Besides the games, the most consumed branch of thePokémonfranchise is its long-running anime. First airing in 1997 in Japan and 1998 in America, the beloved animated series showed audiences what the Pokémon world would look like through the eyes of Ash Ketchum, an energetic ten-year-old on a quest to become a Pokémon Master with his partner, Pikachu. Ash’s story came to an end after twenty-five years, but the anime continues withPokémon Horizons: The Series, which follows new protagonists.
The anime has famously chosen to follow a lore separate from the games, which can be seen in how it treats certain Pokémon. Since the anime attempts to more closely mirror a real word, many Pokémon are harder to find than their game counterparts, and some can’t even be found in the games at all. Sometimes, it’s so the anime can promote upcoming games, while others, it’s because the writers wanted to get creative with their world-building.These are the rarest Pokémon in the anime, proving that some species might really be just the stuff of legends.
15Dusk Form Lycanroc
Pokédex Number 745, “The Wolf Pokémon”
The adorable dog-like Rockruff can evolve into different kinds of Lycanroc based on the time of day. Those who evolve in the morning become Midday Lycanroc, focused on speed and agility, while those who evolve at night become Midnight Lycanroc, focused on endurance and retaliation. A select few Rockruff can evolve during the time of the setting sun, becoming Dusk Form Lycanroc, which combines the offensive and defensive qualities of the other forms.
So far,the only Dusk Form Lycanroc in the anime belongs to Ash Ketchum, who acquired one to promotePokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. His unique form and impressive power made him one of Ash’s primary battlers, though he had a habit of flying into a rage whenever his mane got tarnished. While the species can be acquired in the game provided the Rockruff has its hidden ability, Own Tempo, it’s unknown if that is required for evolution in the anime or not.
14Shiny Pokémon
Multiple Species Across the Anime
Beginning withPokémon Gold and Silver,the series included rare Pokémon known as shinies, which were different colors from other members of their species. This name comes from the unique sparkling animation that surrounds the Pokémon when it is sent out to battle. The odds of finding one were originally 1 in 8192 per encounter, though later games decreased it to 1 in 4096.
Once the anime travelled to Johto, shiny Pokémon began showing up, such as the Noctowl Ash added to his Pokémon team, or the Gyarados caught by Lance, one of thegreatest trainers in the Pokémon world. Later seasons would continue to throw in the odd shiny, either found in the wild or on another trainer’s team. Sometimes shinies were introduced to tie into events from the games, such as the legendary beasts inPokémon—Zoroark: Master of Illusions, or Steven Stone’s shiny Metagross following the release ofPokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
13Alternately Colored Pokémon
Shiny Pokémon might have begun in Gen 2, but the idea ofPokémon coming in different colors originated in the anime. Even after shinies started popping up, these off-color Pokémon continued to make appearances, sometimes with explanations such as climate or the Pokémon’s diet, and sometimes with no explanation at all. This results in a much greater diversity, including among members of the same species.
The most famous example of an oddly colored Pokémon is the pink female Butterfree that mated with Ash in one ofPokémon’s most heartbreaking episodes. This was likely done to show that this Butterfree was female, as it wasn’t until Generation IV that gender dimorphism was added to certain species. The Orange Islands arc introduced the most examples of Pokémon with alternate colors to show how Pokémon evolved differently on each island, which was later mirrored in the games with regional variants beginning inPokémon Sun and Moon.
12Giant Pokémon
Fans ofPokémon Legends: Arceusenjoy scouring the Hisui region for Alpha Pokémon, mighty creatures who grow much larger than other members of their species. The concept of giant Pokémon goes back to one of the first episodes of the anime, “Mystery at the Lighthouse,“where a gigantic Dragonite was lured to a lighthouse by a man named Bill. Numerous other episodes in the early seasons featured giant Pokémon, and while the idea was toned down in later seasons, it never fully went away.
Giant Pokémon have ranged in size from being several times larger than others of their species, such as Gary Oak’s Krabby, to being large enough to destroy cities, such as with the Tentacruel that destroyed Hutber Port. How and why they emerge is never explained andremains one of the biggest mysteries in the anime. The phenomenon seems to go back to ancient times, as several giant Pokémon were sealed inside ruins in Kanto and Hoenn.
