Phione (Pokémon)

**Phione** (Japanese: **フィオネ** *Phione*) is a Water-type Pokémon introduced in Generation IV.

It can only be obtained by breeding Manaphy or another Phione with Ditto. It Evolves into Manaphy at Level 60 while holding a Soul Dew.

It is a member of the sea guardians with Manaphy.

Phione's status as a Mythical Pokémon is often disputed, with contradiction occurring even between official sources.

## Biology

Phione is a blue Pokémon with a round head and a tiny body. Phione's head is crowned by a flotation sac with a long, ribbon-like antenna. Its mouth is small, and its eyes are large with blue sclerae and gray irises. Above its eyes are two blue, circular markings connected to the eyes by a thin black line. Its long, flipper-like arms have rounded tips. Phione has a red, oval gem on its chest and a single rudimentary foot spike.

Phione inflates the sac on its head to drift in the water and search for food. When the water grows warm, it will drift in packs with other members of its species. No matter how far it has drifted, it will always return to the place where it was born.

## Game data

### NPC appearances

* Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness: A group of six Phione appeared in Miracle Sea who were driven away by an enraged, treasure-seeking Gyarados and once Gyarados was defeated gave the team the Phione Dew needed to save Manaphy.

### Stats

#### Base stats

* Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and (if applicable) a helpful nature.

### Learnset

#### By breeding

 * Moves marked with an asterisk (\*) must be chain bred onto Phione in Generation VIII
* Moves marked with a double dagger (‡) can only be bred from a Pokémon who learned the move in an earlier generation.
* Moves marked with a superscript game abbreviation can only be bred onto Phione in that game.
* **Bold** indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Phione
* *Italic* indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Phione
* Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Egg moves from other generations

### Sprites

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## Trivia

* Phione is the only Pokémon that is obtainable by breeding a Mythical Pokémon.
* Phione, Nidoran♂, Nidoran♀, Illumise and Volbeat are the only Pokémon that can be obtained by breeding a Pokémon they cannot evolve into.
* Phione has exactly the same base stats as Glalie.

### Mythical status

Phione's status as a Mythical Pokémon is disputed, with several pieces of evidence and even official statements often contradicting each other.

#### Evidence for

 File:Phione Mythical 2011 Style Guide.png
* Pokémon.com's mailbag was once askedTemplate:Dead link if Phione was Legendary. The official answer was initially no, but was quickly changed to yes; the whole mailbag section has since been taken down with the restructure of Pokémon.com.
* Phione is listed under the Mythical Pokémon section in the Pokémon 2011 Style Guide.
* Phione is listed as a Mythical Pokémon in the Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook.
* Phione was a usable Pokémon in the *Circle of Legends* tournament, in which only Legendary and Mythical Pokémon were allowed.
* Phione is banned from the 2016 Video Game Championships due to being a Mythical Pokémon.
* Phione is listed as a Mythical Pokémon in a September 2016 Nintendo feature story on Mythical Pokémon.
* In the Generation VII Global Trade System, if the player chooses to exclude people seeking Mythical or Legendary Pokémon, people seeking Phione will not be displayed.
* Phione is banned from the Battle Frontier, the Battle Subway, the Pokémon World Tournament, the Battle Maison, and the Battle Tree, a rule which typically applies only to Mythical Pokémon and Special Pokémon; the only non-Mythical Pokémon to have been event-only at one point, Zorua and Zoroark, were allowed in the Battle Subway, indicating Phione's battle facility ban may be due to it being Mythical.
	+ Phione is also banned from most online competitions and online battles.
* In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series:
	+ In Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky, Phione has a 100% recruit rate, is never battled, and the player is not allowed to recruit more than one to their team, all of which are traits otherwise only exhibited by Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
	+ In Super Mystery Dungeon, Hoopa is able to summon Phione as an ally. Only Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are able to be summoned in this way.
* In Pokémon Rumble Blast, Phione can only be unlocked once a certain number of customers have shopped at the Toy Shop, a trait otherwise exclusive to Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
* Phione was featured in Pokémon.com's 2012 Pokémon Power Bracket, a single-elimination tournament where all other Pokémon in the bracket were Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.

#### Evidence against

* Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver: Prima's Official Strategy Guide states that Phione is not Legendary (a term used at the time to describe both Legendary and Mythical Pokémon) due to it being able to be obtained by hatching Eggs.
* In Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, all Mythical Pokémon are referred to as "rare," but Phione is not. It is also found normally in the wild.
* All Mythical Pokémon are listed in Pokémon Daisuki Club's Mystery File feature website, but Phione is missing.
* In the Pokémon Kids: Winter Fest badge collection all Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have special badge borders and are obtained exclusively through either opening Master pouches or clearing timed challenges. However, Phione has no special border and is obtained through standard bags in the same way all non-Legendary non-Mythical Pokémon are obtained.

#### Other

* Phione Eggs can be received at Day Cares and the Nursery, and it can breed to produce another Phione. This is impossible with any other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
	+ However, Manaphy can also breed to produce Phione, and Manaphy is a confirmed Mythical Pokémon.
* Phione is not found in any regional Pokédex, a trait that is otherwise exclusive to Generation IV Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
	+ Phione is also not needed to obtain the diploma, a trait otherwise exclusive to Mythical Pokémon.
* The Pokémon Ultra Sun & Pokémon Ultra Moon: The Official Alola Region Strategy Guide has two separate pieces of conflicting information about Phione's Mythical status within itself. It lists Phione as Mythical but also states that Manaphy is the only Mythical Pokémon that can breed.
* In Pokémon HOME, the player cannot trade Phione via the Global Trade System, just like all Mythical Pokémon. Originally, even trades requesting Pokémon that could not be traded would be displayed when searching the GTS, but shortly after launch, the search was changed to not display these results. When requests for Pokémon that could not be traded were visible, even if the player chose to exclude people seeking Mythical or Legendary Pokémon, requests for Phione would still be displayed.

### Origin

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Phione is probably based on sea angels, specifically *clione*. *Clione* are remarkably popular in Japanese documentaries, especially in Hokkaido, on which Sinnoh is based. This may also explain their appearance in Chocovine Town.

#### Name origin

Phione may be a combination of the final syllable of *Manaphy* and *clione* (sea angels). Like clione, Phione is pronounced in three syllables.

## Related articles

* Sea guardians
* Mythical Pokémon