Lake guardians

Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf

The lake guardians, sometimes referred to as the lake trio, is a term used to describe the legendary trio residing in the three lakes of Sinnoh: Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. They are meant to represent knowledge, emotion, and willpower, respectively. They are based on the Imperial Regalia of Japan: the Yata no Kagami (wisdom), Yasakani no Magatama (benevolence), and Kusanagi (valor). Parts of their names come from fantasy creatures: pixies, sprites and elves, respectively. The other parts of their names come from pronouns: you (Uxie), me (Mesprit), and us (Azelf).

Unlike previous trios, all three of the lake trio are of a single type, the Template:Type2, though like the others, they share an ability: Levitate. According to legend, when Arceus created the universe it created Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, and therefore is believed to be their master. According to one of Azelf's Pokédex entries, all three of them were born from the same egg.

Moveset similarities

Lv.	Uxie  Psychic	Mesprit  Psychic	Azelf  Psychic
Start	Rest
	Confusion
6	Imprison
16	Endure	Protect	Detect
21	Swift
31	Yawn	Lucky Chant	Uproar
36	Future Sight
46	Amnesia	Charm	Nasty Plot
51	Extrasensory
61	Flail	Copycat	Last Resort
66	Natural Gift
76	Memento	Healing Wish	Explosion
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Base stat comparison

Pokémon	Uxie	Mesprit	Azelf
HP	75	80	75
Attack	75	105	125
Defense	130	105	70
Sp. Atk	75	105	125
Sp. Def	130	105	70
Speed	95	80	115
Total	580	580	580

In the games

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

The three pixies are obtainable after the defeat of Team Galactic at Mt. Coronet. Uxie resides at the northern tip of Sinnoh, Acuity Cavern; Mesprit, after being encountered in Verity Cavern, will roam throughout Sinnoh; and Azelf sits at the mid-eastern part of Sinnoh, sitting in Valor Cavern.

• Lake Uxie.png

  Uxie

• Lake Mesprit.png

  Mesprit

• Lake Azelf.png

  Azelf

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon

The three are also found in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky. They are found in three different lakes and are in charge of protecting three Time Gears.

In the anime

Main article: Lake guardians (anime)

File:Mesprit Azelf Uxie anime.png

In the anime

All three first appeared in forms similar to souls, floating above their respective lakes, to the Diamond & Pearl series's main characters. Mesprit appeared to Dawn during the start of her journey in Following a Maiden's Voyage!, Azelf appeared to Ash during the duration of the Wallace Cup in Pruning a Passel of Pals! and Uxie appeared to Brock while he was looking for a berry in Uncrushing Defeat!. Due to these encounters, all three established a connection to the human they each met.

They appeared in their physical forms for the first time in The Needs of the Three!, wherein, after being hired by Team Galactic, J was able to capture all three of them. Team Galactic was then able to control them using red gems. With their power, Cyrus was able to summon Dialga and Palkia during the next episode.

When the gems were broken by Pikachu, Piplup and Croagunk, the three were set free from Team Galactic's control. They then helped Ash and his friends stop the effects of summoning Dialga and Palkia.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

In Pokémon Adventures

Similar to the anime, the Lake guardians all have a connection the three Sinnoh Pokédex holders Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

The first of the three to appear was Mesprit, in the form of a soul hovering above Lake Verity in a flashback of Diamond's childhood. In the present, after being dropped on the small island by a Staraptor, Pearl sees the reflection of Azelf in the small pond inside of the island cave. Platinum, as a child, had once been to Lake Acuity and saw Uxie, although she had no recollection of such an event in the present.

Later, after finding out that Team Galactic intends to capture the Lake guardians for their evil purposes, the Sinnoh Pokédex holders all set out to the three lakes to try and stop them. Diamond was sent to Lake Verity where he faced Mars, Pearl was sent to Lake Valor where he faced Saturn, and Platinum went to Lake Acuity where she faced Jupiter. Though they fought hard, Lake Valor was eventually blown up by the Galactic Bomb and the three Pokémon residing inside of the caves were captured.

Next, it is revealed that Cyrus intends to create a Red Chain that can capture Time and Space and create a new world. Later, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum infiltrate the Team Galactic HQ in order to free the Lake guardians; while they do this, Cyrus creates a Red Chain from their gems. They manage to reach the room where the Lake guardians are being held, but are prevented from freeing them by the Cloaked Grunt. Eventually, they manage to distract the Cloaked Grunt's Pokémon long enough to free Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. Now freed, the Lake guardians make their escape into the air.

Trivia

• The two circles in each of the Pokémon's caves are the relative positions of the other two, when compared to a map of Sinnoh.
• The lake trio are the only trio whose members are all exactly the same type.
• The lake trio are the first set of legendary Pokémon since the legendary birds to have their names changed for the English language versions of the game - from Yuxie, Emrit, and Agnome to Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.
• The lake trio also appear to help the player through the Distortion World in Pokémon Platinum.
• Each of the lake trio's heads is a slightly different color than a color of something on the rest of their bodies: Uxie's head is close to the color of their eyes, Mesprit's head is close to the color of the gems on their forehead and tails, and Azelf's head is close to the color of their actual bodies.
• The lake trio contains the three subtractive colors of yellow (Uxie), magenta (Mesprit) and cyan (Azelf).
  • In addition, they share the same main colors with Cresselia.
• The trio's encounter music is a different version of their cavern music.
• They are the only legendary trio that are incapable of learning any HMs.
• Each of the members' abilities have some connection to a Pokémon's stat. Uxie gives knowledge (ability), Mesprit gives emotions (nature and happiness), and Azelf gives willpower (stats and moves).
• Each member of the lake trio has connected to one of the three main characters of the Diamond & Pearl series anime along with the Pokédex holders of the Diamond & Pearl arc of Pokémon Adventures.
  • Mesprit appeared to Dawn, highlighting her ability to understand what Pokémon feel, in Following a Maiden's Voyage.
    • Mesprit connected to Diamond in Pokémon Adventures because of his strong emotional control, as shown in VS. Probopass & Magnezone II where even though he was shown to be angry, he never once raised his voice.
  • Azelf appeared to Ash, highlighting his courageous actions without fear of his own harm, in Pruning a Passel of Pals.
    • Azelf connected to Pearl in Pokémon Adventures because of his strong unbending will, as shown in A Conk on Cranidos's Cranium where he is seen helping Platinum in her Gym battle against Roark despite the strain it put on him.
  • Uxie appeared to Brock, highlighting his superior knowledge of Pokémon to his companions, in Uncrushing Defeat!.
    • Uxie connected to Platinum in Pokémon Adventures because of her great wisdom, as shown in Stagestruck Starly where it is revealed that her family, the House of Berlitz, is a family of scholars.
    • Coincidentally, the genders of the three main characters are parallel to the trio's genders in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.
• The lake guardians are sometimes referred to in Japan as the "UMA trio" or "UMA combination", with "UMA" standing for "unidentified mysterious animal". Coincidentally, "UMA" are the initials of their English names, based on National Pokédex order.
• All members of the lake guardians learn sacrificing moves at level 76. Uxie to lower both offensive stats of the opponent, Mesprit to heal a party member, and Azelf to highly damage the opponent.
• The lake guardians are the only non-mascot legendary trio which does not receive a 150% power bonus in a Battrio combo, instead receiving 160%.
• The members of the lake trio are tied for the lightest legendary Pokémon, and, tied with Rotom, are second for the lightest of all Pokémon (after Gastly and Haunter).