Pokemon is usually a what-you-see-is-what-you-get affair. Most Pokemon species come in a package everyone is familiar with and can identify. However, some Pokemon have the ability to mix things up with different forms that not only have different designs, bಌut can do different things on the battlefield.
While most Pokemon with form differences are 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Legendary or Mythical, this list will shine the spotlight on the little guys. Some non-Legendary Pokemon nonetheless stand out with different forms, whether permanent or interchangeable within a battle. These fourteen have it the best, with certain form differenc꧋es that make a bigger difference than others, some of them even giving their species notable competitive viability.
Updated February 15, 2023 by Kyle Laurel: Say what you will about their designs, but a few new Scarlet and Violet Pokemon came with multiple forms to their name, functionally different in their own right. Here's an updated list with entries for some of the strongest multi-form Pokemon to date.
This list will not include regional variants, Mega Evolutions, Gigantamax forms, or Terastalized forms.
15 S💖qu꧂awkabilly
Aesthetically, Squawkabilly comes in♈ f▨our forms, but in terms of battling capabilities, it practically only has two. Even then, the differences between the two battling builds are quite minimal.
Paldea's Flying Taxi comes in four colors, or "plumages": green, blue, yellow, and white, each with their own lore, personality, and rarity according to the PokeDex. However, their only real battling difference is their hidden abilities, and two plumages share one each; green and blue get Guts, while yellow and white get Sheer Force. When looking at viability, this does give you room to play with different sets involving either of the hidden abilities, but the plumage really doesn't matter if you're going with Hustle or Intimidate.
14 Cramorant
Cramorant has a bunch of different forms that work in tandem with its Gulp Missile ability. The easy way to explain it is to use 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Surf or Dive, get a Pokemon caught in your throat, taಌke a hit, and spit the Pokemon at your attacker f꧂or some extra damage.
What that Pokemon is depends on the Cramorant's health. If Cramorant has at least half of its HP, it catches an Arrokuda, which, when hurled at an attacker, drops their Defense by a stage alongside the extra damage. If its HP is below half, Cramorant catches a Pikachu, which inflicts paralysis on an attacker instead of a Defense drop.
13 Basculegion ⛄
Basculin’s Hisuian evolution is just one example of a Pokemon with 168💛澳🦄洲幸运5开奖网:functionally significant gender differences, with Meowstic, Indeedee, and Oinkologne also deserving mentions. Male and female B൲asculegion differ not only in design, but in stats as well.
While they share the same base stat total, male Basculegion i🌠s a better physical attacker, while female is a better special attacker.
Although there are certainly merits to using either form, male is generally better, as it is more specialized in its resp🐭ective attacking category (112 Attack), and most of the best moves ꦕin Basculegion can learn are physical (Wave Crash, Aqua Jet, etc.).
12 Minior
Minior's stats during a battle are very dependent on the form it takes on, which is either the Meteor Form or Core Form. That's a product of its Shields Down ability, and, in turn, is also dependent on whether its HP is above or below half.
Minior starts a battle in its Meteor Form, which is a purely defensive form (high Defense and Special Defense). As the battle goes on and its HP drops to below half, it breaks 🐷out and turns into its Core Form, which is a purely offensive form (high Attack, Special Attack, and Speed).
11 Tatsugiri
Tat✨sugiri comes in three different-colored and shaped forms: Curly, Droopy, and Stretchy, and all three can be found at Casseroya Lake. While the differences between the three are purely aesthetic if you use them in a Singles battle, that’s not the case if either one is used alongside Dondozo in a double battle.
The form affects which of Dondozo’s stats is ⛎boosted when Dondozo uses Order Up with it in its mouth (via the Commander ability); a Curly Tatsugiri boosts Attack, Droopy Defense, and Stretchy Speed.
Tatsugiri and Dondozo have become early Doubles favorites among competitive players, thanks to the massive boost the former gives to the latt𓆉er.
10 Gourgeist
The first spectrum of alternate forms based solely on the Pokemon's size, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gourgeist comes in four sizes: Small, Average, Large, and Super. They have a bearing on the Gourgeist's stats, particularly with HP, Attack, and Speed. How those stats are distributed are about what you'd expect; the bigger the Gourgeist, the higher the HP and Attack, and the lower the Speed.
Each size is useful in its own right, but the one-size-fits-all concept is kind of true with Gourgeist's movesets. No matter what size it is, it's best to run it as an attacker; the size mainly determines whether Gourgeist is a mid-level sweeper or tanky wallbreaker.
9 Oricorio
Aside from the Legendary Island Guardians, Alola also has this bird species as a unique way to distinguish between its four islands. Oricorio's style generally depends on where it was caught, and that changes both its primary type and the type of its signature move, Revelation Dance.
The Electric-type Pom-Pom style can be found in Melemele Island, the Fire-type Baile style in Ula'ula, the Psychic-type Pa'u style in Akala, and the Ghost-type Sensu style in Poni. All their stats are the same, so whichever one is more viable kind of depends on their typing.
In a vacuum, that would make Pom-Pom the winner, with Electric/Flying being 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:an excellent type combo.
8 Mimikyu
While Mimikyu ticks quite differently compared to the other Pokemon on this list that just have straightforward different forms, it's nonetheless become a difficult Pokemon to deal with.
Its Disguise ability technically constitutes a form change, with base form (also known as Disguised Form) Mimikyu turning into it🦩s Busted Form after taking a hi༒t and preventing it from taking any damage.
While the two forms in question are barely different from each other from both a design and stats standpoint, the ability to take a free hit virtually unscathed is huge. It turns Mimikyu from an otherwise mediocre Pokemon to an unexpected candidate t🍌o sweep your team, as that free turn allows for either setting up or dealing extra damage.
7 🥂 Darmanitan
This doesn't refer to the Unovan and Galarian regional variants of Darmanitan, but rather, the Zen Mode that each of them takes on when they run with their hidden abilities. Both regional variants' Zen Mode forms function quite differently in respect to their base forms.
Unovan Darmanitan's Zen Mode switches its Attack and Speed stat investment into Special Attack and the two types of defenses, while Galarian Darmanitan's boosts its Attack and Speed stat further.
Both also gain extra types, with the 𝕴Unovan becoming a Fire/Psychic-type and the Galarian becoming an Ice/Fire-type. While the former is a bit taxing thanks to the drastic stat switch-up, the latter is incredibly powerful and an excellent alternative to its Choice Band-esque Gorilla Tactics ability.
6 Lycanroc
Rockruff and Lycanroc are on par with Eevee, Espeon, and Umbreon when it comes to Pokemon with time-based evolution methods. The two or three forms of your choosing really make you th𒊎ink about what time of the day you want to evolve a Rockruff.
𒅌There are two forms of Lycanroc that can be achieved relatively normally: Midday Form, which is achieved when leveled up to level 25 in the daytime, and Midnight Form, which is achieved when lev🔯eled up at night.
There's also the event-exclusive Dusk Form, which is only achievable with an Own Tempo (its hidden ability) Rockruff that levels up between 5:00 and 5:59 PM. While Dusk Form is the competitive standout, all are excellent Rock-type options for playthroughs.