Generation IV saw the release of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Diamond and Pearl were released in 2007 in the United States while Platinum came out in 2009. Pokémon fans were excited about the new games because, with a new game, came a new region and new Pokémon. 

This Generation was different from others. It promised to delve deep into the history of the Pokémon universe, leading all the way back to creation. Sinnoh, the new region introduced in the game, was said to be the cradle of the universe. The Legendary beings from this region mostly represent primordial concepts like Time, Space, Creation, Feelings, the Sun, the Moon, and so much more.

Not only are the Legendaries very important to the universe, but the most important Mythical Pokémon ever was introduced. Arceus, the Creator of all, made its stunning debut in this Generation. So, let’s dive into the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon of Sinnoh and learn more about the history of the universe while we’re at it.

Sinnoh Lake Guardians

Sinnoh’s first trio is the Lake Guardians, otherwise known as the UMA trio. Arceus created these three to calm down Dialga and Palkia whenever they would go into a rage. As such, they are embodiments of emotions, willpower, and knowledge. They went on to teach each of their abilities to the humans of the world. All three of them were born from the same egg.

In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the evil team of Generation IV, Team Galactic, aims to capture the Lake Guardians. Cyrus, the leader, wants to use their combined powers to create the Red Chain. He will then use that to take control of Dialga or Palkia, depending on the version. In Platinum, they show up to serve their mission and calm Dialga and Palkia down, but their power is only enough to stop one. This causes Giratina to get angry and emerge from the Distortion World. 

Uxie | #480

Lore

Uxie is the Being of Knowledge in Sinnoh. It bestowed its intelligence onto humans when they were created. According to the Pokémon X Pokédex, it has the ability to wipe the memory of anyone who sees its eyes. Its name is believed to be a combination of the pronoun “you” and the word “pixie”. All three of the Lake Guardians are thought to have originated from the Imperial Regalia of Japan. Uxie, being the embodiment of Knowledge, would be the Yata no Kagami which represents wisdom.

Location

Uxie can be found in the Acuity Cavern at Lake Acuity. It can only be caught after defeating Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina.

Stats

Uxie takes the phrase “Knowledge is the best defense” a little too literally. Like most Legendary trios, it has similar stats to the other two in the set, with a few exceptions. Uxie has incredibly high Defense and Special Defense at 130 and a base Speed of 95. It’s a quick little tank! It’s a pure Psychic type with the Levitate ability, making it completely immune to Ground attacks. The Attack and Special Attack stats are a little low, but the buffed Defense really makes up for it.

Mesprit | #481

Lore

Mesprit is the Being of Emotion according to Sinnoh legends. According to the Pokédex, it taught humans the joy and sadness of living, which is honestly one of the most poetic entries in the whole Dex. In Legends: Arceus, it was said that people feared it because it would send people into emotional turmoil if they disobeyed it. If the trio was truly based on the Imperial Regalia of Japan, Mesprit is the Yasakani no Magatama, the embodiment of benevolence.

Location

Mesprit is initially found in Lake Verity. However, after the player defeats Palkia or Dialga, it becomes a roaming Pokémon, meaning that it flies around Sinnoh and is encountered at random.

Stats

Although Mesprit is the embodiment of emotions which can be turbulent, its stats are anything but. Mesprit’s base stats are 105 across the board for both kinds of Attack and Defense. Its speed is lower than Uxie at 80 along with its HP. Overall, not a great addition to the team, although the Levitate ability will help in battles against a Ground type.

Azelf | #482

Lore

The final Lake Guardian is Azelf, the Being of Willpower. In the Platinum Pokédex, it says that Azelf gave humans the willpower to do things. The Legends: Arceus Pokédex tells us that Azelf can manipulate the will of its enemies, making them puppets of its will. Probably the scariest of this adorable Lake Trio. Its analog to the Imperial Regalia of Japan is the Kusanagi, the embodiment of valor.

Location

It’s fitting that Azelf is the Kusanagi, as it can be found at Lake Valor, deep in the Valor Cavern. It can be caught after the player defeats Dialga or Palkia.

Stats

With Uxie being the Defensive tank and Mesprit having well-rounded stats, Azelf is the Attack and Special Attack powerhouse of the trio. Those stats are 125 each with a 115 Speed. The low HP stat makes it a bit of a glass cannon, but it can hit quickly and hard right from the gate. It also has Levitate as an ability, making it completely immune to Ground-type attacks.

