Characters / Pokémon: Generation VII - Oranguru to Melmetal

aka: Pokemon Generation VII Oranguru To Meltan

Main Character Index > Pokémon: Generation VII Families > Rowlet to Comfey (722-764) | Oranguru to Melmetal (765-809) | [Necrozma (800) | Ultra Beasts (793-799, 803-806)]

The character sheet for the seventh generation's Pokémon got so big that it had to be split. This page has the tropes for Pokémon numbered 765 to 792, 800 to 802 and 807 to 809 in the National Pokédex. For the rest, go here and here for the Ultra Beasts. The Cosmog line and Necrozma now have their own pages.

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Oranguru and Passimian (Yareyuutan and Nagetukesaru)

0765: Oranguru / Yareyuutan (ヤレユータン yareyuutan)
0766: Passimian / Nagetukesaru (ナゲツケサル nagetsukesaru)

Oranguru

Passimian

A pair of forest-dwelling primates with a focus on cooperation, yet different approaches to it: Oranguru is a solitary Normal/Psychic-type orangutan exclusive to Pokémon Moon, while Passimian is a highly gregarious Fighting-type ruffed lemur exclusive to Pokémon Sun.

Oranguru lives alone in forests where it meditates and cares for other Pokémon. It has a fan made of leaves and its own fur. Its signature move is Instruct, which helps its partner in double battles by telling it to perform the move it used recently again.

Passimian live in large groups of about 20 to 30 and they all train very hard under their troop's leader. The leader picks ten of the troop's best individuals for gathering food. It also wears a berry rind on its head like a helmet and has a large berry with it that it uses in attacks. Its ability, Receiver, allows it to take the ability of its partner in double battles when that partner faints.

They are unrelated by evolution, but the Alola Pokédex lists both of them in the same page, so they are considered to be the same family akin to other pairs of version exclusive species.

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• Animals Not to Scale: From Passimian's pose in its official art and what animal it is based on, you'd think it would sit comfortably on your shoulder. But at 6'07'' ^note technically just under and 182.5 lbs, it's as big as a linebacker.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Passimian is a Fighting-type based on lemurs.
• Bamboo Technology: Both of them: Oranguru makes fans out of leaves and its own fur, while Passimian develops rugby gear out of berries.
• Bequeathed Power: If Passimian's ally faints in Double Battle, its Receiver ability copies their ability.
• The Bully: Implied for Passimian. Between the Training from Hell they undergo when in a colony, being the Teamwork Pokémon, having access to the move Beat Up, and being based off a rugby/American football player, it would appear to be of the Jerk Jock variety.
• Combat Pragmatist: Passimian mainly use hard berries as weapons, but are also known to use soft berries to blind opponents.
• Cool Helmet: Passimian wears a berry rind as a helmet, similar to how American football players wear helmets in games.
• Dishing Out Dirt: They can learn physical Rock and Ground attacks, although Passimian may get more mileage out of them.
• Erudite Orangutan: Oranguru is based on an orangutan. It is also a Psychic-type (a type known for its intelligence) and is noted by the Pokédex to possess extreme intelligence.
• Extra Turn: Oranguru's Instruct essentially allows an ally to get an extra turn by immediately reusing its last move. Notably, Instructing a Pokémon that has Truant will cause it to loaf around instead of using a move, letting it move normally on the next turn since the Truant turn was compressed into the previous one.
• Foil: To each other, as version exclusive counterparts: while both are primate-based Pokémon that use items as tools, and having a move and/or ability that are designed for Double Battles (Oranguru has Telepathy and Instruct, while Passimian has Receiver), Oranguru is part Psychic and special-oriented while Passimian is pure Fighting and very physical; Oranguru generally lives alone, and aptly looks and acts like a guru which contrasts with Passimian's large groups and appearance and overall mannerisms of a rugby player. The Pokédex lists both on the same page, which suggests that they're related somehow.
• Friendly Rivalry: Normally Oranguru spends most of its time deep in the jungle canopy, but occasionally it will go down to the beach to match wits with Slowking.
• Hermit Guru: Oranguru prefer to live solitary lives deep in forests, where they meditate in trees. They're kind to other Pokémon and offer medicine and food for the sick and hungry.
• I Know Madden Kombat: The way Passimian holds and uses its berry resembles an American Football or Rugby player.
• Immune to Flinching: Oranguru can have the ability Inner Focus, which makes it so it can't flinch from attacks.
• Improvised Weapon: Passimian uses berries as weapons.
• Insufferable Genius: Implied, given that Oranguru learns Taunt naturally by level-up and the Sun Pokédex entry states that it will show disdain towards an inexperienced Trainer. Its Ultra Moon entry states that they don't get along with each other for this reason as well.
• Intellectual Animal: Much like real orangutans, Oranguru are intelligent enough to know how to use human tools and have allegedly been observed to use Poké Balls.
• Mighty Glacier: Both of them:
  • Oranguru has a great Special Defense stat with a decent Special Attack stat. It happens to be pretty slow as well.
  • Passimian has a great Attack stat along with high HP and a good Defense stat to withstand some physical attacks before going down. While it is actually faster than most Alolan Pokémon, 80 Speed isn't something to write home about either.
• Mind over Matter: Oranguru a is part Psychic-type based on orangutans. It is highly intelligent and known to look down on rookie trainers.
• Non-Elemental: Oranguru is part Normal-type.
• Punny Name:
  • Oranguru/Yareyuutan combines orangutan with either guru or yare ("Do it!") in reference to being a Hermit Guru all about independent thought.
  • Passimian/Nagetukesaru is a simian/monkey (saru) that passes/throws (nagetsukeru) fruit. The former also references "prosimians", the primate group that lemurs (which Passimian looks like) belongs to.
• The Rival: Ambipom's Ultra Sun Dex entry mentions they get into territorial disputes with groups of Passimian over comfortable trees, winning half of the time.^note How Ambipom has such a good win rate despite being at a type disadvantage is an open question.
• Secret Art:
  • Oranguru is the only Pokémon that can naturally learn Instruct, a move that forces the target to reuse the last move it executed.
  • Passimian is the only Pokémon with the Receiver ability, although it's identical in effect to Alolan Muk's Power of Alchemy.
• Shock and Awe: Oranguru can learn Thunder, Thunderbolt, and Charge Beam.
• Shown Their Work: It's mentioned on the official website that people once mistook Oranguru for humans who lived in the forests. People in real life once thought the same of orangutans. In fact, "orangutan" means "person of the forest" in Malay and Indonesian.
• Stroke the Beard: Oranguru's idle animation in battle; it also does this action when pleased in Pokémon Refresh.
• Support Party Member: With Telepathy and Instruct, Oranguru can serve as an effective ally in double battles, but both have no use in single battles.
• Telepathy: Oranguru is one of the few Pokémon with the ability, and the only ones aside from the Elgyem line that has it as a normal ability, which allows it to avoid damage from allies' attacks that would otherwise hit it (such as Surf or Earthquake), presumably by using its psychic powers to get forewarning of their intent to attack.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Passimian are strongly associated with berries. Although this goes beyond actually eating them as they also use them in battle.
• Training from Hell: The leader of a Passimian colony puts its trainees through a harsh training regimen of passing berries to each other; some trainees even give up and run away because of this.
• Vow of Celibacy: Oranguru is incapable of learning the move Attract in Generation VII, which may be a subtle nod to how gurus tend to eschew such earthly desires to achieve enlightenment. They can still be bred like most Pokémon, though, and they are not immune to being infatuated due to having genders and not having access to Oblivious.
• Weaponized Ball: Passimian's weapon is a hard berry that it uses as a ball.
• Youkai: Oranguru's psychic powers, simian appearance, aptitude for Telepathy, and third eye marking above its eyes all bring to mind a satori — a type of mountain youkai resembling a monkey or ape — known for their ability to read minds.

Wimpod and Golisopod (Kosokumushi and Gusokumusha)

0767: Wimpod / Kosokumushi (コソクムシ kosokumushi)
0768: Golisopod / Gusokumusha (グソクムシャ gusokumusha)

Wimpod

Golisopod

A cowardly Bug/Water isopod Pokémon. When attacked, its Ability, "Wimp Out", makes it run away from battle. Despite its personality, it's valued for its ability to eat anything, making them good at cleaning up garbage. They even find pearls and other valuable items among the trash from time to time, so they are targeted by humans and Pokémon like Murkrow. Upon evolving into Golisopod, it becomes more capable of defending itself, even though it still runs away from battle when weakened.

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• Action Initiative: Golisopod's First Impression has +2 priority, but only functions on the turn it's been sent out. Compared to the similarly-restricted Fake Out, First Impression hits way harder, but lacks the flinch effect and has a lower priority bracket^note Fake Out's priority is +3. Golisopod also learns Sucker Punch naturally and can get Aqua Jet bred onto it; these have lower priority and power than First Impression^note First Impression has 90 power (higher than Extreme Speed); Sucker Punch has 70 power, Aqua Jet has 40 power, and both Sucker Punch and Aqua Jet have +1 priority, but remain usable regardless of how long Golisopod has been in battle (though Sucker Punch does have the caveat of requiring the target to be attempting to use a non-status move on that turn^note and to not be faster and using a move of equal priority, or using a move with higher priority (such as First Impression, Feint, or Fake Out) in order to work).
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Unlike Wimpod, wild Golisopod in Sword and Shield will aggressively chase you down. But like Wimpod, they'll still flee from battle at half health.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Wimpod's part Bug-type, though at 1'08" it's not the largest Bug-type around. Still much larger than the animal it's based on, though. Golisopod, however, plays the trope much straighter, standing at 6'07".
• Blessed with Suck: When Wimpod evolves into Golisopod, it gets a huge boost in offense and defensive stats... and an ability that's basically a rename of Wimp Out. Subverted in that switching out allows it to return to use First Impression again.
• Boss Battle: Golisopod is the Signature Mon of Guzma, the leader of Team Skull.
• Combat Pragmatist: Somewhat ironically, despite being based on a samurai, Golisopod's fighting style is built around shockingly dirty tactics, usually leading with a surprise attack such as First Impression, fleeing from danger when things get hairy... and then returning for another ambush! It also naturally learns Sucker Punch.
• Cowardly Lion: Golisopod still runs away from danger like Wimpod. However, Golisopod is way more powerful and perfectly able to defend itself. Golisopod also cowers in fear when you tap it repeatedly in Pokémon Refresh, implying that it still retains part of Wimpod's cowardly demeanor. Subverted in Pokémon Sword and Shield, in which a wild Golisopod will run at you if it spots you.
• Cowardly Mooks: Whether you end up facing Wimpod or its evolution, it will try to flee the moment its HP falls halfway. Even the Pre-existing Encounters require you to chase after it. It stands out even when Sword and Shield introduced varying Pokémon behaviors for overworld encounters, as Wimpod will be much faster to run and hide than even other cowardly species.
• Cower Power: If its HP gets below half, its Wimp Out Ability makes it drag another Pokémon out in its place. In the wild, Wimp Out forces Wimpod to flee from the battle. Golisopod's ability, Emergency Exit, does the same thing, though it's implied that Golisopod does it strategically rather than out of cowardice. In Spanish, First Impression has been translated as "escaramuza" (ambush), implying that Golisopod flees in order to catch the opponent off-guard later.
• Crash-Into Hello: First Impression's Japanese name is "Head-On Collision", bringing this trope to mind.
• Extreme Omnivore: If it's on the ground, it'll eat it. Even garbage, making them valued as cleaners of the sea.
• Face of a Thug: Despite its intimidating appearance, Golisopod is said to be a peaceful creature who spends most of its time meditating.
• Fragile Speedster: Wimpod has decent Speed, but all of its other stats are abysmal. Contrast Golisopod, which has good stats pretty much everywhere except Speed.
• Heavily Armored Mook: Its monstrous Defense stat makes it difficult to take down with physical attacks, while its Special Defense stat is at least decent, though not stellar. However, because of its ability backed by a great Attack stat, it's suited less as a Stone Wall and more as a bulky attacker that can take a hit and come back for more.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Golisopod has an excellent base 125 Attack, but its low base 60 Special Attack leaves something to be desired.
• Magikarp Power: Like the Trope Namer, Wimpod has poor stats except for Speed. Unlike Magikarp, Wimpod is capable of learning more than three offensive attacks, ensuring it isn't dead weight during training. However, Wimpod's only attacks by level-up are Struggle Bug and Sand Attack, the former of which uses its inferior Special Attack (compared to its Attack) and the latter of which deals no damage at all, making leveling up without triggering Wimp Out or using TMs and/or Rare Candies on it difficult. It's not so wimpy anymore once it evolves into Golisopod.
• Making a Splash: It's part Water-type. Notably, upon its reveal, it was the first Bug/Water type since Surskit (though in Pokédex order, that distinction instead belongs to the Dewpider line).
• Meaningful Name: In English, Wimpod's name comes from combining "wimp" and "isopod", while Golisopod is a combination of "goliath" and "isopod". In Japanese, Kosokumushi means "cowardly bug" along with separating ko and soku to mean "small feet".
• Metal Slime: In Alola, unlike most other Pokémon, Wimpod only appears as a pre-existing encounter in the overworld, and approaching one causes it to scurry away and hide until you leave the area. If you do catch up to one, you better have some Quick Balls on you to chuck at it (or be able to hit it with a move that suppresses or replaces its Ability, like Gastro Acid or Entrainment); otherwise, you'll be tossing balls while it's at full or near-full health due to its ability, reducing the chances of capture. However, if you do manage to defeat or capture one, it will often leave behind a Big Pearl, Nugget, or Big Nugget as a bonus.
• Mighty Glacier: Golisopod has good Attack and an amazing Defense stat, but its speed is very low. However, it has access to priority moves such as Aqua Jet and First Impression to cover for this.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Golisopod is noted to battle skillfully with its six arms.
• Never Needs Sharpening: Golisopod's ability is the same as its pre-evolution, but the name is twisted into something that sounds more badass, suggesting Golisopod exits on purpose. Given that Emergency Exit allows Golisopod to use First Impression again without losing battle momentum by spending a turn on switching out, it's probably really the case.
• Not Completely Useless: While Golisopod's Emergency Exit ability might seem to be just as bad as its pre-evolution's ability, it does allow it to use First Impression without having to waste a turn switching it out, giving Golisopod a sort of hit-and-run style of fighting. Of course, Golisopod is so slow that triggering Emergency Exit would likely cause it to lose a turn anyway unless it exclusively fights with priority moves.
• Piñata Enemy: Defeating or catching a wild Wimpod causes it to drop an item where you found it (in Alola, at least) that can be sold at high prices to shops. The higher-leveled the Wimpod, the more valuable the item left behind is likely to be. As a result, fighting them in the wild and selling what they leave behind is one of the fastest ways to gain money in Alola.
• Poor, Predictable Rock: Due to its dreadfully low speed, when a Golisopod switches in, it's usually safe to assume they're going to lead with a First Impression. Guzma's Golisopod is particularly evident of this, leaving him wide open to moves like Counter and Baneful Bunker. Well, sometimes anyway^note Due to the AI prioritizing stat-boosting moves, Guzma's Golisopod may spend several turns using Swords Dance to boost its attack instead of using First Impression.
• Poisonous Person: When threatened, Wimpod spits out toxic fluid to alert others to danger.
• Pre-existing Encounters: Wimpod are encountered in only three areas in the overworld and need to be either outrun or outmaneuvered before they can escape into their dens.
• Punny Name: Golisopod's Japanese name Gusokumusha is a pun on giant isopod (大王具足虫 daiō-gusokumushi), fully-equipped (具足 gusoku) and warrior (武者 musha)
• Purple Is Powerful: Golisopod's antennae and underbelly are differing shades of purple, and it's very powerful.
• Recurring Element: Though not to the same extent as the Feebas family, this line is Alola's answer to the Magikarp line. It starts as a weak Water-type known for a certain negative trait (Wimpod's is its cowardice) that becomes much stronger when it evolves. It remains as timid as it was as a Wimpod, however, even after it gains the power to back up its tough-guy facade.
• The Rival: Golisopod's Shield Dex entry mentions that it and Grapploct will fight in the wild, with the winner feeding upon the loser.
• Samurai: Golisopod is based on one, armor and all.
• Scavengers Are Scum:
  • Averted with Wimpod. It's stated to be a scavenger and is based on real-life scavenging isopods, but it's a harmless and cowardly creature that simply wants to be left alone.
  • Zigzagged by Golisopod, which seems like a powerful and noble creature based on a Samurai, but is actually a ruthless Combat Pragmatist that won't hesitate to use ambush tactics or to flee from a losing battle.
• Secret Art: In Gen VII, Golisopod was the only Pokémon that could learn First Impression, a Bug-type priority move that only works on Golisopod's first turn in battle. Even in Gen VIII, the only other Pokémon to naturally learn First Impression are Sirfetch'd and Falinks, neither of which get STAB on it (both are pure Fighting). Wimp Out and Emergency Exit are also exclusive abilities, although they are identical to each other.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: This is what Wimp Out boils down to; if Wimpod gets weak enough, it turns tail and hides back in the party, dragging another Pokémon out to do its fighting for it. If fought as a wild Pokémon, Wimpod flees from the battle. Golisopod's ability, Emergency Exit, is exactly the same, just with a different name.
• Tactical Withdrawal: Though Golisopod's ability functions exactly the same as Wimpod's "Wimp Out", it's called "Emergency Exit".
• Took a Level in Badass: Wimpod is a weak Pokémon that runs away at the slightest sign of danger, but when it evolves into Golisopod, it becomes the danger... until the danger gets into danger. Old habits die hard.

Sandygast and Palossand (Sunaba and Sirodethna)

0769: Sandygast / Sunaba (スナバァ sunabaa)
0770: Palossand / Sirodethna (シロデスナ shirodesuna)

Sandygast

Palossand

A line of Ghost/Ground Pokémon made of sand. Sandygast looks like a pile of sand with a shovel stuck in it while Palossand is based on a sandcastle. They are formed from the grudges of fallen Pokémon that merged with the sands of the battlefield. Despite their silly appearance, they're known for trapping and sucking the life energy out of other Pokémon. Their ability, Water Compaction, raises their Defense by two stages if hit by a Water-type move.

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• Animate Inanimate Object: Starts off as a pile of sand and then evolves into a full-fledged sandcastle.
• Bad with the Bone: Palossand's Violet Dex entry mentions that it fires the bones of its victims out of the hollows in its arms.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Despite their silly appearance, they're known as quite dangerous for consuming the life force of other Pokémon.
• Boss Battle: One serves act as Acerola's ace when she's fought as a member of the Elite Four.
• Developer's Foresight: Much like Diglett, due to being stuck to the ground (or even part of the ground), the move Telekinesis (a move which involves hurling the opponent into the air) fails when used on them.
• Dishing Out Dirt: They're part Ground-type and resemble a sand mound and sandcastle.
• Evil Counterpart: Ghost and Ground dual typing was shared by only two evolutionary lines when these two were introduced. While Golett and Golurk are Ground/Ghost typed and protectors, Sandygast and Palossand are Ghost/Ground and malevolent. There are also design similarities in that Sandygast and Palossand mimic sand castles made by humans, while Golett and Golurk were actually made by humans.
• Heal Thyself: Their Secret Art Shore Up lets them regenerate half their maximum health, and even more if a Sandstorm is raging.
• Hive Mind: According to its Ultra Sun entry, each grain of sand composing a Palossand's body is sapient with a will of its own.
• Kill It with Water: Downplayed slightly. They're weak to water, like most Ground-types, but thanks to the Water Compaction ability, it also makes their bodies denser and increases their defense by two stages. In Scarlet and Violet, however, wild Sandygast and Palossand in the overworld will melt away when it rains.
• Life Drinker: Both Sandygast and Palossand consume their victim's life-force, and the latter is shown eating a Pikachu in official artwork. It's considered a test of courage in Alola to willingly stick your hand inside a Sandygast's mouth. They also get Absorb, Mega Drain, and Giga Drain as level-up moves.
• Mighty Glacier: Palossand has a high Defense stat with a good Special Attack stat, but it is incredibly slow.
• Mind Manipulation: Sandygast and Palossand control the minds of people to build up their bodies with sand. Fittingly, they learn the move Hypnosis.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: These two are haunted sandcastles formed from haunted ground tainted by bloodshed and restless dead.
• Palatial Sandcastle: Palossand can amass more and more sand to get bigger and bigger. The anime episode A Shivering Shovel Search shows that one can grow big enough to swallow a cottage whole, not to mention that its insides are very spacious.
• People Puppets: Both Sandygast and Palossand are willing to mind-control humans to help them build up their sand bodies. Sandygast specializes in mind-controlling children who grab on the shovel on its head, while Palossand focuses more on adults, though it's not as dependent on them as its preevolution is.
• Punny Name: Palossand is derived from both "palace" and "sand" and is literally a "pile of sand" (which, when said aloud, sounds similar to Palossand). Its Japanese name Sirodethna is also a multilayer pun, with the individual kanji being castle (城 shiro), death, and sand (suna), combining to mean deadly sand castle, while reading the name literally turns it into "Shiro desu na?", or "That's a castle, huh?" The trend of Palossand’s name doubling as a reaction to Palossand is maintained in all other languages.
• Secret Art: Shore Up, which regenerates half their maximum health, and even more if a Sandstorm is raging. Water Compaction is also an exclusive ability.
• Sensor Character: Palossand's shovel moves around while it searches for prey, serving as a radar.
• Sentient Sands: They are basically a sentient sand heap and a sentient sandcastle respectively, and very dangerous ones, at that, being able to exercise Mind Control on people and actively hunting their prey to siphon out their life energy. Ultra Sun also reveals that each and every grain of sand from Palossand's body has its own free will.
• Shown Their Work: Palossand's shiny palette is referencing the actual black sand beaches scattered around Hawaii, formed when molten lava came into contact with cool seawater and literally exploded, cooling into dunes of fine basalt.
• Soul Power: They're part Ghost-types.
• Stealth Pun: A Ghost-type sandcastle. In other words, a Haunted Castle.
• The Virus: Palossand consumes the life force of other Pokémon, and the grudges of those Pokémon are thought to possibly become a new Sandygast.
• The Worm That Walks: Palossand's Ultra Sun entry reveals that each of the grains of sand composing it has its own free will.

