What does it mean when a Pokémon is considered to be a "Legendary" Pokémon? Does the title refer to the Pokémon in question's statistics in regards to its competitive capabilities? Or rather, does the title hold more water with the idea that the lore from which said Pokémon's origins come from? Regardless, the answer will usually be one of the two ideas, depending on whom is the person being asked. However, there is also one question that few have asked: Do some Legendary Pokémon deserve their "Legendary" status? This is the question that will be asked in this essay, with the Pokémon in the spotlight being the seventh generation's own Silvally. This Pokémon has the honor of being one of the first Legendary Pokémon in the entire franchise to be related to another species through an evolutionary line, with the Cosmog line being the rest. While this is a series first, it is one of a few good reasons as to why Silvally's Legendary status may do more harm than it does good. As such, this essay will detail the idea that the Legendary Pokémon Silvally is far better off as a regular Pokémon than it is a Legendary Pokémon due to its lore and origins, its competitive values, its contextual value, and its likability among the fanbase.
The first point looked at will be the lore and origins of Silvally within the series. As stated earlier, Silvally is one of the first Legendary Pokémon in the series to be related to another species through evolution. There is an oddity in its evolutionary line that the Cosmog line does not have; all Pokémon in Cosmog's evolutionary line (Cosmoem, Solgaleo, and Lunala) are all considered Legendary Pokémon. The oddity that Silvally's line contains is the fact that Silvally's pre-evolution, Type: Null, is not a Legendary Pokémon with it. A player of the seventh generation titles (Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon) can witness the oddity in real-time through the use of the internet and the GTS. Using the GTS's filters to view only Legendary Pokémon, players can find all Legendary Pokémon available for trade, with Silvally being one among them; Type: Null, however, will be absent from the list, which implies that it is not considered a Legendary Pokémon like its evolution. Just as odd is given the fact that Type: Null, which resembles Silvally simply wearing a helmet, may not actually be a pre-evolution, but something more akin to a forme. If Type: Null is just a helmeted Silvally, what makes it more regular than Silvally? Suffice to say that a simple helmet has little bearing over the matter.
Now, the lore in which Silvally's birth is cradled in is quite tricky with regards to its Legendary status. Silvally is based on a chimera, a man-made creature composed of different biological parts that make it unique. Due to it's default Normal-typing, the design on Type: Null's helmet, and the mechanics of the RKS System ability, it is incredibly obvious that Silvally was meant to be a replication of the Legendary Pokémon Arceus, the Pokémon which many, if not all, players consider to be the series-equivalent to God itself. Silvally's purpose as the Beast Killer Project's test subject was the driving force behind The Aether Foundation's motives to replicate Arceus, a Mythical Pokémon which The Foundation would have far more trouble capturing than replicating. The result of the Beast Killer Project was Silvally, a Pokémon which is widely considered to be a "false" Arceus, for a number of reasons. Because Silvally is a false Arceus, a false version of a Legendary Pokémon, labeling it a Legendary Pokémon may actually defeat its purpose a bit more. Yet there is a counter-argument that can be made about Silvally's origins: Three other Pokémon, namely Magearna, Mewtwo, and Genesect, are also man-made as well as Legendary, two traits they share with Silvally, with the latter even sharing a similar gimmick to Silvally's RKS System. What sets the three aside from Silvally? Magearna is a case slightly different from the two, as it was a Pokémon that was created and owned by royalty, a quality that already allows Magearna to earn the title of Legendary. Mewtwo as a Pokémon directly cloned from the Legendary Mew; if the diaries of Mr. Fuji are anything to go by, it is implied that the scientists who created Mewtwo could've replicated Mew if they wanted to, but chose to instead make a stronger clone, which makes Mewtwo slightly more superior to its predecessor. As for Genesect, it holds a similar backstory to Mewtwo, as it was instead developed by a villainous organization who cloned it from a long-extinct Pokémon which is described as a ruthless hunter in-universe; this description implies that the Genesect species may have been Legendary in their own right before becoming extinct, before its scientific modifications allowed it to reach new heights. But can that really be enough to set Silvally aside from those three? What reason more can their be?