Pokémon of Myth

It’s time for a Pokémon history lesson. Sinnoh is a very important place in Pokémon lore. According to legend, when the land was still called Hisui, Arceus created the universe at the Temple of Sinnoh atop Mount Coronet. Arceus created Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Dialga was given control over Time, Palkia was given control over Space, and Giratina was banished away because it was violent. As explained earlier, Arceus then created the Lake Guardians to keep those two calm if they got mad. 

So, all was good, for the most part. The people of Hisui had built statues of each of these Legendary Pokémon. However, the statue of Giratina was destroyed and was collectively forgotten about. As time passed, two main clans emerged: Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan. Each clan worshiped a different Pokémon: Dialga for Diamond, Palkia for Pearl. They each thought their deity was the “Almighty Sinnoh” and the other was wrong for what they believed. This led to tension between the clans while the Galaxy Expedition Team tried to quell the dissent.

Then, Giratina decided it was time to take revenge on Arceus. They opened all of the Space-Time Rifts around Hisui, leading to Dialga and Palkia going nuts. This is where the plot of Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes place. 

Eventually, the clans were reunited to help stop Giratina from destroying the world, creating modern-day Sinnoh.

Dialga | #483

Lore

Dialga is the master of Time. It can travel through time at will. It has a feud with Palkia and can only be calmed by the Lake Guardians. Team Galactic wanted to capture Dialga with the Red Chain to use its power to travel through Time. When exposed to the Adamant Crystal, it changes into its Origin Forme, the horse-like version on the right in the image above. Along with Palkia, it can create new universes at will which is completely bananas.

Location

Dialga can be found at the Spear Pillar during the main story in Diamond and after entering the Hall of Fame in Platinum.

Stats

Dialga is a Steel/Dragon type, giving it a wide range of resistances. It has a very high Special Attack stat at 150 and pretty decent Attack and Defense stats at 120. Compared to Palkia, it’s the slower of the two. Its ability, Pressure, makes enemies use double the PP when attacking. With its unique typing and high Attack stats, it is a pretty well-rounded Pokémon for any team.

Palkia | #484

Lore

Palkia is the other half of Dialga. While Dialga controls Time, Palkia controls Space. This means that it can travel to faraway places and through dimensions at will. According to Hisuian lore, Palkia’s creation also created the sky and all beyond it. Much like Dialga, it can create universes on a whim. Both Dialga and Palkia live in pocket dimensions, making them hard to study and even harder to find.

Location

Palkia can be found at the Spear Pillar in Pearl during the main story. In Platinum, it can be found at the Spear Pillar after entering the Hall of Fame.

Stats

Usually, with these duos, the stat layouts are mirror images of each other. However, Palkia’s stats are roughly the same as Dialga's. It has a high Special Attack (150) and the Special Defense and Attack stats are 120. It’s faster than Dialga with a Speed stat of 100. Palkia’s only drawback is its typing. Being Water/Dragon, it doesn’t have the resistances that Dialga has with the Steel/Dragon typing. If you can only pick one, Dialga would be a better team member.

Giratina | #487

Lore

Giratina is the representation of Antimatter or metaphysical/otherworldly beings. According to legend, Arceus banished Giratina to the Distortion World, a dimension that is essentially the inverse of the real world. After being defeated in Legends: Arceus, it becomes less violent and works with humans to protect the world from threats. Specifically, Team Galactic’s plans to capture Dialga and Palkia to create a world without spirit. Giratina interferes and takes their leader, Cyrus, to the Distortion World. 

Location

Origin Forme Giratina (no legs) is found in the Distortion World in Platinum. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the Altered Forme of Giratina (with legs) can be found in Turnback Cave.

Stats

Giratina is a Ghost/Dragon type. In its Altered Forme, it has higher Defensive stats (120) than Offensive (100). However, the Origin Forme swaps those, making it more Offensive than Defensive. Origin Forme also gains the Levitate ability, making it immune to Ground-type attacks. For being a big, bad caterpillar creature, its stats are a little underwhelming.

Lunar Duo

Cresselia and Darkrai aren’t officially a “duo”, it’s more of a fan term, but the commonalities between the two merit discussion. Cresselia and Darkrai are seen as mirror images of each other. Cresselia brings good dreams, and Darkrai brings bad dreams. In several spin-off games, they are pitted together as mortal enemies, each vying for their own cause. 

