Legendary duo

A legendary duo is a pair of closely related Pokémon, either representing teamwork or opposition. Much like how every main region has at least one legendary trio, every main region, besides Unova, also has a legendary duo. In the games, they are often found after the player gets past the Elite Four but often aren't as important in the main storyline as the trios are. Duos are featured in several of the movies, either in their respective pairs, or on their own, as a keeper of peace. Sometimes pairs of Pokémon once thought to be legendary duos are revealed to actually be legendary trios upon the release of the third version, and even within trios, the dynamic between two members is very close to that of a duo. Kyogre and Groudon, Dialga and Palkia, Tornadus and Thundurus or Reshiram and Zekrom are prime examples of that.

True Duos

These duos are pairs of Pokémon with similar stats, movesets, and related with lore; the members are usually presented as equals, and function in a symmetrical dynamic.

The Tower Duo

Lugia and Ho-Oh in promotional art for the TCG

The tower duo is the legendary duo of Johto that consists of Lugia and Ho-Oh. Lugia and Ho-Oh are often regarded as polar opposites. Lugia represents the moon, sea, storms, the color silver and is the mascot of Pokémon Silver and Pokémon SoulSilver, while Ho-Oh represents the sun, sky, rainbows, the color gold, and is the mascot of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon HeartGold. Both are also trio masters; Lugia is the master of the legendary birds, while Ho-Oh is the master of the legendary beasts.

Their legend is introduced in Generation II, and states that the two birds each resided on a tower: Lugia on the Brass Tower, and Ho-Oh on the Bell Tower. When the Brass Tower was destroyed in Johto (prior to the start of the second generation games), the pair was split up thus creating the legendary beasts: Entei, Raikou, and Suicune.

Lv.	Lugia  Psychic  Flying	Ho-Oh  Fire  Flying
Start	Whirlwind
	Weather Ball*
9	Gust
15	Dragon Rush	Brave Bird
23	Extrasensory*
29	Rain Dance	Sunny Day
37	Hydro Pump	Fire Blast
43	Aeroblast	Sacred Fire
50	Punishment
57	AncientPower
65	Safeguard
71	Recover
79	Future Sight*
85	Natural Gift
93	Calm Mind
99	Sky Attack
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Pokémon	Lugia	Ho-Oh
HP	106	106
Attack	90	130
Defense	130	90
Sp. Attack	90	110
Sp. Defense	154	154
Speed	110	90
Total	680	680

The eon duo

Main article: Eon duo

Latias and Latios artwork

The eon duo is a legendary duo of Hoenn that consists of Latias and Latios, which are also that region's roaming Pokémon. The two share their typing, two of their base stats and even several moves they learn when they level up. Both were featured in the movie Pokémon Heroes, where they were revealed to be playful siblings.

Latios and Latias take on counterpart availability in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald as well as Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, with Latios being a roaming Pokémon in Ruby and SoulSilver, and Latias doing the same in Sapphire and HeartGold. In Emerald, after the player has defeated the Elite Four, their mother will ask if the Pokémon mentioned on TV was red or blue, and depending on that, one of the two will be roaming Hoenn. The other member of the duo will be found on Southern Island, accessible by Eon Ticket, in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, and in Pewter City, through the Enigma Stone event, in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Lv.	Latias  Dragon  Psychic	Latios  Dragon  Psychic
Start	Psywave
5	Wish	Heal Block
10	Helping Hand
15	Safeguard
20	DragonBreath
25	Water Sport	Protect
30	Refresh
35	Mist Ball	Luster Purge
40	Zen Headbutt
45	Recover
50	Psycho Shift
55	Charm	Dragon Dance
60	Psychic
65	Heal Pulse
70	Reflect Type	Telekinesis
75	Guard Split	Power Split
80	Dragon Pulse
85	Healing Wish	Memento
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Pokémon	Latias	Latios
HP	80	80
Attack	80	90
Defense	90	80
Sp. Attack	110	130
Sp. Defense	130	110
Speed	110	110
Total	600	600

The lunar duo

Cresselia and Darkrai

The lunar duo is a legendary duo of Sinnoh that consists of Cresselia and Darkrai. Cresselia and Darkrai are commonly seen as polar opposites, just like the aforementioned Johto bird duo of Lugia and Ho-Oh. Also, Cresselia and Darkrai reside on Fullmoon Island and Newmoon Island respectively, which are direct mirror images of each other. Cresselia and Darkrai are also known as the subconscious duo because of how Darkrai is said to give people nightmares, while Cresselia does the opposite (giving people pleasant dreams). Furthermore, Cresselia and Darkrai also appear in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness and Explorers of Sky as enemies.

