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Legendary Pokémon, there are only a few species that can claim this title to begin with and given the "Legendary" title based on their rarity.

However, are the Legends our heroes encounter in the anime series and movies the only one? It does seem that way, but if true how were the species created and how do they survive?

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    Legendary Pokemon aren't a species, and often they are genderless. They're a throwback to various gods. As such, there is supposed to be only one of each. They can't breed.
    – Gorchestopher H
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 15:47
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    i believe there are multiple mew's
    – Himarm
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 15:58
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    Bulbapedia - Legendary Pokemon
    – Valorum
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 16:53
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    @Himarm Mew is a Mythical Pokémon, not a Legendary.
    – João Victor Oliveira
    Commented Jul 15, 2016 at 13:43
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    @JoãoVictorOliveira Correct, but until Gen 5, both groups were referred to as "legendary Pokémon" outside of Japan. Many people still aren't aware of the distinction, and some still call them all "legendaries" out of habit.
    – Mike Kellogg
    Commented Jul 15, 2016 at 22:25

5 Answers 5

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There are multiples of at least some Legendary Pokémon in the anime

While it can't be said for certain for every Legendary, a number of them are explicitly shown to have multiple members of the species and/or be capable of breeding.

  • Lugia - A parent and child pair appear together in the Johto League series of the anime.
  • Latios and Latias - These two make multiple appearances, including Latios dying during movie 5, then other Latios appearing later in the series, while a Latias in the possession of a Nurse Joy can be seen at one point in the series, only for a wild one to appear later.
  • Genesect1 - Five Genesect (one of which is Shiny) all appear together at one point during the anime, and later in the 16th movie. (Thanks to @Axelrod)
  • Mewtwo - Mewtwo first makes an appearance in the 1st movie, then again in the 16th movie, but the latter occurrence appears to be a different Mewtwo. (Thanks to @Axelrod)
  • Several Legendaries are seen in the possession of various trainers throughout the series, which can at least be implied to not be unique. These include Articuno, the Regi trio, Darkrai1 and Latios, Heatran, and Latias.

There may not be proof for every Legendary Pokémon (and indeed, some may be unique), but it's clearly not the case that all Legendaries are completely unique.

1 Mythical rather than Legendary, but a similar enough category to warrant mention.

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    Add Mewtwo, who is a different specimen between The First Movie and the Genesect movie, and Genesect who is one of many Genesect in the Genesect movie. Genesect Genesect Genesect Genesect.
    – user40790
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 21:34
  • @Axelrod I'd heard about the different Mewtwos before, but I can't find anything on Bulbapedia that seems conclusive enough to show they're different. I haven't watched movie 16 before, is it obvious that Mewtwo doesn't recognize Ash?
    – Mike Kellogg
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 21:47
  • @Axelrod Nevermind, I found signs that the creation process went a bit differently. Thanks.
    – Mike Kellogg
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 21:52
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    No problem. Also, the Mewtwo in the new movie is female-voiced, while the First movie Mewtwo was male-voiced.
    – user40790
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 21:56
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Don't forget:

Rayquaza- There was a shiny Rayquaza in the Hoopa movie, yet there was a normal rayquaza in the deoxys movie.

Also...Diancie- although mythical and not legendary, it's still rare. Yet, Diancie is formed by a mutation in Carbink, meaning there can essentially be more than one Princess Diancie.

Solgaleo/Lunala- Are legendary on our world, yet there are wild cosmog in the alternate dimension where they come from.

Legendary Dog Trio- Shiny versions of them can be seen in the zoroark movie, yet in pokemon chronicles Gold/Ethan encounters a normal Raikou(If I can remember correctly), and Ash has seen a normal colored Suicune and Entei in their respective movies.

Zekrom/Reshiram- This is my personal theory....in the Hoopa movie Zekrom and Reshiram can be seen well and alive, yet Kyurem could still become Black/White Kyurem even though it needs to absorb the two in stone form......soooo maybe there are multiple Zekrom and Reshiram?

My answer is: yes. I do believe there are multiple legendary Pokemon. However, to an extent. If anything, maybe all the legendary Pokemon have more than one each, even Kyogre and Groudon. However I think it stops with the creation trio as well as with Arceus, they may be the only ones of their kind. But as for the rest, definitely more than one each. Just my theory though.

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In the Pokémon Origins movie at the last part, it states that both Red and Blue have captured all 149 Pokémon (excluding Mew and Mewtwo), proving there are multiple of the bird trio.

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    Can you provide a reference? Legendaries are generally implied to be unique in the anime (though the other answers show exceptions).
    – Adamant
    Commented May 16, 2017 at 4:22
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Yes there are multiple pokemon of certain legendaries and mythicals. We know this because of Deoxys, there are multiple Deoxys in both the manga and movie about them showcasing that there are 2 known Deoxys. This can also be applied to Manaphy and that you can create multiple Phione from Manaphy, Cosmog is also included in this since there are clearly more then one cosmog.

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From Bulbapedia:

Aside from the high statistics shared by most Legendary Pokémon, many can only be obtained once per save file (excluding Pokémon events); in order to obtain multiple, a player would need to trade for one.

You can understand a "save file" as the universe. The anime can be a "save file" where the player is the main character (Ash, for example). And considering the anime is based in the game, if there's only one specimen of each legendary Pokémon for each save file, then it is safe to assume there's only one specimen of each legendary Pokémon in the anime.

The same Bulbapedia entry linked at the top of this answer gives details about the appearence of legendary pokémons of each generation in the anime series: Generation I, Generation II, Generation III, Generation IV, Generation V, Generation VI, Generation VII.

So yes, there is only one specimen of each legendary pokémon.

As to how they were created, the only Legendary Pokémon that we know about its creation is Mewtwo (genetically enhanced clone of Mew, a Mythical Pokémon).

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    "per save file" indicates the game mechanic. I am looking for answers outside of that. Sorry if that was not clear.
    – Skooba
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 19:24
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    @Skooba I understood that, but if you think about it, you can understand a "save file" as the universe. The anime can be a "save file" where the player is the main character (Ash, for example). And considering the anime is based in the game, if there's only 1 specimen of each legendary Pokémon for each save file, then it is safe to assume there's only 1 specimen of each legendary Pokémon in the anime.
    – João Victor Oliveira
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 17:00
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    -1: You can't just take game mechanics to be part of the story.
    – Kevin
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 4:46

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