Pyukumuku (Namakobushi)

0771: Pyukumuku / Namakobushi (ナマコブシ namakobushi)

Pyukumuku

A Water-type Pokémon resembling a sea cucumber with the ability to send its organs out from its mouth and form a fist. Due to its appearance and habits, it's not really popular among tourists, who tend to throw them back into the ocean if they're caught. They are homebodies who tend to stay in the same spot, even when there isn't any food around. So it's customary to throw starving ones into food-rich areas; despite this, they somehow return to their original spots.

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• Achievements in Ignorance: Pyukumuku has Unaware as its hidden ability, which lets it ignore the status buffs of foes through being too dumb to notice that they exist.
• Achilles' Heel: With a grand total of two attacking moves (Counter and either Bide or Mirror Coat, depending on the game) and the rest of its moveset being utility moves, any opponent that uses Taunt will ruin Pyukumuku's day. However, Pyukumuku can itself learn Taunt, so equipping one with a Mental Herb will allow Pyukumuku to send it right back, at least for a turn.
• Armored But Frail: Its defenses of 130 base are pretty impressive. Its HP, on the other hand, is decidedly less so, at 55. This is particularly bad since Pyukumuku, like Wobbuffet, is entirely dependent on Counter Attacks to deal damage — and the damage dealt by counterattacks is directly based on the amount of raw damage received. Its Ability, Innards Out, is also dependent upon its raw HP stat.
• Butt-Monkey: These things are despised by the people on Alolan beaches. They are often thrown at people, as indicated by NPC dialogue, and some beaches even pay people to dump the pests back to sea.
• Covered in Gunge: Its body is covered in a slippery mucus-like substance that allows it to live outside of water for a week without drying out. This substance is also one of the reasons why it's disliked by tourists; tourists tend to step on it by accident due to its small stature, and the substance causes them to slip and fall.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Somehow even moreso than Shuckle as a Stone Wall: it cannot learn any offensive moves period besides Bide and Counter (and it doesn't even get Bide in Sword and Shield, but gets Mirror Coat instead), making their offensive stats essentially useless and forcing them to use either the former for direct damage, or Toxic and their own ability for indirect damage.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: A sort-of sidequest/minigame in Sun/Moon involves throwing Pyukumuku on the beach back to the sea for money, tying in with its flavor text of people taking part-time jobs for Pyukumuku cleanup. Additionally, the Pyukumuku in the sidequest show up in the same spots every day.
• Grotesque Cute: It's traditionally adorable, but attacks by spitting out its guts.
• Last Grasp at Life: When Pyukumuku faints, it shoots out its hand-like inner organ to futilely try to catch itself from falling over.
• Lethal Joke Character: In a similar vein to Wobbuffet. Pyukumuku is a harmless-looking Pokémon which has overall low stats save for high defenses, and it can't defeat foes except through indirect attacks or counter attacks. Despite this, it can be highly effective at stalling out opponents — especially ones that rely on status buffs, since its Unaware ability lets it ignore them. It gets moves like Recover to keep itself healthy, Swagger to confuse the foe and potentially make it hit itself harder, and Block to trap its target until it's been eliminated.
• Making a Splash: It's a Water-type sea cucumber Pokémon. However, the only Water-type moves it's capable of using are Rain Dance and Soak, both of which deal no damage.
• Mundane Utility: People use its slime for skin moisturizer.
• Outside-the-Box Tactic:
  • Pyukumuku still has a way to KO things without attacking moves: Soak, Gastro Acid, and Toxic. Soak changes the target's type to mono-Water and Gastro Acid removes abilities such as Immunity and Poison Heal, allowing it to use Toxic on most Pokémon.^*There are three exceptions: Pokémon with the Magic Bounce ability, as these three moves are all reflected back to the user, Minior in its meteor form, as Shields Down can't be removed by Gastro Acid and Minior is immune to status in that form, and Komala, as Comatose treats it like it’s asleep, so it cannot be affected by other statuses, and like Shields Down, cannot be suppressed by Gastro Acid.
  • Bide and Counter can be converted into Breakneck Blitz and All-Out Pummeling with the respective Z-Crystals, allowing Pyukumuku to fire off one powerful attack per battle if equipped. This also allows it to make use of the Attack boost from Curse, which is otherwise wasted on it. Dynamaxing will likewise turn Counter into Max Knuckle, letting Pyukumuku pummel enemies for three turns, as well as changing Mirror Coat into Max Mindstorm, which triggers Psychic Terrain, in the event there's a priority move you need to worry about.
• Prehensile Tail: Its innards can act as a hand. In both the game◊ and the anime◊, it's prone to using its “hand” to flash a peace sign when it's happy.
• Punny Name: Its English name is a play on 'puke', 'mucus', and 'cucumber', while its Japanes name is a Portmanteau of namako (sea cucumber) and kobushi (fist) in reference to its intenstines being shaped like and functioning as a hand.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: It's incredibly adorable for a Pokémon that is based on an animal that uses the same orifice for eating, breathing, pooping, and mating and whose main form of defense against predators is to jettison its internal organs at them. However, it's not very popular among tourists In-Universe, who will usually throw them back if they catch one.
• Secret Art:
  • Purify, a Poison-type move that heals the target of their status condition, which then heals Pyukumuku up by 1/2 of its max HP afterwards.
  • Pyukumuku is the only Pokémon with the Innards Out ability. When it's knocked out, it will deal damage equal to the HP it had before fainting.
• Shown Their Work: Its ability to send out its innards as a defense mechanism is the same as real-world sea cucumbers.
• Stone Wall: Great defenses, but low offenses and the worst speed stat of all time, tied with Shuckle and Munchlax. Furthermore, Pyukumuku is incapable of learning offensive moves other than Bide and Counter, or Counter and Mirror Coat in Generation VIII.
• Taking You with Me: When it faints, its Innards Out ability causes it to deal as much damage as it had health before the killing blow. If it gets hit with a move that takes down all of its HP to 0 in one shot, expect a huge payback in return.
• Too Dumb to Live: They'll stay in a spot they like even if it means starving to death.
• Useless Useful Spell: It's able to learn Quash, a doubles support move which causes the target to move last. However, Quash doesn't have any increased priority, and because Pyukumuku is the slowest Pokémon in the entire franchise, it'll be unable to use the move until the target has already acted anyway.

Beast Killers: Type: Null and Silvally (Silvady)

0772: Type: Null (タイプ：ヌル taipu: nuru)
0773: Silvally / Silvady (シルヴァディ shiruvadi)

Type: Null

Silvally holding no memory

An artificial Legendary Pokémon that was created to synthesize the strengths of various Pokémon so it can adapt to any situation. It was created to combat Ultra Beasts. If Type: Null develops a strong bond with someone, it will evolve into Silvally and in the process destroy its helmet, allowing it to access its full power. There isn't much difference between the two, with Silvally's lighter gray patches becoming white and its crest getting a slightly different shape. Silvally's RKS System ability allows it to change its type depending on the Memory item it holds, similarly to Arceus' Multitype ability.

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• Action Bomb: Silvally can learn Explosion via TM, and if not holding a Memory, is one of the very few Pokémon to get STAB on the move. Throw in a Choice Band, and it's going to seriously hurt anything that doesn't resist Normal.
• Aerith and Bob: Type: Null is the only Pokémon to have a colon in its name, and the only Alola Pokémon whose name is two normal English words.
• Animalistic Abomination: Type: Null is described as the fusion of various Pokémon. Its body shape is slightly feline-like, but it takes its other body features from other creatures.
• Artificial Human: This Pokémon line was specifically created from various other Pokémon.
• Balance Buff: Pokémon Sword and Shield increased Multi-Attack's power from an average 90 to a much more impressive 120, which actually makes it stronger than Judgment^note 100 BP.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Silvally's eyes and fins change color to correspond to the type of Memory it is holding.
• Confusion Fu: Silvally's ability RKS System reacts to items called Memories, allowing it to change type akin to how Arceus synergises with Plates using its ability Multitype. In a similar vein to Arceus' Judgement, Silvally's Multi-Attack always has the same type as Silvally itself. Type: Null and Silvally are also able to learn moves of varying types. However, unlike Arceus, Silvally's moveset is more limited, and it can't change its type using Z-Crystals like Arceus can. Silvally's Memories also don't boost its STAB moves by 20% unlike the Plates, only offering the type change to itself and Multi-Attack, while Arceus can get a type change to itself and Judgment and also receive a power boost to said type.
• Continuity Nod: According to documents at Aether Paradise, materials used to create it were gathered from the Canalave Library in the Sinnoh region.
• Cool Helmet: Type: Null wears a large, heavy helmet (44.1 lbs to be exact) made of either stone or metal. This helmet is broken when it evolves.
• Critical Hit: Type: Null's ability Battle Armor makes it immune to them.
• Cyborg: Implied to be one, at least according to the cannula-like ports on the side of Silvally's mouth. Promotional art illustrates that this is some sort of disc drive or RFID device that allows it to read the Memory items to adapt its type. Design documents for it found in Aether Paradise also hint that its skeleton might be robotic or mechanical in nature.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Like Buneary, Type: Null has a base friendship of 0 and evolves when its friendship reaches 220 or over, meaning that it takes a lot of effort to earn its trust and make it evolve.
• Deity of Human Origin: It's an artificial Hybrid Monster designed to Kill the God (or Ultra Beast, in this case). In fact, this is alluded to with its RKS System sounding like the official English pronunciation of Arceus, whom it was based off of in-universe.
• Dub Name Change: Type: Null is a notable case in the series in that its Spanish and Italian names are not the same as its English name (using instead names that translate to Code Zero and Type Zero, respectively), when every other Pokémon known beforehand always used its English name in those two languages. Justified as technically it has no name until it evolves.
• Expy:
  • Silvally's design (a giant, primarily white four-legged beast) and its Ability RKS System (which changes its type depending on held item) both make it resemble Arceus. They also both have a unique attack that changes type with them. Finally, both the English and Japanese names of Silvally's ability reference Arceus, while the French, Italian, and Spanish names (all of which translate to Alpha System) reference Arceus' category as the Alpha Pokémon. Considering Type: Null was designed to battle the Pokémon spoken of in ancient myths, it may be no exaggeration to say Silvally is an artificial version of the strongest one. Notes found at Aether Paradise mention that they gathered data from the Canalave Library in Sinnoh, the region with the most mythology about Arceus.
  • Its backstory is quite similar to fellow lab-created battle machine Mewtwo: Both were modeled after a Mythical Pokémon that is said to be the origin of all others. Both were created to be the perfect fighting machines, and both went berserk and became nearly uncontrollable. The biggest difference was that Type: Null's creators did eventually find a way to control them, while Mewtwo's creator... didn't. Further similarities can be found with Mewtwo's depiction in the first Pokémon movie; as since Mewtwo's power could not be controlled, a special device was put on it to decrease its power and make it manageable, but it failed to work, and Mewtwo broke out of it. Type: Null could not be controlled, and a helmet was put on its three specimens to decrease their power and make them manageable. Two of them eventually break out of it.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: In three different flavors, no less. Silvally can get all three elemental fangs from the Move Relearner, can learn Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt via TM, and can get Tri Attack by level-up.
• Flawed Prototype: All three Type: Null (then named Type: Full) models rejected the RKS System and went berserk until affixed with control helmets that reduced their power. Pokémon being the idealistic series it is, though, said flaw can be fixed via The Power of Friendship.
• Flesh Golem: The line's mismatched appearance invokes the feeling that it was made from the body parts of other unidentified Pokémon.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • Type: Null and Silvally have identical stats except in Speed; Silvally is faster because it loses Type: Null's heavy helmet.
  • The Sun Dex entry says Silvally is awakened when it trusts its Trainer. Type: Null evolves through friendship.
  • Gladion is the only Trainer (besides the protagonist) who uses Type: Null. The Moon Pokédex entry for Silvally implies Gladion named the species, as he was the first to see Type: Null evolve.
  • Its ability to change its typing makes sense in regard to how it was designed as an Ultra Beast killer. Most of the Ultra Beasts have at least one severely exploitable weakness, such as Kartana being doubly weak to Fire or Buzzwole being doubly weak to Flying. With the Aether Foundation's prior knowledge of the Ultra Beasts, the idea was for Silvally/Type: Null to change into the advantageous type before battle to defeat them.
  • The Ultra Beasts all gain a stat boost upon entering battle, not unlike a Totem Pokémon, and their Beast Boost ability raises their stats further. Most of them are also fought at around Lv 65. Silvally learns the move Punishment at Lv 65, which deals more damage to targets with heightened stats, allowing it to fight the Ultra Beasts even more effectively.
• Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: It's a genetically-engineered Pokémon based on Arceus intended to be used as a weapon versus the Ultra Beasts.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: According to documents at Aether Paradise, all three Type: Null (then named Type: Full) rejected the RKS System and went berserk; they were equipped with the masks and cryogenically frozen.
• Hybrid Monster: Literally, and Type: Null was specifically designed for this in mind.
• Infinity -1 Sword: With base stats of 95 all around, putting it on par with the Tapu deities and just a touch behind early Mythical Legendaries^note Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy, Land Forme Shaymin, and Victini all have 100 in every stat, and RKS System allowing it to become any type, Silvally is effectively a scaled-down Arceus.
• Ironic Name: "Null" means nothing; however, its appearance and lore establish it's a hybrid of many different Pokémon. It was originally Type: Full, but after the RKS system failed in testing, it was changed to its modern name.
• Jack of All Stats: Type: Null has 95 in all stats except Speed, while Silvally has 95 in all stats, making it neither too good or too bad at anything. This also applies to its lore; one of the reasons why Type: Null was created was to be a Pokémon that could adapt to any situation by mixing the strengths of other Pokémon. Silvally's ability ups the ante, allowing it to be any of the eighteen types.
• Land, Sea, Sky: Its features are a combination of a lion (land), a shark (sea), and an eagle (sky).
• Laser Guided Tyke Bomb: Type: Null was specifically created to be able to defeat Ultra Beasts.
• Mask Power: The mask Type: Null wears allowed the Aether Foundation to control its powers, but its heavy weight also makes it slower. Upon the helmet's destruction as it evolves into Silvally, it gains a massive boost to its speed and a new ability, RKS System.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Null is a word used in programming language, meaning "not defined". Because of the RKS System, Type Null can shift types. Thus, it is not confined to several pre defined types. And often, programs glitch out if they access a variable of "Null". (So called "Null Pointer Exceptions".) The most famous null pointer exception in Pokémon spawned the famous Missingno glitch. (Missing No literally meaning "Missing", e.g. undefined variable.)
  • Its evolved form is half this, half Punny Name: Its name in every language is combination of silver and ally, or synonyms for ally. Some examples: Its Japanese name, Silvadi (Shiruvadi), can be Romanized as Silvuddy, or silver plus buddy; French, Silvallié, silver' plus allié (French for ally); Its Chinese name Yinbanzanshou literally means "silver comrade battle beast". It's a Pokémon that evolves via The Power of Love (friendship) and has a large palette of silver on it.
• Meaningful Rename: Its original name, Type: Full, represented the RKS System. When that failed, it was renamed Type: Null, to mean "nothing".
• Mighty Glacier: Type: Null has great attacking stats and bulk for an unevolved Pokémon, but it's not very fast, no thanks to the helmet on its head.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: The line shares many traits from various animals. Their front legs are bird-like, but they appear to be covered in an insect-like exoskeleton. It has mammalian hind legs, but reptilian scales on them. It also has a fishlike tail, but the actual fin part of said tail looks to be made of sharp steel and is lined with diamond shaped studs. Its actual head looks like a cross between a lion and an eagle, with a mammalian nose, ears, and (in Silvally's case) a mane, but bird-like plumage and a hooked beak. Silvally even has machine-like elements incorporated, mainly the sides of its face that have a kind of disk reader.
• Multiform Balance: Since Type: Null and Silvally have identical stats except for Speed, Type: Null has a competitive niche as a hideously-bulky Mighty Glacier with Eviolite and its Battle Armor Ability, though it is held back by its somewhat narrow movepool and is obviously outclassed by Silvally without Eviolite, since Battle Armor is fairly situational. Silvally is faster and has a better movepool, but its RKS System Ability does literally nothing unless it holds one of the type Memory Discs, which have no other purpose than to invoke RKS System to change the type of Silvally itself and Multi-Attack, forcing it to choose whether it wants to effectively have no Ability or no held item.^note Arceus may also be saddled with a similarly-useless-outside-of-specific-held-items Ability, but at least its Plates boost the power of moves of their type by 20%, letting Arceus get some benefit from its held item slot; Silvally's Memories don't even get that much.
• No Biological Sex: Fitting for something created in a lab, the line has no gender. Since their egg group is Undiscovered, they cannot even breed with a Ditto.
• Non-Elemental: It's a Normal type and its name in various languages directly references that it has no particular element to it. On top of this, Silvally's ability even allows it to change its type.
• Non-Indicative Name: They're actually Normal-type… in their natural state, at least.
• Odd Name Out: Unlike every other Pokémon^note other than the Paradox Pokémon, Type: Null doesn't really have a name so much as a classification.
• Olympus Mons: For a while, it was unclear if Type: Null and Silvally were Legendary Pokémon or not, thanks to having a special Pokédex screen, high stats, and an inability to breed like most Legendaries, yet also having an evolution.^*Additionally, they are considered "minor" Legendaries in the game's files alongside the likes of the lake guardians and the Regis, but so are the Ultra Beasts (who aren't officially considered Legendaries). It was later clarified with a distribution for a Shiny Silvally that it was officially considered Legendary, and the official site for the "Year of Legendary Pokémon" included both it and Type: Null.
• Our Gryphons Are Different: It has talons for front legs and paws on its hind legs, but it has a fish tail instead of the tail of a lion. Not only is its plume in both forms shaped like an eagle's head, but Silvally's own head, once revealed, looks like a cross between an eagle's and a lion's. It lacks wings, however, making it look more like a Keythong or a Minoan Gryphon.
• Our Homunculi Are Different: Objectively not human, but it is a lab-grown being that evokes various tropes that accompany homunculi.
• Power Limiter: The mask was put on it to control its power, and it's also heavy, making it slower. It destroys the helmet upon evolving to Silvally.
• The Power of Friendship: Type: Null's evolution is said to be triggered when it recognizes that it has a great bond with someone and destroys its helmet. Reflecting this, Silvally's name in all languages incorporates words such as ally, friend, or buddy.
• Power-Up Letdown:
  • Type: Null (being one of the strongest unevolved Pokémon) can make great use of an Eviolite and has a useful ability in Battle Armor, which further improves its defensiveness. While Silvally has higher speed and a better movepool, its ability is still disappointing, because using it requires holding an item that provides no additional combat benefits.
  • If Silvally Dynamaxes, Multi-Attack becomes the Max Move corresponding to the type of Silvally's currently held Memory, if any, and gains the appropriate secondary effect (though it's always displayed as Max Strike). The problem: a Max Move based on Multi-Attack is actually weaker than Multi-Attack itself, at 95 base power while Multi-Attack sits at a newly-buffed 120.
• Punny Name: Both the Japanese and English names of Silvally's ability (AR System and RKS System) are puns that reference Arceus, the Pokémon it is seemingly modeled after.
• Recurring Element: Follows in the footsteps of many other artificial Pokémon, but most closely to Genesect and Mewtwo.
• Secret Art:
  • The RKS System Ability is unique to Silvally, as is Multi-Attack; a rushing attack that, like Arceus' Judgment, changes type with the user.
  • Silvally is also one of the few non-Dragon Pokémon capable of learning Draco Meteor (the others being Arceus and Smeargle) as it can be tutored the move while holding a Dragon Memory.
  • In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, it could also learn the normally starter-and-elemental-monkey-exclusive Grass Pledge, Fire Pledge, and Water Pledge, but due to a glitch, the tutor will only offer to teach Grass Pledge.
• Required Secondary Powers: What its creators didn't know when they created them is that it needs a strong bond to fulfill its purpose. Without that, they are just aimlessly rampaging, out of control animals.
• Shed Armor, Gain Speed: The only significant change in appearance between Type: Null and Silvally is the destruction of its helmet, which coincides with an increase in Speed being the only change in its stats.
• Sigil Spam: Heavily associated with slashing lines, which mimic a cancel sign (⃠), fittingly enough for a line designed to combat creatures of otherworldly origin.
• Signature Mon: Inverted. The line is heavily associated with being the partner of Gladion, the enforcer for Team Skull, especially given their low population. He's the only trainer with the line in the game and gifts the player one later in the post-game. Silvally's Pokédex entry even states that Gladion named the species.
• Single Specimen Species: There are only three Type: Null in existence (four by the time of Pokémon Sword and Shield), and Gladion is the only trainer besides the player who uses it.
• Stealth Pun: "R-K-S" sounds like one pronunciation of "Arceus". This also applies to the ability's Japanese name, AR System, which uses the other pronunciation.
• Stone Wall: As Type: Null is technically an unevolved Pokémon, coupling its high defensive stats and HP with an Eviolite will give it a patently absurd amount of bulk, rivaling Porygon2 and Chansey, other well-known Eviolite tanks. While it does have a more shallow offensive movepool than Silvally, it still has STAB Return and Tri-Attack, and has decent offenses to use them. Type: Null can also learn useful utility moves like Toxic and Roar, but is limited to Rest for restoring its HP.
• Technicolor Eyes: Silvally's eye color changes depending on the type of Memory it holds.
• There Is Another: A Type: Null is given to the player in Sword and Shield, with the former version's Pokédex entry stating that theft of top-secret research has led to the creation of at least one new specimen of the species in Galar.
• Undying Loyalty: Silvally trusts its partner to such a great extent, it'll even risk its own life to protect them.
• Ultimate Lifeform: The line are artificial Pokémon created from various other Pokémon with the intent of it being able to adapt to any situation.
• Weather Manipulation: Silvally can learn all four weather-changing moves by TM, and has the means to take advantage of all of them.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Gladion has a Type: Null, and the player character receives another in the postgame. The fate of the third one is left unknown; in fact, Pokémon Sword and Shield claims its obtainable Type: Null is a brand new specimen made using stolen research, rather than the remaining third one.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: After the RKS System was transplanted into it, it went berserk and escaped confinement, necessitating the need for its control helmet. When it evolves into Silvally, it regains this wild temperament, though fortunately by that point it's counterbalanced by its unwavering trust in you.

