
* SoulPower: Dusknoir can take spirits into its body.
* StoneWall: High defenses on both sides, but with a mere 70 base Attack it won't be doing much damage directly.
** MightyGlacier: Dusknoir is significantly stronger than its preevolutions, instead getting a more impressive 100 base Attack.
*** LightningBruiser: Aided by Trick Room, or by using [[ActionInitiative Shadow Sneak]] after a few Power-Up Punches, Dusknoir can hit alarmingly hard and fast.
* TookALevelInBadass: Subverted with Dusclops. Similar with what happened with Chansey, where the second evolution outshines the final evolution, its defenses with Eviolite are one of the best in the entire series. Unfortunately, its only way of reliably dealing damage is [[DeathOfAThousandCuts Night]] [[FixedDamageAttack Shade]], and has an unreliable form of recovery from Rest and Pain Split.
** DoubleSubverted come Gen VI though. Dusclops can learn the new move [[TheSwarm Infestation]] to trap the enemy while inflicting StandardStatusEffects with Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, making it a very frustrating staller when given Eviolite. Dusknoir also enjoys Gen VI's new Power-Up Punch, which increases the user's Attack stat on a successful hit; its huge defenses allow it to wall threats until it reaches two-shot or even one-shot heights of power.
!! Tropius
[[quoteright:110:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/357_2398.png]]
A Pokémon that resembles a sauropod dinosaur, it is somehow able to fly with banana leaves growing from its back and it also grows a beard of bananas on its neck. The origin of this beard is supposedly due to consuming so much fruit that it ended up growing its own. So the old adage "You are what you eat" really does apply to this Pokémon. Most people just use it as a cool ride and a mover of obstacles though. Who doesn't want to ride on a flying banana plant dinosaur? Its name feels sorta familiar, doesn't it?
* BlowYouAway: A Flying-type that naturally learns moves like Gust and Whirlwind.
** RazorWind: Learns Air Slash naturally, and can be bred to know the TropeNamer.
* BoringButPractical: Its main use is being an HM slave because it's one of the rare non-legendaries that can learn Cut, Fly, and Strength. Despite [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot being a dinosaur that flies by using palmtree leaves and has a beard made of bananas/Nanab berries]].
* {{Flight}}: Possible Fly slave.
* ForMassiveDamage: Freeze it with a well-placed Ice attack.
* GreenThumb: Grass-type.
* HealThyself: Naturally learns Synthesis, and can gain Roost via Move Tutor.
* LifeDrain: Can be bred to know Leech Seed, and gained Giga Drain via Move Tutor.
* MightyGlacier: Pretty good defensive stats and at least usable attacking ones, not so great Speed. It can become even more of one with Curse, which boosts its Defense and Attack at the cost of some of its Speed.
** [[FragileSpeedster Speedy]] StoneWall: With Chlorophyll and/or Tailwind, it can patch up its poor Speed, though it's still left with very average attacking stats.
*** LightningBruiser: If you add [[StatusBuff Growth]] to that mix. Thanks to the sun already being out to activate Chlorophyll, it can ''double'' both attacking stats with each use of the move. Dragon Dance can help with this as well.
** GlassCannon: With Solar Power. It gets considerably stronger attacking prowess from the special side, at the cost of losing health each turn.
** JackOfAllStats: As the above entries may have clued you in on, Tropius can really do just about anything you want it to; it just depends on which Ability and which {{Status Buff}}s you give it.
* NoSell: To Ground-type moves. It's also immune to powder-based moves from Generation VI onwards.
* PowerOfTheSun: All three of its Abilities. Chlorophyll increases its Speed in the sun, Solar Power increases its Special Attack (though at the cost of health each turn), and Harvest, which gives it a chance of regaining a held Berry that had been used up at the end of each turn, becomes a guaranteed chance if the sun is out.
** In addition, it naturally learns Growth, Synthesis, and Solarbeam. The first is a StatusBuff that doubles in effectiveness if the sun is out (thus doubling both attacking stats), the second is a [[HealThyself healing move]] that grows more powerful in the sun, and the last is a two-turn attack that takes only one turn to use whenever it's sunny.
* StatusBuff: With its Hidden Ability of Harvest, it can have an effectively infinite supply of berries.
* StockDinosaurs: Now [[RecycledINSPACE With LEAF WINGS!]]
* WeirdBeard: It's made of bananas.
!! Chingling and Chimecho (Lishan and Chirean)
[[quoteright:92:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/358-433_3994.png]]
[-''Chingling debuts in Generation IV''-]
Pokémon that resemble bells and wind chimes. It's a psychic Pokémon that wasn't very notable when it was first introduced. Its effectiveness was not only hampered by the availability of other more useful psychic types, but its rarity meant that people wouldn't normally go out of their way to find one. Gen IV was kinder in that it recieved a baby in Chingling and was made more common. But it's not exactly top tier.
* GuideDangIt: In ''Ruby/Sapphire'', no trainers own one and they could only be found in a patch of grass on top of a mountain you weren't likely to stay at. Even then, they had only a ''1%'' chance of showing up.
* HealThyself: Can be bred to have Recover, though only if it starts as Chingling (In other words, make sure you have some Pure Incense handy).
* JackOfAllStats: Middle-of-the-road HP and Speed, with slightly higher defenses and a 95 in Special Attack make for a good balanced Mon. But still...
* JokeCharacter: ''Ugh''. A Pokémon that takes a good chunk of your sanity to find, yet it's extremely frail and its best stat, Special Attack, is sub-par compared to other Special sweepers. It is ''not'' enough to make it an acceptable Pokémon in a competitive or even in-game lineup.
** JunkRare
** MasterOfNone: Statwise, it's basically a Pidgeot that sacrificed a few points in every stat for the sake of [[SquishyWizard a decent bit of Special Attack.]]
* MakeMeWannaShout: Learns Echoed Voice and Uproar, plus it got Hyper Voice through Dream World and Move Tutors.
* TheMedic: One of the rare few to get Heal Bell naturally, which can heal its teammates of status conditions. It can also get Heal Pulse, Wish, and Healing Wish to facilitate this playstyle even further.
* NoSell: Levitate shuts down attempts to harm it with Ground attacks.
* PowerFloats: Has the Levitate ability.
** In addition, Chingling gets the move Entrainment, which lets it invoke this in others as well.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Chingling only evolves by becoming friends with its trainer.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* StandardStatusEffects: Learns Yawn naturally, and can be bred to have Hypnosis.
!! Absol
[[quoteright:92:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/359_2953.png]]
A white furred Dark-type with a very fetching design that proved to be a fan favorite. Absol has a reputation of being a bad omen and seeing one is said to bring doom. How this Pokémon is able to predict such events is not explained, but it showing up is supposed to be a warning that a disaster is imminent (as a result, many people have accused Absol of being doombringers rather than heroes). It has a wicked attack stat, but is lacking in other stats. It gained a Mega Evolution in Generation VI.
* AntiMagic: Mega-Absol has the Magic Bounce ability, which reflects any non-damaging moves aimed at it.
* AwesomeButImpractical: It has ''the'' biggest movepool of any non-legendary Pokémon besides Smeargle; plenty of OU Pokémon would ''kill'' for Absol's movepool. Due to Absol's stats, however, 90% of the moves it can learn are ''completely useless'' to it.
** AwesomeYetPractical: However, when it goes Mega, it gains a sizeable Special Attack boost, allowing it to use its vast movepool to full effect. It also gains ''40 points'' worth of extra base Speed. For new physical attacks it got a Fairy move (Play Rough) which covers its Fighting weakness, hits Dragon-types for massive damage, and forms an attacking combination with Dark that's only resisted by two types[[note]]Mawile and Klefki[[/note]], both of which are covered with Fire Blast.
* {{Badass}}: Mighty so.
* BearerOfBadNews: Absol can predict when and where disasters will happen, and tries to warn people of the danger. However, since this means that Absol is always present when the disaster strikes, this leads to...
** CassandraDidIt
** TheCassandra
** HeroWithBadPublicity
** TheScapegoat
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Despite all the hatred it gets for allegedly causing doom, it still goes out of its way to help people.
* ConfusionFu: Has an INSANELY HUGE movepool, but [[CripplingOverspecialization normal Absol can only able to use physical attacks to good effect]]; it needs to mega-evolve to use special attacks effectively.
* CriticalHitClass: Absol gets Slash, Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, and Stone Edge, and as an ability it gets Super Luck, giving all of these moves a 25% chance for a critical hit without any other modifiers. No other Pokémon gets as many attacks with high critical hit ratios, and none of the other Pokémon with Super Luck can abuse it like Absol.
* CuteLittleFangs: If you pay close attention, you'll notice these in Pokemon-Amie.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Notably honorable within its type, even getting the Justified ability.
* DragonsUpTheYinYang: Its head looks like a ''taijitu'' and it has mysterious disaster-sensing powers.
* FashionableAsymmetry: Only has a scythe on one side of its head.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Absol can be encountered on Mt. Coronet (right as you're trying to stop Galactic from attempting to destroy the Universe) and can be encountered on Unova Route 13 in Black and White, which is near the Giant Chasm, which houses Kyurem and [[PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 is attacked by Team Plasma 2 years later]]. In other words, Absol ''does'' appear at sites where disaster will appear as the Dex stated.
** In ''X & Y'', Absol appears at Route 8. Doesn't sound like a case of foreshadowing, but this is the first route you enter in Coastal Kalos where the Team Flare plot kicks off not long after.
* GlassCannon: It has a very high Attack, Swords Dance, a high critical rate ability, and is the strongest priority user in the game, but has mediocre Speed and horrible Defenses.
** FragileSpeedster: Its Mega form has higher Speed and even higher Attack, as well as a hefty Special Attack boost. Still has awful defenses though.
* NoSell: To Psychic-type moves. Mega-Absol's Magic Bounce ability effectively does this to status moves like Thunder Wave.
* PeekABangs: Sort of. Its Mega Evolution has the white protrusion on the side of its head grow larger to resemble hair, and it covers one of its eyes.
* PowerGivesYouWings: Its Mega Evolution does not gain a flying type, but the fur in its artwork takes a wing-like appearance.
* SinisterScythe: As if ''one'' scythe weren't enough, it seems to feature '''''three''''' sickle-like growths on its body: two on its head, one on its tail. And the two on Absol's head, one looking more blade-like than the other, appear to form a ''yin-yang symbol'' together in their juxtaposition.
* SuperMode: It has a Mega Evolution in the 6th Generation, with the ability [[AntiMagic Magic Bounce]].
** TookALevelInBadass: Vanilla Absol has monstrous Attack and a fantastic movepool that it can't even use because it's slow, terribly brittle, and has awful Special Attack. Mega Absol has base Attack on par with Groudon and Zekrom, a highly respectable base 115 Special Attack , and ''Starmie's'' base speed. Coupled with its movepool, Mega Absol turned from [[AwesomeButImpractical a highly impractical]] GlassCannon to [[AwesomeButPractical an unholy terror]] who, while still fragile, is fast, powerful, and versatile enough to wipe out almost anything capable of posing a serious threat to it short of a Mach Punch user. And as a bonus, it's ''immune'' to status moves and switch-forcing moves like Whirlwind, making it deadly against stall teams.
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Shows up in Swarms at Route 2''13'' in ''Diamond & Pearl'' and Route 13 in Unova.
!! Snorunt, Glalie, and Froslass (Yukiwarashi, Onigoalie, and Yukimenoko)
[[quoteright:155:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/361-362-478_7609.png]]
[-''Froslass debuts in Generation IV''-]
An odd conicial fellow that evolves into an icy sphere, Snorunt and Glalie were introduced as the first Pokémon that were purely Ice types (all the others were dual types). Snorunt was originally only found in the icy depths of the Shoal Cave, which was only at low tide, and even then it was scarce. Aside from its typing, it wasn't that remarkable since its stats were all even. In Gen IV, female Snorunt had the ability to evolve into Froslass with the help of a Dawn Stone. Unlike its kin, Froslass is an Ice/Ghost and her stats favor speed over defenses.
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Snorunt looks like it is wearing a poncho and Glalie looks as if it's wearing a hockey mask.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Ice-type.
* DishingOutDirt: Although it's an Ice-type, Glalie consists of ice covering a solid stone core (it remains pure Ice, not Ice/Rock, oddly), and its family belong partly to the Mineral egg group.
* FragileSpeedster: Froslass
* GhostlyChill: Well, Froslass is Ice/Ghost type...
* JackOfAllStats: Snorunt and Glalie's stats are perfectly equal, but a tad low overall, and their typing is not forgiving at all.
** MasterOfNone: Like many of the well-rounded Pokémon, Glalie suffers ''hard'' from this.
* NoSell: Froslass to Normal and Fighting-type moves.
* OneGenderRace: All Froslass are female.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Froslass is a Yuki-onna (a Japanese ice ghost/demon).
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Glalie, [[http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/b1/Spr_5b_362_s.png when shiny.]]
* ShoutOut: Glalie's Japanese name, Oni''goalie'', is pretty aptly given considering it is stylistically similar to (now mostly defunct) ''ice'' hockey ''goalie'' masks. Plus, the black stripes on it make it resemble a rice ball, or in Japanese an onigiri.
* SoulPower: Froslass
* TrapMaster: Froslass is notable as the only Ghost-type that can learn Spikes (thus preventing the opponent from removing it with Rapid Spin).
* {{Youkai}}: Snorunt is a cross between the yukinko (coat-wearing snow fairies) and Zashiki-warashi (household fairy children). Froslass is based on a Yuki-onna. Glalie itself may be based on the Okubi, a giant head that appears in the sky as omens of doom.
!! Spheal, Sealeo, and Walrein (Tamazarashi, Todoggler, and Todozeruga)
[[quoteright:189:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/363-364-365_9592.png]]
A family of seal-like Pokémon, Spheal is an adorable Ice/Water type that becomes more Walrus-like as it evolves. It's a bulky Pokémon that works best in Hailstorms. If it has the Thick Fat ability, it only takes 1/8 damage from Ice moves.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Ice-type.
* BadassMoustache: Appears to grow one as it evolves. [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Robotnik would be proud]].
* CuteLittleFangs: Spheal. Sealeo has some too, but the mustache kind of defeats the point.
* HealingFactor: Its Ice Body Ability gives it this if it's hailing.
** It can get Aqua Ring through breeding as well.
* {{Kevlard}}: Has the Thick Fat Ability, giving it resistances against Fire and Ice attacks.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Walrein can outstall many things in Hail and wreck them with Sheer Cold. It also has usable special attack.
* NoSell: Its Hidden Ability is Oblivious, which prevents any attempt to distract them with the Attract or Taunt conditions.
** PowerupLetdown: Unfortunately, Oblivious is nowhere near as useful as either Thick Fat or Ice Body.
* OneHitKO: Naturally learns Sheer Cold. It can also be bred to have Fissure.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Spheal. It's a given.
* RollingAttack: Its Ice Ball attack. It can be bred with Rollout as well.
* SecretArt: Ice Ball, although it has always been breedable into several Pokémon.
* StoneWall: Hail, Ice Body, and Leftovers can recover 1/8 of Walrein's health in one turn, which can be increased to a ''quarter'' health with Protect stalling. "Stallrein" is pretty much a requirement for all Hail-based teams.
* SuperSpit: Learns the Stockpile/Swallow/Spit Up trio through breeding.
!! Clamperl (Pearlulu), Huntail, and Gorebyss (Sakurabyss)
[[quoteright:202:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/366-367-368_8340.png]]
If you thought a fish that evolves into an octopus was bizarre, then what about a clam that evolves into two kinds of deep sea eels? Clamperl is an unusual Pokémon that produces a single large pearl in its lifetime, which is then used by the equally unusual Spoink (it's best not to ask how the pearl comes into the possession of Spoink). Clamperl are able to evolve by trading with either a [=DeepSeaTooth=] or a [=DeepSeaScale=] attaches to it. Huntail is more physically oriented while Gorebyss is specially oriented.
* AlluringAnglerFish: Huntail does this with its fish-shaped tail.
* AllYourPowersCombined: Huntail and Gorebyss learn Baton Pass, and can learn Shell Smash as a Clamperl. This makes them excellent "smash passers".
* BeautyIsBad: Gorebyss. The Pokédex specifically notes that while it is pretty, it is also very cruel. It feeds by sticking its needlelike mouth into other Pokémon and SUCKING THEIR BODY FLUIDS. And once it finishes, its body color turns a more vivid pink.
* CombatPragmatist: Huntail naturally gets a few Dark-type moves.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Can take physical hits and deal damage of a certain category depending on the Pokémon in this line[[note]]Physical attack for Huntail, Special Attack for Gorebyss and Clamperl[[/note]], but they have hum-ho Special Defense and Speed.
** LightningBruiser: In rain with Swift Swim.
* PsychicPowers: Gorebyss can naturally learn a few Psychic-type attacks.
* SeashellBra: Gorebyss, regardless of gender.
* SocializationBonus: Need to be traded in order to evolve. Which one it evolves into depends on the item it holds when traded. Wild Huntail and Gorebyss can be rare wild encounters in certain games, though.
* StoneWall: Clamperl
* SupportPartyMember: Between Aqua Ring, Iron Defense, and Amnesia, Gorebyss can pass some effective defensive boosts, especially when rain is in play. And then when it got Shell Smash...
* TookALevelInBadass: In Generation V, Clamperl can learn Shell Smash, which is the biggest StatusBuff in the game. Both Gorebyss and Huntail can use this in tandem with Baton Pass to pass the boost on to a teammate. This single handedly turned these relatively ho-hum standard Water-types into two of the biggest [[DemonicSpider Demonic Spiders]] in the metagame. The only other Pokémon that can pull off this feat is Smeargle (although it has access to sleep-inducing moves to make it easier). Even Clamperl benefits heavily from it, though not as much.