Cresselia | #488

Lore

Cresselia represents the crescent moon and brings people good dreams. It can dispel nightmares and is seen as a benevolent creature. People who are having nightmares created by Darkrai can cure them by using the Lunar Feathers that Cresselia creates. Legends: Arceus also says that it resembles the woman who created the Milky Way.

Location

Cresselia is initially encountered on Fullmoon Island after the player gets the National Pokédex. Once the player finds Cresselia, it will begin to roam around Sinnoh.

Stats

Cresselia is a pure Psychic type Pokémon. It’s very Defensive (120 Defense, 130 Special Defense) with high HP. Cresselia can be used as a healer and tank thanks to these stats and its moveset.

Darkrai | #492

Lore

Darkrai is the embodiment of the new moon. It can give people nightmares that they can only awake from with one of Cresselia’s Lunar Feathers. While the nightmarish powers and appearance make it seem evil, it only gives nightmares in order to protect itself from others. 

Location

Technically, Darkrai was never able to be caught in Diamond and Pearl. Darkrai resides on Newmoon Island, but the island can only be accessed with the Member Card, an event-only item that was never distributed. In Platinum, the item was obtainable by Wi-Fi distribution from December 1, 2008 through January 15, 2009 in Japan and from August 3 through September 13, 2009. So, it was basically unobtainable without cheating or trading.

Stats

Darkrai is a very fast Special Attacker. With a Speed of 125 and a Special Attack of 135, it can get in and get an attack off before the opponent has a chance to think. It’s a pure Dark type, making it technically stronger than Cresselia due to its type advantage. It also has a unique ability called Bad Dreams which lowers sleeping Pokémon’s HP.

Sea Guardians

The Sea Guardians are an interesting duo. They are both Mythical Pokémon and are related to each other through breeding. If Manaphy or Phione breed with a Ditto (the only Pokémon they can breed with), the egg will always be a Phione egg. They were also only available from spin-off games until Legends: Arceus.

Phione | #489

Lore

It’s a Mythical baby! Phione’s huge head is a flotation sac that it uses to float along the seas in search of food. 

Location

Phione was only obtainable through the Wii game My Pokémon Ranch, a downloadable game from the Wii Shop Channel. This was basically a way to transfer Pokémon between games without having both. Unfortunately, it is no longer available as the Wii Shop Channel shut down in 2019.

For Phione, the player had to deposit 250 Pokémon to their ranch. Then, one of the ranchers will trade you a Phione for a Leafeon. This was the only legitimate way to get a Phione outside of breeding until Legends: Arceus.

Stats

Phione has an 80 in each stat. Being a pure Water type, it doesn’t have too many weaknesses. Like most Mythicals, it’s a bit of a Pokédex filler that isn’t very viable as a teammate.

Manaphy | #490

Lore

Manaphy is called the “Prince of the Sea”. It lives in deep, cold waters and can bond with any Pokémon it finds. Eighty percent of its body is water. Talk about a pure Water type!

Location

Manaphy was only obtainable through the Nintendo DS game Pokémon Ranger. Players needed to get a region-specific code that gave them a mission ending with a Manaphy Egg that could be transferred to a Generation IV game. 

Stats

Manaphy has 100 stats across the board. While this isn’t great, starting in Generation VII, it can learn the move “Heart Swap”. This allows Manaphy to take the stat layout of the Pokémon it is battling. It’s not a terribly useful move, but it could pull it out of a tough situation.

Hisui Legendary Pokémon

Back before the land was called Sinnoh, there existed two main clans of people: the Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan. They lived in a vast country called the Hisui region and worshiped the almighty Sinnoh. This god was an amalgamation of the Pokémon of Myth. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you’re transported back in time to Hisui in order to fix the time distortions that keep happening in the land while also uniting the clans. 

All of the aforementioned Legendaries and Mythicals are in Hisui with one addition: Enamorus. Along with Enamorus, both Dialga and Palkia were given new forms which have already been covered in the previous sections.

Enamorus | #905

Lore

Enamorus is the fourth member of the Forces of Nature. The other three (Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus) were introduced in Generation V. Enamorus was the Herald of Spring in Hisui. It would travel across the seas and return to the land at the start of Spring. It is called the Love-Hate Pokémon because when it's in Therian Forme (on the right), it smites those who don’t show gratitude while it is much more gentle in its Incarnate Forme. 