Minior (Meteno)

0774: Minior / Meteno (メテノ meteno)

Meteor Form Minior

Core Form Minior

A Rock/Flying-type that looks like a meteor. These Pokémon live high in the ozone layer, where they feed on trace minerals, and are also prey for stronger Pokémon such as Rayquaza. They drop to the earth when they get too heavy, or when fleeing from predators. They have a hard shell that cracks open to reveal an inner core, which can come in many colors. Minior's ability, Shields Down, reflects this trait. Unfortunately, they don't last very long — they burn off their energy too quickly and are reduced to dust.

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• Action Bomb: Minior can learn Self-Destruct and later Explosion. At Mount Hokulani, they will know the former, which can become a major annoyance when trying to capture them without a Pokémon with the Damp Ability. And in the Terarium? Expect to see them use the latter.
• Anthropomorphic Food: Their Core forms resemble konpeitō, Japanese star-shaped sugar candy. And indeed, in their natural habitat, the ozone layer, they are eaten by stronger Pokémon.
• Armored But Frail: In Meteor form they have good defenses, but a poor base 60 HP.
• Blow You Away: They resemble Solrock and Lunatone, but are part Flying-types instead of Psychic types.
• The Bus Came Back: One of the twelve Pokémon who spent six years on the bus after Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon before coming back in "The Indigo Disk".
• Dishing Out Dirt: Rock-types that live in the sky of all places.
• Fragile Speedster: After losing its shell, Minior doubles in Speed, in return for lowered Defenses. Given that the shell is lost at half HP, Minior will likely keel over in a stiff breeze at that point.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • Minior's stated to die off if in its Core form for too long, something that's shown in the anime. However, in-game, they can be sent out to battle constantly, be played with, and partake in picnics, and it won't be worse for wear afterwards.
  • Even in the story the dex entry can be contradicted, with Lacey in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet using a group of Core Form Minior for her test, admittedly having them turn back to Meteor Form quickly, but then having them go back to Core Form for a group photo without any urgency indicative of the form being dangerous for their health.
• Glass Cannon: Minior becomes this after losing its shell, gaining a large increase in both Attack and Special Attack. But with heavily lowered defenses and only half a health bar, it loses any ability to actually take a hit.
• No Biological Sex: Minior is a genderless species.
• Punny Name: A pun on mini and meteor.
• Rainbow Motif: There are seven different variations of core colors for Minior, one for each color of the rainbow. Additionally, its shiny variant is black, but with the triangles in the colors of all the normal variants,
• Recurring Element: Follows in the footsteps of Pokémon with random appearance differences, such as Spinda and Pumpkaboo, though Minior is the first Pokémon to have such a pronounced difference.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: It might not look it at first, but once its Shields Down ability is activated, it's revealed that the shell conceals a cute, star-like creature. Its appearance is commonly used as a design motif for clothing and accessories in Alola.
• Secret Art: The Shields Down Ability, which changes its form from defensive to offensive when at half HP, is exclusive to Minior, and cannot be copied, stolen, or tampered with by other Pokémon in any way. Not even a transformed Ditto can even copy the ability, instead taking the appearance — and more importantly, stats — of Minior's current form.
• Shed Armor, Gain Speed: Thanks to Shields Down. As long as they have their armor, Minior have excellent defenses and resists status ailments. When they drop their armor and expose their core, their defense sharply decreases in favor of adopting a faster form that's much better suited for attacking (while also making them much easier to catch at a rate of 255). It can also learn (appropriately enough) Shell Smash, which also lowers both its defense stats while raising its offenses and speed.
• Spectacular Spinning: Minior constantly spins as it floats in the air. They can't learn Rapid Spin, but they can learn Gyro Ball.
• Stealth Pun: Minior are Rock-types that resemble konpeito, in other words they're rock candy.
• Stone Wall: Minior starts the battle as this, as its shell gives it good defenses but poor offensive stats.
• Useless Useful Spell: Minior can learn Attract via TM. Since Minior is genderless, the move won't affect anything.

Komala (Nekkoala)

0775: Komala / Nekkoala (ネッコアラ nekkoara)

Drowsing Pokémon

Komala

A Normal-type koala Pokémon. It appears to sleep its whole life away, but it can still eat, travel, and battle in this state. It sleeps with a log pillow. Since it is always sleeping, it isn't affected by other status effects like poison or burns.

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• Achilles' Heel: Because it's treated as always asleep, Wake-up Slaps are going to hurt. It's also vulnerable to Dream Eater, Nightmare, and Darkrai's Bad Dreams ability. Hex would also do double damage, but due to Komala's Normal typing, it is usually immune to that move, unless Komala is holding a Ring Target or gets affected by Soak.
• A.I. Breaker: If an AI opponent knows a status-inducing move (such as Will-O-Wisp), it will uselessly spam it against Komala, letting you pummel them to your heart's content without fear of retaliation.
• Badass Adorable: The koala design can fool anyone. Komala doesn't need any evolution to destroy anyone and look fierce. They can learn powerful attacks such as Earthquake and Wood Hammer.
• Cuddle Bug: Although it almost never lets go of its log pillow, it occasionally does to huggle the arm of a Trainer it particularly likes and trusts.
• Disability Immunity: Thanks to its "Comatose" ability, it is always treated as Asleep and therefore immune to any major status condition.
• Glass Cannon: Komala hits hard, but its physical Defense is bad.
• Heavy Sleeper: Exaggerated. It spends its entire life asleep — no one has ever seen it awake. Its ability also means it is always treated as having the Sleep status (although it can still move freely). It cannot learn the move Rest, since it's kind of hard to fall asleep when you're already asleep (and if a Komala somehow uses Rest anyway, it won't work).
• High Koala-ty Cuteness: It is a small, cute koala Pokémon that is always asleep and walks around on the log it's attached to.
• Laid-Back Koala: It is notable for spending its entire life asleep, and merely sleep walking to move around. Nobody in recorded history has ever seen an awake Komala.
• Loophole Abuse: Since Komala is treated as always asleep, it can always use Sleep Talk, which randomly uses a move from its three remaining moveslots while asleep. This doesn't seem too amazing until you realize that this lets you lock the Choice items^*applies a stat boost, but locks the user into a single move onto Sleep Talk, which gives it randomized access to the rest of its moveset while still keeping the item's stat boost. With base 115 Attack, that's nothing to laugh at.
  • While you can have three moves besides Sleep Talk, you can also have just one move other than Sleep Talk, so Sleep Talk will always choose that one move. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Komala gets Last Resort as a tutor move, a 140 base power, Normal type (STAB) move. Last Resort doesn't work until the user has exhausted all its other moves, in this case Sleep Talk, which is used to call up Last Resort. This means Komala gets to use Last Resort from turn 1. Combined with a Choice Band, this means Komala can hit very hard, having guaranteed KOs on most of the hard hitters out there, including "busted" Olympus Mons like Mega Rayquaza. Sleep Talk Last Resort also works around the PP limit of Last Resort, as only the PP of Sleep Talk is used here.
• Mighty Glacier: Komala has good Attack and Special Defense, but has bad speed.
• Non-Elemental: It's a Normal-type based on a koala.
• One Curse Limit: Comatose is designed to specifically exploit this trope within the Pokémon RPGs, as Komala is unable to obtain other status conditions due to being under a permanent "Sleep".
• Palette Swap: An odd example in that Komala itself doesn't have a shiny form; its log does, which looks much more like an actual pillow.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Small and cute, but turns out that this little sleepy Koala has a fairly high attack stat and can learn powerful moves like Wood Hammer and Earthquake.
• Punny Name: 'Coma' and 'Koala in English. Tree stump (根っ子 nekko), sleep (寝 ne) young animal (子 ko), and koala in Japanese
• Recurring Element: A single-stage (at the time) Normal-type famous for sleeping all the time. Are we talking about Komala or Snorlax?
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: It's a constantly sleepy koala holding an adorable little log pillow.
• Secret Art: The Ability Comatose, which permanently puts Komala to sleep while still allowing it to attack. This ability comes with its own set of perks and detriments.
• Shown Their Work: Real life koalas really do spend most of the time sleeping because of their nutrient-poor eucalyptus leaf diet.
• Sleepwalking: Downplayed. While it is always asleep, it is mostly as functional as any awake animal in this state.
• Sleepy Enemy: Komala is perpetually asleep thanks to its Ability "Comatose". This gives it the advantage of being immune to all other non-volatile status conditions (paralysis, poison, etc.) and it can use moves that would normally require being asleep (Sleep Talk, Snore) at any time. However, this also leaves it vulnerable to moves that require the target to be asleep (Dream Eater, Nightmare) and it takes double-damage every time from Hex and Wake-Up Slap.

Turtonator (Bakugames)

0776: Turtonator / Bakugames (バクガメス bakugamesu)

Turtonator

A Fire/Dragon Pokémon based on a Mata Mata, a species of freshwater turtle. It lives in volcanic areas and camouflages itself as a rock and waits for prey. It also feeds on sulfur which makes its shell highly explosive. It has a move called "Shell Trap" that sets up a trap at the beginning of the turn. If hit with a physical move, it causes an explosion that damages the opponent. Just like Honedge in Generation VI with its French and Japanese names, Turtonator is notable for having its German ("Tortunator") and English names revealed before any of its other localized names. It is exclusive to Sun.

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• Action Bomb:
  • Its signature Shell Trap attack sets a trap on itself at the beginning of the turn. Attacking it with a physical move inflicts damage on the attacker with an explosion. Tortunator is also capable of learning Explosion.
  • Lore-wise, it camouflages itself as a rock and waits for prey to pass by; when the prey steps on its shell, Turtonator triggers an explosion.
• Armored But Frail: Great 135 base Defense, poor base 60 HP, meaning moves that bypass its defenses make short work of it. It's also an example of this trope in-universe — it relies on its shell to block attacks, as the hole on its chest is vulnerable to attack.
• Attack Its Weak Point: There's a hole in Turtonator's chest that takes in air for explosive attacks. If this point is attacked, it'll deal major damage to it.
• Badass Back: In a similar fashion to Mawile and Mega Sceptile, it keeps its armored back towards its opponent in battle. It does this because its chest has a port that takes in air for attacks, and this is considered Turtonator's weak point.
• Critical Hit: Its ability is Shell Armor, which makes it immune to them.
• Counter-Attack: Its Secret Art Shell Trap works this way — if the opponent hits it with a physical move, it retaliates with a very powerful Fire-type attack.
• Foil:
  • To Drampa, its version exclusive counterpart. Both are dual-type Pokémon with Dragon as their secondary typing, but Turtonator is a predator who waits for prey to come to it and trigger an explosion.
  • To Mawile, another Pokémon with an over-the-shoulder stance. Turtonator's Dragon-typing is ineffective against Mawile's Fairy-typing, but its Fire-typing is highly effective against Mawile's Steel-typing. Turtonator's back provides defence, while Mawile's provides offense. Turtonator is large and weird-looking, while Mawile is small and cute.
• Gag Nose: What appears to be a spout-like mouth similar to Octillery's is actually a snorkel-like nose, which the Mata Mata possesses.
• Gonk: Just like the species it's based on, it's not particularly pretty.
• Jagged Mouth: Its mouth is marked by a yellow jagged line, complete with a beaklike protrusion just like most turtles.
• Kappa: The top of its head is reminiscent of the common depiction of a Kappa's head, but it holds no water.
• Mighty Glacier: Turtonator has very high defense and good special attack, but it is as slow as a tortoise. It can learn Shell Smash to balance this around, however.
• Our Dragons Are Different: One based on a tortoise. It's the third Fire/Dragon-type Pokémon in the series, and the first not to be a Mega-evolution or Legendary Pokémon.
• Playing with Fire: It's a part Fire-type flamethrowing turtle.
• Punny Name: It's a turtle detonator (English)/exploding turtle (Japanese).
• Secret Art: Shell Trap, a Counter-Attack that triggers if the opponent hits Turtonator with a physical attack, and deals very heavy fire-type damage.
• Solid Gold Poop: Its Moon Pokédex entry says that its dung is an explosive substance that can be put to various uses.
• Status Buff: It can use Shell Smash to sharply raise both of its offensive stats and its pitiful Speed stat at the cost of its impressive Defense and Special Defense stats.
• Sturdy and Steady Turtles: Much like other turtle-based Pokémon, Turtonator is both very slow and provided with excellent defenses. It can avert this trope if it learns the move Shell Smash, which is themed around the idea of a Pokémon smashing off part of its shell in order to become a fair bit speedier — but at the cost of losing some of its defense.

Togedemaru

0777: Togedemaru (トゲデマル togedemaru)

Togedemaru

The regional electric rodent of Alola, Togedemaru is an Electric/Steel-type hedgehog that doesn't seem like much apart from a sphere with tiny ears and legs, and what appears to be a tail is actually a long spine. While it appears to be very cuddly, hugging it is not recommended, as it can have Iron Barbs as an ability.

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• Acrofatic: It's got a chubby-looking, ball-shaped body, but its Speed is its second-best stat, just two points behind its Attack.
• Badass Adorable: Togedemaru, being the mandatory electric rodent of its generation, has a very cute design thanks to their spherical shape, big black eyes, small size, and tiny fingerless arms. But Togedemaru has pretty good physical stats compared to its electric rodent counterparts and the ability Iron Barbs to prevent physical contact. The Totem Togedemaru from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon takes this to the extreme by helping a fellow overcharged Togedemaru and its angry face is too cute to be taken seriously.
• Energy Absorption: It can have the Lightning Rod ability. It's very well known by locals for absorbing electricity with its long tail-like spine, including from other Electric-types.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Translate "Togedemaru" from Japanese and you get "spike-protruding ball", which is exactly what it is.
• Extra-ore-dinary: Togedemaru is part-Steel, and from its back it vaguely looks like a ball of iron.
• King Mook: A Totem Togedemaru appears in the trial at Hokulani Observatory in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, replacing Vikavolt.
• Last Chance Hit Point: It has Sturdy as its Hidden Ability.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Its special attack is by far its lowest stat, at only 40.
• Master of None: It has good but not extraordinary attack and speed, while the remaining stats are either middling or awful.
• Our Fairies Are Different: Not Fairy-type, but it is classified in the Fairy Egg Group and can learn Disarming Voice via breeding.
• Recurring Element: Togedemaru is Alola's Pikachu Expy, an Electric-type based on a rodent with electrified Blush Stickers.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: As is the norm for the Pikaclones. Togedemaru is a little grey and white hedgehog or spiny mouse that can accurately be described as a ball with a spine.
• The Rival: It and Elekid fight over the former stealing the latter's electricity.
• Secret Art: Up until Pincurchin in Sword and Shield, it's the only Pokémon that can learn Zing Zap: a physical Electric attack that can make the target flinch. Also, as an electric rodent, it can learn Nuzzle. It's also one of the few Pokémon which can learn Spiky Shield.
• Shock and Awe: Part-Electric, and has been shown to be able to use Spark. It also has the ability Lightning Rod, allowing it to redirect any single-target Electric-type attack to it and absorb it for a special attack boost. Apparently its ability to generate its own electricity is limited, but it's great at absorbing it from outside sources and using that for its attacks.
• Spike Balls of Doom: It's basically an adorable spikeball, and has Iron Barbs as a potential ability akin to Ferroseed and Ferrothorn. In fact, its name literally translates to "spike-protruding ball" from Japanese.
• Spikes of Doom: It's adorable, but also very thorny. Iron Barbs is a potential ability it can have, and it can also learn Spiky Shield.
• Stout Strength: Togedemaru is quite plump and its best stat is its Attack.
• Useless Useful Spell:
  • Togedemaru can't make good use of Iron Barbs, since its Defense stat is too low and most moves that make contact are physical. Its crippling x4 weakness to Ground is further made worse since almost all Ground-type moves don't make contact.
  • In a similar vein to Dedenne from the previous generation, its stat spread prevents it from efficiently using the only move it gains STAB on its secondary type. In Togedemaru's case, it's too fast to use Gyro Ball effectively. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon allows Togedemaru to learn Iron Head as a tutor move.
• Waddling Head: Even more so than its predecessor Dedenne and fellow Alola mon Rowlet. Togedemaru is basically a sphere with a small snout and tiny limbs and ears.

Mimikyu (Mimikkyu)

0778: Mimikyu / Mimikkyu (ミミッキュ mimikkyu)

Mimikyu

A Ghost/Fairy Pokémon who hates the sunlight, and wears a rag for protection. It chooses to wear what resembles old Pikachu merchandise since it wants to be as popular as the Series Mascot itself. It has a new ability called "Disguise", which serves as a one-time block against attacks, similarly to the move Substitute. It also has a unique Z-Move, Let's Snuggle Together, a powered-up Play Rough accessed with Mimikum Z.

