Cresselia has a blue, swan-like body with a yellow underside. It has pink eyes, a dark pink, round tuft on its head, and a pointed, beak-like snout. There are yellow, crescent-shaped ornaments on the sides of its head. Cresselia has glowing, pink, ring-like wings on its sides and back with paw like protrusions resting on its chest. These wings release shining particles and undulate beautifully around the quarter moon. Cresselia has the power to dispel nightmares, and holding one of its feathers is said to bring happy dreams. However, as seen in the anime, it can be quite hostile towards its counterpart, Darkrai. Cresselia is the only known Pokemon able to learn Lunar Dance. Cresselia is a female-only species.
In the anime
Cresselia in the anime
Major appearances
Cresselia made her debut appearance in the anime in Sleepless In Pre-Battle!. Cresselia normally returns to her shrine on Fullmoon Island during a certain time of the year when a Darkrai also comes by to cause nightmares. She may also leave her feathers, which people find to help stop the nightmares caused by Darkrai. In the episode, Cresselia helped Ash and the residents of Canalave City get better sleep by stopping Darkrai.
Cresselia appears on the Spear Pillar stage as one of three Pokémon who appear in the center (the others being Dialga and Palkia). Cresselia acts completely different than the other two in terms of attacks she uses. She'll often shoot Psycho Cuts around the field, and sometimes shoot one large Psycho Cut as if it were a boomerang, hitting anyone that touches it.
Trophy Information
A Lunar Pokémon. Cresselia appears on Fullmoon Island and, once discovered, flies around different areas of Sinnoh. Its signature move, Lunar Dance, causes Cresselia to faint but recovers all the HP and cures the status conditions of the next Pokémon its Trainer sends out. Cresselia excels at recovery techniques and is unusual in that it appears only in female form.
Game data
NPC appearances
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness: Cresselia has made it her mission to foil Darkrai's plot of plunging everyone in the world into an endless nightmare. After healing Azurill of his nightmare, she joins the player's team as a guest in Dark Crater. After defeating Darkrai, Cresselia will offer to officially join the team back at Sharpedo Bluff.
Cresselia can be seen as an opposite of Darkrai, as Darkrai causes nightmares, whereas Cresselia prevents them. Also, their islands are shaped and named opposite of each other, and their types are frequently considered opposites.
Furthermore, in the TCG, one of the attacks on Darkrai 3/106 of Great Encounters, Darkness Pursuit, has a base damage of 100 if Cresselia is the opposing Pokémon. Otherwise, it deals 50 damage.
Cresselia is one of six legendary Pokémon that has a definite gender, the other five being Latias (a female-only species), Latios (a male-only species) and the Forces of Nature (whose members are all male-only species).
All of these legendary Pokémon except Landorus appeared roaming around the region they debuted in.
Cresselia's three main colors (pink, yellow and blue) are the same as the main colors of the Lake guardians.
Origin
The general body shape of Cresselia seems to be based after a swan. Her head is covered in crescent moon shapes and she wears many aurora-coloredplanetary rings. These rings resemble Saturn's rings.
Cresselia shares characteristics with Sarimanok, a mythical being who is usually depicted as a fowl with colorful wings and feathered tail. Sarimanok's head is profusely decorated and is said to be a symbol of good fortune. She also may be based on the Alkonost, a female headed bird god who usually departs to society to warn it.
Name origin
Cresselia and Crecelia may be a combination of crescent (referring to a phase of the moon) and Selene (Greek goddess of the Moon).
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
クレセリア Crecelia
From crescent (referring to a phase of the moon) and Selene (Greek goddess of the Moon)
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.