Pseudo-legendary Pokémon

Pseudo-legendary is a term commonly used to refer to any Pokémon that has a three-stage evolution line, two types, as well as a base stat total of 600. Pseudo-legendaries are more powerful than many other non-legendary Pokémon, if only for their base stats, and in particular, have an outstanding Attack stat. They also have incredibly diverse movepools and can usually be obtained only in their first form. Due to this, raising them is difficult since they require a lot of experience to level up. Since the pseudo-legendaries are very powerful, they are commonly used by many Trainers in their teams. Three of the five pseudo-legendaries Pokémon are Template:Type2.

List of pseudo-legendaries

There are five Pokémon considered to be pseudo-legendaries. The following shows the pseudo-legendaries, their types, and the Pokémon they evolve from.

Generation I		Generation II		Generation III				Generation IV
Dragonite		Tyranitar		Salamence		Metagross		Garchomp
Dragon	Flying	Rock	Dark	Dragon	Flying	Steel	Psychic	Dragon	Ground
Evolves from
Dragonair		Pupitar		Shelgon		Metang		Gabite
Dragon		Rock	Ground	Dragon		Steel	Psychic	Dragon	Ground
Evolves from
Dratini		Larvitar		Bagon		Beldum		Gible
Dragon		Rock	Ground	Dragon		Steel	Psychic	Dragon	Ground

Characteristics

With the exception of Garchomp's evolution family, the pseudo-legendaries are usually situated next to the legendary trios in the Pokédexes of their respective Generations. In both the National Pokédex and Johto Dex, the evolutionary lines of Dragonite and Tyranitar are located just after the legendary trio and before the Ubers of their respective generation (they are located next to each other in the Johto Dex). Similarly, the Salamence and Metagross lines are located next to each other right before the legendary golems in both the National Pokédex and Hoenn Dex.

Besides Metagross, the pseudo-legendaries have a double weakness to one type: in the case of Dragonite, Salamence, and Garchomp the double weakness is to Template:Type2 moves, while Tyranitar has a double weakness to Template:Type2 moves.

All of the pseudo-legendaries also have an immunity to one type. For Dragonite and Salamence it is Template:Type2, for Tyranitar it is Template:Type2, for Metagross it is Template:Type2, and for Garchomp it is Template:Type2.

In the games

These Pokémon are used in-game almost exclusively by the final members of the Elite Four and Champions. Dragonite is used by Lance, the final Elite Four member in Generation I and FireRed and LeafGreen; it is used again by Lance as the Champion in Generation II. Tyranitar is used by Blue, the Champion, but only in the second round of the Elite Four in FireRed and LeafGreen. Salamence is used by Drake, the final Elite Four member in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. Metagross is used by Steven Stone, the Champion in Ruby and Sapphire, and ex-Champion in Emerald. Garchomp is used by Cynthia, the Champion in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Lance uses a Dragonite, but when he is battled again, he will replace two of his three Dragonite with the two other Dragon Pseudo-legendaries, Salamence and Garchomp. This means that all Pseudo-legendaries have been used by a Champion at least once.

Pseudo-legendaries are obtainable in the wild strictly in their first form for the first two games of their generation. However, Dragonair is obtainable in the wild in most games where Dratini is (all but Red, Green, and Blue). Likewise, Pupitar is available in the wild in Crystal. Gabite is also found in Victory Road in Platinum.

Pokémon Colosseum

In story mode, Shadow Metagross is used by Nascour and Shadow Tyranitar is used by Evice; it is notable that the two Cipher leaders have positions comparable to those of the final Elite Four member and Champion, respectively. Pokémon XD complemented the list of pseudo-legendaries as of Generation III by featuring Shadow Salamence (used by Eldes) and Shadow Dragonite (used by Miror B.). Another commonality is that all four pseudo-legendaries have Shadow Rush as one of their Shadow Moves.

In the anime

File:Cynthia's Garchomp.jpg

Cynthia's Garchomp in the anime

All the pseudo-legendaries have appeared in the anime.

• Dragonite debuted as a silhouette in Mystery at the Lighthouse, but appeared physically in Mewtwo Strikes Back.

• Dragonite has also appeared belonging to Drake and Lance, both regional champions.

• Tyranitar debuted in Celebi: Voice of the Forest.
• Salamence debuted in Jirachi: Wish Maker.
• Metagross debuted in Destiny Deoxys.
• Garchomp first appeared belonging to Cynthia in Top-Down Training!.

Trivia

• All pseudo-legendaries were available in either Pokémon Colosseum or XD. Tyranitar is available in both games: by either snagging it from Cipher Head Evice in Colosseum or trading a Trapinch for a Larvitar from Duking.
• Although pseudo-legendaries are used almost exclusively by the final members of the Elite Four and Champions, there are two minor exceptions in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum: a male Trainer on Route 229 uses Salamence, and a female Trainer on Route 224 has Metagross, serving as cameo appearances for the movie characters Butler and Rebecca, who used these pseudo-legendaries in their respective movies. Another Trainer on Route 227 uses a Dragonite.
• Each of the pseudo-legendaries has Attack as its highest base stat.
• Each pseudo-legendary family has at least one blue-colored member.
• Among Pokémon commonly mistaken for pseudo-legendaries are Slaking, Flygon, and Aggron. For one reason or another, these Pokémon do not fit the criteria of those above and so are not pseudo-legendaries.
• Tyranitar is the only pseudo-legendary that is completely unable to be used in tournaments due to the level 50 cap; Salamence, Metagross, and Garchomp all evolve at or right before level 50, and Dragonite evolves at level 55 like Tyranitar, but was also released in an event at level 50, and is tournament legal in this form.
• In Generation IV, Tyranitar's Base Stat Total is technically 650 when entered into battle. Rock-type Pokémon get a 50% increase in Special Defense when there is a Sandstorm in effect, and Tyranitar's Sand Stream ability means that a Sandstorm is immediately in effect, boosting its Special Defense. However, this boost stops when another weather condition occurs, or its ability is traded by Skill Swap or nullified by Gastro Acid.
• Each final-stage pseudo-legendary has a unique ability, although some of their pre-evolved forms share abilities with each other.

This article is a part of Project Fandom, a Bulbapedia Project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every aspect of the Pokémon Fandom.