The answer lays within the next point that will be elaborate upon: Silvally's competitive value in the meta-game. True to its basis as the false Arceus, Silvally's stats are all equivallent to each other; while all of Arceus' stats have a base value of 120 across the board, Silvally sets itself below with all of its stats holding a base value of 95 across. While Silvally's stats aren't objectively terrible, they are among the weakest among all Legendary Pokémon, to the point of almost being impractical when matched up with other Legendary Pokémon in battle. Silvally's stats cause it to fall short of those who hold a base value of 100 across all of their stats, with the Pokémon in question being the resident "cute" Pokémon that were introduced in the first five generations (Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy, Land-Forme Shaymin, and Victini), all of whom have more access to more solid play-styles that make use of their available movesets than Silvally does. To be more frank, when considering Pokémon who are stripped of Effort Values, beneficial Natures, and all items, the only Legendary Pokemon which Silvally stands a chance with (purely speaking in terms of stats) would be Phione, a Pokémon whose own Legendary status is still debated to this day, which holds a lower base value of 80 across the board. The counter-argument regarding pure stats can be made that other Legendary Pokémon, such as the Regi Trio, the Musketeer Trio, and even a Pokémon as powerful as Hoopa Unbound, all possess at least one stat whose base value is either equal or lower to Silvally's offensive 95 base power stats. This is a true statement, as the mentioned Pokemon do indeed possess such stats in their defenses, offenses, or even speed stats. However, the argument is limited to that; the aforementioned Pokémon may have similar stats in one field or another, but they also have strengths that make up for those weaknesses. While Hoopa Unbound's Defense stat looks like its weakness against Silvally, it still has plenty of room to use its monstorous offenses to knock out Silvally in one hit. Should Silvally gain the probable chance to move first, it may shave off Hoopa's health completely, but this is only true if one assumes that Hoopa is not holding a Focus Sash, merely one scenario among many.
And here lays another fault of Silvally's competitive monotony: Just like Arceus, its RKS System ability functions like a faulty version of Arceus Multitype ability, which allows it to change its typing depending on the item held. The word "faulty" is properly used here, because unlike Silvally, Arceus can choose from twice as many items to achieve its type-change than Silvally can; the items themselves can be either Arceus' signature Plates, or any of the available Z-Crystals, which do not change the type of Arceus' signature move Judgment, but allow Arceus to use a Z-Move instead. Silvally, however, cannot achieve a type-change with the use of Z-Crystals. This means that, in order for Silvally to use a Z-Move, it will have no other choice but to remain a Normal-type Pokémon, a type which has little, if any, strengths and weaknesses outside of Inverse Battles. And this attribute is what sets it aside from Magearna, Mewtwo, and Genesect. Magearna's status as a Pokémon of royalty is already enough to earn it of its Legendary status, however its competitive use can back it up. It's Soul-Heart ability acts like a Special Attack variant to the Moxie and Beast Boost abilities already, but Magearna's signature move, Fleur Cannon, acts like a Fairy-type variant of Overheat, with monstrous power that becomes weaker with every use, lowering the user's Special Attack stat by two stages. If that wasn't enough, Magearna also has access to Manaphy's signature move Heart-Swap, which allows it to get rid of its Special Attack post-Fleur Cannon if it wanted to. Mewtwo, on the other hand, already has enough power on its own, which may be enhanced through the use of an item. Two items may even be its Mega Stones, which give it more power and speed, which varies on which stone it was given, and allows it to take down threats far greater than Silvally. Even more jarring is Genesect's difference from Silvally. Like Silvally and its Type Memory discs, Genesect can change the type of its signature Techno Blast through the use of one of four Drives. However, unlike Silvally, Genesect's gimmick is much more optional; while Silvally absolutely needs an item to change its type completely, Genesect only needs it to change the type of its signature move. Silvally will always receive the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) when using its signature Multi-Attack, but Genesect will never receive the same bonus with Techno Blast because it will never match with either of its Bug- nor Steel-types. Because of this, Genesect can make far greater use of its Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats using either a power-enhancing item like a Life Orb, or a Speed-enhancing item like the Choice Scarf. On top of that, Silvally's ability is far more dependant on its gimmick, while Genesect's Download ability makes it stronger by simply entering the battle, regardless of whether or not it holds a Drive. With its access to a wide range of physical and special attacks, some even from Event Distributions, it is incredibly evident that Genesect, while similar in concept to Silvally, holds far greater competitive potential. While not a problem to competitive players, casual players who decide to establish rules regarding Legendary Pokémon will likely only have one reason to use it: when the rule is "Legendary Pokémon permitted". With other rules being "no Legendary Pokémon permitted at all" and "only Legendary Pokémon permitted", Silvally will likely be caught in a limbo in player's minds, as it will not be allowed within the confines of the former rule, while far stronger Pokémon will likely leave it far out of mind with the latter rule.
