User:Landfish7/Phione's Mythical status

The status of Phione as a Mythical Pokémon has historically been disputed, with several pieces of evidence and even official statements contradicting each other over the years. Despite this, Phione is now consistently considered a Mythical Pokémon by official sources.

Evidence for

Evidence from Pokémon 2011 Style Guide

• Pokémon.com's mailbag was once asked^{[dead link]} if Phione was Legendary. The official answer was initially no, but was quickly changed to yes; the whole mailbag section has since been taken down with the restructure of Pokémon.com.
• Phione is listed under the Mythical Pokémon section in the Pokémon 2011 Style Guide.
• Phione is listed as a Mythical Pokémon in the Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook.
• Phione was a usable Pokémon in the Circle of Legends tournament, in which only Legendary and Mythical Pokémon were allowed.
• Phione is banned from the 2016 Video Game Championships due to being a Mythical Pokémon.
• Phione is listed as a Mythical Pokémon in a September 2016 Nintendo feature story on Mythical Pokémon.
• In the Generation VII Global Trade System, if the player chooses to exclude people seeking Mythical or Legendary Pokémon, people seeking Phione will not be displayed.
• Phione is banned from the Battle Frontier, the Battle Subway, the Pokémon World Tournament, the Battle Maison, and the Battle Tree, a rule which typically applies only to Mythical Pokémon and Special Pokémon; the only non-Mythical Pokémon to have been event-only at one point, Zorua and Zoroark, were allowed in the Battle Subway, indicating Phione's battle facility ban may be due to it being Mythical.
  • Phione is also banned from most online competitions and online battles.
• In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series:
  • In Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky, Phione has a 100% recruit rate, is never battled, and the player is not allowed to recruit more than one to their team, all of which are traits otherwise only exhibited by Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
  • In Super Mystery Dungeon, Hoopa is able to summon Phione as an ally. Only Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are able to be summoned in this way. Moreover, when Manaphy and Phione are first encountered at the Seafloor Ruins, the game refers to them as "the Mythical Manaphy and Phione."
• In Pokémon Rumble Blast, Phione can only be unlocked once a certain number of customers have shopped at the Toy Shop, a trait otherwise exclusive to Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
• Phione was featured in Pokémon.com's 2012 Pokémon Power Bracket, a single-elimination tournament where all other Pokémon in the bracket were Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
• Phione is not needed to obtain the diploma, a trait otherwise exclusive to Mythical Pokémon.
  • Likewise, in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, it is not required to catch Phione in order to battle Arceus, nor does it count for Pokédex completion to obtain the Shiny Charm, traits otherwise exclusive to Mythical Pokémon.
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus will display a warning when the player attempts to release a Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, or Shiny Pokémon; attempting to release Phione will generate the warning regardless of Shiny status.
• The Pokémon GO regional Pokédex added in v2.0.0 of the mobile version of Pokémon HOME, which includes all Pokémon in the National Pokédex except Mythical Pokémon, excludes Phione.
• In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the game code defines Phione as a Mythical internally. It is currently unknown what this value is used for, as it is defined for all Mythical Pokémon, even Mythical species that are not coded to exist in Scarlet and Violet, such as Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, etc.
• In a YouTube video celebrating the number of Pokémon after the release of Generation IX, Phione is shown during the Mythical Pokémon portion.

Evidence against

• Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver: Prima's Official Strategy Guide states that Phione is not Legendary (a term used at the time to describe both Legendary and Mythical Pokémon) due to it being able to be obtained by hatching Eggs.
• In Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, all Mythical Pokémon are referred to as "rare," but Phione is not. It is also found normally in the wild.
• All Mythical Pokémon are listed in Pokémon Daisuki Club's Mystery File feature website, but Phione is missing.
• In the Pokémon Kids: Winter Fest badge collection all Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have special badge borders and are obtained exclusively through either opening Master pouches or clearing timed challenges. However, Phione has no special border and is obtained through standard bags in the same way all non-Legendary non-Mythical Pokémon are obtained.
• In the Pokédex of Pokémon Bank, Phione does not have a shiny background, unlike other Mythical Pokémon. However, non-Special Legendary Pokémon similarly also do not have a shiny background.
• In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness, Phione has a whole set of exclusive items that are found normally (plus a fifth item that otherwise only appears for baby Pokémon) unlike other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, which only have one each and are found behind locked chambers in specific dungeons.
• TOMY produced 20th Anniversary Pokémon plush toys that included all Mythical Pokémon from Generation I to Generation V. In that set, Phione was omitted.

Other evidence

• Phione Eggs can be received at Day Cares and the Nursery, and it can breed to produce another Phione. No other Legendary or Mythical Pokémon can breed to produce itself.
• The Pokémon Ultra Sun & Pokémon Ultra Moon: The Official Alola Region Strategy Guide has two separate pieces of conflicting information about Phione's Mythical status within itself. It lists Phione as Mythical but also states that Manaphy is the only Mythical Pokémon that can breed.
• In Pokémon HOME, the player cannot trade Phione via the Wonder Box, Global Trade System or Room Trade, just like all Mythical Pokémon. Originally, even trades requesting Pokémon that could not be traded would be displayed when searching the GTS, but shortly after launch, the search was changed to not display these results. When requests for Pokémon that could not be traded were visible, even if the player chose to exclude people seeking Mythical or Legendary Pokémon, requests for Phione would still be displayed.
  • It should be noted that the trade filters appear to be taken from previous trade systems, so HOME may not accurately reflect present day categories or restrictions. An example would be Shiny Keldeo and Victini being tradable despite being coded never to appear as Shiny, a persistent error in the trade filters that has appeared in every trade system from Generation V onward.