Highlights
- Some Pokemon forms cannot be obtained or used in battle, leaving players unable to add them to their team.
- Examples include the Zygarde Cell, cloakless Burmy and Wormadam, and an apple-less Applin.
- Rotom forms like the Rotom Phone and AZ's Floette are also unobtainable, along with the true forms of Galarian fossil Pokemon.
With over 1000 Pokemon and so many of them with alternate forms, there are more than enough Pokemon that can battle against others, whether that's between Trainers (and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's Indigo Disk DLC has shown how engaging even battles against AI Trainers can be) or in the wild. There are so many that players have countless options available for team building. Even so, there remain some forms that cannot be caught in the mainline series at all, and certainly cannot be used in battle.
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The existence of such Pokemon forms has been implied through Pokedex entries, or even shown outright in the games. For one reason or another, though, they cannot be obtained, added to the party, or used by the player at all. Between Pokemon that the player interacts with and some that exist only in the lore, here are some Pokemon forms that cannot, as yet, be added to your team. There are some surprising rarities in the series, but these Pokemon go a step beyond that.
Some of these entries don't constitute true alternate forms of a Pokemon, but rather known states they've taken that could serve as just that.
6 Zygarde Cell
One Tiny Piece Of Something Much Bigger
- Zygarde boasts three forms that can be used in battle, and technically a fourth which cannot.
- The Zygarde Cell is a crucial (and collectible) part of the whole in Pokemon Sun and Moon.
Although Zygarde was introduced in Generation 6, the true nature of its lore and gimmick were first seen in Pokemon Sun and Moon, which features a side quest to find Zygarde Cells. While Zygarde can be used at different levels of power, with the snake-like form being 50%, the dog-like form being 10%, and the giant mecha form being its Complete Forme, the 1% form known as the Zygarde Cell cannot be used in battle.
It can be assumed that there would be next to no reason to use a Zygarde Cell in battle, since it is literally so weak it cannot battle, but the fact remains that it is an unobtainable form of a Legendary Pokemon that the player continually interacts with. Given that the other levels of Zygarde are readily usable, it's even more unfortunate that the Cells are left behind in this way.
5 Cloakless Burmy And Wormadam
Fans Have Had Only A Brief Glimpse Of It In The Anime
- Burmy and Wormadam are available in three different forms: Trash Cloak, Plant Cloak, and Sandy Cloak. Their secondary types and appearances change to reflect this.
- A Burmy has been briefly seen in the anime and official artwork without its cloak, but the evolution line isn't available in the mainline games without it.
Burmy and Wormadam (the evolved form Burmy will adopt only if female), not-so-iconic and competitively very weak Pokemon, are best known for their different colorful forms. They're based on where these Pokemon battled last or were found in the wild, operating as so-called Cloaks. While both bugs have a simple Sandy, Trash, and Plant Cloak variant, granting Wormadam dual Ground, Steel, and Grass typing respectively, there's a strange gap: There is no obtainable form in which Burmy doesn't have its Cloak at all.
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Implied to exist in Pokedex entries and shown to exist in the anime, the lack of a cloakless Burmy -- and subsequently Wormadam -- is an odd missing piece for a Pokemon that revolves around having multiple forms. It could have even been given an exclusive move or Ability, to compensate for its lack of a secondary typing.
4 Apple-Less Applin
This Tiny Menace Isn't A Part Of The Apple After All
- Applin now has three final evolved forms, Flapple, Appletun, and Hydrapple, as well as a second-stage evolution, Dipplin. In all of them, the apple the small wormy Pokemon (or multiple of them) has inhabited essentially becomes part of it.
- Only in one spin-off title is it seen outside of its fleshy home.
Applin, first introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield and a recent recipient of a new cross-generation evolution in Hydrapple, is one of many pun-based Pokemon. A draconic worm, or wyrm, in an apple, its reliance on a plant makes it only fitting that it's a dual Grass-type (along with the Fairy-threatened Dragon) and continues to be one in all of its evolved forms. In one very unique case, though, it can be seen outside of its apple.
