Pseudo-legendary Pokémon

Pseudo-legendary is a term used to refer to any Pokémon that has a three-stage evolution line, two types, as well as a base stat total of 600. Pseudo-legendaries are more powerful than almost every other non-legendary Pokémon, if only for their base stats, and in particular, have an outstanding Attack stat. They also have incredibly diverse movepools and can usually be found only in their first form. Due to this, raising them is difficult since they require a lot of experience to level up.

In the competitive arena, every pseudo-legendary has been overused since the Generation of its debut, except Dragonite, who did not become overused until Generation III.

List of pseudo-legendaries

There are five Pokémon considered to be pseudo-legendaries.

Generation I

• Dragonite

Generation II

• Tyranitar

Generation III

• Salamence
• Metagross

Generation IV

• Garchomp

Trivia

• In both the National Pokédex and Johto Dex, the evolutionary lines of Dragonite and Tyranitar are located between the Legendary trio and Ubers of their respective generation (they are located next to each other in the Johto Dex). Similarly yet differently, the Salamence and Metagross lines are located next to each other right before the Legendary golems, again both in the National Pokédex and Hoenn Dex. In contrast, the Garchomp line is detached from the Sinnoh legendaries, whether in the National Pokédex or Sinnoh Pokédex.
• These Pokémon are used in-game almost exclusively by final members of the Elite Four and Champions. Dragonite is used by Lance, the final Elite Four member in Generation I and FireRed and LeafGreen; it is used again by Lance as the Champion in Generation II. Tyranitar is used by Blue, the Champion, but only in the second round of the Elite Four in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Salamence is used by Drake, the final Elite Four member in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. Metagross is used by Steven Stone, the Champion in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, and ex-Champion in Pokémon Emerald. Lastly, Garchomp is used by Cynthia, the Champion in Diamond and Pearl.
• There are two minor exceptions to the above rule: In the post-Elite Four stage of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, a male trainer on Route 229 can be found using Salamence, and a female trainer can be found with Metagross on Route 224. This was done to serve as a cameo appearance of the movie characters Butler and Rebecca, who used these pseudo-legendaries in their respective movies.
• In Pokémon Colosseum's story mode, Shadow Metagross is used by Nascour and Shadow Tyranitar is used by Evice; it is notable that the two Cipher leaders have positions comparable to those of the final Elite Four member and Champion, respectively. Pokémon XD complemented the list of pseudo-legendaries as of Generation III by featuring Shadow Salamence (used by Eldes) and Shadow Dragonite (used by Miror B.).
• While most pseudo-legendaries are obtainable in the wild strictly in their first form, Dragonair is also obtainable in the wild in most games where Dratini is (all but Pokémon Red, Green and Blue). Likewise, Pupitar is available in the wild in Pokémon Crystal.
• With the exception of Metagross, the pseudo-legendaries have a double weakness to one type: In the case of Dragonite, Salamence and Garchomp the double weakness is to Template:Type2 moves, whereas in Tyranitar's case, it is to Template:Type2 moves.
• As of Generation III, it is incorrect to think of pseudo-legendaries as having the maximum total base stats attainable by non-legendary Pokémon. This is due to the introduction of Slaking, whose total base stats of 670 matches that of the legendary Kyogre, Groudon, and now Regigigas. However, Slaking's Truant ability tones its effectiveness down to the degree of being perceived as weaker than the pseudo-legendaries (incidentally, this is also true of Regigigas). It is also for this reason that Slaking is used by Gym Leader Norman.

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