Pokédex Number 137, “The Virtual Pokémon”
The artificial Pokémon, Porygon, is one of the most singular creatures in the Pokémon world. Since its body is made entirely out of code, it doesn’t need to breathe, eat, or sleep and can even digitize itself to travel through cyberspace. When upgraded with additional programming, it evolves into the more robust Porygon2, then Porygon-Z when exposed to a virus.
Despite being one of the original 151, Porygon and its subsequent evolution have only appeared in the anime in brief cameos.Its absence is a direct result of the infamous Pokémon Shockthat followed the airing of the episode “Electric Soldier Porygon,” in which flashing lights caused by Pikachu’s Thunderbolt sent children to the hospital. As for an in-universe explanation, it could be that the process of creating Porygon is complicated, meaning that the species is hard to acquire outside the scientific community.
10Mewtwo’s Clones
Multiple Species From Gen 1
InPokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back,the cloned legendary, Mewtwo, sought to prove the superiority of clones over Pokémon who chose to serve humans. To do so, it lured strong trainers to its remote island, captured their Pokémon, and used a strange machine to extract DNA and create full-grown clones in a matter of minutes. However, thanks to the efforts of Ash Ketchum, and the surprise appearance of Mew, Mewtwo gave up his evil ambitions and took the clones to live far away from humans.
The clones had a hard time finding a place in the world and initially hid themselves away. However, after Ash and his friends once again ran into Mewtwo and the clones inPokémon: Mewtwo Returns, they convinced Mewtwo that the only way for them to move forward was to embrace the world rather than hide from it. Thus, Mewtwo allowed his clones to go and live as Pokémon in the wild.
Pokédex Number 649: “The Paleozoic Pokémon”
The villainous Team Plasma used cloning technology to revive an ancient species of Pokémon and enhance it with a robotic body and a laser cannon. They intended to create the most powerful Pokémon, and four elemental drives were created to change the type of its signature move, Techno Blast. The result was a Bug and Steel-type named Genesect, and while far from the most powerful species, it was still capable of great destruction.
Only five Genesect were created in the anime, one of whom is shiny. They broke free from Team Plasma and went on a destructive rampage in a vain attempt to find their ancient home, which further adds to the tragedy of their story. Fortunately, their rage and confusion were quelled by Ash and a Mega Evolving Mewtwo in the filmPokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened.
8Crystal Onix
Pokédex Number 95, “The Rock Snake Pokémon”
The Crystal Onix appeared in the episode of the same name, where Ash, Misty, and Tracy helped a glass sculptor named Mateo track it down. Though Mateo had the chance to capture the one-of-a-kind Pokémon, he decided to let it go, as just seeing the Crystal Onix inspired him to improve his craft. The only other Pokémon that has since matched the Crystal Onix was a Golden Sudowoodo from the episode “All That Glitters Is Not Golden!”, but that was a result of scientific experiments and was reversed by the end of the episode.
7Ash-Greninja
Pokédex Number 658, “The Ninja Pokémon”
Greninja is the mosticonic Pokémon from the Kalos region, and a big reason for that is its appearance in theX and Yarc of the anime. There, Ash and his Greninja connected on so deep a level that they unlocked a new form called the Bond Phenomenon. This allowed Greninja to take ona new and unique form, dubbed Ash-Greninja, that made him strong enough to contend with Pokémon transformed by Mega Evolution.
Along with improving Greninja’s strength, speed, and resilience, it also linked his mind with Ash’s, allowing the trainer and Pokémon to see through each other’s eyes and feel each other’s pain. This allowed the two to execute their battle strategies with flawless precision, but it took Ash a few tries to get used to the exhaustion this put on his body. Because of Greninja’s unique power, he was asked by the legendary Pokémon Zygarde to help it heal the Kalos region following the defeat of Team Flare.
Pokédex Number 809: “The Hex Nut Pokémon”
When an underwater crate was opened, a swarm of Steel-type Meltan made their way to Melemele Island in the Alola Region. One Meltan befriended Ash and joined his team, where it struck up a partnership with his Rowlet. During the Alola League, this Meltan summoned the rest of its swarm, and together, they merged into a single being called Melmetal.
According toPokémon GOandPokémon Sword and Shield, there is only ever one Melmetal, which will eventually grow old and rust away. This produces new Meltans, which go through an arduous journey of consuming metal and growing in size until one becomes the strongest and commands the others to re-merge. If this is true in the anime, it’s hilarious to imagine thatthis literal one-of-a-kind Pokémon is just chilling with Professor Kukui and Burnet.
