Primal Reversion

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Primal redirects here. For the Pokémon from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, see Primal Dialga.
Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre

Primal Reversion (Japanese: ゲンシカイキ Primal Regression) is an ancient transformation affecting Pokémon that debuted in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Pokémon that have undergone Primal Reversion are distinguished by the word "Primal" in front of their species name. Primal Reversion is said to restore a Pokémon's true powers as it absorbs the energy of nature to greatly increase its power. Primal Reversion has been removed from the core series as of Pokémon Sword and Shield.

Gameplay

In battle

In order to undergo Primal Reversion, a Pokémon only needs to be holding the appropriate orb. Like Mega Stones, orbs cannot be removed during battle if held by the appropriate Pokémon. Unlike Mega Evolution, however, the player does not need a Key Stone or have to manually trigger Primal Reversion; it will simply happen automatically after the Pokémon enters battle and after any entry hazards take effect, but before the activation of weather-changing Abilities.

If a Pokémon that has undergone Primal Reversion faints and then is revived, it will still be in its primal form after revival. In contrast, this does not occur to a Pokémon that has Mega Evolved.

In a Rotation Battle, the Pokémon will only undergo Primal Reversion if it is sent out in the primary position; the Primal Reversion will not activate if the Pokémon is sent out in a secondary position at the start of the battle and then rotated to the primary position. Also, unlike Mega Evolution and Ultra Burst, there is no limit to the number of times a Primal Reversion may be performed per battle.

Outside of battle

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, if a Pokémon is holding the appropriate orb for Primal Reversion when it is entered into a Pokémon Contest Spectacular, it will automatically appear in its primal form for the entirety of the show. However, this has no effect on the Pokémon's performance.

Pokémon capable of Primal Reversion

Pokémon Before Primal Reversion After Primal Reversion Orb
Image Type Ability Image Type Ability
Kyogre Kyogre  Water  Drizzle Primal Kyogre  Water  Primordial Sea Dream Blue Orb Sprite.png
Blue Orb
Groudon Groudon  Ground  Drought Primal Groudon  Ground  Fire  Desolate Land Dream Red Orb Sprite.png
Red Orb

Base stat comparison

Similar to Mega Evolution, Primal Reversion increases a Pokémon's base stat total by 100.

Base Forms
Pokémon 382Kyogre.png
Kyogre
383Groudon.png
Groudon
HP
100
100
Attack
100
150
Defense
90
140
Sp. Attack
150
100
Sp. Defense
140
90
Speed
90
90
Total 670 670


Primal Forms
Pokémon 382Kyogre-Primal.png
Kyogre
383Groudon-Primal.png
Groudon
HP
100
100
Attack
150
180
Defense
90
160
Sp. Attack
180
150
Sp. Defense
160
90
Speed
90
90
Total 770 770


In other games

Pokémon GO

Main article: Mega Evolution (GO)

Primal Reversion was introduced in Pokémon GO on February 18, 2023. Rather than using the Red Orb or Blue Orb, an eligible Pokémon instead consumes Primal Energy to undergo a temporary Primal Reversion. Primal Reversion is functionally identical to Mega Evolution, the only difference being the types affected by the 1.3x power boost given to allies in raids (Primal Groudon affects Grass, Fire and Ground, while Primal Kyorge affects Electric, Water and Bug). A player can only have one active Mega Evolution or Primal Reversion at a time.

In the anime

Main series

Primal Groudon in the anime
Primal Kyogre in the anime

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre both appeared in Mega Evolution Special III, where they had a clash with one another off the coast of Rustboro City. Alain and Steven attempted to fight the ancient Pokémon with their Mega Charizard X and Mega Metagross, but they were soon overpowered. Soon after, a Mega Rayquaza appeared, battled, and eventually managed to defeat the two Primal Pokémon, causing them to return to their regular forms.

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre also appeared in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, where they were summoned and controlled by Hoopa Unbound along with the creation trio and Kyurem to attack Ash, Pikachu, Hoopa Confined, a Shiny Rayquaza, and the Eon duo in Dahara City.

Pokémon Generations

Primal Groudon in Pokémon Generations
Primal Kyogre in Pokémon Generations

Primal Groudon appeared in Courtney's vision in The Vision. She imagined it attacking Maxie, Tabitha, and the rest of Team Magma, but this did not deter her from her Team's plans for long.

Primal Kyogre appeared in The Cavern. Despite Shelly's insistence not to, Archie awakened it in the Seafloor Cavern. It proceeded to cause destruction across Hoenn, and eventually prepared to attack Archie and Shelly.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre both appeared in the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer.

Pokémon Evolutions

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre both appeared in a fantasy in The Wish. They were shown battling before being calmed by Mega Rayquaza as Zinnia told the story of the Draconid people to May.