!! Relicanth (Jilanth)
[[quoteright:88:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/369_159.png]]
This Water/Rock Pokémon is based on a fish called the coelacanth. Once thought to be extinct, but was discovered as a still extant species and the best example of a living fossil. Relicanth displays a similar role and is closely associated with fossil Pokémon despite not being revived from one. Instead, you must either dive into the seas of Hoenn or fish them up in other places in later games. [[GuideDangIt You need this Pokémon and a Wailord in order to get the three legendary Golems (and in certain party positions, too).]]
* DeathOrGloryAttack: Naturally learns Double-edge and Head Smash. However, it can subvert this with its Rock Head Ability, which removes the recoil.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* ForMassiveDamage: Hit it with a Grass-type attack.
* LastChanceHitPoint: Its Hidden Ability is Sturdy, which lets it survive any attack taken at full health with 1 HP remaining.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Incredibly slow, but it has a large HP pool as well as decent attack (particularly usable with physical Water moves in Generation IV) and physical defense, plus can buff its special defense with Amnesia.
** LightningBruiser: By use of its Rock Polish and/or Swift Swim.
* PrehistoricMonster: The first one in the series to be explicitly stated that was ancient and didn't go extinct. [[ShownTheirWork Naturally, this is a nod to the real-life coelacanth.]]
* RecurringElement: Sort of the Aerodactyl of this generation being a fossil unrelated to the fossil duo.
* RequiredPartyMember: Alongside Wailord, it was needed to access the Golems.
* SpeciesLostAndFound: Like the real-life coelacanth, it was long thought to be extinct but later it was discovered to still be thriving.
* StandardStatusEffects: Naturally learns Yawn.
* UseYourHead: Relicanth is one of the few Pokémon that can make use of the devastating Head Smash without any recoil, alongside the Aron and Tyrunt family.
!! Luvdisc (Lovecus)
[[quoteright:88:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/370_7521.png]]
Lots of things can be said about this Pokémon. Very few of them are actually ''good'' though. It is based on a discus fish and is associated with love and romance. Despite being as powerful as many Pokémon that need to evolve twice in order to be useful, Luvdisc has no such benefit. However, the scales that they shed are highly sought after by collectors who will teach moves to your other Pokémon, so there may be some consolation to encountering this Pokémon.
* ActionInitiative: Can be bred to have Aqua Jet.
* CardiovascularLove: A heart Pokémon based on love.
** Learns most of the love-based moves naturally as well, such as Attract, Charm, Captivate, and Sweet Kiss.
* FragileSpeedster: It has shockingly high speed for Pokémon down there with it, and can boost it even further with Swift Swim, but every other stat is sub-par.
* HealingFactor: Its Hidden Ability is Hydration, which heals StandardStatusEffects it's afflicted with while it's raining.
** It can also learn Aqua Ring naturally (not that it'll help much).
* JokeCharacter: Its base stat total makes ''Farfetch'd'' look like a Legendary (or at the very least, an OU Pokémon). Its only significance is that it may hold Heart Scales used in move relearning, which was useful before Generation V vastly increased the availability of Heart Scales. This may be intentional, since its 2 abilities give it a speed boost it doesn't need and heal status effects no smart opponent would bother with.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* PinataEnemy: As mentioned above, it was evidently introduced to provide something for players to collect Heart Scales from.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda: It was pretty much taken for granted pre-Generation-V-release that [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVFamilies Alomomola]] -- another ''pink, heart-shaped fish Pokémon'' -- was an evolution of Luvdisc. This turned out not to be the case.
* VisualPun: Shiny Luvdisc are literal hearts of gold.
!!Bagon, Shelgon, and Salamence (Tatsubay, Komoruu, and Bohmander)
[[quoteright:194:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/371-372-373_3685.png]]
Bagon is a small dragon Pokémon that constantly dreams of soaring the skies, despite the fact that it possesses no way of doing so. In its frustration, it hurls itself off cliffs or bashes its head against rocks. As a result, its skull is very thick. However, as it evolves, something miraculous occurs: It grows a bony shell around most of its body, and then once it evolves once more, it sheds the shell and the Pokémon realizes its long-held dream of flight. Unlike the peaceful Dragonite, this Pokémon is quite ferocious.
* AxeCrazy: See {{Jerkass}}.
* {{Badass}}: Salamence.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Salamence developed its wings out of an extremely strong desire to fly.
* ConfusionFu: Back in its glory days, it had two common sets that were nearly identical save for one move (Dragon Dance or Draco Meteor), and had totally different counters for each one.
* [[PowerGivesYouWings Evolution Gives You Wings]]: Salamence gains wings upon evolution.
* {{Flight}}: Salamence.
* ForMassiveDamage: Ice-type attacks and its own type, just like most of the other Dragons.
* GuideDangIt: Feel free to spend hours wandering Meteor Falls looking for a Bagon in Gen III -- the game doesn't tell you they only appear in ''one specific room''.
* InfinityMinusOneSword
* {{Jerkass}}: Salamence has built up a reputation for being an extremely vicious and cruel Pokémon.
* KillStreak: Its Hidden Ability is Moxie, which boosts its already quite high Attack when it knocks out somebody. If that wasn't enough, most Bagon when obtained from the Dream World already come with Dragon Dance, which boosts its Speed and Attack by 50%...
* LightningBruiser: Awesome stats all around. Some GlassCannon tendencies, but compensates for its low defense with Intimidate.
* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: The infamous [[FanNickname MixMence set]].
* {{Nerf}}: Salamence got hit ''hard'' by the introduction of the Fairy-type. Along with Hydreigon, Salamence took it the worst. The power creep of [[ActionInitiative priority attacks]] in Generation 6 was bad for Salamence too, making it much more of a GlassCannon.
* NoSell: Salamence to Ground-type moves, and Shelgon to weather damage and powder moves with its Hidden Ability of Overcoat.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Based more on European dragons.
* RecurringElement: The Hoenn draconican psuedo-legendary.
* SecretArt: Salamence is the only non-legendary Pokémon to naturally learn Fly.
* StoneWall: Shelgon. Its 100-base Defense can be boosted with Eviolite, since it's unevolved.
* UseYourHead: Bagon constantly gets hit on the head in its attempts to fly. This, in turn, has given it a head harder than steel.
!!Beldum (Dumbell), Metang, and Metagross
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A robotic lifeform, Beldum apparently evolve by fusing with one another: two Beldum are needed for a Metang while two Metang are needed for a Metagross. The first time one might encounter a member of the family is during the final battle against Steven Stone, Hoenn's Pokémon Champion. However, once you've beaten him, one can go to Mossdeep City -- a Beldum is waiting for you as a gift (in Steven Stone's house, no less). In this state, its only move is Take Down, but once you get it to evolve, it can learn a wide variety of moves that make it a very formidable Pokémon. This line is famous not only for their power, but their VERY low catch rate of 3. (Combine that with Beldum's recoil-causing Take Down, and you got a Mon that is harder to catch than a non-roaming ''[[OlympusMons legendary Pokémon]]''.)
* {{Badass}}: Metagross.
* BadassMustache: Metagross' white X-shaped facial marking resembles a mustache.
* BossInMookClothing: Walk into rustling grass in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Giant Chasm]] and... ''A wild Metagross appeared!''
* CombiningMecha: The Pokedex claims that both Beldum and Metang evolve by having two combine themselves. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Though one wonders where the second Beldum or Metang came from when one the player owns evolves.]]
* CyberCyclops: Beldum.
* ExtraOreDinary: Steel-type. As a result, it's the only Pseudo-legendary that isn't weak to Fairy-type attacks unlike Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Garchomp, and Hydreigon ([[ForMassiveDamage who gets it the worst]]).
* GeniusBruiser: Metagross has four brains and is said to be superior to a supercomputer. And it's physically strong too.
* InfinityMinusOneSword
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Generation VI removed Steel's resistance to Ghost and Dark, making this line weak against four of the most used attack types [[note]]Fire, Ground, Ghost & Dark[[/note]]. It doesn't help that new threat Aegislash is weak against those four types, which means those types (especially Ghost and Dark) will see even more use.
* MagikarpPower: In Generation III when it was first introduced, Take Down was the only move Beldum could learn before evolving into Metang, hampering its ability to battle well. However, later games introduced ways to obtain a Beldum (Pokewalker, Dream World) that could use Iron Head, Zen Headbutt, or both.
* MetalSlime: In Generation IV, Beldum was found in only one area (one with a permanent sandstorm, nonetheless!), was a swarm Pokémon, had a low encounter rate, a catch rate on par with most legendaries, and only knew a recoil move.
* MightyGlacier: However, it can use Agility and/or Bullet Punch to turn itself into a LightningBruiser. Even then, at 70 base Speed, that's still far from slow.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In ''X & Y'', the Beldum line is the ''only'' pseudo-legendary that does not show up in the Kalos Dex while the other six show up.
* {{Nerf}}: Generation VI removed the Steel-type's resistances to Ghost and Dark-type moves, meaning they now have four weaknesses instead of two.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoSell: To Poison-type moves. Clear Body prevents non-self-inflicted stat drops.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: In comparison to the other Pseudo-legendaries, Metagross hasn't been able to keep up much due to not getting a whole lot of new things.
** Generation VI ''[[ExactWords did]]'' give it two new things... by removing the Steel type's resistances to Ghost and Dark, [[{{Nerf}} crippling it with two new weaknesses]]. However, it's now the only one of the seven to not have a Fairy-type weakness, and the only one who has STAB super-effective moves on them.
* PowerUpLetdown: Light Metal. It only affects four moves -- Grass Knot [[note]]which it resists, and will take maximum damage from, even with Light Metal[[/note]], Low Kick [[note]]will still do max damage even with Light Metal[[/note]], Heavy Slam [[note]]which it resists, and even a Heavy Metal Aggron with Heavy Slam will do low damage to it[[/note]], and Heat Crash. [[note]]even with Light Metal and a type weakness, Metagross is heavy enough that Heat Crash from Emboar will do a pittance of damage[[/note]] Clear Body is ''miles'' better.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* RecurringElement: Of two ideas: It's a pseudo-legendary similar to Larvitar's family, but it's also very similar to Magnemite's in that it starts off as a one-eyed metallic lifeform that grows by combining with others.
* SecretArt: [[MegatonPunch Meteor Mash]] is heavily associated with Metang and Metagross, mostly because the only other Pokémon to learn it is ''Clefairy''.
* SpiderTank: Metagross.
* UseYourHead: Besides Take Down, Beldum can only be taught head-based moves for attacking.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Beldum's only attack is Take Down, although it can be taught Zen Headbutt, Iron Head, Iron Defense, and Headbutt through various means.
!!Regirock, Regice, and Registeel
[[quoteright:232:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/377-378-379_3155.png]]
The main legendary trio of Hoenn. This group deviates from the previous legendary trios by not being based on any kind of animal. Instead, they take on a robotic form. All of them have bodies made of inanimate materials, mainly rock, ice ,and steel. It isn't known how they were made, who made them, or why they were made. (In Gen III, that is.) The way to find them is rather complicated and it involves deciphering brallie and following their arbitrary instructions. What is surprising is what materials the Regis were made from: Regirock appears to have been made from rocks all over the world, Regice from antarctic glacial ice, and Registeel from metal that isn't of this earth.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: Registeel's sprite had to be changed in the European version of ''Diamond/Pearl'' after some people noticed that its arm was extended in a similar fashion to the Nazi salute; the change was later applied to all versions of the game from ''Platinum'' onward.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Their names are a spelled out indication of which one has which powers:
** [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Regice.
** ExtraOreDinary: Registeel.
** DishingOutDirt: Regirock.
* {{Foil}}: While the three form a trio, Regirock and Regice are direct inverses of each other statwise. Registeel is sort of the odd one out. Despite this, in ''Black 2 and White 2'', it's Regirock who is available in both games while Regice and Registeel are (semi) version-exclusive.
* ForMassiveDamage and BlessedWithSuck: All of them have types that don't fare well against Fighting-type attacks (Rock for Regirock, Ice for Regice, and Steel for Registeel).
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Registeel's Pokédex entries say that it is made of the toughest metal, but it turns out that Defense Form Deoxys and '''Shuckle''' seem to be tougher. Then there's Mega-Aggron noted above, who actually ''is'' made of metal...
* {{Golem}}: [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIGeodudeToMew No, not the first-gen Pokémon.]]
* GuideDangIt: Obtaining them -- '''''[[ExaggeratedTrope OH, GOD]]'''''! You'll need a Relicanth, a Wailord (in a specific order in the party), four other random Pokémon in the party to fill up slots, Surf, Dive, Dig, a preternatural instinct for direction, and the ability to ''read Braille'' (unless you've got a chart or the web handy). The only clue to this is a very vague mention in a town that has no significance to the plot and can be skipped entirely with no consequence. And even then, it only states that a trio of a Rock, Steel, and Ice type exist somewhere out there.
** At least the game gives you a Braille guide... sort of. There's nothing to really indicate that the symbols on the small stones are the alphabet in order.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: To open the door to Regice's room, you have to wait two minutes from after you close the Braille message without pressing any buttons. Press a button, and you have to repeat the process.
* MightyGlacier: Regirock has a whopping physical defense stat of '''''200''''' and a good Physical Attack of 100, with a matching Special Defense, but terrible Special Attack. Regice, a [[{{Pun}} Literal]] example, happens to be a Special counterpart to Regirock's physical. Registeel is a defensive JackOfAllStats.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoPronunciationGuide: Regice is supposed to sound like Regi-ice, but take it with a grain of salt[[note]]Regice actually got ''two'' distinct pronunciations ''in the same season''[[/note]].
* NoSell: Registeel to Poison-type moves.
* RecurringElement: The Legendary Trio, but they diverge pretty heavily from the Birds and Beasts before them.
* ShoutOut: Registeel's cry resembles the famous sound effect used when the ''{{Transformers}}'' transform.
* StoneWall: Registeel's stats are more balanced than its brethren, but it can't hit hard from either side.
* ThunderboltIron: Registeel is said to be made out of a metal not found on earth.
!! Latias and Latios
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A pair of legendary dragons that fly all over the Hoenn region after beating the elite 4. Highly intelligent, they have access to a number of abilities, which are further enhanced by an item known as the Soul Dew. Latias are female and are mostly red while Latios are male and are mostly blue. They can use their down to refract light and alter their appearence to take on human forms or become invisible when they desire to. %%In Generation VI they gained Mega Evolutions.
* {{Badass}}: Both of them.
* CuteBruiser: Latias
* [[DistaffCounterpart Distaff]][=/=]SpearCounterpart: They are this for each other.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Stars of ''Anime/PokemonHeroes'', the last movie set in the anime's original series.
* LightningBruiser: Both of them, especially in the special side; Latios being more offensively oriented, and Latias more defensively oriented. Said status is greatly increased if a Soul Dew is attached to either.
* {{Nerf}}: In Generation 6: not just because of Fairy-types, but because the majority of their staple moves have had their base powers lowered[[note]]Draco Meteor lowered from 140 base power to 130, Surf from 95 to 90, Dragon Pulse from 90 to 80, and worst, Hidden Power was fixed to a poor 60 base power.[[/note]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Dragon-bird-jet planes! With psychic powers to boot!
* NoBiologicalSex: ''Averted''; a first of legendary Pokémon. Though they still can't breed.
* NoSell: Both of them to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: And kinda bird-like. In fact, [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Prototype_Pok%C3%A9mon_and_characters concept art]] suggests that Blaziken and Latias were originally one Pokémon split into two entirely different species.
* PowerFloats: Have the Levitate ability.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* PurposelyOverpowered: Their associated held item, Soul Dew, is prevented from working in the Battle Tower and similar facilities. Seeing that its effect is always having an extra Calm Mind, on an already strong Pokémon, this is justifiable.
** MyRulesAreNotYourRules: But the ones you can face in the Battle Frontier are not restricted from having Soul Dew working for them and this was proven via damage calculation comparisons.
* SecretArt: [[EnergyBall Mist Ball]] for Latias, [[PowerGlows Luster Purge]] for Latios.
* SingleSpecimenSpecies: Subverted; despite the player only meeting one in their journeys, the pokedex states that they (or at least Latias in Emerald) form herds.
%%* SuperMode: Both of them gained Mega Evolutions.
!!Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza
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The main legendaries of the ''Ruby'', ''Sapphire'', and ''Emerald'' games. Each of them embodies a part of the landscape: Groudon represents the continents, Kyogre represents the oceans, while Rayquaza represents the sky. Long ago, Groudon and Kyogre had a severe battle which almost brought an end to the world via flooding monsoons and raging infernos; luckily, they were calmed by light pouring from the Red and Blue Orbs and entered a deep slumber. Depending on the version, the player must face one of them which has been awakened by Team Magma (Groudon) or Team Aqua (Kyogre) as their mere presence has a great influence on the weather. In ''Emerald'', both are awakened and it is up to the player to awaken Rayquaza and end the feud once more.
* AnimalisticAbomination: Kickstarted that whole trend with box legendaries. They are also among the least anthropomorphiced and more bestial Pokémon, with unexpresive faces with yellow eyes and toothy maws.
* ApocalypseHow: The awakening of either Groudon or Kyogre constitutes AT LEAST a Class 2 if left unchecked for any length of time; Kyogre's awakening led to massive torrential rainfall that presumably would have flooded the entire planet, while Groudon's led to a massive drought and constant, extremely intense sunlight that would have laid everything bare.