And with Silvally's competitive use evaluated, the irony has room to breathe, which brings up the next point of Silvally's value with regards to its context within the series. As established before, Silvally was the result of the Beast Killer Project, the project that The Aether Foundation began as a way to combat against the already-powerful Ultra Beasts, a group of Pokémon-like, extraterrestrial beings of other dimensions whose own Legendary statuses are up for debate. As established before, Silvally's stats are neatly-rounded; this means that while Silvally doesn't have any inherent weaknesses, its strengths do not have much room for improvement either, regardless of which play-style Silvally uses. This causes it to fall short with its own purpose. Ulta Beasts, such as Xurkitree, Naganadel, and Pheromosa, all possess stats that place them in higher tiers on the meta-game than Silvally. Even with a beneficial Nature and Type Memory disc, Silvally will more-than likely lose in any matchup against the aforementioned three Ultra Beasts, in addition to most other Ultra Beasts. With Silvally's competitive inferiority to the Ultra Beasts, there seems to be very little reason to even label it a Legendary Pokémon. Only under the most astronomical situations during battle (which will likely entail a combination of the opposing Ultra Beast's moves missing Silvally, Silvally landing a critical hit, the opposing Ultra Beast having been weakened from a previous Pokémon's actions, Silvally's play style being tailored to specifically take on the opposing Ultra Beast, and the Ultra Beast not having a beneficial item due to Knock Off or another reason) can Silvally hope to win against most, if not all, Ultra Beasts. While it's true that Pheromosa's defenses are among the lowest of all Pokémon in its tier (if not among all Pokémon in general), its incredible Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats allow it far more flexibility and strength to take Silvally out; and should Silvally get a hit on Pheromosa, the possibility of Pheromosa utilizing a Focus Sash still persists, which allows it to take out the likely, already-weakened Silvally, who likely won't have the same luxury. With such an evaluation coming to light, it seems that the only reason Silvally's Legendary status even remains is simply due to its basis on Arceus, with very little to offer against other Legendary Pokémon, let alone against the very Ultra Beasts it was specifically created to take down in the first place.
With Silvally's overall assessments being covered, the final point to bring up is the most opinionated one: Silvally's appeal with the Pokémon fanbase. Silvally's appeal is mainly composed of two different aspects: Silvally's overall design, as well as its context within the lore. Many players have praised Silvally's design as being "cool", among many other variations of the feeling. With a quadruped base composed of a patchwork design topped off with a computer system in its body, Silvally's chimera/cyborg design has captured the hearts of many as one of the craziest, most over-the-top Pokémon species to date. Unlike most designs that are also considered over-the-top, Silvally's design gains far more respect than usual, with the reason laying in its context for existing. With only three members of its species in existance in-universe, Silvally is quite a unique Pokémon indeed. Its status as Gladion's signature Pokémon, coupled with its concept being a failed attempt at recreating an actual god, on top of the revelation that it will only evolve from Type: Null if it trusts its Trainer enough, has inspired quite a number of fanart from the fanbase to show their love for the species; and a great chunk of said fanart was actually produced before the first pair of games were even released. While Gladion is an already well-liked rival due to his backstory and attitude, his relationship with his Silvally only strengthened the love the fanbase had for both the Pokémon and its Trainer. Even the games Sun and Moon themselves couldn't help but make a successful attempt at making the pair look much more likeable than usual; during the end credits, a photograph of Gladion enjoying the company of his Silvally, who's happily licking at his face with its tongue like an affectionate, overgrown dog. The personality shown by this photograph seems to show Silvally as a Pokémon who could closer relate to a domesticated dog, an animal affectionately known as "man's best friend". Most Legendary Pokémon are portrayed in a much more fierce, important light, and yet Silvally's portrayal as an affectionate pet seems to have won over the hearts of many than it would have if it were constantly portrayed as an angry, vengeful creature that it had evolved from. Would such a portrayal suffice in making the argument that Silvally may be better off known as a regular Pokémon rather than a Legendary Pokémon? If the fact that Silvally was popular enough to receive an Event Distribution of its Shiny variation is anything to go by, it may be. But ultimately, that is a question best left answered by the fans themselves.
In conclusion, Silvally is best left off as a regular Pokémon without the title of "Legendary" because the label sets it even further apart from the Legendary Arceus, its competitive use allows it to provide more competitive value against other regular Pokémon, and its backstory coupled with its portrayal within the series has allowed it to win over man fans. If there was a message to be found in any Pokémon title, it would likely be: Pokémon are a Trainer's companions, and they only become stronger with the bonds that are formed between the two. Silvally has promising potential, as either a competitive Pokémon or a loveable companion, and it wouldn't be fair to group it off with the likes of physical dieties when it never asked, nor approved of, its own purpose and origins that keep it from being included in the even-greater group of all typical Pokémon with little ulterior purposes themselves. And so, the next time someone brings up Silvally in a conversation, the best thing to do may be to hope that this person thinks of Silvally as a huggable friend whose affection allowed it to flourish, rather than a monster whose only purpose in life is to fight and kill.