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• Achilles' Heel: Mimikyu is a great Pokémon to use in most battles in-game... except against Solgaleo/Lunala and (in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon) Necrozma. Their signature moves (Sunsteel Strike, Moongeist Beam, and Photon Geyser) ignore Abilities, tearing straight through Disguise, and the former two being super-effective against Mimikyu renders it little more than cannon fodder.
• Adaptational Villainy: Most portrayals of Mimikyu (such as Acerola's Mimikins in the anime) are of it being a lonely creature who dresses as Pikachu so it can be loved by others. In that same continuity, though, one Mimikyu willingly joins Team Rocket because it has a grudge against Ash's Pikachu. Being a main character's Pokémon, it shows up a lot.
• Ambiguous Innocence: Make no mistakes, Mimikyu is a genuinely sympathetic and tragic creature, but a few moments from the game, especially the Totem Mimikyu trial, seem to suggest that the anime portrayal isn't quite as far off as initially believed... especially with that creepy Pikachu Stalker Shrine room (which vanishes from existence after you complete the trial) and the fact that an NPC Mimikyu implicitly threatens you (and it's no empty threat either).
• And Call Him "George": The Z-Move "Let's Snuggle Forever" involves Mimikyu dragging its opponent under its disguise. It has been implied that contact with the real creature under the Disguise can be fatal.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Mimikyu is a living Brown Note that kills those who dare set eyes upon it, but is just a friendly Pokémon who wants to have friends, so it protects its friends from this terrible fate by wearing a disguise over its true form.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: The only change from Japanese to English is replacing the cutesy and decently punny "kyu" with the less cute and more straight-forwardly punny "yu".
• Bedsheet Ghost: It's a Ghost/Fairy type that wears the tattered remnants of twenty-year-old Pikachu merchandise over itself, invoking this trope.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: It apparently has two mouths: one mouth is where its actual face is and a second where the "Pikachu disguise" is. Mimikyu can be fed through both in Pokémon Refresh. Though given Mimikyu's gimmick and the fact that it's a ghost, it could be using its powers to pretend that it's eating through its "Pikachu" mouth. The anime also shows it eating by engulfing its food from the bottom of its body, kind of like a real starfish.
• Breakout Character: When it was revealed, it received enough praise to get an Image Song before the game's release and a prominent role in the anime as one of Team Rocket's Pokémon. Its dream of achieving popularity came true for it. It even received its own Z-Move in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. It's also the number 3 Pokémon of all time on the 2020 Pokémon of the Year poll, only behind Lucario and Greninja.
• Brown Note: It's been said that Mimikyu's true appearance will cause whoever looks upon it to die of overwhelming terror, as one unlucky scholar discovered. This certainly explains why they'd rather hide under rags — this is shown in-game by a preschooler NPC in Malie City telling the player her Mimikyu adamantly refuses to remove its rag to wear a Reaper Cloth instead. In Pokémon Refresh, actually touching Mimikyu beneath its disguise will cause it to double back.
• Carry a Big Stick: To complete its disguise, Mimikyu carries a wooden stick that resembles Pikachu's lightning bolt-shaped tail. It is capable of using this stick to perform Wood Hammer.
• Changeling Tale: Its habit of imitating another cute Pokémon and its Fairy typing brings the idea of changelings to mind.
• Combat Tentacles: It attacks by extending its body into a claw-tipped tentacle and slashing its opponent.
• Cosplay: Mimikyu make their own Pikachu rags, and if the disguise breaks in battle, the Mimikyu spends all night repairing it.
• Creepy Doll: While it's more of a creepy rag, the rag it wears looks rather unnerving.
• Cute and Psycho: Its signature Z-Move is called "Let's Snuggle Forever." And ever, and ever, and ever...
• Dark Is Not Evil: Much of Mimikyu's appeal comes from the fact that, despite its shadowy appearance, fear of sunlight, and creepy scarecrow-like disguise, it's an adorable, innocent creature that wants to have friends.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Shiny Mimikyu are completely grayscale, presumably a reference to the series' Game Boy days.
• Doppelgänger: Mimikyu plays around with the concept, as it imitates Pikachu because it wants the same kind of popularity.
• Easy Impersonation: Pikachu tend to have arms and legs, instead of a shadowy limb-like appendage coming from underneath, don't they? In Sun and Moon, before Totem Mimikyu presents itself, it even appears as a (somewhat pale) Pikachu while running through the abandoned Thrifty Megamart, implying the player character fell for its disguise.
• Eldritch Abomination: Implied; whatever Mimikyu is hiding under that rag, it's apparently so terrifying that anyone who views it will die of fright. Alternatively, some aspect of seeing it causes a curse or other terrible reaction, perhaps more magic than appearance-based (one can see parts of it like its "feet", eyes, or "arms" with no ill effect).
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: Its disguise creates an illusion of this type, since it's peering out of the costume's torso while the head is completely fake.
• The Fair Folk: The first ever Ghost/Fairy-type, and fittingly is depicted as a creepy (but not malevolent) Eldritch Abomination with an affinity for disguise.
• Friendly Ghost: A little imp-like ghost who wants to make friends, but unfortunately it's a living Brown Note whose true form kills people upon sight. It's very hard to make friends with dead people, so it wears its rag to hide it.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: The eye holes on the torso of the rag are shown glowing as it attacks.
• Green Thumb: It is one of the rare non-Grass types to learn Wood Hammer, most likely because of the wooden "tail" it has on its back.
• I Just Want to Be You: It's a whole species of Pokémon that desires to be as popular as another species, so it disguises itself accordingly.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: The reason why it wears a Pikachu rag is because it thinks this will help it to be friendly with humans, just like a Pikachu.
• Image Song: Mimikyu has an adorable rap written from its perspective where it laments about its desire to be like Pikachu and to have friends.
• Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: The rag it wears heavily resembles Pikachu and its name sounds like "mimic you".
• Jack of All Stats: Mimikyu's stats are all moderately high and balanced except for its horrendous HP and Sp. Atk; however, the former is mitigated by its high defenses and Disguise ability, and the latter is mitigated by Mimikyu's lack of Special Attacks they can naturally learn in the first place. It also learns Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak, which can help it deal with bulkier or faster enemies.
• Keet: The Totem Mimikyu jumps in joy when it realizes the player just took a photo of it. It's the same animation all Mimikyu do when happy in Pokémon Refresh.
• King Mook: A Totem Mimikyu appears as part of the trial at the abandoned Thrifty Megamart at Route 14 in Gen VII.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • The Pikachu rag it's wearing is said to be based off of popular merchandise from 20 years ago, a reference to both the franchise's 20th anniversary, and its initially explosive popularity when first released.
  • Its Shiny form is in total greyscale, mimicking the graphics of the original Game Boy.
• Living Toys: Played with. While Mimikyu is not an animated Pikachu doll, its size makes it resemble one, it's somewhat similar to the concept of one, and its disguise is directly based on Pikachu merchandise from 20 years ago.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Mimikyu's Attack is usable, but its base 50 Special Attack isn't worth talking about, and it learns few special-based moves to begin with.
• Mimic Species: Disguises itself as a Pikachu using old merch to conceal its true form which is rumored to cause fatalities upon sight.
• Nerf: Disguise was nerfed in Gen VIII so that instead of completely negating damage, Mimikyu takes 12.5% damage when its disguise is broken. This effectively prevents Mimikyu from being able to use a Focus Sash (without help from a teammate, at least).
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Mimikyu's desire to be loved is far from creepy; the measures it takes to achieve that are another matter. Even its Pikachu disguise can be a bit off-putting. Then there's the nature of the creature under the rag, which takes it to a whole new level.
• No-Sell: Its dual Fairy/Ghost typing renders it immune to Normal, Fighting and Dragon-type moves.
• Nothing Is Scarier: What it actually looks like is apparently so terrifying that people who see it die. We never see what it looks like.
• Our Fairies Are Different: Mimikyu is part Fairy-type. In this case, it seems to allude to its nature as a cute, imp-like creature.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: How its Disguise ability works. Initially, its Pikachu head is upright, which lets the disguise act as a decoy to other Pokémon; after taking one attack, the head droops down, ruining the "illusion" and making Mimikyu take damage normally.
• Parody: Its appearance and lore are a parody of Pikachu's popularity, and possibly of the whole "Pikaclone" concept in general (aside from the fact that Togedemaru is the actual regional "Pikaclone").
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Only 0'8'' and 0.7 kg, but it has very high Attack, with its Disguise ability allowing it to easily use Swords Dance in most cases.
• Pokémon Speak: Its cry is an approximation of "Pikachu!"^note Pikachu's own cry with ethereal, ghostly noises.
• Pun: When an opponent attacks Mimikyu, the head of its rag droops. The game then says, "Mimikyu's disguise is busted!"
• Punny Name: When said out loud, its name sounds like "mimic you".
• Recurring Element:
  • Mimikyu is a new variation on a Pokémon that mimics others, following Ditto and Zoroark. This time, however, Mimikyu directly mimics a specific species.
  • It also shares elements with Yamask and Phantump: They're all Ghost-types with main bodies made of black shadows, but wear mask-like objects, and they all have tragic Pokédex entries. Though unlike those two, Mimikyu doesn't have a terrifying evolution (or any evolution), and it's not specifically stated to be the ghost of someone who died.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When using Let's Snuggle Forever, there's a brief shot of Mimikyu being seen from below. The only thing that can be seen is a pair of red, glowing eyes.
• Riddle for the Ages: What Mimikyu actually looks like without its rag. Depending on the source you believe, anyone unfortunate enough to look at it will go insane, die from terror, or get cursed.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: In a different way from its "idol"; it's a tiny Bedsheet Ghost creature with dot eyes wearing a ragdoll-like costume.
• Secret Art:
  • Mimikyu is the only Pokémon that has Disguise as its ability, which allows Mimikyu to take a hit without taking direct damage once per battle. And unlike most abilities, Disguise only works on Mimikyu. Not even a Ditto transformed into a Mimikyu can activate Disguise.
  • In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, it gains an exclusive Z-Move, Let's Snuggle Forever.
• Shock and Awe: Mimikyu can learn several Electric-type moves to better imitate Pikachu, which is played up in the Image Song with Thunderbolt. Sadly, most of them use its subpar Special Attack (which, incidentally, is the same as Pikachu's).
• Shown Their Work: Mimikyu's design is likely at least a partial nod to Batesian mimicry, where one species has evolved to mimic another to avoid predators. While the reason is different, Mimikyu's desire to be popular like Pikachu is a similar principle.
• Single-Use Shield: Its Disguise ability functions this way; provided the ability isn't suppressed by Mold Breaker or the like, the first time per battle Mimikyu is hit with a damaging attack, it will switch into its Busted Form instead of losing HP.
• Soul Power: Part Ghost type.
• Status Buff: It can naturally learn Hone Claws and Double Team and can be taught Swords Dance through a TM. Notably, it has a almost guaranteed chance to set up on an enemy thanks to its ability ^note "almost" because status moves as well as Pokémon with the Mold Breaker ability can bypass Disguise; the moves Sunsteel Strike, Moongeist Beam, and Photon Geyser, along with their exclusive Z-move counterparts, will all also ignore Disguise.
• Take Our Word for It: Its real form is apparently so terrifying, a scholar who saw what was under its rag was overwhelmed by terror and died from the shock.
• Talking Animal:
  • Totem Mimikyu says "Seeeeee meee?!" when the player spots it. The fact that Mimikyu has an Image Song also suggests this.
  • Another Mimikyu you can find hanging out in the overworld says it will curse you, though there doesn't seem to be a reason for it. Image Song aside, the slow, stunted, and broken nature of Mimikyu's speech (combined with its Pikachu-like cry) makes it hard to tell if it's speaking intelligently or just parroting things it hears.
    Mimikyu: Me...me curse...you...
• Theme Naming: Just like Pikachu (and Pikachu's many Expies), its English name is a romanization of its Japanese one.
• These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: Mimikyu's true form. A researcher who saw it died from terror, and it's generally believed that seeing its true form will cause the viewer to be stricken with a deadly curse. In the anime version, seeing its true form won't kill you automatically, but will cause a Near-Death Experience, as Meowth had dealt with more than once.
• Twinkle in the Eye: Its eyes (the real eyes on its "chest") shine when it's performing a physical move with its shadowy claw. They also shine when it's performing its Z-Move, Let's Snuggle Forever.
• Unseen Evil: It's not really evil, but whatever it truly looks like is to forever be obscured by its disguise. This is because, as it's supposed to be terrifying enough to cause people to Go Mad from the Revelation and/or die, any reveal of its true form would be underwhelming.
• Weakened by the Light: It's rumored that it wears a rag to hide from sunlight. It is also said that those that try to remove it are stricken with illness.
• The Woobie: Invoked to no end. The poor little thing just wants people to love it.
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Mimikyu's true form is prone to cause people to Go Mad from the Revelation. Or die.

Bruxish (Hagigishiri)

0779: Bruxish / Hagigishiri (ハギギシリ hagigishiri)

Bruxish

A Water/Psychic-type reef triggerfish (which is the state fish of Hawaii, Alola's basis). Bruxish is an effeminate, sinister-looking Pokémon with a garish mix of colors over its body, a mouth full of sharp fangs, and a flower-like stalk on its forehead. It appears to focus on disorienting its opponents, with its ability Dazzling preventing the use of priority moves, while also grinding them to mush with its sharp teeth.

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• Action Initiative: Bruxish's ability Dazzling is designed to prevent these sorts of moves from working, as demonstrated in its debut trailer by a Pikachu trying to use Quick Attack on it.
• Always a Bigger Fish: While Mareanie hunt Corsola, Bruxish hunt Mareanie, being one of the few creatures unbothered by its spines.
• The Dreaded: If a nearby Pokémon hears a Bruxish grinding its teeth, it'll sense danger and flee immediately.
• Face of a Thug: It may be sinister-looking, but lifeguards allow it to remain in their areas because it keeps more dangerous Water-types away.
• Flying Seafood Special: Like a lot of fish Pokémon, it floats above land in battle.
• Gag Lips: Made to look like garish lipstick.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Bruxish's Pokédex entries state that it hunts Mareanie, being unbothered by its spines. In-game, Bruxish's Psychic-type attacks are perfect to defeat the part-Poison-type Mareanie and Toxapex, with a Strong Jaw-boosted Psychic Fangs being able to rip right through their defenses.
• Glass Cannon: Bruxish has a pretty high Attack stat, and is also quite fast, but its defenses are below average.
• Gonk: It's... something, alright. The pastel colors and eyes are pretty (to some. To most, it just adds to how garish and ugly it is), but the mouth is a bit off-putting.
• Making a Splash: Primarily Water-type based on the reef triggerfish.
• Man Bites Man: It can get Strong Jaw as an ability. In addition to this, it also learns a number of biting moves, including the rare Psychic Fangs.
• Meaningful Name: Bruxism + Fish. Bruxism is the medical term for habitual and involuntary teeth grinding, hence referenced in its tendency to grind its sharp teeth and Strong Jaw ability.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: It has the appearance of stereotypical psychedelic art, invoked even more with it being part Psychic-type. When it attacks, the bulb on top of its head even opens up like a flower to invoke its hippie-like attributes even more.
• Power Nullifier: Bruxish's ability Dazzling causes priority moves from the opponent to fail.
• Psychic Powers: A part-Psychic Pokémon with access to Psywave and an ability that prevents other Pokémon from executing priority moves. It has a protuberance on its head that emits psychic power, inflicting opponents with headaches and unconsciousness. It likes to bury itself leaving this organ exposed, letting it serve as a kind of radar.
• Secret Art: Dazzling, its ability, which blocks priority attacks, although its effect is shared with Tsareena's Queenly Majesty. There's also Psychic Fangs, an 85 Power Psychic-type move that breaks Light Screen and Reflect, which can only be learned by Bruxish and Sharpedo (and Lillipup via breeding with Smeargle).
• Useless Useful Spell: As interesting as Dazzling is as an ability, it is very situational. Bruxish can get more mileage out of its other ability, Strong Jaw, which powers up its biting moves, which includes Ice Fang, Poison Fang, Crunch, and its signature move Psychic Fangs.

Drampa (Jijilong)

0780: Drampa / Jijilong (ジジーロン jijiiron)

Drampa

A green Normal/Dragon-type Pokémon resembling a Chinese Dragon, Drampa appears to be elderly thanks to the fluffy white hair covering its body. They live in the mountains but come down to feed on berries and socialize with people and other Pokémon. It can have the ability Berserk or Sap Sipper. It is exclusive to Moon.

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• Berserk Button: It has the ability Berserk, which boosts its Special Attack when an attack reduces its HP below 50%. Lore-wise, bringing harm to children will really set it off.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Drampa are herbivorous, are great with children, and just like fellow friendly dragons Dragonite and Goodra, will absolutely lose their cool if you manage to tick them off. The best way to do this is to hurt a child a Drampa has befriended.
• Bully Hunter: It's been known to find the houses of bullies that have targeted kids it's befriended, and burn them to the ground in retribution.
• Confusion Fu: Drampa can learn offensive moves from almost every type — Poison is the exception (barring Hidden Power, of course).
• Delightful Dragon: Drampa is a grandfatherly Dragon-type Pokémon that's kind towards children and other Pokémon, though any harm to those it befriends with will invoke its wrath.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Ultra Sun reveals that if a child Drampa has befriended is bullied, it finds the bully's house and burns it to the ground.
• Dragons Up the Yin Yang: What it represents.
• Flight: It's able to fly despite not being a flying type. It even has Fly as a level-up move.
• Friend to All Children: Drampa is noted to be very friendly towards children and other Pokémon, and is often brought to schools and parks to interact with them.
• Foil: To Turtonator, its version exclusive counterpart. Both are dual-type Pokémon with Dragon as their secondary typing, but Drampa is a gentle herbivore who comes down from the mountains to interact with others.
• Gentle Giant: Drampa are almost 10 feet tall, but are generally peaceful creatures that love to interact with people and other Pokémon.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Their eyes turn white during attacks.
• Late Character Syndrome: Unlike its version exclusive counterpart Turtonator (which can be found in Blush Mountain in Sun and Ultra Sun), Drampa can only be found inside the cave areas of Mt. Lanakila in Moon and Ultra Moon. This means that by the time you're finally able to add one to your team, the only challenge of the main story left is the Elite 4 and Champion.
• Mighty Glacier: Drampa packs a very high Special Attack and decent defenses, but has poor Speed in exchange.
• Non-Elemental: Drampa's primarily Normal-type.
• Older and Wiser: When it's not attacking, Drampa seems very serene. Its name is also a combination of dragon and grandpa.
• Our Dragons Are Different: It's a Chinese dragon that wouldn't look out of place with a group of old people, and its typing is unique to it.
• Papa Wolf: Though usually a very gentle creature, Drampa will furiously protect children from harm.
• Punny Name: Dragon + Grampa. Similarly, its Japanese name combines jiji, a term for grandfather, with long, the Chinese word for dragon.
• Secret Art: The ability Berserk, which raises its Special Attack when it gets hit with a move that lowers its health below 50%.
• Shout-Out: It looks similar to Falkor from The Neverending Story. Its Bully Hunter tendencies could also be inspired by the end of the movie.
• Turns Red: Its Berserk ability causes it to get a boost in special attack when its health drops below half due to another Pokémon's direct attack. It should be noted that this is a one-time triggered stat boost rather than a "toggle" like other HP-dependent abilities such as Overgrow, Blaze, and Torrent, so healing Drampa back above half health will allow it to be boosted again, but switching out or being hit with a Status-Buff Dispel will cause the boost to be lost.

Dhelmise (Dadarin)

0781: Dhelmise / Dadarin (ダダリン dadarin)

Dhelmise

While there have been many different ghosts in Pokémon, most of them have been ghosts of either humans or other Pokémon. The peculiar Dhelmise, however, is much different. It is born from a soul of seaweed adrift in waves, and in order to maintain a solid form, it uses more seaweed to wrap around ocean debris, mainly a large anchor and a ship's wheel, to give it a base. Even so, its actual body is the seaweed. Incorporating steel items as a part of its body also powers up its steel type moves, giving it a same type attack bonus from three types (Ghost, Grass, and Steel).

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• Anchors Away: It uses its anchor to attack enemies. It can even KO a Wailord. Its Secret Art is even based around throwing its anchor onto an opponent to deal heavy damage and prevent them from escaping.
• Animate Inanimate Object: Subverted. The anchor is just an anchor, and the seaweed on it is the actual Pokémon.
• The Blank: Played with. As a bunch of seaweed, Dhelmise does not have a face to show its expression, but the compass on Dhelmise's "wheel" does function like an expressive eye. The "needle" on the compass even tilts to resemble an angry eye when Dhelmise is denied a treat in Pokémon Refresh.
• Depth Deception: The battle model belies the fact that this thing is actually almost 13 feet (4 meters) tall and is almost as big as Groudon, Lugia, and other massive legendaries.
• Epic Flail: Dhelmise's anchor is attached to a Variable-Length Chain, allowing it to use moves such as Power Whip and Brutal Swing along with its signature Anchor Shot.
• Extra-ore-dinary: While Dhelmise is not Steel-type, its ability of Steelworker gives it extra power on Steel-type moves, effectively giving it a third STAB option and technically the first and only triple-type Pokémon until the introduction of Bombirdier in Gen IX.
• Food Chain of Evil: Its Ultra Sun Dex entry mentions that Wailord is its preferred prey.
• Ghost Ship: It's a microcosm of the idea, with its body, anchor, and wheel forming an ominous, ghostly face.
• Green Thumb: It is part Grass-type, as its real body is the seaweed wrapped around the debris.
• Making a Splash: Dhelmise is not part Water (despite it being a boiled-down representation of a sunken ship). But being seaweed and all, it unsurprisingly can learn Water-type moves (only three: Whirlpool, Rain Dance, and Surf). It also can only be encountered by fishing in its debut games.
• Meaningful Name: "Helm" and "demise", as it includes the wheel and anchor of a sunken ship.
• Mighty Glacier: Dhelmise has great Attack and good defenses. But as expected from a Pokémon attached to an anchor, it is very slow.
• No Biological Sex: It's genderless. It is just a clump of seaweed, after all.
• Odd Friendship: Its Ultra Moon and Dragalge's Ultra Sun Dex entries mention that for some reason they get along well with each other.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: It's a soul of a seaweed possessing a larger bunch of seaweed that uses an anchor and a ship's wheel as a base.
• Scary Teeth: The pattern of its true body on the anchor forms these.
• Secret Art: It is the only Pokémon to learn Anchor Shot, a Steel-type move where it ensnares the target with its anchor and a chain made from its body while attacking, thus making them unable to flee. The ability Steelworker is also exclusive to it.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: One of the few Gen VII non-Legendary families kept secret before the game's release.
• Soul Power: Part Ghost-type.
• Spin Attack: Naturally learns Rapid Spin, which is very unusual for a Ghost-type. Also gets Gyro Ball by level-up, which works very well with its Steelworker ability, low Speed, and high Attack.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Dhelmise has quite a few ways of trapping enemies in battle: in addition to Anchor Shot, which deals heavy Steel-type damage and traps the opponent, it also gets Wrap and Whirlpool to trap targets and deal damage over time. As a part-Ghost type, Dhelmise itself is immune to being trapped.

Jangmo-o, Hakamo-o, and Kommo-o (Jyarako, Jyarango, and Jyararanga)

0782: Jangmo-o / Jyarako (ジャラコ jarako)
0783: Hakamo-o / Jyarango (ジャランゴ jarango)
0784: Kommo-o / Jyararanga (ジャラランガ jararanga)

Jangmo-o

Hakamo-o

Kommo-o

A Dragon Pokémon. It's covered in scales that prevent it from either being damaged by ball and bomb moves or damaged by sound moves. Jangmo-o gather in harsh locations like canyons to train with each other. When it evolves into Hakamo-o, it leaves the group to train on its own. Its scales can come loose in harsh battle, but it takes pride in these wounds and the scales grow back anyway. When it evolves into Kommo-o, it is strong enough to watch over Jangmo-o groups from afar.