* {{Badass}}: All three members of the trio. Kyogre is arguably the strongest Pokémon ''in the entire game'', Groudon is almost as strong (the "almost" is only [[GameplayAndStorySegregation due to game mechanics]]) and was declared the second-manliest Pokémon of all time by Website/{{Smogon}}, and Rayquaza is one of the most terrifyingly powerful Dragon-types.
* BlowYouAway: Rayquaza is the sky incarnate.
** WindIsGreen: Again, Rayquaza.
* ChromaticArrangement: Not just in their own colors, but also the gemstones they represent in respectively.
* ConflictKiller: As the internal mediator of the trio, Rayquaza is the only one who can calm the two other Pokémon down.
* CreationMyth: Kyogre and Groudon shaped the oceans and continents.
* DishingOutDirt: Groudon. Hell, Groudon is the very ''incarnation'' of the ground.
* EldritchAbomination: Not too far off. All three are incredibly ancient, lurk in places beyond the reaches of man, and are extremely powerful; the awakening of either Groudon or Kyogre constitutes an apocalyptic event and would have devastated the world had it gone unchecked for much longer. Rayquaza, however, is actually rather benevolent, but it's still a terrifyingly powerful demigod no matter what way you look at it.
** It helps that they're based off what could be also be called [[EldritchAbomination cosmic horrors.]]
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Groudon
** TyrannosaurusRex[=/=]StockDinosaurs: Based on ''T. rex'' or other therapod dinosaurs, with features of other dinos like ''Ankylosaurus''.
* {{Expy}}: The trio are, in some accounts, based on three legendary beasts of Biblical mythology - Behemoth (land), Leviathan (sea), and Ziz (sky).
* FireWaterJuxtaposition: Kyogre represents the oceans, uses water attacks and creates a rainstorm when deployed, while Groudon represents continents, uses ground and fire attacks and makes the sun shine.
* {{Foil}}: Kyogre and Groudon foil each other, and Rayquaza foils both of them. Ironically, in battle, Rayquaza tends to get one-shotted by [[AnIcePerson Kyogre]] due to a weakness and is still at a disadvantage against [[DishingOutDirt Groudon]] if one teaches them the appropriate moves.
* {{Flight}}: Rayquaza
* ForMassiveDamage: Rayquaza has trouble surviving Ice-type attacks. Too bad Ice-type Pokémon have trouble surviving Rayquaza's attacks.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Kyogre and Groudon in ''Emerald'', Rayquaza in all three versions. Rayquaza is particularly notable however for the fact that you can get it just before the Elite Four at Level 70 in Emerald, meaning that the majority of the fights get significantly easier or become a CurbStompBattle.
* LandSeaSky: Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza respectively.
* LightningBruiser: As expected, their lowest stats are only low compared to other OlympusMons.
** MightyGlacier: Kyogre and Groudon, on the special and physical sides respectively.
** GlassCannon: Rayquaza, who hits as hard as the others on their strong sides, but takes hits as bad as the others in their weak sides.
* MagmaMan: Groudon. It's a Ground-type, but like Lugia's association with water, it's strongly associated with volcanoes and magma and sunlight (and by extension, [[PlayingWithFire fire]]). The reason why it wasn't given a secondary Fire type was probably to [[BlessedWithSuck not let it be killed too easily by Water-types, especially its nemesis Kyogre]].
* MakingASplash: Kyogre. It's the very representation of the seas.
* {{Nerf}}: Kyogre and Groudon received one in Generation VI. Drizzle and Drought were given a duration of five turns (eight with the respective weather stone); in essence, they now function as an automatic Rain Dance or Sunny Day, rather than a permanent field effect. Being PurposefullyOverpowered OlympusMons, the nerf really wasn't directed at them, but at the more commonplace [[WeatherControlMachine Pokémon with weather-activating abilities]], specifically fellow Drizzle-user Politoed, who ''completely'' derailed and overcentralized the metagame around rain teams in Generation V.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoSell: Groudon to Electric-type moves, Rayquaza to Ground-type moves.
* OlympusMons: In fact, the first to be treated as such instead of simply "very powerful."
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Rayquaza, although rather close to the traditional Chinese version.
* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: This is the generation that introduced Abilities, and it just so happens that all three of their signature Abilities were relevant to the stories of their respective games.
* [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]]: They created/rule over the oceans, continents, and atmosphere, respectively. "Gods" are the only way you can describe them.
* PowerTrio: Known as the weather trio.
* PurposelyOverpowered: You won't be able to use them in the Battle Towers, most official tournaments, and most cups in 3D fighters. In fact, in the metagame, if every Pokémon is allowed to be used, Kyogre and Groudon tend to be number 1 and 2 or 3 (usually competing with Arceus or Mewtwo) respectively, and both of them, but especially Kyogre, are ''insanely'' powerful, to the point that things like Quagsire are used exclusively for countering it (Quagsire can absorb Kyogre's Water-type attacks and nullify its popular Thunder, then force it into an Encore. And even ''Quagsire'' can't handle some Kyogre variants, even those that that don't wield Hidden Power Grass-type). Rayquaza is no slouch either, usually sitting above number 10 and having one of the most powerful Dragon-type moves outside of Latios (who is quite viable on the Special side of things with Soul Dew attached). And finally Groudon, who is so versatile you won't be able to guess its full moveset easily, and after proper set-up, becomes one of the, if not ''the'', deadliest sweeper in the games.
* RainDance: The biggest reason Kyogre is dubbed the strongest Pokémon in the metagame. A natural ability to cause a field effect that boosts its STAB, coupled with the slew of Pokémon that have abilities to take advantage of the rain, weakens Fire, delays Solarbeam another turn, and boosts Thunder and Hurricane's accuracy to 100% ''upon release'', and ANYONE who doesn't have a Groudon, Rayquaza, Tyranitar, or even a GOLDUCK to counteract this with has effectively lost. While Drought is balanced out by the fact that the Grass-types who take advantage of sunlight can be obliterated by Fire-type attacks, Drizzle's closest thing to a downside is Thunder's 100% accuracy, which is easily countered by several competitive Water types having that move, as well as the occasional Water/Ground type.
* RatedMForManly: Groudon, the two-ton ''TyrannosaurusRex'' that spends its days bathing in magma.
* RecurringElement: An evolving idea that was finally [[TropeCodifier codified]] in this Generation. Gen I had Mewtwo as the most plot relevant legendary shared between all the versions. Gen II had Ho-oh and Lugia as version mascot legendaries for the initial duo of games with Mewtwo's base stat total (and, in fact, the same base stats, just rearranged), but unique bearings on the plot regarding which version you picked. But the third game had to pull out someone from the Legendary Trio to be the mascot. Here we finally have a trio of plot relevant version mascot legendaries with Mewtwo's base stat total for each of the three versions (or close enough, in the case of Kyogre and Groudon).
* SecretArt: Prior to Generation V, the weather-altering abilities Drought and Drizzle were exclusive to Groudon and Kyogre, respectively. However, with the introduction of the Dream World in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', Ninetales and Politoed gained access to these abilities.
** Rayquaza is also one of only two Pokémon to know V-Create (an event-exclusive move), the other one being Victini (whom the move was originally designed for). [[OhCrap Yup, 180 Base Power coming off of 150 Base Attack. And even the rain won't save you thanks to Air Lock.]]
* SingleSpecimenSpecies: One would imagine. Could you picture two of any of these guys running around?
** You do find one of the two (and the third if you trade the other over) in ''VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver''. Of course, this could just mean the Hoenn protagonist wasn't able to hold onto them/it's the Weather Pokémon you didn't catch in ''Ruby/Sapphire''.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In Japan, "Kaiorga" and "Kyogre" have both been seen.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Kyogre and Groudon in their respective versions, to an extent. They must be encountered and either defeated or captured to progress with the plot, so they aren't ''technically'' required.
* TimeAbyss: Rayquaza is hundreds of millions of years old. Given they created the seas and land, so are Kyogre and Groudon.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Kyogre's boosted Water-type attacks, thanks to its Drizzle ability. Specifically, a successful Choice Specs-boosted Water Spout is the near equivalent of OneHitKill on Pokémon. To put this in perspective, Blissey, that special wall to end all special walls, is [=2HKO=]'d ''with a special attack.''
* TronLines: Red, blue (Groudon's are slightly hard to see at times), and yellow. Coincidentally, they represent the main colors used in subtractive color mixing. The patterns are also heavily featured in Emerald's pre-battle cutscenes and on the floor of the ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' remakes's Embedded Tower.
* WalkingWasteland: The awakening of either one of the duo constitutes an apocalyptic event and is entirely capable of wiping out humanity and the majority of Pokemon species.
* [[WeatherControlMachine Weather Control Creatures]]: Played straight by Groudon and Kyogre, and inverted by Rayquaza since it blocks out any weather (but doesn't remove it, so its effects come back into play as soon as Rayquaza leaves the field).
* YinYangClash: Groudon vs. Kyogre, requiring Rayquaza to break them up.
!! Jirachi
[[quoteright:91:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/385_7271.png]]
A Pokémon of mysterious power. It lays dormant until a comet comes close to the earth from which Jirachi draws its power from. This comet orbits the earth every 1,000 years and then only for a week. Thus, Jirachi is only active for that single special week. It has the ability to grant wishes during that time.
* RecurringElement: The expected Mew stand-in.
* ExtraOreDinary: Steel-type.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: It has a ThirdEye on its stomach that is usually closed. It's not as creepy because Jirachi is adorable.
* GravityMaster: Naturally learns the move Gravity.
* MasterOfAll: All around base 100 stats.
* LuckBasedMission: Serene Grace doubles the chance of any secondary occurring. This leads to Jirachi's utter pain in the ass of a primary set: Body Slam for a 60% chance of paralyze (1/4th speed, 1/4 chance of not acting), then Iron Head for a 60% chance of causing flinch (don't move). This means you have a ''30%'' chance of ''doing anything'' to it.
* MakeAWish: Said to grant wishes.
* MeteoricIron: It is a Steel type and it is heavily associated with comets, so it might be made of this stuff.
* {{Nerf}}: Became vulnerable to Dark and Ghost-type moves in Generation VI.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless, though always referred to as male.
* NoSell: To Poison-type moves.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* PurposelyOverpowered: No luck if you wanted to use it in the Battle Towers or a tournament.
* RealityWarper: Can grant any wish, thus this trope logically follows. In the anime and ''PokemonSpecial'', villains even use it to create eldritch abominations.
** Though in the anime, it requires either absorbing a lot of power or teleporting stuff.
* [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really A Millennium Old]]: At the very least.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Even with the [[EyesDoNotBelongThere abdominal eye.]]
* SecretArt: Doom Desire, which is DeathFromAbove.
!! Deoxys
[[quoteright:296:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/386_86.png]]
A Pokémon from beyond the stars. Deoxys is an humanoid alien that was derived from a space virus that was mutated by a laser of sorts. Depending on the game (and in later generations, certain meteorites), Deoxys can change its appearence and stat distribution.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: Might just be a coincidence, but Deoxys '''D'''efense, '''N'''ormal and '''A'''ttack Formes? And then '''S'''peed Forme ruins it all.
** FridgeBrilliance: Remember, the name is [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Deoxy]]'''S'''.
* {{Badass}}: All Formes, but especially the Attack Forme, which has the highest Attack and Special Attack in the series.
* CombatTentacles: That can turn into arms, too.
* CripplingOverspecialization: With the exception of [[JackOfAllStats Speed Forme]], every other Forme relies too much on its specialized stats, leaving the other stats (especially HP, which is consistently bad in all Formes) rather lacking. Mind you, [[PurposelyOverpowered it's still a massive threat]].
* FashionableAsymmetry: Dowplayed with its Speed Forme, where one of its arms is a different color from the other.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Part of its origin according to Generation III. Generations IV and V just refer to "DNA mutation".
* HumanoidAbomination: Certainly gives off this feel. The fact that it's a sentient virus from outer space doesn't help.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Three rather creepy [[ForDoomTheBellTolls bell strikes]].
* MeaningfulName: '''Deoxy'''ribonucleic acid or... DNA.
* MultiformBalance: All Formes have their uses.
** GlassCannon: Normal Forme and Attack Forme.
** StoneWall: Defense Forme.
** FragileSpeedster: Speed Forme. Also counts as the JackOfAllStats, as it has otherwise balanced stats.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* OvershadowedByAwesome:
** Normal Forme. It's not as powerful as the Attack Forme, and not as fast as the Speed Forme. Although it is bulkier than the Attack Forme, it is still a GlassCannon and even the Speed Forme is bulkier. Not to say it isn't PurposelyOverpowered, but in battles where you are allowed to use Deoxys at all there is little point in using its Normal Forme.
** Defense Forme: It may have high all-around defenses, but Shuckle still has higher stats in that department, as well as Contrary to take advantage of. At least Deoxys-D has Spikes and a passable HP stat to use. (Well, passable compared to Shuckle, anyways...)
* PowerCrystal: the source of its powers. Also probably its brain.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* PurposelyOverpowered: '''And how!''' The highest attack stat, along with ''the'' highest speed stats in the games, and you have something more fearsome than an Arceus crossed with Mewtwo! And it obviously won't see any use in the Battle Towers or in tournaments outside of cheating/hacking.
* RecurringElement: The first Mewtwo-esque legendary since Mewtwo. Both are essentially bio-weapons, and though Deoxys isn't related to Jirachi at all, it bears a passing resemblance in terms of head shape.
** Like the old glitch Pokémon Missingno. it has 3 alternate forms, high Attack and pitiful defenses. Alone, this would just be a coincidence, but Gen III's equivalent to Missingno, named [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/%3F_%28glitch_Pok%C3%A9mon%29 "?"]] has the exact same stats as Deoxys.
* SecretArt: Psycho Boost. Lugia can also know the move in ''VideoGame/PokemonXD'' after purification.
* StarfishAlien: While all Pokémon are theorised to be this, Deoxys is the only Pokémon that is downright proven to be an alien. Well, an alien space virus.
----
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!! Wailmer and Wailord (Wahleko and Whaleo)
[[quoteright:166:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/320-321_736.png]]
Whale-like Pokémon that are Water-typed and are somewhat based on inflatable objects like beach balls and blimps. Wailmer was among the first Generation III Pokémon to be revealed to the public. Currently, Wailord holds the position of the longest Pokémon in existence (measuring at a whopping 47 feet and seven inches). Their HP is rather massive.
* GentleGiant: Applies to ''both'' members of the evolutionary line, since Wailmer is said to be one of the largest non-evolved Pokémon.
* HealingFactor: Can be bred with Aqua Ring, which, in a sense, provides this(especially thanks to their massive HP pools).
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: ...[[BrickJoke The other half of the trope namer]].
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Although the colossal HP can only compensate to a degree for the lackluster defenses.
* NoSell: Its original two abilities. Oblivious makes it immune to attract effects, while Water Veil protects it from burns.
* OneHitKO: Can be bred with Fissure.
* RequiredPartyMember: Alongside Relicanth, was needed to access the Golems.
* SecretArt: Prior to Generation V, the only Pokémon to learn Water Spout naturally, apart from [[OlympusMons Kyogre]].
* SquareCubeLaw: Wailord's mass is too light for its volume, which makes it ''less dense than helium''. Then again, this may be considered ShownTheirWork, considering it's classified as the Float Whale pokemon.
!! Numel and Camerupt (Donmel and Bakuuda)
[[quoteright:133:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/322-323_9293.png]]
Making their home around Mt. Chimney, these camels store magma inside their humps and release them when using Eruption and Lava Plume. Numel are also quite dull, being rather unfeeling to pain (though not as much as Slowpoke). They excel in Attack and Special Attack but lack in Speed. Water-types absolutely wreck them due to their Fire[=/=]Ground typing.
* CriticalHit: Camerupt's Hidden Ability is Anger Point, which causes its Attack to max out when it's hit with one of these.
* DelayedReaction: Numel only.
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* ForMassiveDamage: [[KillItWithWater Water is its major weakness.]]
** It's helped a bit by its Solid Rock ability, which cuts a quarter of the damage from any super effective attacks it takes.
* [[MagmaMan Magma Mon]]: Associated with volcanoes.
* MightyGlacier: Very slow, but good Defense and it hits like a tank with both offensive types.
** GlassCannon: Though those defenses are often not enough, considering it has a double weakness against a [[MakingASplash very common attack type]], and is too slow to get priority more than occasionally. However, it ''is'' a very powerful attacker, and is capable of giving good hits from either the special or the physical side.
** EliteTweak: Get it into a Trick Room, and even {{Smogon}} admits that it can truly be a force to be reckoned with.
* NoSell: To Electric-type moves. Numel's Oblivious Ability prevents infatuation or Taunt, and its Hidden Ability Own Tempo prevents confusion. Camerupt's Magma Armor prevents freezing.
* OneHitKO: Can naturally learn Fissure.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire-type.
* SecretArt: Prior to Generation IV, the only Pokémon to learn Eruption naturally, apart from [[OlympusMons Groudon]].
* SuperSpit: Oddly, despite being a camel, the Stockpile/Swallow/Spit Up moves need to be bred onto it.
* UnstoppableRage: Camerupt's Hidden Ability is Anger Point; hit it with a CriticalHit and its Attack will ''quadruple.'' Doesn't matter if its Attack was at 25% of its normal value, ''it's still going to be 400% of its normal value.''
!! Torkoal (Coatoise)
[[quoteright:102:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/324_8579.png]]
Also living on Mt. Chimney is this tortoise that stores coal in its shell. When agitated, it blows out black smoke to disorient the enemy. In battle, it surrounds itself in White Smoke to prevent anyone from lowering its stats. Its defense is its best stat and has average stats everywhere else except for Speed, which is absolutely abysmal.
* CriticalHit: Its Hidden Ability Shell Armor lets it avoid these, giving it a decent advantage where [[StoneWall taking hits is concerned.]]
