Mysterious Pokemon That Never Appeared In The Games

The Pokemon franchise is famous for introducing over 1000 different fictional creatures to fans all around the world, who have enjoyed meeting, catching, and training them for decades across many different mainline games and spin-offs. And the best part is that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have shown no signs of stopping, so players will surely keep meeting more and more Pokemon in the near future.

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However, there’s a more mysterious side to the franchise that a large part of the fanbase is completely unaware of. This series has some surprisingly solid and deep world-building and as a result, the mainline titles have alluded to the existence of multiple existing Pokemon that have never physically appeared in-game. The following unidentified creatures are the most blind-blowing examples of this bizarre phenomenon.

1

Gym Statue Pokemon

Who Is The Pokemon That Appeared In Almost Every Single Gym?

Systems

Released

November 16, 2018

ESRB

E for Everyone: Mild Cartoon Violence

In pretty much almost every mainline game in the series, trainers can find a weird-looking statue at the entrance of all the Pokemon Gyms. Of course, in older games, the real appearance of this mysterious creature was harder to discern because of the low quality of the 2D sprites at the time.

But this statue still appears in all the modern Pokemon titles, in full 3D, making it quite obvious to players that it doesn’t represent any existing Pokemon. It looks like a short, pudgy dragon/gargoyle with small wings, and it closely resembles one of the generic sprites that were used in the menus back in Generation One. Maybe one day, Game Freak will actually reveal a new Pokemon that’s based on this odd but iconic statue.

2

The Original Legendary Beasts

Which Three Pokemon Did Ho-Oh Turn Into Raikou, Entei, And Suicune?

Systems

Released

October 15, 2000

ESRB

Everyone // Mild Cartoon Violence, Simulated Gambling

There’s an ancient legend in the Johto region that says Ho-oh took the bodies of three unidentified Pokemon that died in Brass Tower when it caught fire and reincarnated them into the legendary beasts, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. For many years, most fans believed that this trio of Pokemon consisted of Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon, which made quite a lot of sense, seeing as they all share their type with the legendary beasts.

However, this theory pretty much died when Episode 6 of Pokemon Generations came out in 2016, which showed the legend in more detail. In this animated short, the original incarnations of the legendary beasts were depicted as silhouettes of dog-like creatures that look nothing like the Kanto Eevelutions, leading some fans to believe that they may have been a trio of Houndoom. What makes this situation even weirder is that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet introduced three ancient Paradox Pokemon based on the legendary beasts: Raging Bolt, Gouging Fire, and Walking Wake. So, how could they have been created by Ho-oh if they already had ancestors living in the past?

3

Foreign Corphish

What Did Corphish Look Like Before Arriving To The Hoenn Region?

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

Systems

Released

March 19, 2003

ESRB

e

To the surprise of many fans, a few Pokemon are not native to the region they were introduced in, with Corphish being one of the most prominent examples. Many of its Pokedex entries (like the one from Pokemon Ruby) state that it’s a foreign Pokemon that many trainers imported as pets but eventually ended up living in the wild.

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What’s especially interesting is that many of Corphish’s other Pokedex entries (like the one from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl) state that it’s a Pokemon that can easily adapt to any environment, including polluted water streams. This leaves one glaring question: What did the original Corphish look like? Fortunately, it is always possible that Game Freak will introduce a regional variant of Corphish in its native region in a future generation of games.

4

The Complete Unova Dragon

What Did Zekrom, Reshiram, And Kyurem Look Like When They Were One Single Entity?

Pokemon Black and White 2

Systems

Released

June 23, 2012

ESRB

e

According to legend, two twin heroes were assisted by a legendary dragon Pokemon to create the Unova region but, since their personal philosophies greatly differed, they had a major falling out. As a result, their dragon was separated in order to form three new Pokemon: Zekrom, who represents ideals, Reshiram, who represents truth, and Kyurem, who is the leftover husk that was left after the dragon was split in two.

As fascinating as this origin story is, fans were left wondering what the original Unova dragon looked like, and thus, it became the most well-known unidentified Pokemon in the entire franchise. Although Game Freak and The Pokemon Company are now focused on Zygarde in the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Z-A, it is always possible that they’ll eventually reveal the true appearance of this mysterious creature in a hypothetical “Pokemon Legends: Kyurem” that takes place in an ancient version of Unova and tells the full story of the twin heroes in close detail.

