Introduced in generation four with the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games, Cresselia is a monotype psychic Pokemon. A legendary Pokemon, its counterpart is Darkrai, although neither of these Pokemon are the main mascots of their respective generation. They are part of the lunar duo and both Darkrai and Cresselia have their themes based on dreams or nightmares. Despite being a generation four legendary, Cresselia has only appeared a few times in the anime. This guide will showcase Cresselia’s appearances in the anime, its capabilities in battle, as well as other general facts about Cresselia.
About Cresselia
A legendary that was introduced with the Diamond and Pearl games, you can find a roaming Cresselia somewhere in Sinnoh towards the end of the games. Cresselia is a psychic Pokemon, and despite its legendary status, only appeared in a few episodes of the Pokemon anime. It first appeared in the episode Sleepless in Pre-Battle!, and it also appeared in the movies Giratina and the Sky Warrior and Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel. As Cresselia’s counterpart is themed with nightmares, Cresselia is themed after joyful dreams. The Pokedex stats that anyone holding a feather of Cresselia’s are guaranteed joyful dreams.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series: Diamond and Pearl Sleepless In Pre-Battle! |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Diamond and Pearl |
| Region | Sinnoh |
| Evolution | Not known to evolve into or from any Pokemon |
| 1st Evo level | N/A |
| 2nd Evo level | N/A |
| Pokedex Entry | Those who sleep holding Cresselia's feather are assured of joyful dreams. It is said to represent the crescent moon. |
Cresselia Base Stats
| HP | 120 |
| ATTACK | 70 |
| DEFENCE | 120 |
| SP. ATTACK | 75 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 130 |
| SPEED | 85 |
| TOTAL | 600 |
Appearance of Cresselia
Cresselia is said to be shaped like the crescent moon in Pokemon lore. It closely resembles a swan with a blue body and yellow features. The ornaments around her head are shaped like crescent moons and her wings are shaped like rings that envelop her. Unlike most Pokemon, Cresselia is guaranteed to be female, which is different from her counterpart Darkrai’s unknown gender. She is 4 feet and 11 inches or 1.5 meters tall.
Behavior of Cresselia
An elusive Pokemon gave her legendary and psychic status. She often appears to counteract the nightmares that are caused by Darkrai. As part of a legendary themed counterpart, she is often hostile to Darkrai. Cresselia leaves feathers that can be used to stop the nightmares that Darkrai inflicts on others. As a representative of the moon, she is rather dream-like and ethereal in her behavior.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Cresselia is a very bulky Pokemon, however, she’s not that particularly powerful. In fact, many competitive brackets hold separate brackets for powerful legendary Pokemon, and Cresselia is not strong enough to fit into this powerful bracket. Instead due to her low offensive stats, she is often used as a wall in competitive battling. As a psychic type Pokemon, bug, ghost, and dark type moves are very effective against her. The dark weakness is interesting given that she has the power to dispel nightmares in Pokemon canon.
Best Moveset
There is a lot you can get away with considering Cresselia’s moves. Since she is in a bracket without many other legendaries, there are not many other Pokemon that can keep up with her legendary-statline base stats. Since she is naturally bulky, you can use moves like Calm Mind, Psyshock, Moonblast/Ice Beam, and Moonlight/Substitute. Calm Mind is a way for Cresselia to get set up, Psyshock benefits from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), Moonblast and Ice Beam are interchangeable for type coverage, and Moonlight and Substitute can help extend her natural bulkiness.
| Calm Mind | Psyshock |
| Moonblast/Ice Beam | Moonlight/Substitute |
How to Catch Cresselia in Pokemon Go
As a legendary Pokemon, Cresselia is not available for capture in the wild. Instead, you will have to locate a Cresselia from Pokemon Gym Raids. She can appear in level 5 raids and you will need a good group of trainers in order to take the raid boss down. Once you complete the raid, you will be given a chance to catch Cresselia, but you will have a limited number of Pokeballs to do so.
Video Guide
Trivia
- Cresselia’s name is a portmanteau of the words crescent and Selene, the greek goddess of the moon.
- Despite being a legendary Pokemon, encountering a Cresselia in the wild would play the typical battle music for a wild Pokemon instead of any unique legendary music.
- In competitive battling, CHALK is used as an acronym for Cresselia, Heatran, Amoongus, Landorus, and Kanghaskan, a team that was incredibly common to run into.
FAQs
Q. Is Cresselia a Legendary?
Cresselia is a legendary Pokemon that was introduced in generation four with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. She is part of the lunar duo and her counterpart is Darkrai. Since Cresselia cannot be bred, does not evolve into or from any Pokemon, and meets the catch rate threshold, Cresselia is classified as a legendary Pokemon.
Q. Why is Cresselia so hard to catch?
Other than her very low catch rate, Cresselia is a roaming legendary Pokemon. This means that once you have unlocked her through regular play in the story, you can encounter Cresselia instead of any wild Pokemon encounter. This makes catching Cresselia much more difficult as you cannot guarantee when you locate her and she could potentially run away before you can get the best odds of catching her.
Q. Why is Cresselia so good?
Cresselia wreaks havoc in her respective competitive brackets because she is not strong enough to be in UBER where most other legendary Pokemon reside. Instead, she is allowed in UU (Underused) and down to RU (Rarely Used) where Cresselia has a higher chance of succeeding. Her natural bulky statline along with her relatively higher base stat totals make her a powerful pick for teams in this bracket.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this lunar Pokemon. Cresselia is a legendary Pokemon that was introduced in generation four with the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games. Cresselia has been a point of contention in competitive battles and a lot of fans of the franchise have come to dislike seeing her as part of competitive battles. Despite this, and given her involvement with Darkrai, Cresselia is a favorite of generation four. While stalling tactics may make this Pokemon difficult to deal with, the inclusion of Cresselia provides a unique angle for competitive battlers and casual players alike.