* DeathOrGloryAttack: Can learn Overheat.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Can learn Rapid Spin naturally.
* EyesAlwaysShut: It has never been seen with his/her eyes open.
* MightyGlacier: Unusually for a pure Fire-type.
** GlassCannon: Through use of Shell Smash. Unfortunately, its Speed is so low that even the move's Speed doubling effect won't help Torkoal outrun much.
** StoneWall: Though its typing and lack of recovery outside of Rest + Sleep Talk hurts its hit taking abilities a bit, it learns both Iron Defense and Amnesia naturally to help bolster both of its defenses.
* NoSell: Its White Smoke ability lets it ignore opposing effects that reduce its stats (note that this does not apply to Torkoal itself using something like Overheat).
* PlayingWithFire: Fire-type.
* SmokeOut: With the smoke coming out of it, it learns Smog and Smokescreen in addition to the White Smoke ability.
* TurtlePower: It's a fire turtle! You would think you would see a water or earth turtle in Hoenn, but no! You get something even more awesome!
!! Spoink and Grumpig (Baneboo and Boopig)
[[quoteright:114:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/325-326_3057.png]]
A strange Pokémon if there ever was one: The piglet has no back legs, so it gets around by bouncing on a springy tail, however, the bouncing action performs an even more vital function: It keeps its heart pumping, so if it stops bouncing, its heart stops and it will die. It also carries a large pearl on its head which apparently amplifies its psychic power. It becomes more normal (for a Pokémon at least) when it evolves into Grumpig.
* AsTheGoodBookSays and StealthPun: "[D]o not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
* BlushSticker: Spoink sports a pair.
* MessyPig: Crossed with a spring.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Thankfully, Spoinks don't die when you knock them out!
* OvershadowedByAwesome: A solid Psychic-type--too bad Hoenn offers ''two'' families (Abra and Ralts) of that type with better offensive stats (king for in-game use) and movepools far before it can be found.
* PowerIncontinence: Apparently, that pearl not only serves to amplify psychic power, but also (according to the ''Mystery Dungeon'' games) it also serves as a sort of counter-weight for the Spoink's bouncing, otherwise the bouncing gets a little out of control.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Spoink.
* SpringCoil: Spoink has this, and must bounce on it or face death by cardiac arrest.
* StoneWall: Grumpig is a great Special wall.
** MightyGlacier: Also has decent Special Attack.
* SupernaturalIsPurple: Even though they're Psychic types and not Ghosts.
!! Spinda (Patcheel)
[[quoteright:90:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/327_200.png]]
This odd Pokémon is a common sight in the ash-covered Route 113. It has two motifs going for it: the patches on a Spinda's face differ from individual to individual, much like a fingerprint. Using an algorithm in the coding, there are over ''four billion'' combinations for face patches. The second motif is that its movepool and abilities [[IncrediblyLamePun revolve]] around spining and dizziness. It's not a Pokémon that's going to win battles for you, but it's at least one you aren't likely to forget.
* ButtMonkey: To Website/{{Smogon}} in particular, but if another Pokémon is compared to Spinda in any way, odds are good that it's not a compliment.
* CastOfSnowflakes: There are 4,294,967,296 spot patterns, meaning you're not likely to see the same kind of Spinda twice.
* ConfusionFu: Quite literally, most of its abilities and moves have to do with confusion.
* DrunkenMaster: Emphasized by the Teeter Dance move which confuses the opponent with its wobbly dance.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Learns Rapid Spin.
* JokeCharacter: Worthless except for a few gimmicks with Assist and Contrary.
* MasterOfNone: Spinda's stats are all equal... and they all suck.
* NoSell: To Ghost-type attacks.
* PandaingToTheAudience: Based on the red panda.
* PowerupLetDown: It gets the impressive Contrary as its Hidden Ability, but has no moves that can abuse it. This can be mollified in two ways; one, by knowing the attack- and defense-lowering move [[TookALevelInBadass Superpower]] from Dream World, or by using Assist (learned via egg moves) to use V-Create, Close Combat, Draco Meteor, etc.
* SecretArt: Teeter Dance, before [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation V]] (others could learn it via breeding).
* TookALevelInBadass: As alluded to in the PowerupLetdown entry above, Spinda just barely subverted this in Generation V, when it got both Contrary and the move Superpower with which to abuse it. Problem is, only Spinda obtained directly from Dream World can have Superpower, meaning it can't have Contrary/Superpower at the same time as the breedable moves it has that ''could'' have made that combo useful, such as Baton Pass and Rapid Spin. As is, Spinda is simply too weak to make much use of it, and tends to either get knocked out or run out of PP for Superpower by the time it can power up enough to be even remotely threatening.
* WingdingEyes: Its eyes are swirls.
!! Trapinch (Nuckrar), Vibrava, and Flygon
[[quoteright:191:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/328-329-330_4363.png]]
Based on the antlion, Trapinch is a Ground-typed Pokémon commonly found in the wild in desert areas. It evolves into Vibrava, which gives it an additional Dragon-type and lowers its Attack while primarily raising Speed. Afterwards, it evolves into Flygon, which returns its high Attack.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: They're based on the antlion, belong in the Bug Egg Group, and learn some Bug-type moves, but they're not bug-typed.
* ConfusionFu: Its typing and Bug affinity affords it access to Ground, Dragon, Rock, Fire, Bug, Flying, and some Dark and Fighting moves, and while its Attack is higher than its Special Attack, both are high enough to allow it to be comfortable attacking from either stat.
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Its stats change drastically as it evolves.
** GlassCannon: Trapinch. It has shockingly high Attack, but its other stats are at the standard levels for unevolved Pokémon (read: not very good), and its speed is among the bottom three of the game.
** MasterOfNone: Vibrava. While it is far faster than Trapinch, said speed is just decent among unevolved Pokémon, and its Attack drops significantly, while its defenses barely increase.
** JackOfAllStats: Flygon significantly improves all of Vibrava's stats, regaining Trapinch's attack, but this time with comparable speed and not far below defenses. None of its stats are particularly standout, but they're high enough to make it strong.
* ForMassiveDamage: Ice types will wreck it.
* MagikarpPower: Trapinch hits like a truck, but it is fragile and VERY slow. When it first evolves, its speed becomes average, but at the cost of its huge attack becoming average as well, and gains virtually no bulk. When it evolves again, however, it is a different story...
* NoSell: To Electric-type moves. Vibrava and Flygon are also immune to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: In this case, Vibrava and Flygon are draconic ''antlions''.
** Also it, along with Gen VI's Noivern-line, are the only dragons that can't be bred with other dragons. It's in the Bug-egg group.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Flygon is by no means ''bad'', it has a great movepool with many different types among both physical and special, it resists or is immune to all entry hazards, and its stats are fair. But its JackOfAllStats status is in sharp contrast to all other fully evolved Dragons who are {{Lightning Bruiser}}s, having much higher stats than it including defenses, and while other Dragons get Dragon Dance or Swords Dance to make them even more powerful, all Flygon has is the subpar Hone Claws. Factor in also that it shares its typing with Garchomp, who outclasses it in every way, and the short of it is that anything it can do, other Dragons can do better.
* StatusBuff: Averted. Despite being a dragon that looks very nimble, it can't learn Dragon Dance or '''any''' buffs beyond Hone Claws.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Arena Trap]] is essentially the Magnemite line's Magnet Pull, with different limitations.
!! Cacnea and Cacturne (Sabonea and Noctus)
[[quoteright:130:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/331-332_9399.png]]
Another pair of desert denizens, Cacnea and Cacturne, being based on cacti, are very well adapted for desert life. They use their thorny arms as clubs to batter their opponents, or they can shoot needles to subdue them. They're also noteworthy of having Sand Veil as an ability, which makes them not only more evasive in a Sandstorm, but also immune to its damage. Cacturne takes on a creepy scarecrow-like appearance and becomes a dark-type. If you're wandering in the desert and notice that the cacti are following you, it's not just heatstroke that's getting to you.
* AlienBlood: Cacturne have ''sand'' for blood.
* AllDesertsHaveCacti: Where you find them.
* CombatPragmatist: Cacturne.
* DifficultButAwesome: Cacturne's got good Attack, but its poor Speed and defenses mean that it usually gets knocked out before it can utilize its offensive might. However, [[TheChessmaster a player who is good at predicting their opponent's next move]] can fully utilize Cacturne's beastly offense by using Sucker Punch to hit hard before the opponent gets to attack, and Focus Punch to hit even ''harder'' if the opponent isn't ''trying'' to attack. [[note]]The former move only works if the opponent is attacking the user, and the latter will fail if the user is hit.[[/note]] It also has the ability Sand Veil, which means if there's a sandstorm up[[note]]A sandstorm can be brewed by sending out a Tyranitar or Hippowdon.[[/note]], there is a 20% chance that the foe's attacks will miss Cacturne enitrely. Long story short: Cacturne may look like a novelty, but in the hands of a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], it's ''a force to be reckoned with''.
** OvershadowedByAwesome: There are Pokémon out there that are better at those moves than Cacturne, and don't require as much strategy to use effectively.
* ForMassiveDamage: To Bug-type attacks and Flying Press.
* GlassCannon: Poor speed, poor defenses, but ''very'' good attack.
* GreenThumb: Grass-type.
* [[ImplacableMan Implacable Pokémon]]: Cacturne form packs to stalk travelers through deserts, waiting for said travelers to wear itself out. Then the Cacturne will beat it up and suck it to a dessicated husk.
* ManEatingPlant: Sucks its prey dry like a vampire.
* NiceHat: Cacturne, at least.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: A vampiric scarecrow cactus.
* NoSell: Cacturne to Psychic-type moves. The line is immune to powder-based moves from Generation VI onwards.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: This one is a scarecrow.
* ScaryScarecrows: Cacturne hunts prey at night when it's weakened by the heat.
* SecretArt: Needle Arm, until Generation V.
** Fittingly, said Gen V Pokémon is a cactus too.
!!Swablu and Altaria (Tylto and Tyltalis)
[[quoteright:150:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/333-334_7791.png]]
Cute blue birds with a cloud theme. Swablu is a regular Normal/Flying type that isn't particularly noteworthy but it does evolve into Altaria, which is strangely a Dragon/Flying type. Unlike most Dragon-types, they're peaceful and sing with beautiful (and sleep-inducing) voices. Its highest stat is its special defense, but ice types still present a problem.
* BlowYouAway: Flying-type.
* ForMassiveDamage: [[KillItWithIce Ice-type attacks]] (not unlike most Dragon-types, really).
* {{Flight}}: Flying-type.
* HeadPet: According to the Pokédex, Swablu enjoys acting like a hat.
* HealingFactor: Learns Refresh and has the Natural Cure ability.
* HealThyself: Can be bred with Roost.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Altaria is based on the Blue Bird of Happiness, which comes from a Belgian play that includes a star called Tytalis (Altaria's Japanese name to boot), which is part of the Draco Constellation.
* [[TheMaleIngenueMustBeATenor The Male Ingenue Must Be A Soprano]]: Altaria is the Humming Pokémon, and this family is normally known for grace, cleanliness, and forming fluffier wings when they bond with people.
* MightyGlacier: In contrast to [[LightningBruiser most other Dragon-types]], Altaria has higher defense than offense, and has a moveset more typical of a supporter. Its attack isn't ''low'', really, just much lower than you'd get from other Dragons.
** StoneWall: Its speed is better than its offense, and even then, Wingull's faster.
*** It also has the massive Defense-boosting move Cotton Guard. Notably, of the Pokémon that get it, Altaria has the highest base Defense.
** LightningBruiser: With Dragon Dance, it can boost its near average Attack and Speed and become this.
* NoSell: To Ground-type moves.
* {{Opera}}: Based on song birds and opera music.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: These are more cloudy.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Altaria, VERY different indeed.
* PersonalRainCloud: They can use Rain Dance, and their plumage is made up of cotton.
* [[ThatCloudLooksLike That Cloud Is A Bird]]: Resemble cumulus clouds.
* [[WeatherControlMachine Weather Control Creatures]]: As of Generation V, some Altaria have the power to make everybody ignore weather when in play.
!! Zangoose and Seviper (Habunake)
[[quoteright:154:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/335-336_6211.png]]
Two Pokémon- one a Normal-type and the other a Poison-type- with an intense rivalry that is practically part of their nature. They inhabit Route 114, just outside of Meteor Falls. Trainers will find Zangoose in ''Ruby'' or Seviper in ''Sapphire''. They are both hard-hitters, both having decent offense.
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Owing to their long rivalry, Zangoose has the Immunity ability.
** It got a unique Hidden Ability that, while it means Zangoose can be poisoned, its powers will be boosted if that happens.
* AnimalJingoism: Mongoose vs. Snake.
* ArtificialBrilliance: In Horde Battles where Seviper outnumber Zangoose, they will use Swagger on each other after they're done fighting the Zangoose. Since they always carry Persim Berries in the wild (which cure confusion), this leaves them with doubled Attack, ready to take you out.
* {{Badass}}: Both Seviper and Zangoose are very tough Pokémon. Special mention must go to Zangoose. It may be a Normal-type, but it's nevertheless incredibly tough and actually has several advantages over Seviper. Not quite on legendary level, but still, very above average.
* EnemyMine: They are mortal enemies and have been for quite some time. Doesn't mean they can't [[EnemyMine be on the same team, fight together on a Double Battle]], [[FoeYay or even breed]].
** GameplayAndStoryIntegration: In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', you can encounter both in horde battles... whereupon one of the species will try to ''kill'' the other before they even start attacking you.
* {{Foil}}: To each other.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Zangoose's red patterns are scars, even though they look like a really cool fur pattern. Sounds silly? Check out Seviper's fangs and the blade on its tail. Likewise, the purple patterns struck across Seviper's body are implied to come from Zangoose's claws -- back when they were still purple.
* GlassCannon: Both of them have high offenses, with Seviper able to to hit from both ends, but cannot take a hit.
** FragileSpeedster: Zangoose is ''much'' faster than Seviper and can hit much harder if poisoned and has its Hidden Ability.
* NoSell: Zangoose to Ghost-type attacks.
* NonElemental: Zangoose
* [[PoisonousPerson Poisonous Pokémon]]: Seviper.
* PowerUpLetdown: Toxic Boost may have been a pretty unique ability for Zangoose to take advantage of, but mechanics-wise, it's basically an inferior version of Guts that can't take advantage of burns or strategies that use Snore or Sleep Talk.
* {{Retcon}}: Zangoose's claws were originally purple in its game sprites (but not in its concept art).
* TheRival: To each other, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation even though there are chances of running into both in Dark Grass or finding double battles where both are used against you]].
** In X and Y, though, they can appear in Pokemon Hordes together, and will attack each other while ignoring your Pokémon.
* SecretArt: Seviper's [[BewareMyStingerTail Poison Tail]], until Generation V. Zangoose's [[WolverineClaws Crush Claw]] could always be bred into other Pokémon, but was learnable only by Zangoose in the attack's debut.
** It also got a unique Hidden Ability, Toxic Boost.
* TruthInTelevision: These Pokémon are apparently based on real life natural enemies the mongoose (predator) and the snake (prey).
** {{Irony}}: In that the mongoose {{Expy}}'s rival is named after and looks like a viper. In real life, the mongoose [[CripplingOverspecialization specializes]] against ''cobras''[[note]]meaning that Zangoose really should be ''Arbok's'' enemy, if the ''Pokémon'' franchise wanted to keep things authentic[[/note]]. Vipers strike much faster and less predictably than cobras, and so mongooses absolutely ''suck'' at fighting them.
* WolverineClaws: Zangoose
!! Lunatone and Solrock
[[quoteright:136:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/337-338_2363.png]]
This pair of Pokémon are living meteorites that fell from space. Both of them resemble stellar bodies: Solrock resembles the Sun while Lunatone resembles the Moon. Solrock is more physically-inclined while Lunatone is specially-inclined. Both are also Rock/Psychic and have a small chance of carrying evolutionary stones (Sun Stones for Solrock, Moon Stones for Lunatone). You'll find Lunatone in ''Sapphire'' and Solrock in ''Ruby''.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Lunatone can learn Ice Beam, possibly a reference to the coldness of moonlight.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* {{Foil}}: To each other.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: See "Irony".
* HealThyself: Lunatone can have Moonlight and Solrock can have Morning Sun if (and only if) they were obtained via Dream World.
* {{Irony}}: They cannot learn Moonlight or Morning Sun naturally. Those moves are only obtained through the Dream World.
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: They have a whopping ''seven'' weaknesses (Water, Grass, Ground, Steel, Dark, Bug, and Ghost). Although Levitate removes one of them, that's still a lot.
* {{Lunacy}}: '''Luna'''tone
* TheManInTheMoon[=/=]TheFaceOfTheSun: A little more subtle than most examples.
* MightyGlacier: Solrock on the physical side and Lunatone on the special side.
** StatusBuff: Both can learn Rock Polish to deal with their middling speed. Also notable is that both learn the rather rare boosting move Cosmic Power.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoSell: Both of them to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
* PlayingWithFire: Solrock isn't a Fire type, but it does have some fire moves to use. Quite fitting, being based on the Sun and all.
* PowerFloats: Have the Levitate ability.
* ThePowerOfTheSun: '''Sol'''rock.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Lunatone's in particular are said to fill anyone with fear.
* [[SiliconBasedLife Silicon Based Pokémon]]
* SolarAndLunar: Their schtick.
* StarfishAlien: They're living meteorites from space.
* {{Telepathy}}: Solrock can read minds.