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• Aloof Big Brother: The lore given for Kommo-o gives it this impression.
  "Kommo-o, having completed its harsh training, returns to its birthplace to protect Jangmo-o. However, it only watches over them from a distance."
• Armored Dragons: Their scales are used to this effect. This shows up in all three of their abilities giving immunities. Bulletproof protects them from ball and bomb moves, Soundproof protects them from sound-based moves (the idea being they can use sounds from their scales to negate other sounds), and their Hidden Ability, Overcoat, protects them from weather effects and powder moves.
• Balance Buff: Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon adds Close Combat to Kommo-o's movepool, with the Move Tutor further expanding its movepool with moves such as Fire Punch and Ice Punch. It also gets Clangorous Soulblaze, which is its signature Z-move that hits multiple foes and boosts all its stats when it hits.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Hakamo-o and Kommo-o are part Fighting-type. Literally, too, considering the basis of their designs are monks.
• Battle Cry: Hakamo-o doesn't just use a battle cry to intimidate opponents, but performs an intense dance, clanging its scales together, and then culminating in a battle cry.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: The scales on Kommo-o's tail are imbued with ring scales that it uses to alert others of its presence and to fight off "darkness". The tip of its tail appears sharp and spear-like. All in all the end of its tail is quite similar to a khakkhara staff in design.
• Blood Knight: They all live to fight, with Jangmo-o growing stronger and bigger by battling each other. Kommo-o is even stated to dislike fighting weak foes.
• Bulletproof Vest: One of its two abilities, Bulletproof, protects it from ball and bomb moves.
• Cool Helmet: The way their head scales are shaped gives them a helmet-like impression, particularly like those of a Pacific warrior or a South East Asian monk warrior.
• Death Glare: The Totem Kommo-o acting as the boss of the Vast Poni Canyon trial stares at the player character throughout the whole thing. While Kommo-o doesn't show itself until the player character reaches the Z-Crystal pedestal, the latter can feel "the fiercest stare imaginable" as they cross the trial area's corridor.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Hakamo-o and Kommo-o resemble theropod dinosaurs, and the whole line incorporates ankylosaur traits into their designs.
• Dreadlock Warrior: Kommo-o are part Fighting-types whose head scales resemble dreadlocks.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Both Hakamo-o and Kommo-o are depicted as having four-fingered hands.
• Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better: The latter two stages are bipedal. Downplayed with Kommo-o, as its traveling animations depict it walking or running on its knuckles.
• Jack of All Stats: While leaning more towards the Mighty Glacier side, Kommo-o has all-around decent stats; great defensive stats (though its HP is low compared to the other pseudo-Legendary Pokémon) with decent offensive stats, and it has a passable 85 Speed stat.
• Kamehame Hadoken: Kommo-o and Hakamo-o use this technique to perform the special moves that they can learn.
• King Mook: A Totem Hakamo-o appears as part of the trial in Sun and Moon's demo, while Totem Kommo-o appears as part of the trial in Vast Poni Canyon in Sun and Moon proper.
• Infinity -1 Sword: Kommo-o is Generation VII's pseudo-Legendary.
• Last Disc Magic: Although Kommo-o can be obtained rather easily at Vast Poni Canyon in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the Kommonium Z needed to use Clangorous Soulblaze is located in Poni Plains, which can't be explored until after becoming the Champion.
• Late Character Syndrome: While alleviated in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon with a Boss Rush starting shortly after you can catch them, wild Jangmo-o start showing up right before the final trial, up to the point you can catch a wild Jangmo-o at a level you'd evolve a Hakamo-o into a Kommo-o.
• Magic Knight: Kommo-o has a solid Attack and Special Attack, and can learn a variety of both special and physical attacks to take advantage of either stat.
• Magikarp Power: Though each stage of the line evolves at typically high levels for pseudo-Legendaries, the Alola games significantly alleviate things by having wild Jangmo-o appear between levels 40-44 — thus, evolving them into Kommo-o takes little time or effort.
• Make Some Noise: Hakamo-o and Kommo-o are said to make sounds when fighting — the former as a battle cry and the latter as to announce itself. They also make noises with their scales, with Clanging Scales as their signature move.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: It's a dragon/warrior monk/pangolin mashup.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Dragon-type Pokémon covered in large thick scales for defense and offense. Unlike most of their fellow Dragon-types, Hakamo-o and Kommo-o also rely on hand-to-hand combat as Fighting-types.
• Primal Stance: Unlike Hakamo-o, who walks like any other bipedal Pokémon, whenever Kommo-o walks or runs, it uses its knuckles and feet in a gorilla-like style.
• Protection from the Elements: Their Overcoat hidden ability protects them from the residual damage of Sandstorm and Hail.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Jangmo-o have the pride of warriors, never neglect their training in order to become stronger, and never turn their backs on a foe (admittedly, that last part is also due to the scales they use for both attack and defense being on their foreheads). Naturally, its evolutions are part Fighting-type.
• Punny Name:
  • The "jara" in their Japanese names likely comes from "jarajara", the Japanese onomatopoeia for jingling, while "mo'o" in their English names is Hawaiian for lizard or dragon.
  • The first half of Jangmo-o's name seems to reference jangling, while the second half of its Japanese name may come from "draco", Latin for dragon, with both versions meaning, essentially, "jingling dragon/lizard".
  • Hakamo-o derives its name from the haka, a war dance and chant of intimidation.
  • The Japanese name Jararangara probably comes from "garangaran", the Japanese onomatopoeia for clanging noises.
  • Kommo-o is a letter away from a komodo dragon, and the hyphen separating the last "o" makes it sound like kamao, the Filipino word for "fist".
  • The English name, Kommo-o also happens to sound similar to "Komodo", an island infamous for being the home of giant monitor lizards called Komodo dragons which bear a passing resemblance to the line alongside the ankylosaur influence.
• Recurring Element: The "pseudo-legendary" line of this generation as well as a three-stage Dragon-type line.
• Shoryuken: Kommo-o's most powerful move is said to be an uppercut powerful enough to not only launch its foes sky high, but also deface the surrounding area. Naturally, the line can learn the move Sky Uppercut. Even more fitting is that Shoryuken means "Dragon Punch" — a literal dragon punch in this case.
• Secret Art: Only Kommo-o can learn Clanging Scales, a powerful Dragon attack that also lowers its Defense stat. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon also gives it an exclusive Z-Move, Clangorous Soulblaze, which in addition to dealing damage, raises all of Kommo-o's stats by one stage. In Sword and Shield, Kommo-o gets a move called Clangorous Soul to replace Clangorous Soulblaze, which raises all of Kommo's stats by one stage in exchange of reducing Kommo-o's HP by one third.
• Status Buff: Kommo-o has access to a wide variety of moves that raise its stats, learning Belly Drum, Autotomize, Work Up, Iron Defense, and Dragon Dance naturally, and they can be taught Swords Dance, Bulk Up, Rock Polish, and Double Team through TM. Notably, a particular Kommo-o had Shell Smash in the Battle Tree, though the line cannot learn that move legitimately. This was most likely a developer oversight and the move was replaced with Draco Meteor in the version 1.1 patch. Even its unique moves boost stats, with the Z-Move Clangorous Soulblaze dealing damage and boosting all of Kommo-o's stats, and its replacement Clangorous Soul boosts all of Kommo-o's stats at the cost of some HP.
• Stealth Pun:
  • It is easy to see why the line has the Soundproof ability (their scales being able to produce sounds and thus could buffer them). But the Bulletproof ability? The line is a Bulletproof Monk.
  • They say that Kommo-o exist to fight "the darkness", said to be evil looming over Alola. It seems that's why they developed the Fighting type, which is super effective against it.^note However, if the "darkness" is actually Necrozma, they would have been better off without it.
• Tough Armored Dinosaur: The whole line seems to draw heavy inspiration from ankylosaurs.
• Warrior Monk: The whole concept of Kommo-o. They have martial skills as seen in Eastern themed fantasy monks. Their tail resembles a jangling monk staff called a khakkhara, and they even use it similarly (making noises to warn of its presence). The concept of swaying the tail to ward off darkness is similar to how temple monks and priestesses would swing a staff laden with talismans to ward off evil spirits.

Guardian Deities: Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini (Kapu-Kokeko, Kapu-Tetefu, Kapu-Bulul, and Kapu-Rehire)

0785: Tapu Koko / Kapu-Kokeko (カプ・コケコ kapu kokeko)
0786: Tapu Lele / Kapu-Tetefu (カプ・テテフ kapu tetefu)
0787: Tapu Bulu / Kapu-Bulul (カプ・ブルル kapu bururu)
0788: Tapu Fini / Kapu-Rehire (カプ・レヒレ kapu rehire)

Tapu Koko

Tapu Lele

Tapu Bulu

Tapu Fini

The Legendary guardian Pokémon of the different Alolan islands: Tapu Koko is the Electric-type Guardian of Melemele, Tapu Lele is the Psychic-type Guardian of Akala, Tapu Bulu is the Grass-type Guardian of Ula'ula, and Tapu Fini is the Water-type Guardian of Poni. They all have abilities that summon a certain terrain upon being called into battle.

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• Action Survivor: When Tapu Lele lacks the power to gain decisive victory in a battle, it opts instead to prioritize simply not losing.
• Ambiguous Innocence: Tapu Lele is described as a guileless Pokémon that casually brings others to ruin, more amoral than immoral.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Local deities worshiped as guardians, whose tiki masks (functionally shell-like armor that can fold up to look like a mask) look like different animals: Tapu Koko's looks like a rooster, Tapu Lele's looks like a butterfly, Tapu Bulu's looks like a bull, and Tapu Fini's looks like a marlin.
• Ax-Crazy: In addition to Tapu Koko's Blood Knight and Hair-Trigger Temper tendencies, Tapu Koko can get so worked up from its own anger that it actually forgets what made it so angry in the first place and lashes out at anyone and anything it sees.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Tapu Bulu is the nicest of the four Tapu, but it has destroyed an entire village and the old Thrifty Megamart for being on its domain.
• Big Damn Heroes: Tapu Koko makes its debut in the story of Sun and Moon by batting away three Spearow and rescuing the player and Cosmog from falling into a raging river.
• The Big Guy: Tapu Bulu is the largest of the Tapu at 6'03". It is also the most physically-inclined among the four.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Tapu Lele is this: it acts like a cute and innocent fairy with a pink colour motif... and it takes a particular glee in using its healing scales to keep people who are fighting healthy so they can continue to fight. All of this is for its own entertainment.
• Blood Knight: Tapu Koko is repeatedly stated to love fighting, both watching fights and participating in them. To further emphasize this, Tapu Koko is found in the Ruins of Conflict.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: They appear to have their own concept of morality that is incomprehensible to humans or even other Pokémon.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite its incredible power over nature, Tapu Bulu is described as a lazy Pokémon who commands plant life to do its bidding.
• The Chooser of the One: In Sun and Moon, after the rescue of the player character and Cosmog, Tapu Koko leaves behind a sparkling stone to be used to make a Z-ring for the player. It's speculated by others to be because it saw something significant in them, because the Tapu normally only do that to pick a kahuna, which we see when Tapu Fini makes Hapu the Kahuna of Poni Island.
• Cocky Rooster: Tapu Koko is a Legendary resembling a rooster, and is a fickle Jerkass God with a Hair-Trigger Temper.
• Curiousity Is A Crapshoot: Tapu Koko is described as curious in human affairs unlike its fellow Tapu, which can mean it can either end up saving the lives of others (seen in Sun and Moon when it saves the player and Nebby from falling to their deaths) or end up a malevolent deity when its Hair-Trigger Temper is set off.
• Cute and Psycho: While all four of the Tapus are cute to varying degrees and all of them are generally morally not on the same playing field as humans, the only explicitly psycho one is Lele due to how it explicitly gets a kick out of screwing with humans.
• Cute Monster Girl: Tapu Lele and Fini are more feminine and humanoid than the more masculine Tapu Koko and Bulu.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The Tapu once fought on behalf of the royalty of their islands, using their Guardian of Alola forms, in wars between the kingdoms. The destruction wrought led them to decide to retreat from human affairs.
• Emotionless Girl: Tapu Fini's expression is near constantly listless, speculated by some to be because using its attacks is too exhausting.
• Energy Absorption: They enclose themselves in their shells and absorb nature's energy, and after several years, the shells become much tougher.
• The Fair Folk: All of them are Fairy-type guardians, yet their morality does not fall within human standards:
  • While Tapu Koko is considered the guardian of Melemele Island, it acts on its own whims when it comes to helping people and is very combative.
  • Tapu Lele is known to scatter around glowing scales that heal and energize, but only for its own entertainment. It's stated that the body can't handle being touched by too many at once, and in the Japanese text it's outright stated that the restorative effects only served to enable two exhausted armies to keep battling until there were no survivors.
  • Tapu Bulu is the nicest of the Tapu, but it once destroyed an entire village for building upon its lands, and it's implied to have been behind the Ghost Pokémon that attacked the now abandoned supermarket that Acerola uses for her trial.
  • Though it doesn't particularly care for humans, Tapu Fini is perfectly willing to help those in need... so long as they're able to withstand its powerful fog.
  • It should be noted they once had closer ties to human affairs, but after taking part in their wars, they all refrained from being so involved.
  • Olivia notes that even other Pokémon are not exempt from the capricious natures of the guardians, and will generally avoid them at all costs unless they are powerful enough to defend themselves.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • Tapu Koko is Choleric. It enjoys a good battle, has a strong sense of curiosity, and has little reservation about appearing before those that catch its interest, and it will not hesitate to help those in need if it chooses to do so. While still capricious, it is overall the most sociable and outgoing of the guardians; even its temple reflects this, as it has no strength puzzle.
  • Tapu Lele is Sanguine. While it presents itself as innocent and carefree, it tends to have little in the way of morality and as such is very unpredictable, as it can bless others with good health or just as easily bring them to ruin for amusement.
  • Tapu Bulu is Phlegmatic. It tends to stay out of the affairs of other people and Pokémon and avoids confrontation if possible, largely keeping to itself, and has been theorized to be lazy. However, it's still capable of putting up a very good fight if provoked.
  • Tapu Fini is Melancholic. It is largely emotionless and tends to avoid putting itself in danger, preferring to make its enemies destroy themselves. It tends to have a cynical opinion of humans, thus hiding itself away and making them prove themselves worthy of its aid.
• Fragile Speedster: Tapu Koko is very fast and has decently high Attack and Special Attack, and gets a significant boost on Electric-type moves thanks to Electric Surge. However, it isn't great at taking many hits.
• Gentle Giant: Tapu Bulu doesn't like to fight unnecessarily or to frighten other Pokémon, so it rings its bell-like tail to alert others of its presence.
• The Gods Must Be Lazy: Outside of occasionally choosing a new Kahuna or confronting invasive Ultra Beasts, the Tapus don't really do a lot of protecting of the people on their islands. This is actually justified, as they used to be more proactive, but after being involved in wars as tools, they all adopted Jade-Colored Glasses and their own Blue-and-Orange Morality.
• Golem: Their Guardian of Alola Z-Move appears to summon a massive, headless golem that they then become the head of before using it to demolish their foes.
• Green Thumb: Tapu Bulu is part-Grass, and has the ability to manipulate vegetation.
• Guardian Entity: They are the Guardians of each of Alola's islands, though they are undoubtedly Jerkass Gods. Their Guardian of Alola Z-move summons a massive, headless golem. The Tapu then use their mask forms to become the head and command it to attack their foes.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Although they are genderless, Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu have masculine designs and higher Attack stats, while Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini have feminine designs and favor Special Attack.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Tapu Koko is short-tempered, but it tends to forget what made it angry in the first place. When it does get sufficiently enraged, though, it becomes a malevolent deity.
• Holy Is Not Safe: They are considered guardian deities of Alola, but they are also incredibly capricious beings that are extremely dangerous.
• Home Field Advantage: Their ability to activate a favorable terrain effect makes sure their specific type is always boosted whenever they battle.
• Horn Attack: Tapu Bulu, naturally, learns Horn Attack along with Megahorn and Horn Leech. Because they're made of wood, it can use its Green Thumb powers to shape them to its needs.
• Hot-Blooded: Tapu Koko is very much this, its idle pose having it bounce energetically. This might also explain its very odd movepool — it'll go down fairly quickly after using a move with recoil damage thanks to its relatively low bulk, and it only has two moves it can use with its superior Attack stat as well as gaining STAB (Spark and Wild Charge, both Electric-Type). In other words, it is an Ax-Crazy that puts its temper above logic; it is reckless and hasty.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: The common Freudian Excuse given for their Blue-and-Orange Morality. They were once more active and willing to associate with humans, but became disillusioned with them after being used as tools in their wars, so they became Jerkass Gods. Tapu Koko became fickle and Ax-Crazy; Tapu Lele scatters its restorative scales just to see humans kill each other for its own amusement; Tapu Bulu became lazy, but destroyed Tapu Village when the humans built the Thrifty Megamart on its land; Tapu Fini just wants to be left alone, and actively tests others who wish to use its power.
• Impossible Hourglass Figure: Tapu Fini has a very thin waist compared to the rest of its body.
• Insubstantial Ingredients: The Tapu appear to derive their energy from sources of nature rather than eating food: Tapu Koko summons thunderclouds and absorbs their lightning, Tapu Lele is powered by the fragrance of flowers, Tapu Bulu receives its energy from the growth of plants, and ocean currents are the source of Tapu Fini's power.
• It Can Think: While the Tapus undoubtedly have Blue-and-Orange Morality with a healthy dose of Freudian Excuse thrown in, it's heavily indicated that the Tapus are sapient and fully aware of the effect they can have on humans and other Pokémon alike, and specifically have a hand in choosing the Kahunas of each island in Alola. At the end of Sun and Moon Tapu Koko even sends out a message to the player through their Z-Ring that says "IT IS TIME."
• Jade-Colored Glasses: The Tapus were once more active and friendly guardians, protecting and associating with humans, but after being consistently used as weapons of destruction for humans and their kingdoms, they became disillusioned, and developed into Jerkass Gods.
• Jerkass Gods: Despite being the guardians of Alola, the Tapu are repeatedly noted to be quite capricious in the present (they were more active guardians in the past, but became disillusioned with humans after being used in wars by them). Ax-Crazy Tapu Koko is fickle and may not be willing to help people all the time, and The Sociopath Tapu Lele finds it amusing to watch people fall apart under the power of its healing scales. In general, the Tapu cannot be counted on to help or be friendly with anyone that they haven't selected as a kahuna or who haven't otherwise proven themselves.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Capricious and disillusioned as they are, we see at least three of them (Tapu Bulu is the only one we don't see) spring into action when the Ultra Beasts threaten their respective islands.
• Killer Rabbit: Don't let Tapu Lele's cuteness fool you: while it's the most adorable of the deities, it also has the highest damage output across multiple types and is a sociopath known for giving people power just to watch them destroy themselves with it.
• Lazy Bum: Some people in-universe wonder if Tapu Bulu is lazy as opposed to its apparently docile nature, it is the only Tapu that doesn't confront an Ultra Beast. It's left up for interpretation as to whether it is Brilliant, but Lazy or not.
• Leave Me Alone!: Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini isolate themselves more than the other two. Bulu's home is behind a maze-like desert and it destroys any settlements that are too close. Fini's home is in the open, but it forces humans through what's implied to be a life-or-death trial for its help. Each of their temples also requires completing a strength puzzle to access (and even once accessed, the tapu will not necessarily respond to being summoned at the temple). Tapu Koko is the odd one out, as it seems to socialize with people more freely, and its temple lacks any puzzle.
• Leitmotif: Battle! Island Guardian, the battle theme shared with the island guardians.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: They all learn Withdraw, implicitly covering themselves with their masks.
• Making a Splash: Tapu Fini is part-Water and has an affinity for using fog and mist.
• Martial Pacifist: While it doesn't like to fight, Tapu Bulu absolutely will open a can of whoop-ass on you if you're doing evil in its domain, as evidenced by a legend of thieves who broke into its ruins being met with Tapu Bulu swinging trees around like clubs.
• Mask of Power: They can fold their bodies within their shells to become animalistic masks so they can build up their elemental power. Readily seen when they use their Guardian of Alola Z-move.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Tapu is a Polynesian word/concept variously meaning sacred, holy, or forbidden (and the root of the English word "taboo").
  • Kapu is a Hawaiian word meaning "forbidden".
  • Tapu Koko's Japanese name is a play on "kokkeko", the onomatopoeia for the cry of a rooster. Its English name's "koko" is the Hawaiian word for chicken cackling.
  • Tapu Lele's English and Japanese names both refer to butterflies.
  • Bulu is the Hawaiian word for bull.
  • Tapu Fini's shell has a large fin on it.
• Mighty Glacier: Tapu Bulu has high Attack, Defense, and Special Defense, can learn powerful moves such as Wood Hammer and recovery moves such as Horn Leech, and its Grassy Surge terrain gives it passive recovery for at least 5 turns, but it has below average Speed.
• Mind over Matter: Tapu Lele is part-Psychic.
• Mundane Utility:
  • Nature's Madness and its Z-Move counterpart, Guardian of Alola, deal a fixed percentage of the target's health to prevent a One-Hit Kill, meaning that the ability to unleash Gaia's Vengeance and summon a ginormous Guardian Entity is very useful for catching wild Pokémon.
  • Tapu Koko in particular gets some extra tools to make catching wild Pokémon easier: namely, it can learn False Swipe and Thunder Wave. The former can be used to complement Nature's Madness, while the latter can be used to keep wild Pokémon from calling for help.
• No Biological Sex: They are genderless, like most Legendaries.
• No Indoor Voice: Tapu Koko speaks in all caps when it communicates to the player from their Z-Ring.
• No Mouth: Tapu Koko's head crest resembles a beak, but none of the rest have anything resembling a mouth. It's implied they eat by absorbing energy from their surroundings (not that this stops them from appearing to eat Poké beans like normal).
• Odd Name Out: Their names are, contrary to most Pokémon, made up of two words, even in Japanese. Among the four, Tapu Fini is the only one whose English name isn't derived from a Hawaiian term.
• Olympus Mons: While they are Legendary Pokémon, they have a few quirks from the rest of the group. For one, they aren't referred to as "legendary" by any character in-game, and with their base stats adding up to 570, they come in below other Legendary, Mythical, and even Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon.
• Ominous Fog: Tapu Fini's fog lulls opponents into a trance and leads them to destroy themselves.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: Well actually, Ominous Hawaiian Chanting; their theme has lyrics that can be translated from Hawaiian, as put by a YouTube comment:
  YouTuber: "The lyrics are Hawaiian, it says "Get prepared" "We are powerful" "Guard with our lives" and "Race"!"
• Our Fairies Are Different: Their secondary type is Fairy. They're also among the most traditionally fae-like Fairy-types in terms of their behavior, as they are notoriously fickle and capricious, tend to treat humans as playthings, and have also been known to bring great harm to those who have intruded upon their territory. Unless they've favored you as a Kahuna, you're frankly better off avoiding them altogether.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Tapu Fini resembles one, disregarding the shell.
• Percent Damage Attack: The signature move and Z-Move of the Tapu guardians, Nature's Madness and Guardian of Alola, respectively deal damage equal to 50% and 75% of the target's current health.
• Physical God: Each of them is worshiped as a guardian deity in each Alolan island.
• Pink Means Feminine: Tapu Lele, the Psychic-type among the Alolan guardian deities, is much more feminine (along with Tapu Fini) than Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu. Tapu Lele has curly, pink hair and, with its shell open, resembles a butterfly.
• Post-End Game Content: Unusually for a region's "lesser" group of Legendary Pokémon, the player can't capture them before defeating the Elite Four; only after becoming the Champion can they be challenged.
• Post-Final Boss: In Pokémon Sun and Moon (but not the Ultra games), you fight Tapu Koko with the chance to catch it just after winning the championship and before the credits roll. It isn't necessary to catch or even defeat it (with the player also having the option to simply run away as well), but being one wild Pokémon against a team of six Champion-level ones, KO-ing it isn't hard.
• Power Pincers: Tapu Koko has pincers for hands that convincingly emulate a bird beak when it brings its arm covers together.
• Power-Up Letdown: The four share a Hidden Ability, which is... Telepathy, which stops attacks used by an ally from affecting them. Not quite as impressive as instantly creating Terrain that benefits them upon entering the battle, is it?^*Tapu Fini could get the most mileage out of the Ability since it can use Scald more effectively without Misty Surge's effect getting in the way, but again, this is a niche reason.
• Psycho Pink: Tapu Lele is mostly pink, and is the most antagonistic of the guardians towards humans, as it uses its healing scales to have humans fight to the death for its own amusement.
• Punny Name: There is a beverage in Alola named "Tapu Cocoa", obviously named after Melemele's guardian.
• Purple Is Powerful: Tapu Fini is the guardian of Poni Island, and also happens to be mostly purple save for their black main body and light blue hair.
• Quivering Eyes: Tapu Lele gets these if you touch its antenna-like hair in Pokémon Refresh.
• Secret Art:
  • Nature's Madness and its Z-move amplified version, Guardian of Alola, which reduce the opponent's health to half and a quarter, respectively.
  • They are the only Pokémon to get the "Surge" abilities as standard abilities. In Sun and Moon, they were the only ones to get said abilities, period.
• Shock and Awe: Tapu Koko is part-Electric, fitting Melemele's association with the color yellow, and its ability sets up Electric Terrain as soon as it sets foot in battle.
• Single Specimen Species: Much like Arceus, their status as revered and worshiped guardians implies only one of each exists.
• The Sleepless: Although they can be put to sleep by other Pokémon, they are some of the few Pokémon capable of using TMs that cannot be taught to know the near-universal Rest. Furthermore, both Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini summon terrains that prevent them (as well as every other landed Pokémon) from falling asleep.
• Squishy Wizard: High Special Attack and Psychic Surge allow Tapu Lele to deal a lot of damage with its Psychic-type attacks, whereas its good Special Defense means it can take a special attack or two if necessary, and its high Speed allows Tapu Lele to perform a quick high-damage hit like a minigun could. Its physical Attack and Defense, on the other hand, are noticeably lower.
• Status Effects: Tapu Lele is said to be adept at utilizing these against enemies.
• Stone Wall: Tapu Fini has very high Special Defense and Defense, while the other stats are average. Its Misty Terrain and Aqua Ring can shield from status effects and recover any chip damage, adding to its longevity.
• Talking Animal: In Pokémon Sun and Moon, Tapu Koko says, "IT IS TIME" shortly before it battles the player after becoming the Champion.
• Telephone Polearm: Tapu Bulu has been known to uproot trees to use as weapons. Appropriately enough, it naturally learns Wood Hammer.
• Temporary Online Content: Shiny versions of the Tapus were given away in 2017-2019. Shiny Tapu Koko was a Mystery Gift, while the others were from participating in the International Challenge Online Competitions on November 2018 (Lele), February 2019 (Bulu) and May 2019 (Fini). These were the only ways to get the Shiny Tapus until Dynamax Adventures in Sword and Shield's Crown Tundra expansion.
• The Sociopath: Tapu Lele likes scattering its scales to watch others destroy each other.
• Token Mini-Moe: Tapu Lele is the smallest of the Tapu at 3'11". It's also quite adorable when petted or fed in Pokémon Refresh.
• Touched by Vorlons: Though the four together were certainly enough to rival the power of Solgaleo/Lunala, they were gifted "great power of unknown providence" (hinted to be the Tapunium Z Z-Crystal) by it after the battle. Perhaps in exchange they were charged with protecting any Cosmog that found their way into their region from then on.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The Tapus are revered as deities and guardians and presumably vital to the way of life in Alola, but no one seems to have an issue should the player capture them for their own interests.
• Useless Useful Spell:
  • Much like any other Water-type, Tapu Fini is capable of learning Scald. But while the 30% burn chance may seem like it would be great for a Stone Wall like Tapu Fini, the Misty Terrain it summons upon entering battle completely nullifies most status conditions for all non-Flying-type or Levitate users on the field, removing the burn chance from Scald for 5 turns (8 if Fini is holding a Terrain Extender).
  • Starting with Sword and Shield, Defog in conjuction with their "Surge" abilities. Defog was given the ability to remove terrains when used, which works against those abilities.
• Use Your Head: Tapu Bulu, the bull-based Tapu, can learn Zen Headbutt and Skull Bash.
• Water Is Womanly: Tapu Fini, the Water-type among the Alolan guardian deities, is much more feminine (along with Tapu Lele) than Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu. Tapu Fini has long, light blue hair and, with its shell open, resembles a mermaid.
• When She Smiles: While Tapu Fini is stated to be rather emotionless, interacting with it in Pokémon Refresh shows that it's quite cute when it's happy.
• Wimp Fight: Tapu Lele's flailing when attacking resembles this due to its closed eyes.

