Celebi sensing a temporal anomaly (from Celebi's perspective)
Celebi is a green, fairy-like Pokémon. It has round toeless feet, three-fingered hands, and clear wings on its back. It has a round head that comes to a curved point. It has large baby-blue eyes with thick black rings around them, and a pair of green antennae with blue tips.
Often found in forests, Celebi is a Mythical Pokémon, known in legend as the "Voice of the Forest." It is able to travel through time and exist simultaneously throughout time, and plant life flourishes wherever it has been. As seen in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest, it is able to heal Celebi when it is dying and restore plants to perfect health. Celebi also has the ability to heal wounds, and can release a telekinetic energy wave to defend itself. It was shown in Pokémon Colosseum that Celebi has the power to instantly cause the Purification of any Shadow Pokémon and can be summoned at Relic Forest with the melody of a Time Flute.
Despite living in forests as its guardian, Celebi only shows itself in areas and times of peace. It has been regarded that as long as Celebi are seen throughout the world, a prosperous and bright future is still in store for the Pokémon world. As depicted in A Timeless Encounter!, Celebi can sense if something is a temporal anomaly in the current timeline and will bring them back to their original timeline. Celebi has been referred to as a forest deity.
Game data
NPC appearances
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness: A Shiny Celebi is a supporting protagonist in the main storyline. When the player and partner are sent to the future by Dusknoir, the player, partner, and Grovyle work together to get back to the past. Celebi was the Pokémon who sent Grovyle and the player to the past before, and the trio receive her help to go back again.
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs: Celebi is the first boss of the game and a main Pokémon in the storyline. It has the power to time travel and can send the player (without the Ukulele Pichu) into the past. It can also send specific Pokémon to the present if the player uses the correct Ranger Signs.
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon: A regular Celebi appears with Ampharos and Jirachi of the Expedition Society to transport the player and partner out of harm's way before Nuzleaf and Beheeyem get a second chance to petrify the player and partner after their return from the Voidlands. Celebi explains that Dark Matter once threatened to attack the Tree of Life which would have resulted in the planet's collision with the sun, but was stopped by the efforts of a human and a Pokémon. Celebi theorizes this same human was brought back to the present by the ancient Mew. Celebi also reveals that the Harmony Scarves worn by the player and partner were made using materials from the Tree of Life; their temporary evolutions were triggered as a result of the Tree's power. Later, Celebi helps assist many other Pokémon in stopping the ascent of the Tree of Life into the sun a second time. It, along with the Shiny Celebi from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky, are recruitable after completion of the main story via the Connection Orb.
Spoilers end here.
Pokédex entries
In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, Celebi's Pokédex entry states: "もりのかみさま として まつられる" (worshipped as a deity of the forest). This was adapted in English as "revered as a guardian of the forest".
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II.
This Pokémon wanders across time. Grass and trees flourish in the forests in which it has appeared. (Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) When Celebi disappears deep in a forest, it is said to leave behind an egg it brought from the future. (Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
Special customer event (Mix), Transfer (ReMix) Login bonus, Special event (Mix), Transfer (ReMix) (Shiny)
Celebi is only obtainable in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness after downloading a Wonder Mail from the Nintendo WFC. This Wonder Mail can not be obtained by using a password, but it can be shared through local wireless communication.
Celebi has the amazing ability to move through time. The area around the ruins might be a special place to this Pokémon.
In Pokémon GO, Celebi can be obtained by completing the Special Research set, A Ripple in Time. On December 14, 2020, 8 a.m. local time, in celebration of the Japanese release of Secrets of the Jungle, Celebi's Shiny variant could also be obtained by completing the time-limited Special Research set, Distracted by Something Shiny.
Celebi debuted in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest. In the beginning, a Pokémon poacher was after a it, and it traveled 40 years into the future to escape from him, taking Sam along with it by accident. The Iron-Masked Marauder eventually caught the Time Travel Pokémon in a Dark Ball and used it to destroy the forest. However, Ash and Sam managed to snap Celebi out of the Iron-Masked Marauder's spell.
In Zoroark: Master of Illusions, Grings Kodai was after Celebi's Time Ripple in order to restore his ability to see the future, which he got on a previous encounter with it. It befriended Zorua and helped save Zoroark after she was mortally injured by Kodai.
