Primal Reversion

Primal redirects here. For the Pokémon from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, see Primal Dialga.

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre

Primal Reversion (Japanese: ゲンシカイキ Primal Regression) is an ancient transformation affecting Pokémon that debuted in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Pokémon that have undergone Primal Reversion are distinguished by the word "Primal" in front of their species name. Primal Reversion is said to restore a Pokémon's true powers as it absorbs the energy of nature to greatly increase its power. Primal Reversion has been removed from the core series as of Pokémon Sword and Shield.

Gameplay

In battle

In order to undergo Primal Reversion, a Pokémon only needs to be holding the appropriate orb. Like Mega Stones, orbs cannot be removed during battle if held by the appropriate Pokémon. Unlike Mega Evolution, however, the player does not need a Key Stone or have to manually trigger Primal Reversion; it will simply happen automatically after the Pokémon enters battle and after any entry hazards take effect, but before the activation of weather-changing Abilities.

If a Pokémon that has undergone Primal Reversion faints and then is revived, it will still be in its primal form after revival. In contrast, this does not occur to a Pokémon that has Mega Evolved.

In a Rotation Battle, the Pokémon will only undergo Primal Reversion if it is sent out in the primary position; the Primal Reversion will not activate if the Pokémon is sent out in a secondary position at the start of the battle and then rotated to the primary position. Also, unlike Mega Evolution and Ultra Burst, there is no limit to the number of times a Primal Reversion may be performed per battle.

Outside of battle

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, if a Pokémon is holding the appropriate orb for Primal Reversion when it is entered into a Pokémon Contest Spectacular, it will automatically appear in its primal form for the entirety of the show. However, this has no effect on the Pokémon's performance.

Pokémon capable of Primal Reversion

Pokémon	Before Primal Reversion			After Primal Reversion			Orb
	Image	Type	Ability	Image	Type	Ability
Kyogre		Water	Drizzle		Water	Primordial Sea	Blue Orb
Groudon		Ground	Drought		Ground  Fire	Desolate Land	Red Orb

Base stat comparison

Similar to Mega Evolution, Primal Reversion increases a Pokémon's base stat total by 100.

Base Forms

Pokémon	Kyogre	Groudon
HP	100	100
Attack	100	150
Defense	90	140
Sp. Attack	150	100
Sp. Defense	140	90
Speed	90	90
Total	670	670

Primal Forms

Pokémon	Kyogre	Groudon
HP	100	100
Attack	150	180
Defense	90	160
Sp. Attack	180	150
Sp. Defense	160	90
Speed	90	90
Total	770	770

In other games

Pokémon GO

Main article: Mega Evolution (GO)

Primal Reversion was introduced in Pokémon GO on February 18, 2023. Rather than using the Red Orb or Blue Orb, an eligible Pokémon instead consumes Primal Energy to undergo a temporary Primal Reversion. Primal Reversion is functionally identical to Mega Evolution, the only difference being the types affected by the 1.3x power boost given to allies in raids (Primal Groudon affects Grass, Fire and Ground, while Primal Kyorge affects Electric, Water and Bug). A player can only have one active Mega Evolution or Primal Reversion at a time.

In the anime

Main series

Primal Groudon in the anime

Primal Kyogre in the anime

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre both appeared in Mega Evolution Special III, where they had a clash with one another off the coast of Rustboro City. Alain and Steven attempted to fight the ancient Pokémon with their Mega Charizard X and Mega Metagross, but they were soon overpowered. Soon after, a Mega Rayquaza appeared, battled, and eventually managed to defeat the two Primal Pokémon, causing them to return to their regular forms.

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre also appeared in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, where they were summoned and controlled by Hoopa Unbound along with the creation trio and Kyurem to attack Ash, Pikachu, Hoopa Confined, a Shiny Rayquaza, and the Eon duo in Dahara City.

Pokémon Generations

Primal Groudon in Pokémon Generations

Primal Kyogre in Pokémon Generations

Primal Groudon appeared in Courtney's vision in The Vision. She imagined it attacking Maxie, Tabitha, and the rest of Team Magma, but this did not deter her from her Team's plans for long.

Primal Kyogre appeared in The Cavern. Despite Shelly's insistence not to, Archie awakened it in the Seafloor Cavern. It proceeded to cause destruction across Hoenn, and eventually prepared to attack Archie and Shelly.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre both appeared in the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer.