Cosmog, Cosmoem (Cosmovum), Solgaleo, and Lunala

0789: Cosmog (コスモッグ kosumoggu)
0790: Cosmoem / Cosmovum (コスモウム kosumo'umu)
0791: Solgaleo (ソルガレオ sorugareo)
0792: Lunala (ルナアーラ runa'aara)

Cosmog

Cosmoem

Solgaleo

Lunala

Cosmog is a rare Psychic-type Pokémon that resembles a sentient nebula, which used to be known only to the kings of Alola and is currently being researched by the Aether Foundation. It's very curious and very trusting to anyone who shows it the slightest consideration, yet pretty much helpless in a direct confrontation. Cosmog evolves into Cosmoem, an immobile cocoon-like being, once sufficiently leveled up, which is not much stronger.

However, its final evolutionary stage is one of the Legendary Pokémon on the cover of Pokémon Sun and Moon. Solgaleo is a Psychic/Steel lion with a starburst mane, while Lunala is a large Psychic/Ghost bat with crescent wings. While revered by humans in the past, the truth is that they're just exceptionally powerful Pokémon from another world.

The Cosmog line are considered Ultra Beasts for their ability to create Ultra Wormholes; however, they are not coded by the International Police as such. It is implied that they traveled from Ultra Space in the distant past and have on occasion returned there.

---

• Action Dad: Solgaleo appears in both versions and is implied to be the father of the baby Cosmog that you can receive in the alternate dimension.
• Action Mom: Like Solgaleo above, Lunala appears in both versions and is implied to be the mother of the baby Cosmog that you can receive in the alternate dimension.
• Alliterative Name: Z-Moves were already one for alliteration, but the pair's Z-Moves, Searing Sunraze Smash and Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom, stand out thanks to having three words and not two (it doesn't come close to Marshadow's Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike, though).
• Adorable Abomination: Cosmog and Cosmoem are considered Ultra Beasts and can even open up Ultra Wormholes. They're also both very adorable.
• Ancient Astronauts: Solgaleo/Lunala appeared in Alola from Ultra Space long ago, and battled against the island guardians, prevailing despite the four being their equal in power when unified. They gifted the region's king a Cosmog and the Tapus their own Z-Crystal, so apparently they took no offense to that. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they even helped to repel Necrozma during the light stealer's invasion around that same time.
• Another Dimension: Despite not being considered Ultra Beasts by the International Police, the line is native to Ultra Space and are seemingly the only inhabitants capable of opening Ultra Wormholes of their own volition (aside from Necrozma, who is imprisoned or dormant for most of the game).
• The Artifact: Cosmog and Cosmoem's biggest claim to fame is their role in the Gen VII games' story through Nebby. Once that role is fulfilled, though, they become rather pointless Pokémon who are only there to fill two Pokédex slots and be weak baggage with zero use in battle until they evolve at Level 53. You can't even breed Solgaleo and Lunala to get more Cosmog (outside of an in-game event in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon), making them even more superfluous outside of the story.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: As with X/Y, the design of the symbols on the boxart are based on their appearance. For Solgaleo, its mane has patches of yellow and orange to resemble rays of sunlight, while Lunala's crescent moon-shaped wings, when fully spread, glow to look like a full moon. They both have markings that resemble the night sky on their faces. Naturally, Cosmog, the base form of either, looks like a nebula cloud.
• Babies Ever After: Post-game, the player can travel to the respective altar of their version Legendaries with them in the party and travel to a parallel world with a twelve hour time difference whose culture takes after their counterpart. Supporting the implication Solgaleo and Lunala are gender counterparts, the player can then travel to the Lake of the Sunne/Moone, meet their version counterpart, and generate another Cosmog.
• Badass in Distress: In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Necrozma appears shortly after Nebby evolves and absorbs it, transforming into Dusk Mane/Dawn Wings Necrozma as a result.
• Bat Out of Hell: Lunala is a huge, celestial bat creature. It's not malevolent or scary in any way, though.
• Big Damn Heroes: After defeating Lusamine (fused with a Nihilego) a second time, she actually tries to kill Lillie herself. Nebby, however, is having none of it and blasts Lusamine away, which also has the added effect of separating her from Nihilego.
• Bilingual Bonus: Solgaleo's cry is transliterated in-game as "la-leo", a combination of the Hawaiian word for "sun" (lā) and "Leo". Likewise, Lunala's cry is given as "mahina-pea", approximately Hawaiian for "moon-bat". ^note However, pe'a literally means "sail"; the Hawaiian word for "bat", 'ōpe'a'pe'a, comes from their sail-like wings, and pe'a in Samoan means "flying fox". Alternatively, it could be a more direct reference to Lunala's name, "moon-wing".
• Bizarre Alien Reproduction: We're not privy to how the two mascots reproduce, but they don't lay an egg that hatches into Cosmog; rather, Cosmog seems to be born almost instantaneously after Solgaleo and Lunala perform their ritual. The anime depicts it as them mixing their energies with each other.
• Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: While in-game they're genderless, the Pokédex identifies Lunala and Solgaleo as female and male counterparts respectively that evolve from Cosmoem.
• Breaking Old Trends: Cosmog and Cosmoem are the first Legendary Pokémon in the entire series that evolve.^*Type: Null comes before it in Pokédex order, but the player won't be able to get one (outside of trading) before The Reveal of Cosmog's evolutions in the Gen VII games. Prior to this, every Legendary Pokémon was a single-stage line.
• Came Back Strong: Nebby is pushed to the brink of death by Lusamine as she forces it to open up Ultra Wormholes all over Alola, resulting in its evolution to the completely-unresponsive Cosmoem. Only after the ritual at the Altar of the Sunne/Moon does it spring back to life after absorbing the altar's energy and evolving into Solgaleo/Lunala.
• Celestial Body: Their evolutionary lines are based on star formation:
  • Cosmog is a nebula cloud that gathers dust. This dust is easily scattered.
  • When it evolves into Cosmoem, it gains a transparent and extremely sturdy shell. Plus it has unusual dimensions (4 inches tall but weighs 2204 lbs), which brings black holes or neutron stars to mind, which are also absurdly dense.
  • When it finally evolves into Solgaleo or Lunala, it grows a body and that transparent shell becomes their forehead. Whenever they perform an attack, their "stars" start to "stream". In addition, Lunala's body resembles a night sky.
• Contractual Boss Immunity: Solgaleo and Lunala's signature abilities, Full Metal Body and Shadow Shield, are not ignored by Mold Breaker, Turboblaze, and Teravolt, unlike the otherwise-functionally-identical Clear Body and Multiscale.
• Converging-Stream Weapon: Lunala's unique move, Moongeist Beam, assumes the pose of a full moon with six energy spheres forming and curving in towards the center before bursting forth into a full-body energy blast. Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom is basically the same thing, only bigger and with the beams converging on top of the opponent.
• Cosmic Egg: Cosmoem's Pokédex entry describes it as the "cocoon of the stars", and its Japanese and English names respectively reference its status as a cosmic ovum/embryo.
• Curious as a Monkey: Cosmog is very curious about the world around it, and it loves to run about to look around, much to Lillie's dismay.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite its large size and skeletal appearance, Lunala is a guardian of the moon and revered. Additionally notable is that Lunala is one of the few Ghost-types said to be a protector.
• Defence Mechanism Superpower: Nebby's "power" (it's never fully elaborated on what exactly it is) only seems to work when it or Lillie are in danger. Lusamine intends to exploit this by putting Nebby under sufficient stress to force it to open several Ultra Wormholes.
• Demoted to Extra: As a result of Necrozma absorbing it soon after it evolves in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Nebby doesn't have as big a role as it did in the originals. It can't even be caught as early as it was before, since the Aether Foundation help it recover after Necrozma's defeat, only becoming available after a certain battle before The Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
• Dimensional Traveler: The line can travel between Earths and Ultra Space. Post-game, having either of the fully evolved Legendaries in your party (or Necrozma in either its Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings form) allows the player to travel to a parallel world with a twelve hour time difference. In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can even ride them through Ultra Space itself!
• Doing In the Wizard: Unusually for Legendary Pokémon (which the series often takes an All Myths Are True stance on), the plot of Sun and Moon reveals that the so-called emissaries of the sun and moon, and the child/cocoon of the stars, are in fact nothing more than abnormally powerful aliens who are far from the only one of their kind.
• Eldritch Abomination: Averted. Unlike other Ultra Beasts, they more closely resemble normal Pokémon.
• Extra-ore-dinary: Solgaleo is part-Steel.
• Eye Beams: Lunala's Moongeist Beam fires from its Third Eye symbol.
• Eyes Always Shut: Cosmoem's eyes are constantly shut, and it never opens them up.
• The Faceless: If you were hoping to get some nice photos of Cosmoem in the Alola Photo Club, you're out of luck, as its face inexplicably turns into a black hole during this mode and its normal face can't be seen.
• Fate Worse than Death: When Necrozma absorbs either one of them, it completely takes over their mind and leaves them without wills of their own (even Kyurem's formes gave Zekrom/Reshiram that luxury), effectively becoming cosmic Parasect.
• Fiery Lion: While the lion-like Solgaleo is a Steel and Psychic-type, it's heavily associated with the radiance and heat of the sun, to the point where Flare Blitz is in its level-up learnset. It's also based off the alchemical image of a lion eating the sun. Ironically, its Steel type makes it weak against Fire-type attacks.
• Fluffy the Terrible: Solgaleo and Lunala are almighty deities that represent the sun and moon, and either of them can be known as Nebby.
• Gender Flip: If the Pokedex is to be believed and the cover legendaries are in fact meant to be male and female counterparts to each other, then Nebby is male in Sun (where he evolves into Solgaleo) and female in Moon (where she evolves into Lunala).
• Ghostly Animals: Lunala is based off bats and is a Ghost-type.
• Giant Flyer: Lunala's height is a whopping 13'01". And that's not taking into account its massive wingspan.
• God of Light: Solgaleo is a solar guardian deity resembling an immense, radiant lion.
• God of the Moon: Lunala is a lunar guardian deity resembling a giant spectral bat.
• Gold and White Are Divine: The color motif of this legendary pair, highlighted under the below mentioned Power Up Full Color Change conditions.
• Goo-Goo-Godlike: Even as a baby, Cosmog is capable of opening up Ultra Wormholes; however, this is extremely dangerous for it. Nebby nearly dies after Lusamine forces it to open one up, only surviving by evolving into Cosmoem.
• Great White Feline: Solgaleo is a large white lion.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Even though neither have a gender, Solgaleo and Lunala are stated to be the male and female counterparts to each other, respectively, and Solgaleo has higher physical Attack and learns more Physical moves naturally, while Lunala has higher Special Attack and learns more Special moves naturally.
• Heal Thyself: Solgaleo gets Morning Sun and Lunala gets Moonlight, both of which restore anywhere from a quarter to two-thirds of their HP depending on the weather (or lack thereof) in battle.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Cosmog's overly trusting nature tends to get it into trouble.
• I Choose to Stay: Lillie stole Cosmog from the Aether Foundation to bring it back to its home, but after the fight against Lusamine in Ultra Space, the evolved Cosmog decides to stay with its new friends in Alola.
• Innocent Aliens: They're incredibly powerful extradimensional creatures that nevertheless mean no (intentional) harm to people and Pokémon. Cosmog in particular fits the trope to a T.
• In-Series Nickname: Cosmog is known as Nebby by Lillie. The Japanese version has it be called Hoshigumo-chan (little nebula). In Pokémon Sword and Shield, another Cosmog appears in the Crown Tundra, this time nicknamed Fwoofy.
• Interface Spoiler: If (in Sun and Moon) you happen to receive the opposite mascot in a trade prior to The Reveal that they're evolutions of Cosmog, their respective Pokédex entries make no effort to hide it. You might also get into an online battle or trade and wonder why someone decided to nickname their mascot "Nebby". On the other hand, Cosmog and Cosmoem have their own page separate from their evolutions, atypical of the rest of the Alola Dex.
• It Was with You All Along: Turns out the box legendary was a Lovable Rogue who wouldn't stay in Lillie's bag, who've you've spent time with for the entire game.
• Joke Character: Until evolving into Solgaleo or Lunala at Level 53, Cosmog and Cosmoem are incapable of attacking outside of Struggle, as their only moves are Splash and Teleport, and Cosmic Power after evolving into Cosmoem.
• King of Beasts: Solgaleo is a regal and majestic lion.
• Leitmotif:
  • Cosmog's Theme, the theme that plays when a cutscene focuses on Nebby.
  • Battle! Solgaleo / Lunala, the theme that plays when you fight Solgaleo or Lunala.
• Light Is Good: Solgaleo is a white lion associated with the sun and is still the friendly companion of Lillie and the player character who gained the power to protect them. Likewise, Lunala is just as benevolent and emits the light it absorbs in its Full Moon phase.
• Light 'em Up: Cosmog can absorb light to grow. In addition, Solgaleo emits a bright light, while Lunala absorbs light entirely.
• Lightning Bruiser: Solgaleo and Lunala have great stats across the board, with Solgaleo leaning physical and Lunala leaning special.
• Living MacGuffin: Nebby is central for Lusamine's plan to create Ultra Wormholes and allow her to reach Ultra Space and Nihilego, and the majority of the Aether Foundation and Team Skull are desperate to retrieve the Cosmog. Three months prior to the player's move to Alola, Lillie attempted to escape from Aether Paradise with Nebby in tow, and despite Wicke's assistance, was only able to do so when Nebby exhausted its power to teleport itself and Lillie to Akala when cornered by the employees.
• The Load: Before evolving into Solgaleo or Lunala near the game's climax, Nebby is all but useless offensively, with its attempts to defend itself usually doing more harm than good, and loves to sneak out of Lillie's bag whenever it gets the chance. This ends up getting them and Lillie kidnapped by Team Skull after Plumeria returns to the Aether House and sees the very Pokémon they've been ordered to capture in plain sight.
  • Even worse in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where Nebby is immediately captured and possessed by Necrozma upon evolving, turning it into an enemy before it got a chance to help. It doesn't get to do anything else before the conflict is resolved.
• Lunacy: Lunala. It's the Pokémon representing the Moon, after all. In its case, it is flavored as control over darkness.
• Magikarp Power: An extreme example. Cosmog is completely useless in battle, as it can't learn any offensive or useful support moves and has pitifully low stats, while even the trope-naming Magikarp can use Tackle and be taught Bounce and Hydro Pump. Cosmoem isn't much better, as while it has great defenses, it still can't learn any offensive moves, so it can't really use those defenses for anything. Then, when Cosmoem finally evolves (at level 53, far later than almost every other Pokémon with Magikarp Power), it becomes one of two extremely powerful Olympus Mons.
• Male Sun, Female Moon: Solgaleo and Lunala are said to be male and female counterparts by the Pokédex, although both are genderless in-game.
• Masculine Lines, Feminine Curves: Solgaleo is considered the male version of the line and has largely angular features, while its female counterpart Lunala incorporates a lot of curves into its design. Best exemplified by Solgaleo's mane and Lunala's wings.
• Meteor Move: Solgaleo's unique move Sunsteel Strike has it leap into the air then lunge at the opponent like a meteor. The Japanese name for the move translates to Meteor Drive.
• Mighty Roar: Solgaleo has Noble Roar as a level-up move, fitting for a lion.
• Mind over Matter: The whole line is primarily Psychic types.
• No Biological Sex: They are listed as genderless like most Legendaries; however, their opposite version's dex entries reveal that they are believed to be male and female (respectively) evolutions of Cosmog in-universe.
• No Mouth: While Cosmoem appears to have an open mouth, it's really a red marking that appears on all sides of it. Furthermore, it can't eat Poké Beans in Pokémon Refresh.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: In the Pokémon world, Solgaleo and Lunala are comparable to Physical Gods and were venerated as such. In Ultra Space, they're apparently common enough to be used as transportation by the people of Ultra Megalopolis.
• No-Sell: Solgaleo's ability, Full Metal Body, stops anything from lowering its stats. Unlike its identical counterparts Clear Body/White Smoke, this isn't affected by Abilities like Mold Breaker or Turboblaze/Teravolt.
• Nothing but Skin and Bones: Lunala seems to be nothing but bat wing skin flaps and skeletal structure.
• Numerological Motif: Their base stat values and the levels at which they learn moves are all prime numbers. They share this trait with Necrozma and the Ultra Beasts, hinting at their shared origin.
• Olympus Mons: They're the cover Legendary Pokémon of Sun and Moon. Their pre-evolutions, Cosmog and Cosmoem, are also considered Legendary Pokémon, making them the only Legendaries to evolve into/from something until Generation VIII introduced Kubfu and Urshifu (discounting Diancie, who's a Mythical Pokémon and whom the player can't evolve from a Carbink). Their unique ability to open up Ultra Wormholes at will seemingly puts them at a higher level of power than the other Ultra Beasts (who themselves are on par with Legendary Pokémon in power).
• Orange/Blue Contrast: Like their respective games, Solgaleo has reddish-orange highlights on its mane and legs and Lunala has bluish-purple wings.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Lunala is a Ghost-type bat shaped like a crescent moon, with lunar-based powers to reflect this.
• Panthera Awesome: Solgaleo is based on a lion.
• Perpetual Frowner: Solgaleo's mouth is naturally shaped like this. Likewise...
• Perpetual Smiler: Lunala's mouth is naturally shaped like this.
• Playing with Fire: Despite not being Fire-Type (and is in fact vulnerable to Fire), Solgaleo learns Flare Blitz via level-up.
• Power Incontinence: When Necrozma controls them, they constantly expel their light energy without pause (allowing the Prism Pokémon to freely absorb it). Their total lack of free will in such a state likely means they can't control it as they normally can.
• Power Nullifier:
  • Both Solgaleo and Lunala's signature moves disregard the opponent's Ability in the same vein as Mold Breaker. Solgaleo is also immune to enemy status reductions thanks to its ability.
  • As per usual in the Steel-type or Ghost-type territory, Solgaleo is immune to Poison-type moves, and Lunala is immune to Normal and Fighting-type moves.
• The Power of the Sun: Solgaleo, being the Pokémon representing the sun. Notably, it is a Steel-type rather than a Fire type, putting emphasis on the light rather than the heat. In fact, it's actually weak to Fire attacks.
• Power Up Full Color Change: Both of them change color and glow when using their signature moves.
  • Solgaleo enters its Rising Phase form, turning all its color accents yellow.
  • Lunala enters its Full Moon Phase form, causing its wings to glow white and highlight its skeletal structure.
• Power-Strain Blackout: After you and Nebby are rescued by Tapu Koko, Lillie begins berating it for trying to use its power again, saying that it "couldn't move for weeks after that [the last time it used it]." Later, this initially looks to be what happened to Nebby after Lusamine forces it to open several Ultra Wormholes.
• Power Up Mount: In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Solgaleo and Lunala are used like Ride Pokémon to travel through Ultra Wormholes, akin to riding Mantine across the sea.
• Psychic Powers: They're all Psychic-types.
• Purposely Overpowered: The line is banned from Battle facilities and official tournaments (even Cosmog and Cosmoem, who are anything but overpowered).
• Recurring Element:
  • They're the third duo of cover Legendaries after Reshiram and Zekrom and Xerneas and Yveltal to represent some version of light and darkness, complete with light-up "powered-up" modes and being mandatory captures in their respective games.
  • Also like Reshiram and Zekrom, the two serve as a means for their third "sibling", Necrozma, to gain a powered-up forme based on them.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Cosmog is a friendly little wisp with stellar coloration and patterns, and Cosmoem is an adorable little ball-like and seemingly perpetually sleeping creature within a starry orb encased in a shell resembling Solgaleo's mane spikes and Lunala's wing ends.
• Rolling Attack: Solgaleo rolls into the opponent at high speed when using Searing Sunraze Smash.
• Running Gag: Nebby will simply not stay in Lillie's bag!
• The Sacred Darkness: Lunala is a noble guardian of the moon which does not appear to be evil despite its Bat Out of Hell look and Ghost typing.
• Secret Art:
  • Solgaleo is the only Pokémon to have the ability Full Metal Body, which stops it from having its stats reduced. Lunala likewise is the only one to have Shadow Shield, which gives it a 50% damage reduction to any hit it takes while at full health. What makes them different from other abilities like them like Clear Body or Multiscale is that they ignore the effects of things like Mold Breaker, Turboblaze, or Teravolt along with the moves Sunsteel Strike, Moongeist Beam, and Photon Geyser, along with their exclusive Z-move counterparts.
  • Their signature moves, Solgaleo's Sunsteel Strike and Lunala's Moongeist Beam, which are Steel/Ghost type moves respectively that deal damage while bypassing all abilities.
  • Starting with Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they can also use Solganium-Z/Lunalium-Z to power them up into the Z-Moves Searing Sunraze Smash and Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom, which are glorified versions of the originals with much higher damage.
• Shown Their Work: Solgaleo being part Steel-type initially baffled most people. Further research, however, reveals esoteric information that gives more sense to the typing, as Solgaleo is described as a "Beast that Devours the Sun." The main symbol of Alchemy is a lion that bites into the sun, which is identical to Solgaleo's description, and Alchemy was the science of purifying metal. Finally, the sun is considered a metal-rich star.
• Signature Roar: The line has a faint mechanical "hwoo" sound at the end of their cries (though Cosmog's is fainter). This is also heard for the cries of the Ultra Beasts as well as Necrozma, the other residents of Ultra Space.
• Single Specimen Species: Unlike most legendaries, the line is a definite aversion. According to legend, through the union of Solgaleo and Lunala, a new Cosmog is born. This is reinforced by the presence of the Legendaries you receive in your game — they aren't the same Solgaleo or Lunala that appeared in legends long ago, and yours and its counterpart in another dimension produce another Cosmog. That said, it's unclear just how common Cosmog and its evolutions are in Ultra Space compared to the rest of the Ultra Beasts.
• Solar and Lunar: Their entire designs evoke the sun and moon, respectively.
• Soul Power: Lunala is part-Ghost.
• Stealth Pun: Cosmog's only ability is Unaware, an ability best described as being too dumb to notice stat modifiers, and in the story it often ignores Lillie's commands to stay hidden. Its evolution, Cosmoem, is half the height of Cosmog but somehow weighs ten-thousand times as much. Both Pokémon are incredibly dense.
• Stone Wall: The middle stage Cosmoem has amazing defense stats, even higher than that of its evolutions, while the rest are the same as Cosmog's and all but unusable.
• Sudden Name Change: Originally, Lunala's name was supposed to be Lunaala, with the trademark using that name. Before release, however, the name "Lunala" was trademarked and every reference to the Pokémon's name since then was changed to use that name.
• Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Solgaleo and Lunala were so mystifying to ancient Alolans that they were elevated to the level of godlike beings, despite being little more than unusually powerful Ultra Beasts.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: Like Reshiram/Zekrom, Xerneas/Yveltal, and Rayquaza, catching Solgaleo/Lunala is required to progress the story in Pokémon Sun and Moon. To facilitate this, they have catch rates of 45, give no experience when beaten, and respawn instantly and incessantly until they're caught.
• Thinking Up Portals: The entire line can generate portals to Ultra Space. For Cosmog, it takes a lot of effort and is nearly fatal, but its final forms can do it more easily, to the point of weaponizing them when using their exclusive Z-Moves.
• Third Eye: Cosmoem, Solgaleo, and Lunala all share a third eye, although in Cosmoem's case, it's underdeveloped. For the former two, it's prominent whenever they use Sunsteel Strike/Moongeist Beam, or when they're opening an Ultra Wormhole.
• Token Good Teammate: Technically, Cosmog and its evolutions are Ultra Beasts, but are not as malevolent or destructive as the others.
• Uniqueness Decay: Even though the two are so far the only mascot Legendaries that explicitly aren't one of a kind creatures (or even anything close to godlike), Sun and Moon never say how common Cosmog and its evolutions are in Ultra Space, implying they're somewhat rare. Come Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, though, and they're apparently common enough that the Ultra Recon Squad freely uses them as transport, even letting the player switch between the two.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Aside from Necrozma, Cosmog and its evolutions (along with Kartana in the anime) are thus far the only known direct cause of Ultra Wormholes (beyond natural ones randomly occurring). This likely means that whenever an Ultra Beast or two enters a different universe and rampages in a panic (as had happened to Alola in the past), it's probably their fault. The Pokédex entries for Solgaleo in Ultra Sun and Lunala in Ultra Moon even say that them opening Ultra Wormholes often causes extradimensional energy and life-forms to cross over into the Pokémon world.
• Version-Exclusive Content: As expected of mascot legendaries, only Solgaleo or Lunala can be caught in the games in which they are part of the story (Sun and Ultra Sun for Solgaleo, Moon and Ultra Moon for Lunala). In addition, which Pokémon Cosmoem evolves into depends on the version that is being played when it reaches level 53 or above. In Pokémon Sun, Ultra Sun, and Sword, it becomes Solgaleo; in Pokémon Moon, Ultra Moon, and Shield, it becomes Lunala.
• Walking Spoiler: It is difficult to talk about Cosmog without spoiling what its evolutions are, or even the fact that it even has evolutions.
• Weaponized Teleportation: When using their Z-Moves, Solgaleo or Lunala summon an Ultra Wormhole to drag their opponent into Ultra Space before unleashing their attack.
• Willing Channeler: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Lillie indicates that part of the reason Nebby wants to be caught is to let Necrozma fuse with it again should the player ever meet it. Even if this would take away its free will, Nebby's willing to do this to ease Necrozma's pain.
• The Worf Effect: In Pokémon Sun and Moon, a freshly evolved Nebby is strong enough to defuse a powerful Ax-Crazy Pokémon Trainer from an equally dangerous Ultra Beast, even without any prior combat experience. In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, however, Necrozma proves how dangerous it is by absorbing Nebby after it evolves with little effort. Ash's Solgaleo and Gladion's Lunala put up a considerably better fight in the anime, presumably because they do have combat experience by the time they face Necrozma (and are being backed up by each other, Ash's Pokémon, the Trial Captains and Lillie, and her own Pokémon).