Seen only briefly when players in New Pokemon Snap manage to knock Applin out of its apple, the true body of Applin offers the potential for even more forms of this Pokemon. The wyrm can clearly exist without being attached to the hollowed fruit, after all. Whether the line will ever receive a fifth evolution option that expands on this remains to be seen.
3 Rotomdex And Rotom Phones
Unobtainable Rotom Forms
- Aside from its regular appearance, Rotom can adopt five unique guises depending on the appliance it has inhabited: Mow Rotom, Fan Rotom, Wash Rotom, Heat Rotom, and Frost Rotom. Each changes its secondary typing and gives it a move associated with that type (such as Frost Rotom's Blizzard).
- The likes of the Rotom Bike and Rotom Pokedex, however, would only provide gameplay utility and cannot be used in battle.
Despite constantly being used by the player, most recently in Scarlet and Violet, the Rotom Phone and its predecessor, the Rotom Pokedex, can't be obtained as party members or used in battle, even though it's in the player's possession. With Rotom being a solid Pokemon in battle, introducing new forms for it could offer it even more utility as well, with the potential for new Abilities or other unique additions to set such forms apart.
The Rotom Phone is used by players in Scarlet and Violet in a variety of ways: As a camera, a lifesaving device protecting players after falling off cliffs, the in-game explanation for online features like Surprise Trade, and, of course, as a phone for the games' intriguing NPCs. Though it would be difficult to incorporate it as both an in-game mechanic and a party member, it would be interesting to see. Its split utility could be used in different ways; perhaps leveling up in battle could give it more functionality in the overworld for instance.
2 AZ's Floette
The Lost Distribution
- The middle stage evolution of the Flabébé line, Floette is available in five only-cosmetically-different variations: White Flower, Yellow Flower, Orange Flower, Blue Flower and Red Flower, just like Flabébé and Florges.
- Event Pokemon AZ's Floette, or Eternal Flower Floette, boasts a base stat total almost exactly as high as Florges', as well as the unique attack Light of Ruin. It has never been released.
Perhaps the best-known example of an exclusive Pokemon form that was never officially released, AZ's Floette remains a prominent element of the lore of Pokemon X and Y. It's a unique way to present an event Pokemon too, as a powerful version of a middle-stage evolution that cannot, in this case, evolve. The perpetually missing Floette holding its Eternal Flower remains a mystery for many players.
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AZ's Floette exists in X and Y's code, but the event never saw a release and so it is impossible to obtain it legitimately. This only adds to its strange nature, especially since its signature move, Light of Ruin, can never be used in battle by any Pokemon. With this being such a unique Pokemon, the inability to actually catch it and battle with it continues to disappoint. Light of Ruin, as a special Fairy move that causes recoil, would be a very powerful part of a potentially highly effective set if Eternal Flower Floette ever became available. A very surprising Fairy-type powerhouse and an unfortunate omission.
1 Dracozolt, Arctozolt, Dracovish, And Arctovish's True Forms
What Did These Ancient Creatures Really Look Like?
- Galar's fossil Pokemon are reconstructed from pairs of different Fossils, hence the mixed-up appearance of the Pokemon.
- Their 'true' forms have never been revealed, and probably won't ever appear in the mainline series at all.
The Galarian fossil group boasts some of the strangest design choices in Pokemon history, especially for the previously straightforward fossil Pokemon. The gimmick and lore behind these four Pokemon is that their fossils are all broken in half, and are mix-and-matched at the player's will. The only obtainable forms of these fossilized Pokemon, then, are the incorrect, bizarre reconstructions created by a careless NPC.
What these four Pokemon truly looked like remains completely unknown. Since the other halves of their fossils are missing within Sword and Shield, it's likely the real Pokemon behind these Frankenstein's Monster-like fossils will never exist in the series.
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