5

Unmodified Genesect

Which Ancient Pokemon Did Team Plasma Turn Into A Cyborg?

Systems

Released

March 6, 2011

ESRB

E For Everyone // Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence

Genesect is one of the most fascinating creatures in the series, not only because it’s the only Bug-type Mythical Pokemon but also because it has a surprisingly dark backstory that is reminiscent of Mewtwo’s. According to almost every Pokedex entry, it was an ancient bug Pokemon that existed 300 million years in the past until it was captured and turned into a cyborg by Team Plasma.

Needless to say, it was never revealed which ancient bug Pokemon Genesect originally was before it was modified, especially since its Pokedex entry in Pokemon Black specifically mentions that it was once feared as a strong hunter. Some fans believe it could have been one of the existing Fossil Pokemon that look similar to Genesect, like Kabutops or Armaldo, but this was never confirmed, and it was likely a completely separate being.

6

The Four Complete Galarian Fossils

Which Fossilized Creatures Were Used To Form The Galarian Fossils?

Systems

Released

November 15, 2019

ESRB

E for Everyone: Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence

In the Galar Region, a researcher known as Cara Liss found four incomplete fossils: the Fossilized Drake, the Fossilized Dino, the Fossilized Bird, and the Fossilized Fish. As her name cleverly implies, she was quite careless when she tried to reconstruct these ancient beings and, as a result, created four weird-looking Fossil Pokemon with misplaced body parts: Dracozolt, Arctozolt, Dracovish, and Arctovish.

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Of course, these are fun and creative Pokemon that are based on the real-life “Bone Wars,” but most fans can’t help but wonder what the actual complete versions of Cara Liss’ fossils looked like. After all, it’s hinted that the Fossilized Drake, the Fossilized Dino, the Fossilized Bird, and the Fossilized Fish were four real Pokemon that lived in ancient Galar at some point in the distant past. If Game Freak and The Pokemon Company decide to go back to this region in a future game, it would be the perfect opportunity to reveal the true appearance of these mysterious prehistoric creatures.

7

Prehistoric Dreepy

Dragapult’s Evolutionary Line Used To Be Part Water-Type?

Dreepy is a Dragon and Ghost-type Pokemon introduced in Generation Eight with an intriguing Pokedex entry. It states that it was reborn as a ghost Pokemon and that it still wanders around the prehistoric seas it used to inhabit many years in the past. This is a mind-blowing revelation that implies Dreepy used to live in an ancient version of Galar, maybe even alongside the aforementioned Fossil Pokemon.

The mention of Dreepy’s native environment, combined with its aquatic design, seems to imply that it originally was a Dragon and Water-type Pokemon. It’s also important to keep in mind that this is just the first phase of an entire evolutionary line, so this backstory implies that Dreepy’s two evolutions, Drakloak and Dragapult, may have also inhabited the seas of ancient Galar. This has fueled rampant speculation among fans, who are hoping that the prehistoric and aquatic versions of this beloved evolutionary line will be revealed in a future installment.

8

The Original Loyal Three

What Did Okidogi, Munkidori, And Fezandipiti Look Like Before Pecharunt Transformed Them?

Systems

Released

November 18, 2022

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence

According to Kitakami’s legend, there once existed three unidentified Pokemon in a distant land: one was small and weak, another was clumsy and dim-witted and the last one had short and ugly feathers. One day, they met the Mythical Pokemon Pecharunt, who tamed them with its mochi and used its toxic chains to grant them their wishes. Okidogi was now strong, Munkidori was now clever, and Fezandipiti was now beautiful.

These three Pokemon are known as the Loyal Three and their legend is strikingly similar to the legendary beasts’ origin story, as it has also left fans wondering what the three of them looked like before Pecharunt interfered. Unlike Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, they don’t look anything like any existing Pokemon, not to mention that they most likely had completely different types, since it’s pretty much been confirmed that they gained Poison-type because of Pecharunt’s toxic chains.

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