!! Barboach and Whiscash (Dojoach and Namazun)
[[quoteright:138:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/339-340_3169.png]]
Water/Ground type catfish. They possess the ability to cause earthquakes, and are also said to have a limited ability to predict real earthquakes. Unlike real catfish, Whiscash's tail is horizontal, resembling a sea mammal's tail instead of a fish's. Be careful: those whiskers can tickle you into submission and weaken you.
* [[BroughtToYouByTheLetterS Brought To You By the Letter W]]: Look at Whiscash's head.
* TheCatfish: Based on a Namazu catfish.
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* [[EarthquakeMachine Earthquake Creature]]: Learn Earthquake.
* ForMassiveDamage: To Grass-type attacks and Freeze Dry.
* LethalJokeCharacter: Looks silly, but it can deal a good amount of damage.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Decent defenses and good HP, but it's not winning many speed wars.
* NoSell: To Electric-type moves.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Having the same typing as both Quagsire and Marshtomp/Swampert but with less of a movepool (and less useful abilities) result in it getting little love, despite being decent in its own right. It does, however, get Dragon Dance, which can catch the foe off-guard.
* ShockAndAwe: Can have the Electric-type move Spark bred to it, which works nicely with its Attack and to deal with fellow Water-types.
* {{Youkai}}: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namazu_%28Japanese_mythology%29 They're based off a Japanese myth about giant catfish causing earthquakes]].
!! Corphish and Crawdaunt (Heigani and Shizarigar)
[[quoteright:141:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/341-342_1117.png]]
Water-type Crayfish Pokémon that were apparently introduced from overseas. These fiesty Pokémon are resourceful enough to thrive in any enviroment they're introduced to (as long as there's enough water). When Corphish evolves, it gains the Dark type and becomes viciously territorial and willing to challenge anyone, tossing out any other Pokémon in its area.
* CombatPragmatist: What would you expect from the "Ruffian" and "Rogue Pokémon"?
** Its Hidden Ability is Adaptability, which boosts its Dark attacks even further.
* CriticalHit: Its Shell Armor ability lets it avoid these. Though the fact that Crawdaunt doesn't fare well as a defensive Pokémon causes most players to go for one of its other abilities instead.
** On the opposite side, it naturally learns Crabhammer and Night Slash, allowing it a better chance of inflicting these.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Unlike most {{Expy}}ed species, [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIFamilies Kingler]] and Crawdaunt have steadily been made more dissimilar playwise (while keeping both equally viable) with future generations. Kingler has usable physical bulk, gained Agility (double speed) in Generation 4, and received the ''very'' nice Sheer Force ability (boost damage of moves with a chance of inflicting [[StandardStatusEffects secondary effects]] by 33% but remove the effect chance) in Generation 5; Crawdaunt, on the other hand, has enough special attack to run mixed sets, gets Dragon Dance (raise speed and attack by 50% each) in Generation 4, and the ''very'' nice Adaptability ability (boost the bonus from using attacks of the same type as the user from 1.5 to double damage) in Generation 5.
* [[GiantEnemyCrab Giant Enemy Crayfish]]: Or crawdad, if you prefer.
* GlassCannon: High Attack, but it goes down quickly.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
** Its Hidden Ability is Adaptability, which boosts its Water attacks even further.
* NoSell: To Psychic attacks.
** Its Hyper Cutter ability also lets it ignore effects that would otherwise lower its Attack.
* OneHitKO: Naturally learns Guillotine.
* PowerPincers
* SecretArt: Crabhammer, shared with the Kingler family.
!! Baltoy and Claydol (Yajilon and Nendol)
[[quoteright:112:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/343-344_4442.png]]
Bizarre Ground/Psychic clay figurines brought to life by mysterious means, these Pokémon prefer arid ruins and are able to wield a number of elemental attacks. They are based on the "shakōkidogū", a "Spaceman" figurine from the Jōmon period.
* ActionBomb: Naturally learns Explosion. Combined with its high defenses, it's tough to take out in the wild.
* BeamSpam: Claydol learns a variety of beam-based moves like Psybeam, Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Signal Beam, and Hyper Beam -- notable for the fact that it learns Hyper Beam when it evolves at level ''36'', when most Pokémon that learn it naturally don't learn it until high levels. (Exploud did, however, learn it at level 40 in Generation III.)
* DishingOutDirt: Ground-type.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Claydol has eyes all around its head.
* LivingToys: Apparently, both are clay figurines found in ancient ruins that somehow came to life.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* OurMonstersAreWeird
* NoSell: To Electric and Ground-type attacks.
* PowerFloats: Have the Levitate ability.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* StoneWall: Good defenses (its Special Defense is tied with Mr. Mime) which can be amplified by Cosmic Power. (Also the highest Special Defense of all Ground-types.)
** MightyGlacier: It can also dish out quite a bit of damage, when amplified by Calm Mind.
* TronLines: Baltoy.
!! Lileep and Cradily (Lilyla and Yuradle)
[[quoteright:121:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/345-346_603.png]]
Revive a Root Fossil and you'll get this strange creature. Despite being part grass and resembling a plant, this fossil Pokémon is based on a crinoid: a creature related to seastars that are still living in the deep oceans today. It is an extremely slow Pokémon, but it more than makes up for it in its defenses.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* FossilRevival: Revived from a Root Fossil.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Especially Cradily. Some people have trouble figuring out which of its eyes are the real ones. [[note]]The ones in the black part of its face are the real ones.[[/note]]
* GreenThumb: Grass-type, [[http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species:_Lileep_and_Cradily though it's not based on a plant.]]
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Subverted. Despite its type combination being a pair of the two types with the most weaknesses, Grass and Rock cancel out much of each others' weaknesses so that it only has four weaknesses (Steel, Fighting, Bug, and Ice).
* NoSell: {{Switch Out Move}}s with Suction Cups, and Water with its Hidden Ability Storm Drain. They're immune to powder-based moves from Generation VI onwards.
* PaletteSwap: Mentioned only because of an amusing fact: their "Shiny" forms switch colors with ''each other''.
* PrehistoricMonster: Lived on the seafloor 100 million years ago.
* RecurringElement: Fills the same role as the Kanto fossil duo along with Anorith, starting a tradition.
* {{Retcon}}: In-game sprites always showed the two with orange tentacles until Generation V, when they were redone to have pink tentacles like in the official art.
* StoneWall: Practically a ''Diamond'' Wall against special attacks during a sandstorm. Rock-types get their special defense doubled during that sort of weather, and Cradily's base Special Defense is more than respectable. It naturally learns Stockpile (and Spit Up/Swallow) and Amnesia to bulk up even more. And it can have ''[[HealingFactor Recover]]'' bred onto it, or be tutored Synthesis for a similar effect.
** Using Ingrain makes it even more so, giving it a constant HealingFactor and denying any attempts at using a SwitchOutMove on it, making it something of a PoorMansSubstitute for ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Shuckle]]''.
** MightyGlacier: Its offensive stats aren't bad for a defensive Pokémon, and it has excellent STAB coverage (only being resisted by most Steel-types, Grass/Fighting, and Poison/Fighting typed Pokémon).
*** OvershadowedByAwesome: However, other dedicated walls don't require nearly as much setup as Cradily in order to start tanking, which hurts it in the short run, considering the fast-paced metagame. And then there's Blissey, forever setting the bar too high for special walls.
* StandYourGround: Its standard ability is Suction Cups, which makes it unable to be forcibly switched out.
!! Anorith (Anopth) and Armaldo
[[quoteright:137:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/347-348_7880.png]]
Reviving a Claw Fossil will net you this Rock/Bug fossil Pokémon. Despite being labeled as an "Old Shrimp", Anorith is based on a creature known as an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalocaris Anomalocaris]], which at one meter long was the largest predator in the early Cambrian oceans. When it evolves, it grows legs and vaguely resembles a dinosaur.
* ActionInitiative: Can be bred to know Aqua Jet, allowing it to overcome its rather poor speed.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Bug-type. Notable for being two of the three Bug-type Pokémon with Bug as a secondary type ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVFamilies Skorupi]] is the other one) and the only Pokémon with that type combination to retain it upon evolution.
* CriticalHit: Their standard ability Battle Armor ignores these.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* FossilRevival: Revived from a Claw Fossil.
* FragileSpeedster: Anorith is pretty fast for a Rock-type, as it has the fifth highest Speed among Rock-types. Its Attack isn't half-bad for an unevolved Pokémon, too. But then again, it's an unevolved Pokémon, so its other stats aren't that great.
* [[GiantEnemyCrab Giant Enemy Anomalocaris]]: Armaldo weighs 150 lbs/68 kg.
* MakingASplash: They can learn Water Gun, Aqua Tail, and Water Pulse (by breeding or TM, when Water Pulse was still a TM). Fittingly, they're based on an aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Armaldo hits hard with 125 Attack, but its Speed leaves much to be desired.
** Generation V gives it the power to become a LightningBruiser in the rain via Swift Swim. And there's always Rock Polish, and later on [[ActionInitiative Aqua Jet]].
* MixAndMatchCritters: Armaldo is half Anomalocaris, half ''stegosaurus.''
* PrehistoricMonster: Hunted prey with its deadly claws.
* RecurringElement: Fills the same role as the Kanto fossil duo along with Lileep, starting a tradition.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Anomalocaris is an ancient creature really only mentioned in documentaries and Advanced Placement Paleontology class.
!! Feebas and Milotic (Hinbass and Milokaross)
[[quoteright:141:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/349-350_7987.png]]
A weak, little fish that evolves into a mighty serpent. Reminds you of Magikarp, right? It's actually pretty different. First, Feebas is exceptionally rare; [[ScrappyMechanic it can only be encountered in certain tiles in the Route 119 river (as well as one of the Mt. Coronet underground lakes)]]. Second, it is unique in that it is the only Pokémon that evolves with a contest stat, namely, Beauty. This makes both finding one and evolving one a daunting task.[[note]]In Generation V, this is no longer the sole requirement, as Feebas can be traded holding a Prism Scale to evolve it[[/note]]
* {{Badass}}: Milotic, in a more serene and subdued way.
* BerserkButton: In Generation VI it gained the Competitive Ability, which doubles its Special Attack if its stats are lowered.
* ButtMonkey: All of Feebas' Pokédex entries talk about how ugly and worthless it is, much like with Magikarp. At least they agree that Feebas is a hardy little fish.
* {{Foil}}: To Magikarp and Gyarados, with beauty instead of power.
** Also in temperament. Gyarados is vicious and destructive while Milotic is peaceful and gentle.
* FragileSpeedster: Like Magikarp, Speed (and a minor in Special Defense) is Feebas's only high stat.
* GuideDangIt: You want a Milotic but don't know how to get one? '''GOOD LUCK.'''
** This no longer applies in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'', as not only does Feebas have an easier way to evolve, you can also find out how to evolve it just by calling the Professor on the Xtransceiver.
** It's still nigh-impossible to get one though, given the fact that in Gens 3 and 4 it only appeared in a certain area, and only on four tiles in that HUGE area. Which four tiles? Impossible to tell without trial and error.
* LightningBruiser: Milotic is quite similar to Gyarados, albeit more specially and defensively oriented, has a weak physical attack that it won't be using, and, while Gyarados gets Intimidate to compensate for the lower physical defense, Milotic only needs to get a StandardStatusEffect to get it multiplied by 1.5.
** StoneWall
* MagikarpPower: Even if slightly more useful than Magikarp (Having Light Screen as a clear advantage over it), you aren't going to get anywhere with Feebas. [[LightningBruiser Milotic]], on the other hand...
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* PowerUpLetdown: While Feebas has the nice Adaptability ability as its Hidden Ability, Milotic gets... Cute Charm. It's rather situational and only has an effect against opposite-gender Pokémon. Compared to the ''wonderful'' and oh-so abusable Marvel Scale, it's a major letdown.
* RecurringElement: Inspired by Magikarp only instead of being a weak fish that turns into a strong serpent, it's an ugly fish that turns into a beautiful serpent.
* SocializationBonus: Due to the lack of Beauty mechanics in Generation V, Feebas can be evolved by trading while it holds a Prism Scale.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Among Pokémon.
!! Castform (Powalun)
[[quoteright:170:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/351_166.png]]
A tiny Pokémon that seems to resemble nothing more than a floating head. Castform is best known for changing its appearance and typing with the weather: It becomes a fire type under strong sunlight, a water type in the rain and an ice type in a snowstorm. Its most famous move is Weather Ball, a move that can become certain types under certain weather conditions, much like Castform itself.
* BubblyClouds: Part of what its design is based on. However, [[FreudWasRight it is easy to mistake its lower part for something else]].
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Depending on the weather.
** VoluntaryShapeshifting: But it can control the weather, thus, it can choose its form.
* JokeCharacter: Yeah, it's pretty lousy in a fight.
* MasterOfNone: Its stats are all equal... just barely higher than those of ''[[ButtMonkey Spinda]]''. (Remember how being compared to Spinda is almost never a compliment?)
* NoSell: Without any weather (or just fog), Castform is immune to Ghost-type attacks.
* QuirkyBard: Pretty much introduced as a gimmick to show off weather moves.
* SecretArt: Weather Ball, in Generation III. Changes form along with the weather as well.
** NonElemental: Well, Normal, anyway. Fog.
** PlayingWithFire: Strong sunlight (Sunny Day, Drought).
** MakingASplash: Rainstorm (Rain Dance, Drizzle).
** AnIcePerson: Hailstorm (Hail, Snow Warning).
** DishingOutDirt: Sandstorm (even though Castform lacks a form for them).
** TheCorruption: Shadow Sky. The only way a non-Shadow Pokémon can harness Shadow Power.
* TeruTeruBozu: Based on these.
* [[WeatherControlMachine Weather Control Pokémon]]: But not automatically like other such Pokémon.
!! Kecleon
[[quoteright:86:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/352_5584.png]]
One of the earliest Pokémon of the third generation games to be promoted, Kecleon is a chameleon that's well known for changing its colors and almost becoming invisible, the only exception is the zig-zagged band of red on its torso. This doesn't factor into the game itself, but its ability comes fairly close. Every time it is hit with an attack, it becomes that attack's typing. Much like the red band, this can be its AchillesHeel. In the sixth generation it gained the Protean ability as well, which allows it to change into whatever type of move it just used.
* AchillesHeel / HoistByHisOwnPetard: It's quite easy for a player to hit a Color Change variant with one kind of move, at which point its elemental type changes. After that, it gets easily exposed to one it's weak to.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The concept of Color Change is cool, but considered to be too easily shaken up to be used effectively.
* BarrierChangeBoss: Its Color Change ability makes it change to the type that it was last attacked with. It can be easily beaten by Dragon-types, due to the type's self-weakness. Ghost also, if you can change its type off Normal first.
** The Hidden Ability it gained in Gen VI, Protean, is arguably this done right, as now it's the ''user'' that controls when Kecleon's type changes and what it changes to, rather than the opponent. As mentioned just below, this has the drawback of making it a bit less versatile, but it still remains to be seen just how useful it can be.
* ConfusionFu: With Protean, the Kecleon's trainer is in control of its type changes, but it's limited to four instead of eighteen.
* EarlyBirdCameo: The very first Generation III Pokémon to appear in the anime, midway through the Johto arc.
* HollywoodChameleons: Blends in with any environment nearly perfectly.
* {{Invisibility}}: Though an uncooperative stripe on its body will give it away.
* NoSell: To Ghost-type attacks by default.
* NonElemental: Initially, anyway. Either of its Abilities ensure that it typically won't stay that way long.
* QuirkyBard: Color Change is clearly a gimmick, nothing else. However, Kecleon's decent Special Defense, good movepool, and the fact that its ability is at least good at fending off opponents without much type coverage to their attacks manages to keep it above being considered a JokeCharacter.
** With Protean, it still kind of falls under this, but giving the control to the user makes it seem as though it can be far more useful now.
* SecretArt: The sole user of Color Change.
!! Shuppet and Banette (Kagebouzu and Jupetta)
[[quoteright:122:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/353-354_2862.png]]
One of two pure ghost families that are caught far into the game, Shuppet and Banette live up to the reputation of ghost types being fairly creepy. Shuppet feed off vengeful emotions and gather where such people live. Banette is more freaky in that it takes on the form of an animate doll searching for the child who discarded it. They have a high attack stat but little else. In Generation 6, Banette gained a Mega Evolution.
* BedsheetGhost: Shuppet, vaguely.
* CastingAShadow: Ghost-type.
* CreepyDoll: Both Shuppet and Banette are abandoned children's dolls, reanimated by a grudge against their former owners.
* DarkIsNotEvil: They feed on negativity; as in, the person feels ''better'' after having its hateful feelings devoured!
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Dusclops got an evolution, while Banette got a ''Mega'' Evolution.
* EmotionEater: Feeds on dark emotions.
* {{Foil}}: To the Duskull line. It is more prominent in ''Sapphire'' while Duskull is more prominent in ''Ruby''. Also, Shuppet is relatively a GlassCannon while Duskull is a StoneWall.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: In ''X and Y'', you can find wild Banette in the Pokémon Village inside shaking trash bins, meaning that they might really be discarded dolls as the Pokédex claims.
* GlassCannon: Very low defenses, but Banette has a nice Attack stat of 115. Probably the only Ghost-type that could actually have reliable STAB before the Physical-Special split of Gen IV.
** While Banette did get a Mega Evolution, its defenses are only slightly improved, so any reasonably powerful attack will still do it in.
* NoSell: To Normal and Fighting-type attacks.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: They're not so much ghosts as they are discarded toys possessed by an evil force said to be the grudge they've held against being abandoned by their owners.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Even in its Physical attacking Ghost niche, it gets outdone by Golurk, [[MightyGlacier who hits harder and can actually take hits itself]].
* SlasherSmile: Banette has quite a gorgeous smile.
* SoulPower: Banette seems to be possessing a puppet.