They made their anime debuts in Sleepless in Pre-Battle! where they battled one another.

Lv.	Cresselia  Psychic	Darkrai  Dark
Start	Confusion	Ominous Wind
	Double Team	Disable
11	Safeguard	Quick Attack
20	Mist	Hypnosis
29	Aurora Beam	Faint Attack
38	Future Sight	Nightmare
47	Slash	Double Team
57	Moonlight	Haze
66	Psycho Cut	Dark Void
75	Psycho Shift	Nasty Plot
84	Lunar Dance	Dream Eater
93	Psychic	Dark Pulse
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Pokémon	Cresselia	Darkrai
HP	120	70
Attack	70	90
Defense	120	90
Sp. Attack	75	135
Sp. Defense	130	90
Speed	85	125
Total	600	600

Other Duos

Those duos are made up of Pokémon with a strong relation in the lore, but their stats and movesets tend to be fairly distinct and not equivalent; these duos can be said to be asymmetrical compared to the true duos.

The Mew duo

Mewtwo and Mew as seen in Mewtwo Strikes Back

Mewtwo and Mew make up Kanto’s legendary duo. They are both very elusive, if not unique, Psychic-type Pokémon. Mewtwo was cloned from Mew, meaning the two share DNA and many traits. In the games, however, they are usually treated as unrelated Pokémon, with Mewtwo's stats, moveset and treatment in the Pokémon Stadium series being closer to that of the Tower Duo, while Mew's are closer to that of Celebi.

In Mewtwo Strikes Back, Mew embodied innocence and joy, but Mewtwo's experiences as it gained consciousness gave it a jaded and cynical view of humanity. The duality expressed between the two characters formed the basis of their conflict, but innocent Mew, with the help of Ash Ketchum, is able to sway Mewtwo's contempt.

Pokémon	Mew	Mewtwo
HP	100	106
Attack	100	110
Defense	100	90
Sp. Attack	100	154
Sp. Defense	100	90
Speed	100	130
Total	600	680

The sea guardian duo

Manaphy is the only legendary Pokémon so far that is able to breed. The outcome however is a separate species, Phione. In a way the sea-fairy duo are a perfect counterpart to the Mew-duo; instead of an unnatural (through genetic engineering in lab), stronger version, Phione is a natural (through breeding), weaker version of Manaphy; both also appear before the "original" in the Pokédex. Due to conflicting evidence from official sources, Phione's status as a legendary Pokémon is uncertain; if it is not a legendary Pokémon, the sea guardian duo is not a legendary duo.

Pokémon	Manaphy	Phione
HP	100	80
Attack	100	80
Defense	100	80
Sp. Attack	100	80
Sp. Defense	100	80
Speed	100	80
Total	600	480

Trivia

• Both the tower duo and the eon duo were seen in the anime before their respective generations. Ho-Oh was seen in Pokémon - I Choose You! and Lugia was seen in The Power of One. Both Latias and Latios were seen in Pokémon Heroes, the fifth movie.
• Ho-Oh and Lugia are the only trio masters that are part of a legendary duo.
• The lunar duo is the only duo that has Pokémon which aren't next to each other in the Pokédex.
  • Furthermore, the lunar duo is the only duo that doesn't have any Pokémon in a regional Pokédex.
    • The lunar duo are also the only duo not to share at least one type.
• Despite Mewtwo being an altered clone of Mew, thus closer related than any other duo, statistically they are very different; with different stat totals, unrelated stat distribution, and divergent level up movesets; in those fields, Mewtwo seems closer to Lugia and Ho-Oh, while Mew seems more similar to Celebi, especially in Generations II and III.

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