Population of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon
The population of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon refers to how many individuals of each Legendary or Mythical Pokémon species are known to live in the Pokémon world.
In the core series games
Multiple Legendary Pokémon
Many Legendary Pokémon can be obtained at most once per save file (excluding Pokémon events); in order to obtain multiple, a player would need to trade Pokémon between games. However, in some cases, there are multiple Legendary Pokémon of the same species either found or mentioned in-game, even though they may not be available to the player.
- The existence of regional forms with the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres implies that a trio separate from Kanto existed in an isolated peripheral population (in this case Galar) and hence formed a new species.
- In some cases, the Pokédex mentions multiple Legendary Pokémon of the same species.
- The Pokédex says about Latias: "They make a small herd of only several members."
- The Pokédex says about Entei: "It is said that one is born every time a new volcano appears."
- The Pokédex says about Cobalion: "From the moment it's born, this Pokémon radiates the air of a leader." implying its birth is a repetitive occurrence.
- The Pokédex says about Normal Forme Terapagos: "It’s thought that this Pokémon lived in ancient Paldea until it got caught in seismic shifts and went extinct."
- Heatran, Kubfu, Urshifu, and Terapagos are the only Legendary Pokémon that can be of either gender, which may imply the existence of at least two individuals of their species.
- In The Isle of Armor, the player receives a Kubfu, while Mustard also has one. Mustard's Kubfu will evolve into an Urshifu of the form corresponding to the tower not chosen by the player.
- In The Indigo Disk, the player finds a Terapagos in Area Zero Underdepths and even though Terapagos can be of either gender, the only obtainable one is a Hardy male and is said to be last of its kind, implying that in the past, female Terapagos existed, but are now extinct.
- In Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the player can see a wild Articuno at the Route 15 gate to Fuchsia City through a pair of binoculars at any time, even after catching Articuno at the Seafoam Islands.
- In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the legendary birds are rare spawns, which allows the player to encounter and catch multiple of each in a single save file.
- Because Type: Null and Silvally are synthetic species, it was possible for humans to create multiple individuals. Three were confirmed to have been created in Alola by the Aether Foundation: one is owned by Gladion, and another was given to Elio/Selene by Gladion. The whereabouts of the third Type: Null are unknown. A fourth individual was later created in Galar by Macro Cosmos using notes stolen from the Aether Foundation.
- Solgaleo and Lunala are capable of together creating a Cosmog supposedly as their unique way of breeding but it appears they're rarely seen in the same universe at the same time, making this a rare event. Three Cosmog were confirmed to exist, one stolen from Aether Paradise by Lillie, nicknamed Nebby, another one created by Nebby and a LunalaS/SolgaleoM found in another universe's Lake of the MooneS/Lake of the SunneM and one found by an old lady in Freezington in the Crown Tundra, nicknamed Fwoofy.
- In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Professor SadaS/Professor TuroV built a "time machine" and used it to bring two KoraidonS/MiraidonV to Area Zero. The first one is quirky and friendly and the second one is adamantS/modestV and territorial, leading them to become rivals.
- Most Legendary Pokémon can be encountered multiple times in Dynamax Adventures in the Crown Tundra. However, the player can only catch one of each.
- Legendary Pokémon that are eligible to do so may appear in Battle facilities and may be used by multiple Trainers, including the facilities' leaders. This can occur regardless of whether or not the player possesses any of these Pokémon.
- Sometimes, multiple Legendary Pokémon seem to be present by comparing multiple games in the timeline.
Multiple Mythical Pokémon
The player is able to acquire multiple Mythical Pokémon of the same species by trading or transferring them from multiple games, or by using multiple events. There are other instances of multiple Mythical Pokémon of the same species:
- It is possible to acquire multiple Phione Eggs by breeding Manaphy or Phione with Ditto. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, three Phione are found in Seaside Hollow, and more can be found after Manaphy is caught there.
- The Pokédex states that Meltan live in groups, and that at the end of Melmetal's lifespan, the small shards it leaves behind will eventually be reborn as Meltan. Additionally, multiple Meltan are seen together in promotional videos.
- Zarude lives deep within dense forests in a pack with others of its kind.
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, most of the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon available in each game are unique with the exception of the Shiny Celebi.
Pokémon Pinball series
In Pokémon Pinball and Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, it is possible to catch multiple of each Legendary and Mythical Pokémon in a single playthrough.
Pokémon UNITE
In Pokémon UNITE, it is possible for both teams to have the same Legendary or Mythical Pokémon on their team, however it is not possible for both Mewtwo Unite licenses to be used on the same team.
Super Smash Bros. series
In the Super Smash Bros. series, it is possible for different players to control different instances of the same character with alternate costumes. For instance, it is possible to play with up to eight Mewtwo if all players use this character in the 8-Player Smash mode.
In animation
Pokémon the Series
In Pokémon the Series, there are several Legendary and Mythical Pokémon of the same species.
Typically, when a new species of Legendary or Mythical Pokémon is introduced in this anime series, it is implied to be an unique Pokémon, but additional Pokémon of the same species are separately introduced in later episodes.
Same-species Pokémon seen together
Occasionally, multiple Legendary or Mythical Pokémon of the same species are seen together:
- In The Mystery is History, an adult Lugia is the parent of the baby Lugia named Silver.
- In Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, the Japanese-only introduction displays several Latios and Latias. In the end of the movie, two Latios are seen flying with one Latias.
- In Destiny Deoxys, two Deoxys are seen.
- In Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, multiple Meltan have made a number of appearances.
- In Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!, three Shaymin appeared in their Sky Formes in addition to Mallow's Shaymin.
- In Time After Time!, a pair of Celebi appear, one of whom being Shiny.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
In Pokémon Adventures, most of the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon appear to be unique, with the exception of two Deoxys referred to as Organism No. 1 and Organism No. 2.
In the books
Let's Find Pokémon!
In the Let's Find Pokémon! book series, each species of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon is usually seen in several places. However, there are no known instances of multiple Pokémon of the same species appearing at the same place, which may suggest that they are all unique Pokémon nonetheless.
Pokémon Tales
In I'm Not Pikachu!, several children are transformed into Mew and Mewtwo (as well as Pikachu) as a result of watching a Pokémon movie implied to be Pokémon: The First Movie.
In Meet Mew!, there is a group of six Mew, with one of them being a darker shade of pink.
Children transformed into Mew, Mewtwo, and Pikachu
A group of Mew