* SuperMode: Banette's Mega Evolution.
* TakingYouWithMe: Mega Banette is notable for being the only Pokémon that has both Prankster and Destiny Bond, meaning if things are looking bad for it, it can reliably use Destiny Bond before the opponent hits it, taking the opponent down with it if it faints.
* TheTrickster: Mega Banette has the Prankster ability, which makes non-attacking moves go first.
* TookALevelInBadass: Banette's Mega Evolution is best described as Sableye on steroids. Mega Banette is given the Prankster ability so non-direct damage moves have increased priority (including the dreaded Taunt + Prankster combo that Sableye likes so much), and it also has two already-priority attack moves in its arsenal that work with its new '''165''' base Attack. There are only a handful of things that dwarf that Attack stat, those things being Mega Mawile (105 base + Huge Power ability), Mega Heracross (185 base), and ''[[OlympusMons Attack-Forme Deoxys and Mega Mewtwo X]]'' (180 and 190, respectively). In short, it's shaping up to be a complete terror thanks to its ability to both swamp you with status effects and ''seriously'' mess you up if you try and get testy with it.
* {{Zipperiffic}}: Mega Banette gains extra zippers. The ones in its head are really for show, but the ones in its arms and body at least unzip to show its claws and feet, making it look a lot more threatening.
!! Duskull, Dusclops, and Dusknoir (Yomawaru, Samayoru, and Yonoir)
[[quoteright:212:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/355-356-477_1419.png]]
[-''Dusknoir debuts in Generation IV''-]
Another pure ghost family, Duskull and its kin gathers inspiration from a variety of StockMonsters, but mostly TheGrimReaper, Mummies, and the Cyclops. It has a repuation of relentlessly pursuing their quarry, capturing it, and then spiriting it away. It is mostly a defensive monster.
* ActionInitiative: Naturally learns Shadow Sneak.
* BellyMouth: Dusknoir.
* CastingAShadow: Ghost-type.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Dusknoir may look plenty frightening and have some sinister overtones, but at the end of the day, it's a benign guardian of the dead whose job is to lead lost spirits home.
* DifficultButAwesome: Dusknoir is notable for being the first of two MightyGlacier Pokemon that can learn both Trick Room and Pain Split.[[labelnote:*]]The other is Cofagrigus.[[/labelnote]] Trick Room turns it into a LightningBruiser, and properly-used Pain Splits with its mediocre HP are ''much'' more reliable when it moves first, crippling the opponent while healing itself before the enemy can even fight back.
* {{Foil}}: See Shuppet.
* [[CyberCyclops Ghostly Cyclops]]: Dusclops and Dusknoir have only one eye.
** Duskull only has one eye, too. The mask just obscures that. The eye can be seen flitting from socket to socket in ''Pokémon Colosseum'' and related games.
* GhostLights: Naturally learns Will-O-Wisp, letting it [[StandardStatusEffects Burn]] enemies. Good for crippling Physical attackers should its Defense fall short.
* GravityMaster: Naturally learns the move Gravity.
* TheGrimReaper: If Dusknoir's Pokédex entry is to be believed.
* {{Mummy}}: Dusclops.
* NoSell: To Normal and Fighting-type attacks.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Based on the cyclops.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: With Eviolite, Dusclops often is considered better than Dusknoir, since Dusclops' defensive stats can rival that of Shuckle.
** Dusclops, in turn, is considered this in comparison to bulky ghosts like Cofagrigus that can actually do direct damage.
* RealityWarper: Can be taught Trick Room, which reverses the turn order in each priority bracket.
* SocializationBonus: Needs to be traded in order to fully evolve.
* SoulPower: Dusknoir can take spirits into its body.
* StoneWall: High defenses on both sides, but with a mere 70 base Attack it won't be doing much damage directly.
** MightyGlacier: Dusknoir is significantly stronger than its preevolutions, instead getting a more impressive 100 base Attack.
*** LightningBruiser: Aided by Trick Room, or by using [[ActionInitiative Shadow Sneak]] after a few Power-Up Punches, Dusknoir can hit alarmingly hard and fast.
* TookALevelInBadass: Subverted with Dusclops. Similar with what happened with Chansey, where the second evolution outshines the final evolution, its defenses with Eviolite are one of the best in the entire series. Unfortunately, its only way of reliably dealing damage is [[DeathOfAThousandCuts Night]] [[FixedDamageAttack Shade]], and has an unreliable form of recovery from Rest and Pain Split.
** DoubleSubverted come Gen VI though. Dusclops can learn the new move [[TheSwarm Infestation]] to trap the enemy while inflicting StandardStatusEffects with Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, making it a very frustrating staller when given Eviolite. Dusknoir also enjoys Gen VI's new Power-Up Punch, which increases the user's Attack stat on a successful hit; its huge defenses allow it to wall threats until it reaches two-shot or even one-shot heights of power.
!! Tropius
[[quoteright:110:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/357_2398.png]]
A Pokémon that resembles a sauropod dinosaur, it is somehow able to fly with banana leaves growing from its back and it also grows a beard of bananas on its neck. The origin of this beard is supposedly due to consuming so much fruit that it ended up growing its own. So the old adage "You are what you eat" really does apply to this Pokémon. Most people just use it as a cool ride and a mover of obstacles though. Who doesn't want to ride on a flying banana plant dinosaur? Its name feels sorta familiar, doesn't it?
* BlowYouAway: A Flying-type that naturally learns moves like Gust and Whirlwind.
** RazorWind: Learns Air Slash naturally, and can be bred to know the TropeNamer.
* BoringButPractical: Its main use is being an HM slave because it's one of the rare non-legendaries that can learn Cut, Fly, and Strength. Despite [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot being a dinosaur that flies by using palmtree leaves and has a beard made of bananas/Nanab berries]].
* {{Flight}}: Possible Fly slave.
* ForMassiveDamage: Freeze it with a well-placed Ice attack.
* GreenThumb: Grass-type.
* HealThyself: Naturally learns Synthesis, and can gain Roost via Move Tutor.
* LifeDrain: Can be bred to know Leech Seed, and gained Giga Drain via Move Tutor.
* MightyGlacier: Pretty good defensive stats and at least usable attacking ones, not so great Speed. It can become even more of one with Curse, which boosts its Defense and Attack at the cost of some of its Speed.
** [[FragileSpeedster Speedy]] StoneWall: With Chlorophyll and/or Tailwind, it can patch up its poor Speed, though it's still left with very average attacking stats.
*** LightningBruiser: If you add [[StatusBuff Growth]] to that mix. Thanks to the sun already being out to activate Chlorophyll, it can ''double'' both attacking stats with each use of the move. Dragon Dance can help with this as well.
** GlassCannon: With Solar Power. It gets considerably stronger attacking prowess from the special side, at the cost of losing health each turn.
** JackOfAllStats: As the above entries may have clued you in on, Tropius can really do just about anything you want it to; it just depends on which Ability and which {{Status Buff}}s you give it.
* NoSell: To Ground-type moves. It's also immune to powder-based moves from Generation VI onwards.
* PowerOfTheSun: All three of its Abilities. Chlorophyll increases its Speed in the sun, Solar Power increases its Special Attack (though at the cost of health each turn), and Harvest, which gives it a chance of regaining a held Berry that had been used up at the end of each turn, becomes a guaranteed chance if the sun is out.
** In addition, it naturally learns Growth, Synthesis, and Solarbeam. The first is a StatusBuff that doubles in effectiveness if the sun is out (thus doubling both attacking stats), the second is a [[HealThyself healing move]] that grows more powerful in the sun, and the last is a two-turn attack that takes only one turn to use whenever it's sunny.
* StatusBuff: With its Hidden Ability of Harvest, it can have an effectively infinite supply of berries.
* StockDinosaurs: Now [[RecycledINSPACE With LEAF WINGS!]]
* WeirdBeard: It's made of bananas.
!! Chingling and Chimecho (Lishan and Chirean)
[[quoteright:92:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/358-433_3994.png]]
[-''Chingling debuts in Generation IV''-]
Pokémon that resemble bells and wind chimes. It's a psychic Pokémon that wasn't very notable when it was first introduced. Its effectiveness was not only hampered by the availability of other more useful psychic types, but its rarity meant that people wouldn't normally go out of their way to find one. Gen IV was kinder in that it recieved a baby in Chingling and was made more common. But it's not exactly top tier.
* GuideDangIt: In ''Ruby/Sapphire'', no trainers own one and they could only be found in a patch of grass on top of a mountain you weren't likely to stay at. Even then, they had only a ''1%'' chance of showing up.
* HealThyself: Can be bred to have Recover, though only if it starts as Chingling (In other words, make sure you have some Pure Incense handy).
* JackOfAllStats: Middle-of-the-road HP and Speed, with slightly higher defenses and a 95 in Special Attack make for a good balanced Mon. But still...
* JokeCharacter: ''Ugh''. A Pokémon that takes a good chunk of your sanity to find, yet it's extremely frail and its best stat, Special Attack, is sub-par compared to other Special sweepers. It is ''not'' enough to make it an acceptable Pokémon in a competitive or even in-game lineup.
** JunkRare
** MasterOfNone: Statwise, it's basically a Pidgeot that sacrificed a few points in every stat for the sake of [[SquishyWizard a decent bit of Special Attack.]]
* MakeMeWannaShout: Learns Echoed Voice and Uproar, plus it got Hyper Voice through Dream World and Move Tutors.
* TheMedic: One of the rare few to get Heal Bell naturally, which can heal its teammates of status conditions. It can also get Heal Pulse, Wish, and Healing Wish to facilitate this playstyle even further.
* NoSell: Levitate shuts down attempts to harm it with Ground attacks.
* PowerFloats: Has the Levitate ability.
** In addition, Chingling gets the move Entrainment, which lets it invoke this in others as well.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Chingling only evolves by becoming friends with its trainer.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* StandardStatusEffects: Learns Yawn naturally, and can be bred to have Hypnosis.
!! Absol
[[quoteright:92:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/359_2953.png]]
A white furred Dark-type with a very fetching design that proved to be a fan favorite. Absol has a reputation of being a bad omen and seeing one is said to bring doom. How this Pokémon is able to predict such events is not explained, but it showing up is supposed to be a warning that a disaster is imminent (as a result, many people have accused Absol of being doombringers rather than heroes). It has a wicked attack stat, but is lacking in other stats. It gained a Mega Evolution in Generation VI.
* AntiMagic: Mega-Absol has the Magic Bounce ability, which reflects any non-damaging moves aimed at it.
* AwesomeButImpractical: It has ''the'' biggest movepool of any non-legendary Pokémon besides Smeargle; plenty of OU Pokémon would ''kill'' for Absol's movepool. Due to Absol's stats, however, 90% of the moves it can learn are ''completely useless'' to it.
** AwesomeYetPractical: However, when it goes Mega, it gains a sizeable Special Attack boost, allowing it to use its vast movepool to full effect. It also gains ''40 points'' worth of extra base Speed. For new physical attacks it got a Fairy move (Play Rough) which covers its Fighting weakness, hits Dragon-types for massive damage, and forms an attacking combination with Dark that's only resisted by two types[[note]]Mawile and Klefki[[/note]], both of which are covered with Fire Blast.
* {{Badass}}: Mighty so.
* BearerOfBadNews: Absol can predict when and where disasters will happen, and tries to warn people of the danger. However, since this means that Absol is always present when the disaster strikes, this leads to...
** CassandraDidIt
** TheCassandra
** HeroWithBadPublicity
** TheScapegoat
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Despite all the hatred it gets for allegedly causing doom, it still goes out of its way to help people.
* ConfusionFu: Has an INSANELY HUGE movepool, but [[CripplingOverspecialization normal Absol can only able to use physical attacks to good effect]]; it needs to mega-evolve to use special attacks effectively.
* CriticalHitClass: Absol gets Slash, Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, and Stone Edge, and as an ability it gets Super Luck, giving all of these moves a 25% chance for a critical hit without any other modifiers. No other Pokémon gets as many attacks with high critical hit ratios, and none of the other Pokémon with Super Luck can abuse it like Absol.
* CuteLittleFangs: If you pay close attention, you'll notice these in Pokemon-Amie.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Notably honorable within its type, even getting the Justified ability.
* DragonsUpTheYinYang: Its head looks like a ''taijitu'' and it has mysterious disaster-sensing powers.
* FashionableAsymmetry: Only has a scythe on one side of its head.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Absol can be encountered on Mt. Coronet (right as you're trying to stop Galactic from attempting to destroy the Universe) and can be encountered on Unova Route 13 in Black and White, which is near the Giant Chasm, which houses Kyurem and [[PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 is attacked by Team Plasma 2 years later]]. In other words, Absol ''does'' appear at sites where disaster will appear as the Dex stated.
** In ''X & Y'', Absol appears at Route 8. Doesn't sound like a case of foreshadowing, but this is the first route you enter in Coastal Kalos where the Team Flare plot kicks off not long after.
* GlassCannon: It has a very high Attack, Swords Dance, a high critical rate ability, and is the strongest priority user in the game, but has mediocre Speed and horrible Defenses.
** FragileSpeedster: Its Mega form has higher Speed and even higher Attack, as well as a hefty Special Attack boost. Still has awful defenses though.
* NoSell: To Psychic-type moves. Mega-Absol's Magic Bounce ability effectively does this to status moves like Thunder Wave.
* PeekABangs: Sort of. Its Mega Evolution has the white protrusion on the side of its head grow larger to resemble hair, and it covers one of its eyes.
* PowerGivesYouWings: Its Mega Evolution does not gain a flying type, but the fur in its artwork takes a wing-like appearance.
* SinisterScythe: As if ''one'' scythe weren't enough, it seems to feature '''''three''''' sickle-like growths on its body: two on its head, one on its tail. And the two on Absol's head, one looking more blade-like than the other, appear to form a ''yin-yang symbol'' together in their juxtaposition.
* SuperMode: It has a Mega Evolution in the 6th Generation, with the ability [[AntiMagic Magic Bounce]].
** TookALevelInBadass: Vanilla Absol has monstrous Attack and a fantastic movepool that it can't even use because it's slow, terribly brittle, and has awful Special Attack. Mega Absol has base Attack on par with Groudon and Zekrom, a highly respectable base 115 Special Attack , and ''Starmie's'' base speed. Coupled with its movepool, Mega Absol turned from [[AwesomeButImpractical a highly impractical]] GlassCannon to [[AwesomeButPractical an unholy terror]] who, while still fragile, is fast, powerful, and versatile enough to wipe out almost anything capable of posing a serious threat to it short of a Mach Punch user. And as a bonus, it's ''immune'' to status moves and switch-forcing moves like Whirlwind, making it deadly against stall teams.
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Shows up in Swarms at Route 2''13'' in ''Diamond & Pearl'' and Route 13 in Unova.
!! Snorunt, Glalie, and Froslass (Yukiwarashi, Onigoalie, and Yukimenoko)
[[quoteright:155:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/361-362-478_7609.png]]
[-''Froslass debuts in Generation IV''-]
An odd conicial fellow that evolves into an icy sphere, Snorunt and Glalie were introduced as the first Pokémon that were purely Ice types (all the others were dual types). Snorunt was originally only found in the icy depths of the Shoal Cave, which was only at low tide, and even then it was scarce. Aside from its typing, it wasn't that remarkable since its stats were all even. In Gen IV, female Snorunt had the ability to evolve into Froslass with the help of a Dawn Stone. Unlike its kin, Froslass is an Ice/Ghost and her stats favor speed over defenses.
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Snorunt looks like it is wearing a poncho and Glalie looks as if it's wearing a hockey mask.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Ice-type.
* DishingOutDirt: Although it's an Ice-type, Glalie consists of ice covering a solid stone core (it remains pure Ice, not Ice/Rock, oddly), and its family belong partly to the Mineral egg group.
* FragileSpeedster: Froslass
* GhostlyChill: Well, Froslass is Ice/Ghost type...
* JackOfAllStats: Snorunt and Glalie's stats are perfectly equal, but a tad low overall, and their typing is not forgiving at all.
** MasterOfNone: Like many of the well-rounded Pokémon, Glalie suffers ''hard'' from this.
* NoSell: Froslass to Normal and Fighting-type moves.
* OneGenderRace: All Froslass are female.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Froslass is a Yuki-onna (a Japanese ice ghost/demon).
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Glalie, [[http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/b1/Spr_5b_362_s.png when shiny.]]
* ShoutOut: Glalie's Japanese name, Oni''goalie'', is pretty aptly given considering it is stylistically similar to (now mostly defunct) ''ice'' hockey ''goalie'' masks. Plus, the black stripes on it make it resemble a rice ball, or in Japanese an onigiri.
* SoulPower: Froslass
* TrapMaster: Froslass is notable as the only Ghost-type that can learn Spikes (thus preventing the opponent from removing it with Rapid Spin).
* {{Youkai}}: Snorunt is a cross between the yukinko (coat-wearing snow fairies) and Zashiki-warashi (household fairy children). Froslass is based on a Yuki-onna. Glalie itself may be based on the Okubi, a giant head that appears in the sky as omens of doom.
!! Spheal, Sealeo, and Walrein (Tamazarashi, Todoggler, and Todozeruga)
[[quoteright:189:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/363-364-365_9592.png]]
A family of seal-like Pokémon, Spheal is an adorable Ice/Water type that becomes more Walrus-like as it evolves. It's a bulky Pokémon that works best in Hailstorms. If it has the Thick Fat ability, it only takes 1/8 damage from Ice moves.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Ice-type.
* BadassMoustache: Appears to grow one as it evolves. [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Robotnik would be proud]].
* CuteLittleFangs: Spheal. Sealeo has some too, but the mustache kind of defeats the point.
