Every Trainer From The Pokemon Anime Who Has Caught A Legendary

In the Pokemon video games, Legendaries are almost always one-of-a-kind. The anime adaptation takes a few liberties with that formula, but the ones that aren’t completely unique in the world remain incredibly rare.

With over 1,200 episodes and counting — to say nothing of the 23 feature films — the anime’s writers have done a noble job maintaining that sense of rarity. While most Legendaries have appeared at one time or another, precious few have actually been caught. Let’s mull over this highly exclusive list of exceptions, shall we?

Updated on March 10, 2025 by Alexander J Pinera: Legendary Pokemon are often some of the most difficult creatures to capture in the world of Pokemon. Usually, this is because there is only one, and they hold a power vital towards keeping the universe in balance. With Pokemon Horizons, even more trainers who possess legendary Pokemon have been introduced. However, this capture is usually not quite what it seems, as the anime presents multiple ways for a trainer to end up with a legendary on their team. In some cases, that legendary can even be passed down through the ages for another trainer to take their shot at it. Meanwhile, there are other trainers of note who are not to be forgotten.

13

Liko’s Terapagos

A Protagonist With A Legendary

Liko is the protagonist of Pokemon Horizons, who replaces Ash after his exit in Pokemon Journeys. With a Sprigatito by her side, she travels the Pokemon world and discovers secrets about herself and the special pendant around her neck.

Liko is unique since she actually gets hold of a special Pokemon very early into the series in the form of Terapagos. This Terapagos has a long history as it was originally captured by Liko’s grandmother before being handed down to her through the pendant.

12

Roy’s Runaway Shiny Rayquaza

A Captured Legendary With A Long Past

When Roy finds a mysterious Poke Ball washed up on the shores of his home, little does he expect it to contain the elusive, shiny Rayquaza. This legendary Pokemon was captured by an ancient adventurer within a special Poke Ball, which remains in Roy’s possession for multiple episodes.

Of course, once Black Rayquaza is released, it escapes into the wild, prompting Roy to go on an adventure to recapture it. This means Roy must train and become stronger if he wants to stand a chance against this legendary Pokemon.

11

Lawrence Snags All Three Legendary Birds

Capturing In An Unconventional Way

Capturing legendaries with binding rings isn’t the most traditional way of catching Pokemon, but it checks out. Lawrence III is the villain of the Pokemon 2000 movie, and his goal is to capture the legendary birds and bait out Lugia.

Of course, he doesn’t do it with Poke Balls. Instead, he flies around in a giant palace as he binds each of the birds using electric rings. The birds don’t stay in his possession for long once he is defeated, but for a time, he did manage to catch each one, despite failing to catch Lugia.

10

Mohn Adds Nihilego To The Family

When The Ultra Beast Captures A Human

The search for Lillie’s missing father comes to a strange end in the Pokemon Journey’s anime. It turns out that Mohn has been living in a secluded cabin under the impression that a Nihilego is his daughter. This is because Nihilego has been using psychic powers to keep Mohn at the cabin.

Once Lillie, Lusamine, and Gladion arrive at the scene, the illusion falls apart, revealing Nihilego for what it really is. However, Mohn forgives the Ultra Beast for keeping him away from his family, as it becomes an honorary member of it. So, who really captured who in this scenario?

An Odd Addition To Ash’s Alolan Team

In the anime, Melmetal and its earlier evolution Meltan aren’t seen as legendaries but instead simply as rare Pokemon that don’t appear all too often. In the games, though, this Pokemon has historically remained banned from online play due to its elusiveness and power, making Ash essentially an owner of a semi-unintentional Legendary.

This is easily proved in battle, as Melmetal is a dominant Steel-type force against Ash’s opponents in the Alola Championship. Ash usually befriends rather than outright catching legendaries, making Melmetal one of two big deviations from the rule.

8

Giovanni Trains Mewtwo

Giovanni’s Ambition Fails Him

Some people might disagree with the definition of Giovanni having “caught” Mewtwo, but it’s arguable that Giovanni has even more ownership over Mewtwo as a breeder than a trainer. Mewtwo is made through experiments by Giovanni’s scientists, making him artificially created in a functionally similar way as hatching an egg.

Even so, Giovanni is only able to use Mewtwo to do his bidding very briefly before the powerful creation escapes, taking its revenge upon those who wronged it… and plenty who didn’t, too.

7

One Random Sinnoh Trainer Shows Up With Heatran

Who Brought The Heatran To The Party?