Necrozma

Has its own page.

Magearna

0801: Magearna (マギアナ magiana)

Magearna

The first Pokémon from Generation VII to be revealed. A man-made Steel/Fairy Mythical Pokémon that roughly resembles a ballroom dancer, Magearna was created by a lone genius ahead of their time over five hundred years ago, making it one of a few Pokémon created by humans.

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• Arc Symbol: Its "dress" and chest bear markings that look like Poké Balls.
• Arm Cannon: Flower-like cannons are concealed in its arms. This is how it executes its signature move, Fleur Cannon, as well as some other moves such as Volt Switch.
• Artificial Human: Chronologically the first in modern times too, beating out Mewtwo, Porygon, Genesect and Type: Null by over 500 years, but Golett, Baltoy and their evolved forms predate Magearna in turn by several thousand years.
• Bilingual Bonus: Magearna's name is derived from gear and machina, Latin for machine; while the fleur in Fleur Cannon is French for flower.
• Bragging Rights Reward: Magearna can be scanned in at any time with a QR Code, but if you're hoping to have it in the main story, tough luck; you won't get access to it until you've already beaten the game, making it more of a championship trophy (albeit one that can kick ass in rematches). Still, at least you don't need to have completed the Playable Epilogue to get it, unlike Necrozma.
  • The Original Color variant can only be obtained by registering every Pokémon up to Eternatus in the Home Pokédex.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • Following in Deoxys' footsteps and later by Celebi, Magearna is one of a very small group of Mythical Pokémon that can be legitimately obtained regardless of time period, being found by scanning a built-in QR Code that never expires. You still need to beat the game before you can actually use it, though.
  • After most of Gen V's Mythical Pokémon and all of Gen VI's were distributed as direct downloads that didn't share your Trainer ID and couldn't be nicknamed, Magearna finally registers you as its Trainer and can be named whatever you want. Obedience is also never a problem as a result... not that it really matters, since all Pokémon will obey you anyway by the time you're actually able to get Magearna.
• Bunnies for Cuteness: The curved flaps on the back of its head invoke the ears of a rabbit, making the whole thing look like a cute, metallic bunny in a pimped-out dancer dress.
• Chrome Champion: A part Steel-type Mythical Pokémon, though the "chrome" comes from it losing its original gold paint job. Regular Magearna's shiny form as of Generation VII is almost entirely chrome.
• Clockwork Creature: Based on its design, at least, it would appear to be this.
• Cute Machines: It resembles a robotic Diancie in a Pimped-Out Dress.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Fleur Cannon is a very powerful attack, but harshly lowers Magearna's Special Attack when it hits.
• Deity of Human Origin: It's a Mythical Pokémon, which ranks it up with Legendary Pokémon as far as Physical Godness goes. It's also completely synthetic.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Magearna made its franchise debut in Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, several months before its official appearance in the games with Pokémon Sun and Moon.
• Eating Machine: Despite Magearna being a robot whose mouth may be just a paint application, it will still eat Poké Beans as well as Berries.
• The Empath: Much like Ralts, it can feel the emotions of others, and will try to heal any who are wounded.
• Energy Absorption: The Soul-Heart may be doing this, since it was made by gathering the life energy of Pokémon, and it boosts Magearna's Special Attack whenever a Pokémon faints.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Its pupils are plus shaped.
• Extra-ore-dinary: It's an artificial metal Pokémon and part Steel-type.
• Flower Motifs: Magearna has arm cannons that sprout metal "petals" when in use, it can create flowers, and its Secret Art is Fleur Cannon.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Is capable of learning Heart Swap at level 89, previously exclusive to Manaphy, which switches stat changes between the target and itself.
• Grail in the Garbage: The deliveryman Magearna is obtained from stands outside the Antiques of the Ages shop (which itself sells the orbs of Kyogre/Groudon and the Sinnoh dragons, and later a few Plates), nearly delivering it to them by mistake after hearing about it being an antique.
• Green Thumb: In addition to learning Grass-type TM moves, it can spontaneously produce flowers and its Secret Art is called Fleur Cannon (though the actual move is Fairy-type).
• Guide Dang It!: The QR Code used to obtain it in Sun and Moon also works for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, but nothing in-game or elsewhere tells you this.
• Heart Drive: Its Soul-Heart, located in its chest, is its "real body" (much like a Spark from Transformers), and was made by a scientist who gathered life energy from Pokémon.
• Infinity +1 Sword: Magearna is very powerful and a relatively tough cookie to beat, but outside of trading, you're not going to get it until becoming the Champion.
• Kamehame Hadoken: It can use Aura Sphere. This is fairly impressive, considering it's a robot when all other users of the move (even fellow artificial Pokémon Mewtwo) are organic creatures.
• Kill Streak: Soul-Heart increases Magearna's Special Attack each time a Pokémon faints, which includes allies in a Double Battle.
• Light 'em Up: Apart from being part-Fairy, Magearna's signature move Fleur Cannon fires a massive ray of light. It can also learn the similar Flash Cannon.
• Lost Technology: If it's classified as a Mythical Pokémon alongside rarely seen Pokémon like Mew and Celebi, it's probably this.
• Magitek: It's a Mechanical Lifeform that runs on a Heart Drive powered by life energy. Fittingly enough, it's also of the Steel/Fairy type, the types that represent technology and magic the closest.
• Meaningful Name: Magearna incorporates several gears in its design. It also sounds similar to the Latin word for machine (machina), which is what Magearna is.
• Mechanical Lifeforms: Magearna is a 100% human invention, but it doesn't seem to be any different from "real" Pokémon, probably because of its life-energy-generated Soul-Heart.
• Mighty Glacier: Magearna has an excellent Special Attack stat coupled with great defensive stats. Its Steel/Fairy type also gives it many type resistances and only two type weaknesses. However, it isn't very agile, though it learns Shift Gear and Trick Room to get past its speed issue.
• Moon Rabbit: It has bunny ears and is a Fairy-type Mythical Pokémon. Given the games it debuts in, this is only more appropriate.
• Our Fairies Are Different: Very much so — this one is an artificial, mechanical life form.
• Oxymoronic Being:
  • Just like fellow Steel/Fairy-types Mawile and Klefki, it's a fairy that's made out of the stuff that kills fairies.
  • There's something to be said about how a mechanical robot has Flower Motifs to the point of being able to create flowers.
• Permanently Missable Content: For once, a Mythical Pokémon averts this! It's obtained by scanning a region-specific QR Code after becoming the Champion, and unlike Wi-Fi or serial code events, this code never expires, nor is it in short supply like Pokémon Ranger cartridges with Manaphy Eggs still on them (being an image on a webpage), allowing players to pick it up at their leisure.
• Perpetual Expression: It's only ever been seen with a single fixed, surprised expression, which may very well be the only face it has. Though, its eyes can express◊ just fine to make up for its mouth being stuck.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Its lower body resembles a nearly spherical ballgown.
• Poisonous Person: A noticeable aversion; Magearna is the only Pokémon capable of using TMs that cannot be taught to know the near-universal Toxic.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: Magearna's Soul-Heart is said to have been created by a scientist by gathering life energy from other Pokémon, just like AZ's Ultimate Weapon and Devon Corp.'s Infinity Energy.
• Purposefully Overpowered: Like any other Mythical, Battle facilities and online play restrict its use.
• Ragnarök Proofing: We don't know what happened to it between its creation five hundred years ago and the present day, but besides losing its original red and gold paint job, it's still fully functional and none the worse for wear. Having a powerful and presumably immortal artificial soul in its chest probably helped.
• Recurring Element: As a cute Mythical with a base stat total of 600, it can be seen as a Mew analogue (though it's not a Master of All), as well as following in the footsteps of being a somewhat feminine Mythical, like Diancie and Meloetta. It is also one to the Voltorb and Foongus lines, being a Pokémon that resembles a Poké Ball in some form (though lacking the Chest Monster aspect) as seen in its Refresh animations and the Original Color version.
• Robot Girl: It's an automaton that's specifically designed to look feminine.
• Robot Wizard: It's a robot that is part Fairy-type, the type most commonly associated with magic and its has excellent Special Attack stats to go along with its Fairy-type Secret Art.
• Schizo Tech: It's an advanced robot Mythical Pokémon... made over 500 years ago. In addition, its design invokes that of a PokéBall, which is implied to be a somewhat recent invention in the games.
• Secret Art: Magearna's ability, Soul-Heart, which raises its Sp. Atk stat every time a Pokémon faints when it is active.
  • It is the only Pokémon to learn Fleur Cannon, a 130 power Fairy-type attack that harshly lowers the user's Sp. Atk stat.
• Secret Character: Normally not obtainable in-game, Magearna can be obtained via the QR Scanner function. Unlike other Mythicals, however, Magearna isn't Permanently Missable Content (at least for the time being) thanks to the QR Code never expiring. You do need to beat the main campaign before you're able to scan in the QR code however.
• Single Specimen Species: Presumably it's one like most Legendaries, given its artificial nature, that only one human made it, and how the Soul-Heart was created.
• The Sleepless: Although it can be put to sleep by other Pokémon, Magearna is one of the few Pokémon capable of using TMs that cannot be taught to know the near-universal Rest.
• Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Though it's locked into being non-shiny like many other Legendary/Mythical Pokémon, Magearna does have a shiny model... and it's exactly the same as its regular palette. However, this is to be expected; it lost its paint job years ago, and thus there's no alternate color. Notably, Original Color Magearna also has a shiny sprite, and it's black.
  • This was, however, changed in Pokémon HOME, where its body is now dull grey except for its eyes, mouth, and its Soul-Heart◊. The change could be explained as the paint chipping off, rather than fading.
• Status Buff:
  • Its Soul-Heart ability increases its Special Attack each time a Pokémon faints in battle, this applies to its teammate as well as anything else that makes the opponent faint. This also works well with its Signature Move Fleur Cannon, which harshly decreases Magearna's Special Attack after attacking.
  • It also gets the rare Shift Gear, which sharply boosts its Speed while raising its Attack stat by one stage, and learns Withdraw and Iron Defense, both of which increase its Defense stat.
• Super Prototype: The design of its Pimped-Out Dress, and its special ability, imply that it may have originally been intended to be an old, Magitek Poké Ball. Its original colors even paint it in the same colors as one (though gold replaces white).
• Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Its empathetic personality and the removed Pokédex entries related to its original colors imply that it was intended to be a child's playmate. So for that purpose, why create a robot with arm cannons, then power it with an artificial soul constructed with the life energy of other Pokémon? Answer: the intended child was a princess, meaning Magearna's status as a lethal toy implies it would also serve as a last line of defense within arm's length of the princess herself.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: It has a Pimped-Out Dress and gold eyelashes, but as both a Mythical and an artificial/mechanical Pokémon, it's most likely genderless.
• Transforming Mecha: It can fold up to resemble a large ornate Poké Ball when asleep/sad.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Its signature move, Fleur Cannon, is a highly compact version of this.