* HealingFactor: Its Ice Body Ability gives it this if it's hailing.
** It can get Aqua Ring through breeding as well.
* {{Kevlard}}: Has the Thick Fat Ability, giving it resistances against Fire and Ice attacks.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Walrein can outstall many things in Hail and wreck them with Sheer Cold. It also has usable special attack.
* NoSell: Its Hidden Ability is Oblivious, which prevents any attempt to distract them with the Attract or Taunt conditions.
** PowerupLetdown: Unfortunately, Oblivious is nowhere near as useful as either Thick Fat or Ice Body.
* OneHitKO: Naturally learns Sheer Cold. It can also be bred to have Fissure.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Spheal. It's a given.
* RollingAttack: Its Ice Ball attack. It can be bred with Rollout as well.
* SecretArt: Ice Ball, although it has always been breedable into several Pokémon.
* StoneWall: Hail, Ice Body, and Leftovers can recover 1/8 of Walrein's health in one turn, which can be increased to a ''quarter'' health with Protect stalling. "Stallrein" is pretty much a requirement for all Hail-based teams.
* SuperSpit: Learns the Stockpile/Swallow/Spit Up trio through breeding.
!! Clamperl (Pearlulu), Huntail, and Gorebyss (Sakurabyss)
[[quoteright:202:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/366-367-368_8340.png]]
If you thought a fish that evolves into an octopus was bizarre, then what about a clam that evolves into two kinds of deep sea eels? Clamperl is an unusual Pokémon that produces a single large pearl in its lifetime, which is then used by the equally unusual Spoink (it's best not to ask how the pearl comes into the possession of Spoink). Clamperl are able to evolve by trading with either a [=DeepSeaTooth=] or a [=DeepSeaScale=] attaches to it. Huntail is more physically oriented while Gorebyss is specially oriented.
* AlluringAnglerFish: Huntail does this with its fish-shaped tail.
* AllYourPowersCombined: Huntail and Gorebyss learn Baton Pass, and can learn Shell Smash as a Clamperl. This makes them excellent "smash passers".
* BeautyIsBad: Gorebyss. The Pokédex specifically notes that while it is pretty, it is also very cruel. It feeds by sticking its needlelike mouth into other Pokémon and SUCKING THEIR BODY FLUIDS. And once it finishes, its body color turns a more vivid pink.
* CombatPragmatist: Huntail naturally gets a few Dark-type moves.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Can take physical hits and deal damage of a certain category depending on the Pokémon in this line[[note]]Physical attack for Huntail, Special Attack for Gorebyss and Clamperl[[/note]], but they have hum-ho Special Defense and Speed.
** LightningBruiser: In rain with Swift Swim.
* PsychicPowers: Gorebyss can naturally learn a few Psychic-type attacks.
* SeashellBra: Gorebyss, regardless of gender.
* SocializationBonus: Need to be traded in order to evolve. Which one it evolves into depends on the item it holds when traded. Wild Huntail and Gorebyss can be rare wild encounters in certain games, though.
* StoneWall: Clamperl
* SupportPartyMember: Between Aqua Ring, Iron Defense, and Amnesia, Gorebyss can pass some effective defensive boosts, especially when rain is in play. And then when it got Shell Smash...
* TookALevelInBadass: In Generation V, Clamperl can learn Shell Smash, which is the biggest StatusBuff in the game. Both Gorebyss and Huntail can use this in tandem with Baton Pass to pass the boost on to a teammate. This single handedly turned these relatively ho-hum standard Water-types into two of the biggest [[DemonicSpider Demonic Spiders]] in the metagame. The only other Pokémon that can pull off this feat is Smeargle (although it has access to sleep-inducing moves to make it easier). Even Clamperl benefits heavily from it, though not as much.
!! Relicanth (Jilanth)
[[quoteright:88:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/369_159.png]]
This Water/Rock Pokémon is based on a fish called the coelacanth. Once thought to be extinct, but was discovered as a still extant species and the best example of a living fossil. Relicanth displays a similar role and is closely associated with fossil Pokémon despite not being revived from one. Instead, you must either dive into the seas of Hoenn or fish them up in other places in later games. [[GuideDangIt You need this Pokémon and a Wailord in order to get the three legendary Golems (and in certain party positions, too).]]
* DeathOrGloryAttack: Naturally learns Double-edge and Head Smash. However, it can subvert this with its Rock Head Ability, which removes the recoil.
* DishingOutDirt: Rock-type.
* ForMassiveDamage: Hit it with a Grass-type attack.
* LastChanceHitPoint: Its Hidden Ability is Sturdy, which lets it survive any attack taken at full health with 1 HP remaining.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* MightyGlacier: Incredibly slow, but it has a large HP pool as well as decent attack (particularly usable with physical Water moves in Generation IV) and physical defense, plus can buff its special defense with Amnesia.
** LightningBruiser: By use of its Rock Polish and/or Swift Swim.
* PrehistoricMonster: The first one in the series to be explicitly stated that was ancient and didn't go extinct. [[ShownTheirWork Naturally, this is a nod to the real-life coelacanth.]]
* RecurringElement: Sort of the Aerodactyl of this generation being a fossil unrelated to the fossil duo.
* RequiredPartyMember: Alongside Wailord, it was needed to access the Golems.
* SpeciesLostAndFound: Like the real-life coelacanth, it was long thought to be extinct but later it was discovered to still be thriving.
* StandardStatusEffects: Naturally learns Yawn.
* UseYourHead: Relicanth is one of the few Pokémon that can make use of the devastating Head Smash without any recoil, alongside the Aron and Tyrunt family.
!! Luvdisc (Lovecus)
[[quoteright:88:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/370_7521.png]]
Lots of things can be said about this Pokémon. Very few of them are actually ''good'' though. It is based on a discus fish and is associated with love and romance. Despite being as powerful as many Pokémon that need to evolve twice in order to be useful, Luvdisc has no such benefit. However, the scales that they shed are highly sought after by collectors who will teach moves to your other Pokémon, so there may be some consolation to encountering this Pokémon.
* ActionInitiative: Can be bred to have Aqua Jet.
* CardiovascularLove: A heart Pokémon based on love.
** Learns most of the love-based moves naturally as well, such as Attract, Charm, Captivate, and Sweet Kiss.
* FragileSpeedster: It has shockingly high speed for Pokémon down there with it, and can boost it even further with Swift Swim, but every other stat is sub-par.
* HealingFactor: Its Hidden Ability is Hydration, which heals StandardStatusEffects it's afflicted with while it's raining.
** It can also learn Aqua Ring naturally (not that it'll help much).
* JokeCharacter: Its base stat total makes ''Farfetch'd'' look like a Legendary (or at the very least, an OU Pokémon). Its only significance is that it may hold Heart Scales used in move relearning, which was useful before Generation V vastly increased the availability of Heart Scales. This may be intentional, since its 2 abilities give it a speed boost it doesn't need and heal status effects no smart opponent would bother with.
* MakingASplash: Water-type.
* PinataEnemy: As mentioned above, it was evidently introduced to provide something for players to collect Heart Scales from.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda: It was pretty much taken for granted pre-Generation-V-release that [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVFamilies Alomomola]] -- another ''pink, heart-shaped fish Pokémon'' -- was an evolution of Luvdisc. This turned out not to be the case.
* VisualPun: Shiny Luvdisc are literal hearts of gold.
!!Bagon, Shelgon, and Salamence (Tatsubay, Komoruu, and Bohmander)
[[quoteright:194:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/371-372-373_3685.png]]
Bagon is a small dragon Pokémon that constantly dreams of soaring the skies, despite the fact that it possesses no way of doing so. In its frustration, it hurls itself off cliffs or bashes its head against rocks. As a result, its skull is very thick. However, as it evolves, something miraculous occurs: It grows a bony shell around most of its body, and then once it evolves once more, it sheds the shell and the Pokémon realizes its long-held dream of flight. Unlike the peaceful Dragonite, this Pokémon is quite ferocious.
* AxeCrazy: See {{Jerkass}}.
* {{Badass}}: Salamence.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Salamence developed its wings out of an extremely strong desire to fly.
* ConfusionFu: Back in its glory days, it had two common sets that were nearly identical save for one move (Dragon Dance or Draco Meteor), and had totally different counters for each one.
* [[PowerGivesYouWings Evolution Gives You Wings]]: Salamence gains wings upon evolution.
* {{Flight}}: Salamence.
* ForMassiveDamage: Ice-type attacks and its own type, just like most of the other Dragons.
* GuideDangIt: Feel free to spend hours wandering Meteor Falls looking for a Bagon in Gen III -- the game doesn't tell you they only appear in ''one specific room''.
* InfinityMinusOneSword
* {{Jerkass}}: Salamence has built up a reputation for being an extremely vicious and cruel Pokémon.
* KillStreak: Its Hidden Ability is Moxie, which boosts its already quite high Attack when it knocks out somebody. If that wasn't enough, most Bagon when obtained from the Dream World already come with Dragon Dance, which boosts its Speed and Attack by 50%...
* LightningBruiser: Awesome stats all around. Some GlassCannon tendencies, but compensates for its low defense with Intimidate.
* [[MagicKnight Magic Mon]]: The infamous [[FanNickname MixMence set]].
* {{Nerf}}: Salamence got hit ''hard'' by the introduction of the Fairy-type. Along with Hydreigon, Salamence took it the worst. The power creep of [[ActionInitiative priority attacks]] in Generation 6 was bad for Salamence too, making it much more of a GlassCannon.
* NoSell: Salamence to Ground-type moves, and Shelgon to weather damage and powder moves with its Hidden Ability of Overcoat.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Based more on European dragons.
* RecurringElement: The Hoenn draconican psuedo-legendary.
* SecretArt: Salamence is the only non-legendary Pokémon to naturally learn Fly.
* StoneWall: Shelgon. Its 100-base Defense can be boosted with Eviolite, since it's unevolved.
* UseYourHead: Bagon constantly gets hit on the head in its attempts to fly. This, in turn, has given it a head harder than steel.
!!Beldum (Dumbell), Metang, and Metagross
[[quoteright:218:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/374-375-376_9519.png]]
A robotic lifeform, Beldum apparently evolve by fusing with one another: two Beldum are needed for a Metang while two Metang are needed for a Metagross. The first time one might encounter a member of the family is during the final battle against Steven Stone, Hoenn's Pokémon Champion. However, once you've beaten him, one can go to Mossdeep City -- a Beldum is waiting for you as a gift (in Steven Stone's house, no less). In this state, its only move is Take Down, but once you get it to evolve, it can learn a wide variety of moves that make it a very formidable Pokémon. This line is famous not only for their power, but their VERY low catch rate of 3. (Combine that with Beldum's recoil-causing Take Down, and you got a Mon that is harder to catch than a non-roaming ''[[OlympusMons legendary Pokémon]]''.)
* {{Badass}}: Metagross.
* BadassMustache: Metagross' white X-shaped facial marking resembles a mustache.
* BossInMookClothing: Walk into rustling grass in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Giant Chasm]] and... ''A wild Metagross appeared!''
* CombiningMecha: The Pokedex claims that both Beldum and Metang evolve by having two combine themselves. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Though one wonders where the second Beldum or Metang came from when one the player owns evolves.]]
* CyberCyclops: Beldum.
* ExtraOreDinary: Steel-type. As a result, it's the only Pseudo-legendary that isn't weak to Fairy-type attacks unlike Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Garchomp, and Hydreigon ([[ForMassiveDamage who gets it the worst]]).
* GeniusBruiser: Metagross has four brains and is said to be superior to a supercomputer. And it's physically strong too.
* InfinityMinusOneSword
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Generation VI removed Steel's resistance to Ghost and Dark, making this line weak against four of the most used attack types [[note]]Fire, Ground, Ghost & Dark[[/note]]. It doesn't help that new threat Aegislash is weak against those four types, which means those types (especially Ghost and Dark) will see even more use.
* MagikarpPower: In Generation III when it was first introduced, Take Down was the only move Beldum could learn before evolving into Metang, hampering its ability to battle well. However, later games introduced ways to obtain a Beldum (Pokewalker, Dream World) that could use Iron Head, Zen Headbutt, or both.
* MetalSlime: In Generation IV, Beldum was found in only one area (one with a permanent sandstorm, nonetheless!), was a swarm Pokémon, had a low encounter rate, a catch rate on par with most legendaries, and only knew a recoil move.
* MightyGlacier: However, it can use Agility and/or Bullet Punch to turn itself into a LightningBruiser. Even then, at 70 base Speed, that's still far from slow.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In ''X & Y'', the Beldum line is the ''only'' pseudo-legendary that does not show up in the Kalos Dex while the other six show up.
* {{Nerf}}: Generation VI removed the Steel-type's resistances to Ghost and Dark-type moves, meaning they now have four weaknesses instead of two.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoSell: To Poison-type moves. Clear Body prevents non-self-inflicted stat drops.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: In comparison to the other Pseudo-legendaries, Metagross hasn't been able to keep up much due to not getting a whole lot of new things.
** Generation VI ''[[ExactWords did]]'' give it two new things... by removing the Steel type's resistances to Ghost and Dark, [[{{Nerf}} crippling it with two new weaknesses]]. However, it's now the only one of the seven to not have a Fairy-type weakness, and the only one who has STAB super-effective moves on them.
* PowerUpLetdown: Light Metal. It only affects four moves -- Grass Knot [[note]]which it resists, and will take maximum damage from, even with Light Metal[[/note]], Low Kick [[note]]will still do max damage even with Light Metal[[/note]], Heavy Slam [[note]]which it resists, and even a Heavy Metal Aggron with Heavy Slam will do low damage to it[[/note]], and Heat Crash. [[note]]even with Light Metal and a type weakness, Metagross is heavy enough that Heat Crash from Emboar will do a pittance of damage[[/note]] Clear Body is ''miles'' better.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* RecurringElement: Of two ideas: It's a pseudo-legendary similar to Larvitar's family, but it's also very similar to Magnemite's in that it starts off as a one-eyed metallic lifeform that grows by combining with others.
* SecretArt: [[MegatonPunch Meteor Mash]] is heavily associated with Metang and Metagross, mostly because the only other Pokémon to learn it is ''Clefairy''.
* SpiderTank: Metagross.
* UseYourHead: Besides Take Down, Beldum can only be taught head-based moves for attacking.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Beldum's only attack is Take Down, although it can be taught Zen Headbutt, Iron Head, Iron Defense, and Headbutt through various means.
!!Regirock, Regice, and Registeel
[[quoteright:232:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/377-378-379_3155.png]]
The main legendary trio of Hoenn. This group deviates from the previous legendary trios by not being based on any kind of animal. Instead, they take on a robotic form. All of them have bodies made of inanimate materials, mainly rock, ice ,and steel. It isn't known how they were made, who made them, or why they were made. (In Gen III, that is.) The way to find them is rather complicated and it involves deciphering brallie and following their arbitrary instructions. What is surprising is what materials the Regis were made from: Regirock appears to have been made from rocks all over the world, Regice from antarctic glacial ice, and Registeel from metal that isn't of this earth.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: Registeel's sprite had to be changed in the European version of ''Diamond/Pearl'' after some people noticed that its arm was extended in a similar fashion to the Nazi salute; the change was later applied to all versions of the game from ''Platinum'' onward.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Their names are a spelled out indication of which one has which powers:
** [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Regice.
** ExtraOreDinary: Registeel.
** DishingOutDirt: Regirock.
* {{Foil}}: While the three form a trio, Regirock and Regice are direct inverses of each other statwise. Registeel is sort of the odd one out. Despite this, in ''Black 2 and White 2'', it's Regirock who is available in both games while Regice and Registeel are (semi) version-exclusive.
* ForMassiveDamage and BlessedWithSuck: All of them have types that don't fare well against Fighting-type attacks (Rock for Regirock, Ice for Regice, and Steel for Registeel).
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Registeel's Pokédex entries say that it is made of the toughest metal, but it turns out that Defense Form Deoxys and '''Shuckle''' seem to be tougher. Then there's Mega-Aggron noted above, who actually ''is'' made of metal...
* {{Golem}}: [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIGeodudeToMew No, not the first-gen Pokémon.]]
* GuideDangIt: Obtaining them -- '''''[[ExaggeratedTrope OH, GOD]]'''''! You'll need a Relicanth, a Wailord (in a specific order in the party), four other random Pokémon in the party to fill up slots, Surf, Dive, Dig, a preternatural instinct for direction, and the ability to ''read Braille'' (unless you've got a chart or the web handy). The only clue to this is a very vague mention in a town that has no significance to the plot and can be skipped entirely with no consequence. And even then, it only states that a trio of a Rock, Steel, and Ice type exist somewhere out there.
** At least the game gives you a Braille guide... sort of. There's nothing to really indicate that the symbols on the small stones are the alphabet in order.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: To open the door to Regice's room, you have to wait two minutes from after you close the Braille message without pressing any buttons. Press a button, and you have to repeat the process.
* MightyGlacier: Regirock has a whopping physical defense stat of '''''200''''' and a good Physical Attack of 100, with a matching Special Defense, but terrible Special Attack. Regice, a [[{{Pun}} Literal]] example, happens to be a Special counterpart to Regirock's physical. Registeel is a defensive JackOfAllStats.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoPronunciationGuide: Regice is supposed to sound like Regi-ice, but take it with a grain of salt[[note]]Regice actually got ''two'' distinct pronunciations ''in the same season''[[/note]].
* NoSell: Registeel to Poison-type moves.
* RecurringElement: The Legendary Trio, but they diverge pretty heavily from the Birds and Beasts before them.
* ShoutOut: Registeel's cry resembles the famous sound effect used when the ''{{Transformers}}'' transform.