Quite possibly the strangest legendary included in a trainer’s arsenal is this unnamed trainer waiting in line to sign up for Sinnoh’s Lily of the Valley Conference. Heatran is mostly considered a rare Pokemon rather than a one-of-a-kind Legendary, but it still can’t breed and only comes in a single encounter in most games, making its random ownership especially bizarre.

This is one of the strongest Pokemon a background character has owned, and the fact that they don’t appear ever again makes one wonder if Heatran wasn’t originally meant to be a Legendary in the Sinnoh games. The fact that the anonymous catcher is eliminated at some point in the tournament without the show’s viewers getting to see it happen is a bleak mark on a fairly excellent conclusion to Ash’s journey through Sinnoh.

6

Gladion’s Companion Silvally

A Stolen Pokemon

It’s quite rare for trainers to catch legendaries in the wild, but not every legendary that’s “befriended” by a human is necessarily a partner in the same way. This is why Gladion is especially worth noting, as he didn’t exactly catch Silvally as much as he stole it to keep it safe.

That said, these two are clearly partners on a higher level than any other befriended Pokemon, making it valid to say that Gladion has caught Silvally like any random Pokemon. This trainer is impossible to imagine without it, and its unique nature means it’ll likely never have a trainer use Silvally as well as Gladion absolutely can.

5

Tobias Demolishes Ash With Darkrai And Latios

An Unfair Advantage

Tobias is frankly infamous in the world of the Pokemon anime, having caught not one but two legendaries without any information as to how. Alongside a Darkrai that he wipes the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh with, he also has a Latios ready as a back-up Legendary to quickly take down foes in a truly competitive style.

Tobias ends up beating Ash with these two Pokemon, and it’s one of the few times that a trainer owning a legendary felt like an unfair advantage. The fact that Tobias leads Darkrai into a blisteringly rough loss for Ash, who had climbed the ranks of a tournament higher than any prior region in Sinnoh’s climax feels less like an earned win and almost akin to a sick prank by the writers.

4

Brandon Wields Regirock, Regice, And Registeel

Master Of The Regis

Brandon ‘s fascination with history and archeology adds a fun layer to his persona in the Pokemon anime, and his position as a Frontier Brain primes him as a solid rival to Ash to face. It’s only fitting that this combination comes with a full trio of Regis, ancient beings made of raw elements that give Ash a major run for his money in his Battle Frontier quest.

The one Regi he wasn’t able to capture was Regigigas, who he simply befriended while exploring the Sinnoh region beyond his first appearances in the Hoenn era.

3

Nurse Joy’s Secret Latias

Nurses Pack Heat Too

There is, indeed, a Nurse Joy who owns a legendary Pokemon. This particularly stellar iteration in the impossibly large family is a member of the Pokemon Inspection Agency; she resolves to determine whether Brock is worthy of the Pewter City Gym in a surprising episode.

How did Nurse Joy manage to catch Latias? We imagine the same way as most trainers do — throwing a Poke Ball and praying. It’s almost enough to make us want to pen an absurd fanfiction about how the Nurses Joy are, in fact, secretly the strongest trainers in the entire series.

2

Goh Captures Suicune

A Voluntary Addition To Goh’s Collection

The last and most recent trainer to own a Legendary is Goh, Ash’s friend and companion in the Pokemon Journeys series, who dreams of catching every Pokemon. This includes legendaries. Goh had previously tangled with other legendaries, such as Zapdos, but failed to catch any of them. That’s what makes his success with Suicune all the more stunning.

Given the nature of the anime, one would be forgiven for assuming that, at the end of this special episode, Goh would release Suicune. You know, anything to keep a major character from permanent ownership of something so precious and rare. And yet, nope, it refused to leave. Wow. Go, Goh.

1

Special Mentions: Mythical Pokemon

Team Rocket Members Gone Rogue And Beyond

We’d be remiss not to honor the few Pokemon belonging to the Mythical category who have also been caught. Mythicals are the absolute gold standard in rarity. These creatures are so rare that some doubt their existence entirely. Going chronologically, Celebi was caught briefly by the Iron-Masked Marauder, a Team Rocket Elite Officer and the villain in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest.

In Pokemon the Series: Sun & Moon, Mallow effectively caught a Shaymin by nursing it back to health and keeping it with her for the last 38 episodes of the saga. Lastly, Magearna belongs to Lillie’s household, also in Sun & Moon. When last we checked in on Magearna, it was traveling alongside Lillie, Gladion, and Silvally in search of the siblings’ father, Mohn.