It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for another one of my Legendary Pokemon of the Week posts. This week I thought I’d talk about a Legendary Pokemon that I have never used in the games, but actually know quite well from the anime. From the third generation it’s the extraterrestrial Legendary Pokemon, Deoxys.
According to the legend, Deoxys came into being when an alien virus underwent a mutation. That virus must’ve multiplied a whole lot before the mutation finished, because there has been more than one Deoxys in the anime. This Pokemon’s origin and its abilities actually make it a good fit for my Interesting Specimen posts, but Deoxys is classified as a Legendary Pokemon. So I’ll talk about it in this series. Anyway, I first learned of Deoxys when I saw the movie it first appeared in.
It was Saturday morning, there was nothing else on, and so I decided to watch. Even though the movie was from the era when the anime was beginning to decline, it was cool seeing Deoxys in action. The futuristic city the movie was set in was also pretty cool actually. It wasn’t until much later though that I learned that Deoxys was available in the games. By that time however I had pretty much stopped playing, but even if I hadn’t Deoxys was still pretty impossible to get, at least without making travel arrangements.
Hangout: In the games, Deoxys can only be found on a small island called Birth Island. From what I’ve read, the island has a puzzle where you have to get this triangular rock to glow red. Once you do, Deoxys appears for you to capture. After that though, there’s absolutely no reason to come back to the island, as the only thing there is the rock puzzle. Birth Island only appears in FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald, and the only way to get to the island is by having the Aurora Ticket in your game. The only way to get that item though is by downloading it through the Mystery Gift function at a special Nintendo event. Basically it’s Mew and Celebi all over again.
Signature Move: Like many of the more powerful Legendary Pokemon, Deoxys has a signature move in the form of Psycho Boost. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve never used Deoxys in the games, so I’ve obviously never used it signature move either. From what I’ve read though, using Psycho Boost lowers Deoxys’s Special Attack stat quite a bit. So I’m guessing it should be used with caution. Anyway, in the anime Psycho Boost is depicted as a large transparent ball of energy. Not as dazzling as Ho-Oh’s Sacred Fire, but still pretty cool looking.
Unearthly Powers: As mentioned before, Deoxys has some pretty cool abilities. For one, it has the power to regenerate parts of its body that have been blown off. Even its entire body as long as the crystalline organ in its chest remains intact. I’m guessing that organ is its brain, but who knows? In the anime, specifically the seventh movie, Deoxys also had the power to clone itself several times. These clones were weaker and easily destroyed.
Deoxys’s most iconic ability though is its power to change its form. In the anime, Deoxys could change its forms at will to suit the situation. In the generation three games though, its form was dependant on what game it was in. In Ruby and Sapphire, Deoxys was locked in its Normal Form. In FireRed it had its Attack Form (depicted in the image above), while in LeafGreen it had its Defense Form. Lastly, Deoxys’s Speed Form was the form it took in Emerald. Each of these forms gives Deoxys a different set of stats and attacks. And in generation four and beyond, the player can switch between these forms by exposing Deoxys to four special meteors, thus allowing the player to pick whichever form he or she prefers.
That about wraps up the post for this week. So until next week, stay tuned. And keep watching the skies.
