Unown Pokémon

Perhaps one of the oddest Pokemon to encounter in the games is Unown. This psychic type Pokemon has 28 variants, modeled after the characters of the Latin alphabet. While it is not particularly powerful or has any special interactions, its design raises some interest. Since there are 28 different variants of Unown it is difficult to keep track of each individual one, but its shape is determined by its individual values. Since you can hold a party of 6 Pokemon, you can spell out many 6 letter words to clear a party making it a novel addition to the growing list of Pokemon.

About Unown

Unown is one of the more unique Pokemon to encounter. Every Unown you encounter will be different and there are up to 28 to collect. While catching one is all that is required for completing the Pokedex, players have found joy in spelling out words through Unown in GTS or in their own parties. It is a flat, ungendered, Pokemon that represents characters of the Latin alphabet. Despite its Latin appearance, in the Pokemon canon, it is known to represent Egyptian hieroglyphics. Whether the Unown was based on the Latin alphabet or vice versa is never explicitly explained.

Unown Base Stats

Appearance of Unown

Depending on which variant of Unown we are discussing, there are many different appearances of Unown in Pokemon media. There are 28 different characters to discuss, each depicting a different letter of the alphabet of the Latin language as well as “?” and “!” as punctuation marks. You can see below a table of all Unown available in the game. They are composed of black bodies and one singular eye, with their bodies resembling their respective character of the alphabet and their eye fitting somewhere within the structure of the Pokemon itself. They first appeared in the animated series in Spell of the Unown: Entei which is part of the iconic Pokemon movies.

Behavior of Unown

As a psychic Pokemon, the Unown is surreal in nature. Even more so as their bodies are more letters than they are physical bodies. In the films and episodes they appear in, they tend to disguise themselves as writing upon walls until disturbed. They are known to be timid and tend to hide from the rest of the Pokemon world. As they are psychic Pokemon they seem to have an acute understanding of human/Pokemon emotions and behavior. Despite their strange appearance, they are still truly classified as Pokemon rather than anything else.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Unown is not a particularly powerful or noteworthy Pokemon in terms of battle. Their stat lines are indicative of novelty rather than practicality. If you are truly pressed for a psychic-type Pokemon, you can consider using Unown for their hidden power (psychic) ability along with a twisted spoon-held item to make up the difference in low stats. Since their inclusion in the series is more novel than anything else, it is difficult to find a situation where Unown is more powerful than any other psychic Pokemon. In the later generations, it does come with levitate, making it completely immune to ground-type moves. If you are struggling with competing with ground-type Pokemon, you could consider using Unown to counter-ground-type strategies.

Unown Movie

Perhaps where Unown is best recognized is in their debut with the move Spell of the Unown: Entei. The Unown movie begins with a little girl named Molly losing her family and any potential guardian. In a state of dismay, she uncovers a box of strange letters and tiles and spells out a plea for her beloved papa. The strange letters are of course the Unown and being psychic Pokemon, feel overwhelmed by her emotions and create an illusion of Entei to act as her caretaker. The Unown movie is perhaps best known as the Entei movie by people who remembered watching it as children. While in the Unown movie, and the title representing it as an Unown movie, they most likely took a back seat to the legendary Pokemon that people became fond of. If you have not seen the Unown movie, it truly manages to thin the line between heroes and villains and tackles themes of abandonment with classic Nintendo writing capability.

Best Moveset

If you were not aware, Unown can only learn one move. It is unique in this regard, but it is certainly quite the handicap. While the move Unown learns is hidden power (psychic) which does come along with the Same Type of Attack Bonus, there is not much to discuss in terms of its best moveset. Your best option is to use choice specs to boost your special attack by 50%. Since Unown will only be using one move, the downside of choice specs is irrelevant. If you do not have choice specs, you could also consider the twisted spoon to boost the power of psychic type moves by 10-20% depending on which generation you are playing in. Good luck if you are trying to get this Pokemon to work in any competitive format.

How to Catch Unown in Pokemon Go

If you can believe it, Unown does exist in Pokemon Go. It is incredibly rare and difficult to find and all 28 variants do exist within the Niantic mobile game. Fortunately, you do not have to find all 28 variants to fulfill your Pokedex collection. Luckily it is not restricted to events, but it is still near impossible to find in the wild. Unown is not even spawning from eggs currently, there was an event in the past where Unown was available from eggs. Until Niantic releases another similar event, your best bet is to crowdsource information on local spawns in your area. You can also utilize the tracking feature nearby Pokestops to see if any Unowns have been sighted nearby.

Trivia

1. Other characters of Unown were teased in the movie Spell of the Unown: Entei where Professor Oak’s computer had pictures of Greek alphabet depictions of Unown, but they have yet to be released.
2. In official artworks of Unown, there are usually two that are depicted more than others. The “G” and “F” characters of Unown are more common, likely referencing Game Freak, the company that develops the Pokemon games.
3. Originally, there were only 26 variants of Unown introduced in generation two. Generation three introduced 2 more variants, the “?” and “!” characters.

FAQs

Q. Is Unown legendary?

No Unown is not legendary, it is not even a pseudo-legendary. It is simply a novel Pokemon added to give players the opportunity to spell out 1-6 letter words in their parties or in the GTS. It would be difficult to consider Unown as a legendary Pokemon as it is a relatively weak Pokemon, but perhaps its uniqueness sets it apart from the other Pokemon.

Q. What is the Point of Unown?

To spell out words of course. While Unown is not a particularly practical Pokemon, you can expect players to get enjoyment out of the novel effects you can pull off with a full set of Unown. You can also consider the fact that if every Pokemon was incredibly powerful, it would be difficult to gauge the strength of a Pokemon. Having a few intentionally weak Pokemon provides a frame of reference for the power level you can expect from different Pokemon.

Q. Is Unown the worst Pokemon?

While it seems that Unown is a good candidate for potentially the worst Pokemon, there are many others that have even lower total stat values. There are a lot of things to consider for what makes a good Pokemon, involving movesets, total stat values, typing, and other unique abilities. Smeargle is also a much lower stat Pokemon, but due to its unique abilities and potential advantages, saw much more competitive play. Ditto technically has lower stat values, but we all know what Ditto’s role is. A male Combee has better movesets, but almost half the total stat values. Of course, there are other Pokemon that can evolve into stronger stat totals and better movesets, but Unown is likely not the worst Pokemon in the game.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you now know what to expect from this fairly unique Pokemon. Unown is more known for its roles in media and its novel effects. Rather than have every Pokemon fit a battle niche, Unown is more usable for the writers and developers of the Pokemon universe. You can still find enjoyment from using an Unown, but these are likely novelty uses rather than battle uses (unless you are trying to intentionally handicap yourself). Nevertheless, Unown is a Pokemon that has many different roles to play and enjoy. With an open mind and a desire to have fun with the games, you can see how Unown fits within the Pokemon franchise.