Location

Enamorus can be found only after showing Cogita the completed Pokédex entries for the other Forces of Nature: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. It then spawns in its Incarnate Forme (on the left).

Stats

Enamorus is a Fairy/Flying type, so it is completely immune to Ground and Dragon-type moves. In its Incarnate Forme, it is extremely fast with a Speed stat of 106. It also has high Special Attack (135) and high Attack (115). In its Therian Forme, it slows way down and gains more Defensive stats. It drops the Speed to 46 and raises the Defensive stats to 110 and 100 in Defense and Special Defense. It’s an interesting Pokémon both in design and ability and would make a fun addition to the team.

Other Pokémon

Shaymin | #491

Lore

Shaymin is the Gratitude Pokémon. It is said that it travels to places where people feel the most gratitude and plants flowers there. Shaymin can purify any toxins that are in the plants around it. It has two forms, Land Forme and Sky Forme. Land Forme is the cute little hedgehog on the left. It’s shy and curls up in flowers to protect itself. However, the Sky Forme flies around playfully, spreading feelings of gratitude wherever it goes.

Location

Shaymin can be found in the Flower Paradise after receiving Oak’s Letter. Much like Darkrai, Shaymin is an event-only Pokémon. Unfortunately, it was only distributed for a limited time after the release of Platinum. In Japan, it was only distributed from April 18 through May 11, 2009 and everywhere else from September 28 through November 8, 2009.

Stats

Shaymin’s Land Forme is pure Grass and has a 100 on stats all around. In its Sky Forme, it changes to a Grass/Flying type and gains speed and Special Attack buffs. It’s cute, but not much else.

Arceus | #493

Lore

Lord Arceus, grant us strength. According to Sinnoh legends, Arceus created the world and everything in it with its 1,000 arms. It has the powers of a god, able to create and destroy at will. It’s a being of light that protects all Pokémon. The suffix of its name (-eus) is found in many deities across all cultures.

Location

Arceus is obtainable at the Hall of Origin atop Spear Pillar. It can only be encountered after blowing the Azure Flute, an event-only item that… was never distributed. Nope! Never! Is this some sort of metaphor? You can’t chain the Gods? No, it was just considered too confusing and was never released. 

So, sure, why not just cheat and hack the item into your bag? Well, that won’t work either. The Hall of Origin only spawns after the game detects the Wonder Card that contained the Azure Flute was obtained through the Mystery Gift mechanic. That means there was no official way to obtain Arceus unless someone went to an official distribution event. It didn’t get a wider release until Generation V’s Global Link was introduced in 2010.

Stats

Arceus’ base stats are all 120. It’s super strong all around. However, the really cool thing about Arceus is the typing. It’s a Normal type normally, but you can have it hold a different plate for each type. That changes Arceus’ typing from Normal to whatever kind of plate it is holding. 

Heatran | #485

Lore

Heatran is said to be so hot that the steel that covered its body was melted by its temperature. Sinnoh legends say that Heatran was created in the magma of Mt. Coronet.

Location

Heatran can be found after entering the Hall of Fame at Stark Mountain. In order to find Heatran, the player must complete the story on Stark Mountain and then talk to Buck’s grandpa in the Survival Area nearby. He will give you the Magma Stone that is required to find Heatran.

Stats

Fun fact: Heatran is the only Pokémon to have a Fire/Steel typing. It’s a unique combination since Steel is usually weak to Fire. It also has the most double resistances with five types! Heatran is a Special Attacker (130) with high Defensive stats (106). Although slow, it can pack a big punch. The unique typing, heavy resistance, and good attack, Heatran should have a place on your team!

Regigigas | #486

Lore

Regigigas is a massive Pokémon that is said to have moved the continents into place. It also created the other Legendary Giants: Regirock, Registeel, Regice, Regieleki, and Regidrago. All of the Giants are based on the Golems of Hebrew mythology.

Location

Regigigas can only be found at Snowpoint Temple if the player has Regirock, Registeel, and Regice in their party.

Stats

Regigigas is a pure Normal type, giving it a huge advantage as it only has one weakness. Statwise, it has a really high Attack stat at 160. That’s huge. On top of that, the HP, Defense, and Special Defense stats are 110. Despite having the largest sprite in HeartGold and SoulSilver, it’s quicker than a few of the other Legendaries on this list with 100 Speed. It’s a weak Special Attacker, but the benefits really outweigh the cost.