A Legendary Pokémon can be caught while playing through the game. A Mythical Pokémon historically could not: it was locked behind real-world events and distributions. The Pokédex counts 23 Mythicals, from Mew to Pecharunt. Darkrai is Mythical, Cresselia is Legendary, and over the last few games the line between the two has started to move.
Mew, the very first Mythical Pokémon. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
What is the difference between Legendary and Mythical Pokémon?
It comes down to how you obtain them. A Legendary is part of the game itself: Mewtwo waits at the bottom of Cerulean Cave, Articuno on its frozen island. A Mythical did not appear in the game at all. Without an event, a store distribution or a download code, that Pokédex entry simply stayed empty.
The lore follows the same split. A Legendary is extremely rare but known to the people of the Pokémon world, usually at the heart of regional myths. A Mythical is so rare that its very existence is treated as a rumor. Mew set the template back in Red and Blue: impossible to find through normal play, it fueled years of playground legends, the infamous truck near the S.S. Anne first among them.
| Legendary Pokémon | Mythical Pokémon | |
|---|---|---|
| Classic way to obtain | Caught during the adventure | Event distribution |
| Place in the lore | Central to in-game legends | Existence treated as a rumor |
| Base stat total | Roughly 570 to 720 | 600 for the vast majority |
| Official competitions | Often restricted, sometimes allowed | Banned by default |
| Examples | Mewtwo, Articuno, Cresselia | Mew, Darkrai, Arceus |
On the numbers side, most Mythicals sit at exactly 600 base stat points, while the strongest Legendaries reach 680 or 720. One trap to avoid: 600 is also the total of pseudo-Legendaries such as Dragonite or Garchomp. Neither is Legendary in any official sense: they breed, they evolve from regular Pokémon, and nobody in the Pokémon world doubts they exist. Raw power has never defined the status.
Is Darkrai a Mythical Pokémon? What about Cresselia?
Yes, Darkrai is a Mythical Pokémon. Cresselia is not: she is a Legendary, catchable during the story of Diamond and Pearl. The Lunar Duo therefore mixes both statuses, which is exactly why players have been second-guessing it since Generation IV.
Cresselia, the Legendary half of the Lunar Duo. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
In Diamond and Pearl, Cresselia appears on Full Moon Island and then roams across Sinnoh. Darkrai required the Member Card, an event-only item, to reach Newmoon Island. Same duo, two radically different doors: the whole Legendary versus Mythical distinction summed up in a single pair. The official Pokédex leans into that aura of rumor: "Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares," says its entry on pokemon.com.
Darkrai, the Mythical half of the duo. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
If this pair fascinates you as much as it does us, we told the full story of Darkrai and Cresselia, the Lunar Duo on this blog.
How many Mythical Pokémon are there? The complete list
There are 23 Mythical Pokémon as of 2026, spread from Generation I to Generation IX. The first is Mew, introduced in 1996. The most recent is Pecharunt, added by The Indigo Disk DLC for Scarlet and Violet. No new Mythical has been announced since.
| Mythical Pokémon | Generation | Pokédex No. | How to get it in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mew | I | 151 | Events, Pokémon HOME transfer |
| Celebi | II | 251 | Events, transfer |
| Jirachi | III | 385 | Events, transfer |
| Deoxys | III | 386 | Delta Episode in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire |
| Phione | IV | 489 | Catchable in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, or breeding |
| Manaphy | IV | 490 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus |
| Darkrai | IV | 491 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus |
| Shaymin | IV | 492 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus |
| Arceus | IV | 493 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus |
| Victini | V | 494 | Events only |
| Keldeo | V | 647 | Mega Dimension DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A |
| Meloetta | V | 648 | Mega Dimension DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A |
| Genesect | V | 649 | Events, transfer |
| Diancie | VI | 719 | Events, transfer |
| Hoopa | VI | 720 | Events, transfer |
| Volcanion | VI | 721 | Mega Dimension DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A |
| Magearna | VII | 801 | QR code in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon |
| Marshadow | VII | 802 | Events only |
| Zeraora | VII | 807 | Events, transfer |
| Meltan | VII | 808 | Pokémon GO, tied to Let's Go and HOME |
| Melmetal | VII | 809 | Evolves from Meltan in Pokémon GO |
| Zarude | VIII | 893 | Events only |
| Pecharunt | IX | 1025 | Epilogue of The Indigo Disk DLC, one per save file |
Pecharunt, the newest name on the list. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
Two entries stand apart. Arceus first: 720 base stat points, the highest total of any Mythical, fitting for the creature presented as the origin of the Pokémon world. Then Phione, the ultimate edge case: only 480 points, a regular catch in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and above all, breeding. Drop Manaphy or a Phione at the nursery with a Ditto and you get Phione Eggs on demand, something no other Mythical allows. Its status was debated for years, yet the official list does include it.
Phione, the only Mythical that can breed. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
Why were Mythical Pokémon once called Legendary in the West?
Because for years, Western media simply did not use the category. In Japan, Mythicals have always formed their own group, the maboroshi no Pokémon, literally "illusory Pokémon". Outside Japan, up until Generation V, Mew, Celebi or Jirachi were routinely presented as Legendaries, and the word "Mythical" went unused.
The split only became consistent worldwide from the Black and White era onward, which explains the endless arguments between players of different generations: depending on when you grew up, the word "Legendary" simply did not cover the same list. Spanish went through the same drift twice, with "Pokémon singular" official in Spain and "Pokémon mítico" in Latin America, while French settled on "Pokémon fabuleux". Different labels, same 23 creatures.
Celebi, long labeled "Legendary" in the West. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
Can you still get Mythical Pokémon in 2026?
Yes, and more easily than ever. Fourteen of the 23 Mythicals can currently be obtained without waiting for a distribution, across four different games. Only Victini, Marshadow and Zarude remain strictly event-locked, alongside the irregulars like Mew, Celebi or Jirachi, which come back in waves over the years.
The turning point was the Delta Episode in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the first game to hand out a Mythical, Deoxys, with no event required. Pokémon Legends: Arceus then opened the floodgates with Darkrai, Shaymin, Phione, Manaphy and Arceus itself. The latest chapter: since the Mega Dimension DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, released on December 10, 2025, Keldeo and Meloetta unlock through special scans after the final mission, and Volcanion through a side mission. We also wrote a full piece on Deoxys, the DNA Pokémon from space, if its strange case appeals to you.
Keldeo, catchable since December 2025 in Z-A. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
What about the 30th anniversary? Nothing on the Mythical front so far: the 2026 Pokémon World Championships distributions boil down to an Incineroar via Twitch, no Mythical in sight. The precedent is tempting though: in 2016, for the 20th anniversary, The Pokémon Company gave away a different Mythical every single month of the year. If history repeats for the 30th, it will go through Mystery Gift, so keep an eye on it before the year ends.
Arceus, 720 base stat points, a record among Mythicals. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
A quick word from the shop to wrap up. Out of the 29 light-up Poké Balls in our catalog, exactly one Mythical: Mew, laser-engraved inside the crystal of the Mew LED crystal Poké Ball, also available on a wooden base, both at €29.99. Legendaries are better represented, including the Articuno LED Poké Ball on a wooden base. The rest of the range lives in our light-up Poké Ball collection.
Official Pokédex artwork retrieved via the Bulbagarden Archives. ©2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK. Data sources: Bulbapedia, Poképédia, pokemon.com.
