Can Latios and Latias change into other Pokemon? New canon detail explored

A trailer for an upcoming Pokemon anime series has surfaced online before its official debut during the Pokemon Day celebration showcase. The new Dragonite and the Postman series trailer features a scene where the protagonist is flying alongside a Flygon and a Salamence.

The trailer then shows the water below, leading to the identities of the two Dragon Pokemon being revealed. They are none other than the Legendary Latios and Latias. However, this detail has caught many players off-guard, as no games have ever shown the creatures with form-changing capabilities.

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Can Latias and Latios always change into other Pokemon?

Latias has been shown changing form several times in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While this detail may catch many fans by surprise, Latias has been shown changing its physical appearance since its debut in the franchise through the manga. This ability was shown in the movie Pokemon Heroes as well. Latias and Latios can be seen using this power to become invisible as well.

Interestingly, Latias also used this power to transform into a girl Ash befriended during the movie to kiss him in the final scene. The location from this movie is revisited in the final arc of the original anime series, and Ash already knows of Latios before his showdown with Tobias in the Sinnoh season. Hence, Pokemon Heroes is definitely canon.

While Latias has always had a sort of unhealthy obsession with changing into different species to mess with humans, the trailer for Dragonite and the Postman marks the first time we have seen Latios use this power for something other than for becoming invisible. This ability to shift forms has always been present in Latias' Pokedex, but never in Latios'.

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How can Latios and Latias change their form?

Latias has always been known to shift its form, but Latios has never been known for this ability (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The Pokedex describes Latias as having glass-like down feathers, capable of refracting high amounts of light. Through this light refraction, Latias can alter its appearance. With Latias and Latios being siblings, it would be safe to assume that they come from the same "parent" species, granting them similar abilities.

This is a possible explanation as to why these two Legendary Pokemon both possess the ability to change their forms. Latias has always been the more social of the two, so it would make sense that more research in the Pokemon world has been done on Latias. On the other habndLatios is the more closed-off and hostile one of the pair.

Nevertheless, this does not explain the pair's lack of access to the move Transform, or this ability not being mentioned outside of Pokedex entries from a couple of games.

There is still a chance the pair could receive the move in a future event, but this move would not be very helpful for them in battle. This is because they are stronger with their own stats rather than the stats they would steal using Transform. This is likely why Game Freak has not bothered adding this move to their pool yet.