In the manga

Primal Groudon in Pokémon Adventures
Primal Kyogre in Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures

Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire arc

Archie and Maxie used the Red and Blue Orbs to transform Groudon and Kyogre into their Primal forms in order to help save the world from the giant meteoroid headed for the planet. After some training at the Meteor Falls, both Primal Pokémon managed to master their special moves; Precipice Blades and Origin Pulse, respectively. However, both ancient Pokémon, even when assisted by Rayquaza, completely exhausted themselves while destroying a large piece of the meteoroid falling before the main body, causing them to revert to their regular forms.

In the TCG

Primal Groudon-EX
Primal Kyogre-EX

Primal Reversion were brought into the Trading Card Game with the release of Primal Clash (Gaia VolcanoTidal Storm in Japan). Primal Reversion is an extension of the Mega Pokémon-EX mechanic, evolving from the long-standing Pokémon-EX. The only Primal Pokémon-EX are the Primal Kyogre-EX and Primal Groudon-EX cards from Primal Clash and Ancient Origins. Each Primal Reversion Pokémon features an Ancient Trait. The Ancient Origins prints feature the Shiny versions of the Pokémon and replace the original Ancient Traits with θ Max, but are otherwise identical to the Primal Clash cards.

Related cards
Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.
Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card Type English
Expansion
Rarity # Japanese
Expansion
Rarity #
Primal KyogreEX Water Primal Clash Rare Holo ex 55/160 Tidal Storm RR 032/070
Primal Clash Rare Ultra 149/160 Tidal Storm SR 073/070
Primal KyogreEX Water Ancient Origins Rare Ultra 96/98   UR 093/081
Primal GroudonEX Fighting Primal Clash Rare Holo ex 86/160 Gaia Volcano RR 040/070
Primal Clash Rare Ultra 151/160 Gaia Volcano SR 074/070
Primal GroudonEX Fighting Ancient Origins Rare Ultra 97/98   UR 094/081
 


In other languages

Language Title
Mandarin Chinese 回復原始 Huífù Yuánshǐ
The Czech Republic Flag.png Czech Primární reverze
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Oerterugkeer
France Flag.png French Primo-Résurgence
Germany Flag.png German Protomorphose
Indonesia Flag.png Indonesian Reversi Prima
Reversi Primal
Italy Flag.png Italian Archeorisveglio
South Korea Flag.png Korean 원시회귀 Wonsi Hoegwi
Malaysia Flag.png Malaysian Pembalikan Primal
Portuguese Brazil Flag.png Brazil Reversão Primitiva
Portugal Flag.png Portugal Reversão Primordial
Russia Flag.png Russian Первобытное Восстановление Pervobytnoye Vosstanovleniye*
Прото-Превращение Proto-Prevrashcheniye*
Spain Flag.png Spanish Regresión Primigenia
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Tiến hóa tận cùng Nguyên Thủy
Hồi quy Nguyên thủy

Primal Kyogre

Language Title
Mandarin Chinese 原始蓋歐卡 Yuánshǐ Gàiōukǎ
France Flag.png French Primo-Kyogre
Germany Flag.png German Proto-Kyogre
Indonesia Flag.png Indonesian Kyogre Primal
Italy Flag.png Italian ArcheoKyogre
South Korea Flag.png Korean 원시가이오가 Wonsi Kyogre
Malaysia Flag.png Malaysian Kyogre Primal
Brazil Flag.png Brazilian Portuguese Kyogre Primitivo
Russia Flag.png Russian Прото Кайогр Proto Kaiogr*
Древний Кайогр Drevny Kaiogr*
Spain Flag.png Spanish Kyogre Primigenio
Thailand Flag.png Thai ไคออกาต้นกำเนิด Kyogre Ton Kamnoet
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Kaioga Nguyên Thủy

Primal Groudon

Language Title
Mandarin Chinese 原始固拉多 Yuánshǐ Gūlādūo
France Flag.png French Primo-Groudon
Germany Flag.png German Proto-Groudon
Indonesia Flag.png Indonesian Groudon Primal
Italy Flag.png Italian ArcheoGroudon
South Korea Flag.png Korean 원시그란돈 Wonsi Groudon
Malaysia Flag.png Malaysian Groudon Primal
Brazil Flag.png Brazilian Portuguese Groudon Primitivo
Russia Flag.png Russian Прото Граудон Proto Graudon*
Древний Граудон Drevny Graudon*
Spain Flag.png Spanish Groudon Primigenio
Thailand Flag.png Thai กราดอนต้นกำเนิด Groudon Ton Kamnoet
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Groudon Nguyên Thủy


See also


Pokémon transformations
Mega EvolutionPrimal ReversionBond Phenomenon
Ultra BurstDynamax (Gigantamax) • Eternamax
Terastal phenomenon