Marshadow

0802: Marshadow (マーシャドー maashadoo)

Marshadow

A Mythical Ghost/Fighting Pokémon. Craven and cowering, it has never appeared before humans and thus many regard its existence as pure myth. It has the ability to copy the movements and powers of others by lurking within their shadows.

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• Action Initiative: Marshadow's fast enough on its own, but it can learn Shadow Sneak as a STAB priority move (that is also boosted by its ability) to almost always attack first.
• Ambiguous Situation: Its relationship with Necrozma. Between the fact that the Z in Z-Crystals, Z-Moves, and Z-Power is (possibly) short for Zenith and that Marshadow's Super Mode is Zenith Marshadow and its Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Strike creates the signature Z-shape, and then again that the Sparkling Stones and Z-Crystals are fragments of Necrozma's old body, it's all but guaranteed the two have a connection, but the franchise has yet to explore it.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Spectral Thief steals the opponent's stat boosts before the attack lands, making any Defense-boosting ability worse than worthless against it. Additionally, it ignores substitutes.
• Badass Adorable: It's a cute little shadow that is also a Mythical Pokémon. Also, by virtue of its type (Ghost/Fighting), it also has completely unresisted STAB, only resisted by a Normal/Ghost type (which would in fact No-Sell Marshadow’s STAB), which does not yet exist in the same games as it.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": Marshadow's signature Z-Move has it firing off seven punches tracing out the Z-Move symbol (a letter "Z" with an arrowhead above it).
• Confusion Fu: Marshadow has totally unresisted STAB in Fighting/Ghost, but it can also learn all three elemental punches and all kinds of useful stat-buffing moves like Bulk Up and Calm Mind. Its special attacking arsenal is lacking, but it has what it needs (Shadow Ball and Focus Blast), due to its typing, and thanks to having Technician as its only ability, a power-boosted Hidden Power makes up for it.
• Cosmic Motifs: Its signature Z-Move references the Pleiades star cluster, located in the Taurus constellation. Juxtaposed with its name having Mars in it suggests an astronomy motif.
• Cowardly Lion: It's timid, cowardly, and would rather have nothing to do with humans... but send it into a fight, and watch as it tears them a new one.
• Ditto Fighter: True to its theme of a shadow boxer, it learns Role Play, Copycat, and Psych Up naturally, moves that involve copying the target's abilities, moves, and stat changes respectively. This trope is taken a step further with Spectral Thief, which steals status buffs before attacking with them.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: It naturally learns the trifecta of Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch.
• Flaming Hair: Several parts of Marshadow's body, including the tufts on its head that resemble a hood, flare up and turn green when it attacks.
• Impossible Thief: Spectral Thief steals status buffs, all of them, before attacking. Consider that most means of buffing stats include increasing muscles, dancing, polishing, calming the mind or thinking bad thoughts, and you really have to wonder how Marshadow manages to nick them for itself.
• Lightning Bruiser: With 125 in Attack and Speed along with unresisted STAB, Marshadow hits like a truck and moves like a Formula One car. Its defensive stats, while not spectacular, are also nothing to sneeze at.
• Living Shadow: Marshadow regularly turns into a shadow in combat, either to attack or evade. Even standing still, a trail comes off its heels, suggesting it just emerged.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Because Spectral Thief's stat stealing effect acts more like Haze than a debuff, it ignores usual stat drop immunities. It even bypasses the otherwise completely debuff immune Solgaleo's Full Metal Body.
  • Because Spectral Thief's stat stealing effect causes the "stat increase" animation on Marshadow, the move's effect is affected by abilities that affect such kind of stat changes. A Marshadow with the Simple ability (by getting hit by Simple Beam), for example, would get double the stat boosts Spectral Thief steals (e.g. if Marshadow uses Spectral Thief on a Pokémon that used Dragon Dance, Marshadow would end with +2 boosts to both Attack and Speed, instead of +1), while Contrary would cause those same stats to drop (e.g. in the same example as before, Marshadow would end up with -1 Attack and Speed drops).
• Lovable Coward: Despite its strength, Marshadow is actually quite cowardly.
• Meaningful Name: "Mars", the Roman god of war, and "shadow". Marshadow also sounds like "Marshmallow", alluding to its tiny size and adorable look. Its name may also be derived from "Nightmarcher", the spirits of ancient Hawaiian warriors.
• No Biological Sex: It's classified as genderless.
• Permanently Missable Content: Promotional Marshadow come with its own Z-Crystal, the Marshadium-Z. Like other Z-Crystals, they cannot be traded to other games and will be gone should you restart that file. At least in Sun and Moon; you can get it just fine in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon by showing an NPC a Marshadow.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: It's only 0.7 meters tall, but it's a Mythical Pokémon with all the power that implies.
• Power Copying: By merely hiding within someone's shadow, it can copy their powers and movements. Spectral Thief also steals any and all stat buffs imbued on the target.
• Purposely Overpowered: Being a Mythical Pokémon, Marshadow isn't allowed in any battle facilities.
• Recurring Element:
  • Alola's other resident "cute" Mythical, along the lines of Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy, etc. However, it does buck the trend of having all of its stats be a base 100 like the other Mythicals listed, although its stats do still equal 600 like the others.
  • It's also similar to Hoopa, in that it's a small part Ghost-type Mythical Pokémon with high offensive stats and a knack for stealing stuff (as indicated by Marshadow's Spectral Thief move).
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Marshadow is as close as Generation VII is going to get to the usual cute Mythical with 100 points in every stat. At the very least, it still has a BST of 600 and is small and cute. Put it side by side with a Chao, and you'd see a surprising level of similarity in shape, facial features and expressions.
• Secret Art: It has an exclusive move and Z-Move:
  • Spectral Thief, a Ghost-type move which uniquely steals all of the target's status buffs before attacking.
  • Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike, a brutal beatdown culminating in a powerful kick that phases through the target that requires Spectral Thief and a Marshadium-Z to perform.
• Secret Character: The second Mythical Pokémon in the Alola region, and one officially acknowledged on April 8th, 2017.
• Soul Power: In addition to being part-Ghost, its unique Z-Move (an upgraded Spectral Thief) is called "Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike".
• Stealth Pun: It is a Fighting-type Pokémon that commonly hides in others' shadows. It is a literal shadow boxer. By virtue of its typing, it is also a literal fighting spirit.
• Temporary Online Content: Thought Magearna was a sign of Mythical Pokémon moving away from being this? Nope, Marshadow refuses to be anything but this, thus far only being given away through the usual time-limited serial code method.
• Weak, but Skilled: It has the Technician ability, powering up weak moves. The moves Marshadow gets STAB on and are powered up by Technician include Shadow Sneak, Shadow Punch, Force Palm and Rolling Kick. Thanks to Hidden Power being boosted as well, Marshadow can use it as coverage for anything its vast movepool can't hit as effectively, though it does run off its lower Special Attack.

Zeraora

0807: Zeraora (ゼラオラ zeraora)

Zeraora

Debuts in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

An Electric-type Mythical Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Naturally, not much is known about it yet except that it's a brutal fighter that moves at lightning speed to shred foes with its unique electrified claws. It is capable of generating a strong magnetic field using electric currents to effectively fly.

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• Action Initiative: Zeraora is able to learn Fake Out, a +3 priority move that always cause the target to flinch, but it only works on the first turn the user is in battle. Another priority attack Zeraora can learn is Quick Attack, which has +1 priority.
• All There in the Manual: Zeraora's inability to generate its own electricity and Magnetism Manipulation powers are only mentioned on the Pokémon website, and go unmentioned in its Pokédex entries. There also exists no NPC, location, or event in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon to give more information on it.
• Ax-Crazy: This thing is one of the notorious few best known for their brutality, as it tears its enemies limb from limb with electrified claws.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: It's not Fighting-type, but it can learn pretty much every Fighting move available from TMs and move tutors and gets Close Combat naturally. Even its signature move, Plasma Fists, sounds like something you'd expect from a Fighting Pokémon. Plasma Fists is also boosted by the ability Iron Fist, which is commonly associated with Fighting types.
• Cat Folk: Zeraora resembles a bipedal cat person, similar to Incineroar.
• Elemental Absorption: It has the Volt Absorb Ability, so Electric-type moves will only heal away any damage it's taken. It's also stated to lack an organ within its body to produce its own electricity, so it must get it from outside sources.
• Fragile Speedster: It moves extremely fast at 143 Speed and hits like an electrified truck at 112/102 Atk/Sp.Atk respectively, but its defenses are rather low.
• Inexplicably Tailless: Like Zoroark, its "tail" is actually a ponytail. Made even more egregious by the fact that Zeraora can be taught Iron Tail.
• Magnetism Manipulation: It's capable of levitation in this fashion. Just don't go thinking it has Levitate, or that it can learn Magnet Rise.
• Magic Knight: While its Attack is its highest offensive stat, its Special Attack is only ten points lower.
• No Biological Sex: As is the norm for Mythical Pokémon, Zeraora has no gender.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: It seems to love delivering these, since not only does it learn Close Combat naturally, but its Pokédex entries tell that it savagely tears apart its foes. Suffice to say, not a Pokémon you want to piss off.
• Recurring Element:
  • Like many other Mythical Pokémon, it has a base stat total of 600, though it's more specialized than most of them.
  • Zeraora is a humanoid animal-like Pokémon with impressive fighting skills — just like Lucario before it. Having a ponytail that serves as its "tail", it also brings to mind the first Pokémon to emulate Lucario, Zoroark. It's also visually similar to Alola's fire starter, Incineroar, as both are Cat Folk.
• Secret Art: It's the only Pokémon to know the move Plasma Fists, an Electric-type move which inflicts damage and changes Normal-type moves to Electric-Type moves for that turn. This also combos well with its ability, since if an opponent is set to use a damaging Normal-type move that turn, it will heal Zeraora instead of dealing any damage.
• Secret Character: So secret, we weren't supposed to know about it until April 9th, 2018. Incidentally, it's the first Mythical Pokémon to be added mid-generation, and the only new Pokémon added to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon that isn't an Ultra Beast.
• Shock and Awe: It's a pure Electric-type. It can also make Normal-type moves into Electric-type by using Plasma Fists. Strangely, unlike most Electric-type Pokémon, it doesn't have an organ that can generate its own electricity. It instead needs to obtain it from outside sources.

Meltan and Melmetal

0808: Meltan (メルタン merutan)
0809: Melmetal (メルメタル merumetaru)

Meltan

Melmetal

^{Gigantamax Melmetal}

Debuts in Pokémon GO

Gigantamax Melmetal debuts in Sword and Shield

A mysterious Mythical Pokémon that first appeared in Pokémon GO (in the form of Ditto disguised as it) on September 22, 2018, before being officially revealed three days later. It has a body made of a liquid metal and has a hexagonal nut for a head. Apparently, they are attracted to a certain kind of metal contained within a mysterious box and if many of them come together, they may hold an even greater power... They all evolve into a single Pokémon known as Melmetal. The catch is that Meltan can only evolve into Melmetal within Pokémon GO with 400 candies.

In the Pokémon universe itself it is noted that while records remain that tell of Melmetal and how ancient people revered it for its ability to create iron from nothing, the Melmetal species (and by extension Meltan) had not been seen for 3,000 years before reappearing in the present day for unknown reasons.

Special Melmetal can Gigantamax into a more lanky form that punches with telescoping liquid metal arms and fire electric blast from the hex nut in its abdomen.

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• All There in the Manual: According to its concept art (found in the official Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! art book and guide book), Meltan's liquid metal body is made of gallium, a metallic element with a low melting point of just 86 °F (30 °C).
• The Assimilator: According to Meltan's Pokédex entry, Melmetal is formed when a particularly strong Meltan absorbs the rest into its body. On the flipside, when it reaches the end of its lifespan, it rusts away and the pieces of its body that fall off turn back into Meltan.
• Asteroids Monster: According to its Sword Pokédex entry, Melmetal will rust and fall apart at the end of its life-span, with the small shards that are left behind eventually transforming into more Meltan.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: It has a Gigantamax form in Sword and Shield.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Melmetal has the Iron Fist ability, which provides a 20% damage boost to all of its punching attacks. This combos well with its Secret Art, which also gets the boost from Iron Fist.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: While its unknown if its extraterrestrial in origin, its life cycle is bizarre even by Pokémon standards. While there are other Pokémon that are said to evolve by fusing with others of their kind, Meltan's fusion into Melmetal goes further in that it is undone eventually. That is, at the end of its life span, Melmetal is said to rust and fall apart, the resulting fragments then being reborn as new Meltan.
• Blob Monster: Meltan's body is made of liquid metal and is shaped similarly to Ditto. Melmetal as well, though it takes on a humanoid shape.
• Curious as a Monkey: The "Rare Footage of Meltan in the Wild!" trailer shows several Meltan in a researcher's house eating loose screws, trying to touch a hot kettle, swinging from a lamp, climbing a filing cabinet and causing other mischief.
  Researcher: They can sure cause trouble...but they're curious little things. Somehow, I can't help but like them.
• Cyclops: It has one "eye" in the middle of its "face". The Sword Pokédex entry also states Melmetal's Gigantamax form to be the source of the cyclops legend.
  In a distant land, there are legends about a cyclopean giant. In fact, the giant was a Melmetal that was flooded with Gigantamax energy.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • On September 22, 2018, massive amounts of a never-before-seen Pokémon appeared worldwide for a brief period of time. Upon being caught, however, they would all turn out to be Ditto. Three days later, it was formally announced by Game Freak, and is called Meltan, a Steel-type Mythical Pokémon that would be truly available through Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!.
  • However, they also debuted in other spinoff materials such as Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, before their true debut in the traditional core games in form of Sword and Shield.
• Extra-ore-dinary: A Steel-type with a body made from liquid metal and a hex nut for a head. It also eats metal. Melmetal was even believed in ancient times to be able to create metal.
• Eye Beams: Can fire electricity from its eye.
• Faceless Eye: Both Meltan and Melmetal's heads consists of a hexagonal nut with a black orb in the middle that serves as a pupil. It changes shape to indicate when they're happy, asleep, and can pop out when surprised.
• Fusion Dance: Several Meltan evolve into Melmetal by merging with one another. In order to get a Melmetal, you'll need to catch that many Meltan to get all the candy required to evolve it in Pokémon GO.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • Trailers featuring multiple Meltan have indicated they can vary in size a significant amount, and Pokémon size variation is a notable addition to standard Pokémon captures in Pokémon Go that is carried over to Let's Go.
  • Trailers that show off Melmetal indicate that it evolves by having a bunch of Meltan come together. This apparently cannot be done in the mainline games and can really only be done in Pokémon GO since you aren't limited to a party of six. Also, you need 400 candies to evolve Meltan, which requires catching a lot of Meltan.
  • Melmetal's Shield Pokédex entry claims that it uses centrifugal force to attack and that its punches are the strongest of any Pokémon. Its base 143 Attack is indeed the highest of all Pokémon with the Iron Fist ability, beating its nearest competitor, Conkeldurr, by 3 points.^note However, Melmetal lacks Fighting-type STAB to empower Fighting-type punching moves, like Dynamic Punch and Focus Punch (though it can only learn the former), and the only Steel-type punching move that Melmetal can learn is its signature Double Iron Bash; it doesn't have access to Bullet Punch or Meteor Mash (though Double Iron Bash is stronger than either of those when the fact that it hits twice is taken into account). Furthermore, Melmetal's base Attack is 2 points lower than Mega Metagross, whose Tough Claws Ability boosts the power of all contact-making moves — which incidentally includes all punching moves — by 30%. Melmetal's base Attack is also 47 points lower than Mega Mewtwo X, which can also learn several punching moves (and, like Conkeldurr, is a Fighting-type), and while Mega Mewtwo X lacks Iron Fist (and the Ability it does have, Steadfast, does nothing to improve its Attack or the power of any moves), Iron Fist only boosts the power of punching moves by 20%, which doesn't really suffice to close the base stat gap. Incidentally, Conkeldurr also uses centrifugal force to augment its own raw physical strength.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Melmetal has a high HP stat of 135 and colossal Atk/Def, with 143 in each. However, its Sp.Atk and Sp.Def stats are on the weak side, at 80/65 respectively.
• Magikarp Power: Though not pathetic outright, Meltan is still about as strong as many unevolved Pokémon that need to evolve twice, but once it does (through a convoluted method in a different game no less), its stats double and it matches other Mythical Pokémon and Pseudo-Legendaries.
• Meaningful Name: From melt and tan, a Japanese honorific associated with young cute things, or a partial anagram of metal with an extra N.
• Metal Muncher: They mainly eat metal, which is absorbed into their liquid bodies.
• Mighty Glacier: Melmetal has excellent physical stats and a high HP stat, but it is also very slow at 34 base speed.
• Mythology Gag: Its blob-like appearance and simple expressions are similar to Ditto, and it debuted by appearing as hordes of Ditto transformed into it.
• No Mouth: It has no mouth, only a single eye, but it can still eat by absorbing metal with its body.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Their reflective textures of their bodies and head are atypical compared to the more naturalistic designs of most Pokémon. Previous Steel-types have generally had a more matte grey appearance.
• Parts Unknown: In Pokémon GO and Pokémon HOME, they have the distinction of being "Unknown" in terms of home region, while every other Pokémon's home region corresponds to the generation in which they first appeared. This is likely because Pokémon GO (where Meltan made its debut) technically takes place in the "real world" as opposed to a region in the Pokémon world.
• Power Cord Tail: Meltan appears to have a little electrical wire for a tail.
• Recurring Element:
  • Not the first mono-eyed Steel-type to change when several come together. Just like Magnemite, Beldum, and Klink, they form a new species, but you'll need a lot of them caught in Pokémon GO to get the required candy (about 400) to evolve it.
  • Follows previous Mythical Pokémon Manaphy and Shaymin in being exceptionally small, averting Single Specimen Species, and having a secret associated with it.
  • Also like Manaphy, Meltan and Melmetal are strongly associated with a Pokémon spin-off title and can only be obtained through playing that game before transferring it to a main series game (Pokémon GO for Meltan and Melmetal, Pokémon Ranger for Manaphy).
  • Melmetal has been compared to a few Pokémon: Registeel, being a large humanoid creature that is a pure Steel-type, and Zygarde for several individuals coming together to become one.
• Reflectionless Useless Eyes: Its eye lacks the shine from behind, indicating it can't look back.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Meltan has a hex nut with a pupil, on a tiny body with short, stubby arms and a tiny tail.
• Secret Art:
  • Melmetal is the only Pokémon that can learn Double Iron Bash, a Physical Steel-type move that hits twice and has a chance to flinch. This also gets some Gameplay and Story Integration, as its unique physiology allows it to swing its heavy arms around at high speed.
  • Upon Gigantmaxing, Gigantamax Melmetal gains access to G-Max Meltdown, an exclusive Steel-type move that applies the Torment effect to the target.
• Shock and Awe: Its Pokédex entries state that the metal it consumes is used to generate electricity which Meltan uses for energy and can use as an attack. They are indeed capable of learning electrical moves like Thundershock and Thunder Punch.
• Shown Their Work: A mild instance. Mention of Meltan corroding metals with its own metallic body may seem strange, but is a real phenomenon with reactions between different elements, most notably seen with gallium and mercury reactions. Meltan itself resembles a blob of semi-liquid metal, and is stated to be made of gallium, although its appearance is also reminiscent of mercury.
• Single Specimen Species: An aversion, which is atypical among Mythical Pokémon but not unique. Unlike previous Mythical Pokémon, though, Meltan are often seen in swarms of a dozen or more at once, and are explicitly noted in some dex entries to live in groups. However, another dex entry explains that eventually a single strong Meltan will absorb the rest of the group, evolving into the Pokémon known as Melmetal and a Melmetal will eventually turn back into groups of Meltan near the end of its lifespan. With enough patience, it is possible to obtain multiple Melmetal, but it takes 400 candies to evolve one Meltan in GO.
• Summoning Artifact: Meltan apparently only appear when a certain ancient box with a lump of metal inside it that Meltan likes is opened. The box mysteriously closes after a while and cannot be opened again until some time has passed.
• Super Mode: It gains a Gigantamax form in Sword and Shield, in the form of a Humongous Mecha. It's only available through transferring a Pokémon from GO to Home, to the point even Max Soup doesn’t work.
• Tiny-Headed Behemoth: Each of the nuts on Melmetal's shoulders are larger than its head.
• Top-Heavy Guy: Melmetal's a more downplayed example than some, but its arms are still enormous and nearly stretch the length of its entire body.
• The Unreveal: Melmetal and Meltan had not been seen for 3000 years in-universe before showing up again, the reason for this is completely untouched upon.
• Weak to Magic: Melmetal has a huge 143 Defence but a weak 65 Special Defence.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Meltan has the ability Magnet Pull, which prevents opposing Steel-types from switching out.

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