* StoneWall: Registeel's stats are more balanced than its brethren, but it can't hit hard from either side.
* ThunderboltIron: Registeel is said to be made out of a metal not found on earth.
!! Latias and Latios
[[quoteright:163:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/380-381_3153.png]]
A pair of legendary dragons that fly all over the Hoenn region after beating the elite 4. Highly intelligent, they have access to a number of abilities, which are further enhanced by an item known as the Soul Dew. Latias are female and are mostly red while Latios are male and are mostly blue. They can use their down to refract light and alter their appearence to take on human forms or become invisible when they desire to. %%In Generation VI they gained Mega Evolutions.
* {{Badass}}: Both of them.
* CuteBruiser: Latias
* [[DistaffCounterpart Distaff]][=/=]SpearCounterpart: They are this for each other.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Stars of ''Anime/PokemonHeroes'', the last movie set in the anime's original series.
* LightningBruiser: Both of them, especially in the special side; Latios being more offensively oriented, and Latias more defensively oriented. Said status is greatly increased if a Soul Dew is attached to either.
* {{Nerf}}: In Generation 6: not just because of Fairy-types, but because the majority of their staple moves have had their base powers lowered[[note]]Draco Meteor lowered from 140 base power to 130, Surf from 95 to 90, Dragon Pulse from 90 to 80, and worst, Hidden Power was fixed to a poor 60 base power.[[/note]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Dragon-bird-jet planes! With psychic powers to boot!
* NoBiologicalSex: ''Averted''; a first of legendary Pokémon. Though they still can't breed.
* NoSell: Both of them to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: And kinda bird-like. In fact, [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Prototype_Pok%C3%A9mon_and_characters concept art]] suggests that Blaziken and Latias were originally one Pokémon split into two entirely different species.
* PowerFloats: Have the Levitate ability.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* PurposelyOverpowered: Their associated held item, Soul Dew, is prevented from working in the Battle Tower and similar facilities. Seeing that its effect is always having an extra Calm Mind, on an already strong Pokémon, this is justifiable.
** MyRulesAreNotYourRules: But the ones you can face in the Battle Frontier are not restricted from having Soul Dew working for them and this was proven via damage calculation comparisons.
* SecretArt: [[EnergyBall Mist Ball]] for Latias, [[PowerGlows Luster Purge]] for Latios.
* SingleSpecimenSpecies: Subverted; despite the player only meeting one in their journeys, the pokedex states that they (or at least Latias in Emerald) form herds.
%%* SuperMode: Both of them gained Mega Evolutions.
!!Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza
[[quoteright:268:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/382-383-384_7030.png]]
The main legendaries of the ''Ruby'', ''Sapphire'', and ''Emerald'' games. Each of them embodies a part of the landscape: Groudon represents the continents, Kyogre represents the oceans, while Rayquaza represents the sky. Long ago, Groudon and Kyogre had a severe battle which almost brought an end to the world via flooding monsoons and raging infernos; luckily, they were calmed by light pouring from the Red and Blue Orbs and entered a deep slumber. Depending on the version, the player must face one of them which has been awakened by Team Magma (Groudon) or Team Aqua (Kyogre) as their mere presence has a great influence on the weather. In ''Emerald'', both are awakened and it is up to the player to awaken Rayquaza and end the feud once more.
* AnimalisticAbomination: Kickstarted that whole trend with box legendaries. They are also among the least anthropomorphiced and more bestial Pokémon, with unexpresive faces with yellow eyes and toothy maws.
* ApocalypseHow: The awakening of either Groudon or Kyogre constitutes AT LEAST a Class 2 if left unchecked for any length of time; Kyogre's awakening led to massive torrential rainfall that presumably would have flooded the entire planet, while Groudon's led to a massive drought and constant, extremely intense sunlight that would have laid everything bare.
* {{Badass}}: All three members of the trio. Kyogre is arguably the strongest Pokémon ''in the entire game'', Groudon is almost as strong (the "almost" is only [[GameplayAndStorySegregation due to game mechanics]]) and was declared the second-manliest Pokémon of all time by Website/{{Smogon}}, and Rayquaza is one of the most terrifyingly powerful Dragon-types.
* BlowYouAway: Rayquaza is the sky incarnate.
** WindIsGreen: Again, Rayquaza.
* ChromaticArrangement: Not just in their own colors, but also the gemstones they represent in respectively.
* ConflictKiller: As the internal mediator of the trio, Rayquaza is the only one who can calm the two other Pokémon down.
* CreationMyth: Kyogre and Groudon shaped the oceans and continents.
* DishingOutDirt: Groudon. Hell, Groudon is the very ''incarnation'' of the ground.
* EldritchAbomination: Not too far off. All three are incredibly ancient, lurk in places beyond the reaches of man, and are extremely powerful; the awakening of either Groudon or Kyogre constitutes an apocalyptic event and would have devastated the world had it gone unchecked for much longer. Rayquaza, however, is actually rather benevolent, but it's still a terrifyingly powerful demigod no matter what way you look at it.
** It helps that they're based off what could be also be called [[EldritchAbomination cosmic horrors.]]
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Groudon
** TyrannosaurusRex[=/=]StockDinosaurs: Based on ''T. rex'' or other therapod dinosaurs, with features of other dinos like ''Ankylosaurus''.
* {{Expy}}: The trio are, in some accounts, based on three legendary beasts of Biblical mythology - Behemoth (land), Leviathan (sea), and Ziz (sky).
* FireWaterJuxtaposition: Kyogre represents the oceans, uses water attacks and creates a rainstorm when deployed, while Groudon represents continents, uses ground and fire attacks and makes the sun shine.
* {{Foil}}: Kyogre and Groudon foil each other, and Rayquaza foils both of them. Ironically, in battle, Rayquaza tends to get one-shotted by [[AnIcePerson Kyogre]] due to a weakness and is still at a disadvantage against [[DishingOutDirt Groudon]] if one teaches them the appropriate moves.
* {{Flight}}: Rayquaza
* ForMassiveDamage: Rayquaza has trouble surviving Ice-type attacks. Too bad Ice-type Pokémon have trouble surviving Rayquaza's attacks.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Kyogre and Groudon in ''Emerald'', Rayquaza in all three versions. Rayquaza is particularly notable however for the fact that you can get it just before the Elite Four at Level 70 in Emerald, meaning that the majority of the fights get significantly easier or become a CurbStompBattle.
* LandSeaSky: Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza respectively.
* LightningBruiser: As expected, their lowest stats are only low compared to other OlympusMons.
** MightyGlacier: Kyogre and Groudon, on the special and physical sides respectively.
** GlassCannon: Rayquaza, who hits as hard as the others on their strong sides, but takes hits as bad as the others in their weak sides.
* MagmaMan: Groudon. It's a Ground-type, but like Lugia's association with water, it's strongly associated with volcanoes and magma and sunlight (and by extension, [[PlayingWithFire fire]]). The reason why it wasn't given a secondary Fire type was probably to [[BlessedWithSuck not let it be killed too easily by Water-types, especially its nemesis Kyogre]].
* MakingASplash: Kyogre. It's the very representation of the seas.
* {{Nerf}}: Kyogre and Groudon received one in Generation VI. Drizzle and Drought were given a duration of five turns (eight with the respective weather stone); in essence, they now function as an automatic Rain Dance or Sunny Day, rather than a permanent field effect. Being PurposefullyOverpowered OlympusMons, the nerf really wasn't directed at them, but at the more commonplace [[WeatherControlMachine Pokémon with weather-activating abilities]], specifically fellow Drizzle-user Politoed, who ''completely'' derailed and overcentralized the metagame around rain teams in Generation V.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* NoSell: Groudon to Electric-type moves, Rayquaza to Ground-type moves.
* OlympusMons: In fact, the first to be treated as such instead of simply "very powerful."
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Rayquaza, although rather close to the traditional Chinese version.
* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: This is the generation that introduced Abilities, and it just so happens that all three of their signature Abilities were relevant to the stories of their respective games.
* [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]]: They created/rule over the oceans, continents, and atmosphere, respectively. "Gods" are the only way you can describe them.
* PowerTrio: Known as the weather trio.
* PurposelyOverpowered: You won't be able to use them in the Battle Towers, most official tournaments, and most cups in 3D fighters. In fact, in the metagame, if every Pokémon is allowed to be used, Kyogre and Groudon tend to be number 1 and 2 or 3 (usually competing with Arceus or Mewtwo) respectively, and both of them, but especially Kyogre, are ''insanely'' powerful, to the point that things like Quagsire are used exclusively for countering it (Quagsire can absorb Kyogre's Water-type attacks and nullify its popular Thunder, then force it into an Encore. And even ''Quagsire'' can't handle some Kyogre variants, even those that that don't wield Hidden Power Grass-type). Rayquaza is no slouch either, usually sitting above number 10 and having one of the most powerful Dragon-type moves outside of Latios (who is quite viable on the Special side of things with Soul Dew attached). And finally Groudon, who is so versatile you won't be able to guess its full moveset easily, and after proper set-up, becomes one of the, if not ''the'', deadliest sweeper in the games.
* RainDance: The biggest reason Kyogre is dubbed the strongest Pokémon in the metagame. A natural ability to cause a field effect that boosts its STAB, coupled with the slew of Pokémon that have abilities to take advantage of the rain, weakens Fire, delays Solarbeam another turn, and boosts Thunder and Hurricane's accuracy to 100% ''upon release'', and ANYONE who doesn't have a Groudon, Rayquaza, Tyranitar, or even a GOLDUCK to counteract this with has effectively lost. While Drought is balanced out by the fact that the Grass-types who take advantage of sunlight can be obliterated by Fire-type attacks, Drizzle's closest thing to a downside is Thunder's 100% accuracy, which is easily countered by several competitive Water types having that move, as well as the occasional Water/Ground type.
* RatedMForManly: Groudon, the two-ton ''TyrannosaurusRex'' that spends its days bathing in magma.
* RecurringElement: An evolving idea that was finally [[TropeCodifier codified]] in this Generation. Gen I had Mewtwo as the most plot relevant legendary shared between all the versions. Gen II had Ho-oh and Lugia as version mascot legendaries for the initial duo of games with Mewtwo's base stat total (and, in fact, the same base stats, just rearranged), but unique bearings on the plot regarding which version you picked. But the third game had to pull out someone from the Legendary Trio to be the mascot. Here we finally have a trio of plot relevant version mascot legendaries with Mewtwo's base stat total for each of the three versions (or close enough, in the case of Kyogre and Groudon).
* SecretArt: Prior to Generation V, the weather-altering abilities Drought and Drizzle were exclusive to Groudon and Kyogre, respectively. However, with the introduction of the Dream World in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', Ninetales and Politoed gained access to these abilities.
** Rayquaza is also one of only two Pokémon to know V-Create (an event-exclusive move), the other one being Victini (whom the move was originally designed for). [[OhCrap Yup, 180 Base Power coming off of 150 Base Attack. And even the rain won't save you thanks to Air Lock.]]
* SingleSpecimenSpecies: One would imagine. Could you picture two of any of these guys running around?
** You do find one of the two (and the third if you trade the other over) in ''VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver''. Of course, this could just mean the Hoenn protagonist wasn't able to hold onto them/it's the Weather Pokémon you didn't catch in ''Ruby/Sapphire''.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In Japan, "Kaiorga" and "Kyogre" have both been seen.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Kyogre and Groudon in their respective versions, to an extent. They must be encountered and either defeated or captured to progress with the plot, so they aren't ''technically'' required.
* TimeAbyss: Rayquaza is hundreds of millions of years old. Given they created the seas and land, so are Kyogre and Groudon.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Kyogre's boosted Water-type attacks, thanks to its Drizzle ability. Specifically, a successful Choice Specs-boosted Water Spout is the near equivalent of OneHitKill on Pokémon. To put this in perspective, Blissey, that special wall to end all special walls, is [=2HKO=]'d ''with a special attack.''
* TronLines: Red, blue (Groudon's are slightly hard to see at times), and yellow. Coincidentally, they represent the main colors used in subtractive color mixing. The patterns are also heavily featured in Emerald's pre-battle cutscenes and on the floor of the ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' remakes's Embedded Tower.
* WalkingWasteland: The awakening of either one of the duo constitutes an apocalyptic event and is entirely capable of wiping out humanity and the majority of Pokemon species.
* [[WeatherControlMachine Weather Control Creatures]]: Played straight by Groudon and Kyogre, and inverted by Rayquaza since it blocks out any weather (but doesn't remove it, so its effects come back into play as soon as Rayquaza leaves the field).
* YinYangClash: Groudon vs. Kyogre, requiring Rayquaza to break them up.
!! Jirachi
[[quoteright:91:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/385_7271.png]]
A Pokémon of mysterious power. It lays dormant until a comet comes close to the earth from which Jirachi draws its power from. This comet orbits the earth every 1,000 years and then only for a week. Thus, Jirachi is only active for that single special week. It has the ability to grant wishes during that time.
* RecurringElement: The expected Mew stand-in.
* ExtraOreDinary: Steel-type.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: It has a ThirdEye on its stomach that is usually closed. It's not as creepy because Jirachi is adorable.
* GravityMaster: Naturally learns the move Gravity.
* MasterOfAll: All around base 100 stats.
* LuckBasedMission: Serene Grace doubles the chance of any secondary occurring. This leads to Jirachi's utter pain in the ass of a primary set: Body Slam for a 60% chance of paralyze (1/4th speed, 1/4 chance of not acting), then Iron Head for a 60% chance of causing flinch (don't move). This means you have a ''30%'' chance of ''doing anything'' to it.
* MakeAWish: Said to grant wishes.
* MeteoricIron: It is a Steel type and it is heavily associated with comets, so it might be made of this stuff.
* {{Nerf}}: Became vulnerable to Dark and Ghost-type moves in Generation VI.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless, though always referred to as male.
* NoSell: To Poison-type moves.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* PurposelyOverpowered: No luck if you wanted to use it in the Battle Towers or a tournament.
* RealityWarper: Can grant any wish, thus this trope logically follows. In the anime and ''PokemonSpecial'', villains even use it to create eldritch abominations.
** Though in the anime, it requires either absorbing a lot of power or teleporting stuff.
* [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really A Millennium Old]]: At the very least.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Even with the [[EyesDoNotBelongThere abdominal eye.]]
* SecretArt: Doom Desire, which is DeathFromAbove.
!! Deoxys
[[quoteright:296:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/386_86.png]]
A Pokémon from beyond the stars. Deoxys is an humanoid alien that was derived from a space virus that was mutated by a laser of sorts. Depending on the game (and in later generations, certain meteorites), Deoxys can change its appearence and stat distribution.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: Might just be a coincidence, but Deoxys '''D'''efense, '''N'''ormal and '''A'''ttack Formes? And then '''S'''peed Forme ruins it all.
** FridgeBrilliance: Remember, the name is [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Deoxy]]'''S'''.
* {{Badass}}: All Formes, but especially the Attack Forme, which has the highest Attack and Special Attack in the series.
* CombatTentacles: That can turn into arms, too.
* CripplingOverspecialization: With the exception of [[JackOfAllStats Speed Forme]], every other Forme relies too much on its specialized stats, leaving the other stats (especially HP, which is consistently bad in all Formes) rather lacking. Mind you, [[PurposelyOverpowered it's still a massive threat]].
* FashionableAsymmetry: Dowplayed with its Speed Forme, where one of its arms is a different color from the other.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Part of its origin according to Generation III. Generations IV and V just refer to "DNA mutation".
* HumanoidAbomination: Certainly gives off this feel. The fact that it's a sentient virus from outer space doesn't help.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Three rather creepy [[ForDoomTheBellTolls bell strikes]].
* MeaningfulName: '''Deoxy'''ribonucleic acid or... DNA.
* MultiformBalance: All Formes have their uses.
** GlassCannon: Normal Forme and Attack Forme.
** StoneWall: Defense Forme.
** FragileSpeedster: Speed Forme. Also counts as the JackOfAllStats, as it has otherwise balanced stats.
* NoBiologicalSex: Genderless.
* OvershadowedByAwesome:
** Normal Forme. It's not as powerful as the Attack Forme, and not as fast as the Speed Forme. Although it is bulkier than the Attack Forme, it is still a GlassCannon and even the Speed Forme is bulkier. Not to say it isn't PurposelyOverpowered, but in battles where you are allowed to use Deoxys at all there is little point in using its Normal Forme.
** Defense Forme: It may have high all-around defenses, but Shuckle still has higher stats in that department, as well as Contrary to take advantage of. At least Deoxys-D has Spikes and a passable HP stat to use. (Well, passable compared to Shuckle, anyways...)
* PowerCrystal: the source of its powers. Also probably its brain.
* PsychicPowers: Psychic-type.
* PurposelyOverpowered: '''And how!''' The highest attack stat, along with ''the'' highest speed stats in the games, and you have something more fearsome than an Arceus crossed with Mewtwo! And it obviously won't see any use in the Battle Towers or in tournaments outside of cheating/hacking.
* RecurringElement: The first Mewtwo-esque legendary since Mewtwo. Both are essentially bio-weapons, and though Deoxys isn't related to Jirachi at all, it bears a passing resemblance in terms of head shape.
** Like the old glitch Pokémon Missingno. it has 3 alternate forms, high Attack and pitiful defenses. Alone, this would just be a coincidence, but Gen III's equivalent to Missingno, named [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/%3F_%28glitch_Pok%C3%A9mon%29 "?"]] has the exact same stats as Deoxys.
* SecretArt: Psycho Boost. Lugia can also know the move in ''VideoGame/PokemonXD'' after purification.
* StarfishAlien: While all Pokémon are theorised to be this, Deoxys is the only Pokémon that is downright proven to be an alien. Well, an alien space virus.
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