Pokémon Evolutions

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre both appeared in a fantasy in The Wish. They were shown battling before being calmed by Mega Rayquaza as Zinnia told the story of the Draconid people to May.

In the manga

Primal Groudon in Pokémon Adventures

Primal Kyogre in Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures

Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire arc

Archie and Maxie used the Red and Blue Orbs to transform Groudon and Kyogre into their Primal forms in order to help save the world from the giant meteoroid headed for the planet. After some training at the Meteor Falls, both Primal Pokémon managed to master their special moves; Precipice Blades and Origin Pulse, respectively. However, both ancient Pokémon, even when assisted by Rayquaza, completely exhausted themselves while destroying a large piece of the meteoroid falling before the main body, causing them to revert to their regular forms.

In the TCG

Primal Groudon-EX

Primal Kyogre-EX

Primal Reversion were brought into the Trading Card Game with the release of Primal Clash (Gaia Volcano • Tidal Storm in Japan). Primal Reversion is an extension of the Mega Pokémon-EX mechanic, evolving from the long-standing Pokémon-EX. The only Primal Pokémon-EX are the Primal Kyogre-EX and Primal Groudon-EX cards from Primal Clash and Ancient Origins. Each Primal Reversion Pokémon features an Ancient Trait. The Ancient Origins prints feature the Shiny versions of the Pokémon and replace the original Ancient Traits with θ Max, but are otherwise identical to the Primal Clash cards.

Related cards Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card	Type	English Expansion	Rarity	#	Japanese Expansion	Rarity	#
Primal Kyogre		Primal Clash		55/160	Tidal Storm		032/070
		Primal Clash		149/160	Tidal Storm		073/070
Primal Kyogre		Ancient Origins		96/98			093/081
Primal Groudon		Primal Clash		86/160	Gaia Volcano		040/070
		Primal Clash		151/160	Gaia Volcano		074/070
Primal Groudon		Ancient Origins		97/98			094/081

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 回復原始 Huífù Yuánshǐ Czech Primární reverze Dutch Oerterugkeer French Primo-Résurgence German Protomorphose Indonesian Reversi Prima Reversi Primal Italian Archeorisveglio Korean 원시회귀 Wonsi Hoegwi Malaysian Pembalikan Primal Portuguese Brazil Reversão Primitiva Portugal Reversão Primordial Russian Первобытное Восстановление Pervobytnoye Vosstanovleniye* Прото-Превращение Proto-Prevrashcheniye* Spanish Regresión Primigenia Turkish Kadim Dönüşüm Vietnamese Tiến hóa tận cùng Nguyên Thủy Hồi quy Nguyên thủy

Primal Kyogre Language Title Mandarin Chinese 原始蓋歐卡 Yuánshǐ Gàiōukǎ French Primo-Kyogre German Proto-Kyogre Indonesian Kyogre Primal Italian ArcheoKyogre Korean 원시가이오가 Wonsi Kyogre Malaysian Kyogre Primal Brazilian Portuguese Kyogre Primitivo Russian Прото Кайогр Proto Kaiogr* Древний Кайогр Drevny Kaiogr* Spanish Kyogre Primigenio Thai ไคออกาต้นกำเนิด Kyogre Ton Kamnoet Turkish Kadim Kyogre Vietnamese Kaioga Nguyên Thủy

Primal Groudon Language Title Mandarin Chinese 原始固拉多 Yuánshǐ Gūlādūo French Primo-Groudon German Proto-Groudon Indonesian Groudon Primal Italian ArcheoGroudon Korean 원시그란돈 Wonsi Groudon Malaysian Groudon Primal Brazilian Portuguese Groudon Primitivo Russian Прото Граудон Proto Graudon* Древний Граудон Drevny Graudon* Spanish Groudon Primigenio Thai กราดอนต้นกำเนิด Groudon Ton Kamnoet Turkish Kadim Groudon Vietnamese Groudon Nguyên Thủy

See also

• List of Pokémon with gender differences
• List of Pokémon with form differences
• Variant Pokémon
• Regional form
• Myths and legends involving Legendary and Mythical Pokémon

Pokémon transformations
Mega Evolution • Primal Reversion • Bond Phenomenon Ultra Burst • Dynamax (Gigantamax) • Eternamax Terastal phenomenon