Celebi (recurring)
In A Timeless Encounter!, a Celebi was disturbed by the battle between Ash's Lycanroc and Torracat. In response, it accidentally caused Ash and Torracat to travel back to the past. Later, Celebi transported them back to the present, which was seen again in Pikachu's Exciting Adventure! from the perspective of Ash's other Pokémon.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Celebi made its debut in The Last Battle IX. The Masked Man aimed to catch it and use its time-traveling powers to reunite one of his Pokémon with its deceased parents. Although the Masked Man managed to catch Celebi, the GS Ball holding it was destroyed by Gold, freeing it from the villain's control.
In It All Ends Now VIII, Celebi was revealed to have chosen Ruby as its new Trainer before he moved from Johto to Hoenn, though Ruby had no idea of how rare of a Pokémon it was. Remaining unseen for almost the entire Ruby & Sapphire arc, it appeared at the end of the arc to destroy the Red and Blue Orbs and revive Steven, Norman, and Courtney, who had died during the conflict involving Groudon and Kyogre, before returning to the wild.
When a Poké Ball is thrown, there is a 1 in 251 chance of Celebi appearing after all these requirements have been fulfilled:
Unlock all 25 characters
Unlock all 29 stages
Beat all 51 events
Unlock the score display (by reaching 5000 KOs)
It does not affect the battle, but the thrower of the Poké Ball will earn a bonus and trophy of Celebi.
Trophy information
"Celebi has the power to travel through time, and thus wanders from one age to the next. It is considered a deity by the forests: plants and trees are said to grow in unimaginable abundance wherever Celebi visits. Like Mew, Celebi is a Pokémon shrouded in mystery. Its special techniques blend grass and psychic powers."
When a Poké Ball is thrown, there is a 1 in 493 chance of Celebi appearing. Like the other "secret" Pokémon, it drops collectible items; in Celebi's case, it drops trophies.
Trophy information
"A Time Travel Pokémon. Celebi can travel throughout time and inhabit multiple places simultaneously. It is said that it appears only during times of peace, greeted by a flourishing of grass and trees. Two turns after Celebi uses its Future Sight move, the foe is bombarded with psychic energy. This proves to have a devastating impact on any Pokémon."
Celebi appears as a trophy in the 3DS version only.
Trophy information
This Pokémon has the unique ability to travel through time to the past or future. However, the only times Celebi wants to visit are those of peace, so catching sight of Celebi in one of the beautiful forests it frequents is a good sign indeed. Perhaps it's mankind's responsibility to create the kind of time Celebi would want to visit.
After Deoxys, Celebi is the second Mythical Pokémon to become legitimately available in-game without any sort of event or distribution, this time in the Virtual Console release of Pokémon Crystal on the 3DS.
Celebi is the only Pokémon of the 100 introduced in Generation II that wasn't used in Pokérap GS.
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, Celebi is the only obtainable Shiny Pokémon that does not appear as a Strong Foe; it is instead found in a Mystery House.
Celebi is the only Mythical Pokémon introduced in Generation II.
A 2008 interview done with Masamitsu Hidaka revealed that the GS Ball was initially meant to contain a Celebi that would be used in a story arc throughout the Johto series. This idea was shelved, however, when Celebi was decided to be the star of Celebi: The Voice of the Forest.
According to a dead Nintendo of Japan page from the early 2000s, Celebi's Japanese name was initially romanized as Selbi as opposed to the later Celebi.[2][3]
Celebi was the first event-exclusive Pokémon to appear in the anime outside of a movie.
Celebi is the first Mythical Pokémon to have been caught in the anime.
Celebi has a natural theme.[6] Specifically, it might be related to the natural worship of Shintoism. It also may be based on a fairy, dryad, or kodama, mixed with a plant bulb.
Celebi's beta designs, and to a lesser extent its final design, appear to draw inspiration from Kokopelli, a god of fertility and music from the cultures of some southwestern Native American peoples.
Name origin
Celebi may be a combination of 精霊 seirei (spirit), Ceres (Roman goddess of fertility), celebrate or celestial, serenity, and 美 bi (beauty) or being.
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
セレビィ Celebi
From 精霊 seirei, Ceres (Roman goddess of fertility), celebrate or celestial, serenity, and 美 bi or being
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.