Genesect #649: the 300-million-year-old fossil turned weapon

A 300-million-year-old fossil, fitted with a cannon. Genesect closes out the fifth-generation Pokédex in style: this Bug- and Steel-type Mythical Pokémon was brought back to life from a fossil, then modified by Team Plasma. The cannon on its back takes four cassettes, and each one changes the nature of the beam it fires.

Contents

• Who is Genesect?
• Type, ability and stats
• Techno Blast and the four Drives
• A fossil, Team Plasma and the P2 Laboratory
• Mythical, event-only… and finally catchable
• Genesect fact sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Genesect?

Listed as #649 in the National Pokédex, Genesect is the "Paleozoic Pokémon" of the Unova region. It stands 1.5 meters tall, weighs 82.5 kilos and occupies the very last spot in the Unova Pokédex, in both versions as well as their sequels.

A bipedal bug with a purple metallic body marked with gray, it has a saucer-shaped head and two large red eyes that can glow. Its segmented arms each end in a single steel claw, from which it can spin sticky silk.

It can also fold itself up: with its limbs tucked in and its head joined to the cannon, it takes on the silhouette of a flying disc, known as its High-Speed Flight Form. Genesect is also genderless and doesn't breed; its Shiny coloring turns its body red, a variant you'll also find as a Pokémon plush.

Type, ability and stats

Bug and Steel is a rare and remarkably sturdy combination. Genesect has only a single weakness in the entire type chart, but it's a brutal one: Fire hits both of its types at once and deals four times the normal damage.

In return, it shrugs off almost everything else: immune to Poison, it halves damage from Normal, Ice, Psychic, Bug, Dragon, Steel and Fairy moves, and quarters Grass-type damage.

Its only ability is Download, and it has no hidden ability. On entering battle, it compares the opponent's Defense and Special Defense, then raises its Attack or Special Attack by one stage, depending on which of the two is lower.

And it has exactly 120 Attack and 120 Special Attack: whichever stat gets the boost, it hits just as hard. Its 600 base stat total is the highest of any Bug-type Pokémon, Mega Evolutions aside.

Techno Blast and the four Drives

Genesect is the only Pokémon that can learn Techno Blast (Techno-Buster in French), a special-category beam of light with 120 power. Yet it had only 85 power at launch in the fifth generation, before being raised as early as the next generation.

Enter the Drives, cassettes that slot into the cannon on its back. There are exactly four: the Douse Drive for Water, the Shock Drive for Electric, the Burn Drive for Fire and the Chill Drive for Ice. Without a Drive, Techno Blast stays Normal-type.

Beware the most widespread misconception: a Drive only changes the type of Techno Blast. Neither Genesect's own type, which stays Bug and Steel, nor its stats, nor the move's power change. Only the light of its cannon changes color — orange without a cassette, then blue, yellow, red or white.

A delicious consequence: Techno Blast never becomes Bug or Steel, so Genesect never gets the same-type attack bonus on its own signature move.

In Pokémon Black and White and their sequels, these cassettes are picked up at the P2 Laboratory, a secret lab hidden on an islet on Route 17. Each version only gives you two of them — Burn and Shock in Black, Douse and Chill in White.

🎁 Looking to delight a Unova fan? Our Pokémon gift ideas are well worth one more Drive in the cannon.

A fossil, Team Plasma and the P2 Laboratory

The timeline is the part that most often gets summed up wrong. Genesect lived 300 million years ago, in the Paleozoic era, feared as the most formidable of hunters. Then it died out: it's a fossil that was used, much later, to bring it back to life.

The modification, by contrast, is very recent on that scale: it was Team Plasma that regenerated the Pokémon at the P2 Laboratory and grafted the powerful cannon onto its back, in order to use it as a weapon. Its robotic look comes from those alterations.

The project never came to fruition: N had the research canceled and the lab shut down, convinced that such a Pokémon would lose its beauty if it were altered by science. A disgruntled scientist — named Benoît in the French version — carried on alone.

The Pokédex entries actually waver between two accounts: Pokémon White says the cannon was "upgraded", while Black 2 and White 2 say it was "attached" by Team Plasma. Genesect remains the only Pokémon whose Pokédex entry names a Team.

Mythical, event-only… and finally catchable

Genesect isn't Legendary but Mythical. In the Unova games, it can't be found anywhere in the wild: it could only be obtained through event distributions, starting with the Plasma Genesect offered via Wi-Fi to French-language games in fall 2012, at level 15.

Others followed, including a Shiny Genesect distributed in Japan and Taiwan in 2013 for the release of its movie, then a level 100 one given away in PAL regions for the franchise's 20th anniversary. It remains the only Mythical Pokémon that is Bug-type.

The real news comes from Mega Dimension, the Pokémon Legends: Z-A expansion released in December 2025: Genesect can finally be obtained directly in-game, just once, through a side mission centered on the four Drives.

One last word: Genesect does not evolve, isn't the evolution of any Pokémon, and has no Mega Evolution, no regional form and no Gigantamax form. Its four Drive variants are its only alternate forms — enough to fill a whole shelf of figures.

Genesect fact sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many Drives does Genesect have, and what exactly do they change?
  There are four: the Douse Drive, the Shock Drive, the Burn Drive and the Chill Drive. They only change the type of its signature move Techno Blast, which becomes Water, Electric, Fire and Ice respectively; without a Drive, it stays Normal-type. A Drive changes neither Genesect's own type, which stays Bug and Steel, nor its stats, nor the move's power: only the color of its cannon's light changes.
• Is Genesect Legendary or Mythical?
  Mythical. In the main series games, it can't be found in the wild, and for a long time it could only be obtained through event distributions, starting with the Plasma Genesect offered via Wi-Fi to French-language games in October and November 2012. Since Mega Dimension, the Pokémon Legends: Z-A expansion, you can finally obtain one directly in-game.
• Does Genesect evolve?
  No. It doesn't evolve and isn't the evolution of any Pokémon. It's also genderless and can't breed, which is why there's no such thing as a Genesect Egg.
• What is Genesect's ability?
  Download, and it's its only ability: it has no hidden ability. When it enters the field, it compares the opponent's Defense and Special Defense, then raises its Attack by one stage if Defense is the lower of the two, or its Special Attack if Special Defense is. With 120 in each of its two offensive stats, either outcome suits it.
• What are Genesect's weaknesses?
  Just one, but it's a double one: Fire, which hits both its Bug type and its Steel type and deals four times the normal damage. On the other hand, it's immune to Poison, halves damage from Normal, Ice, Psychic, Bug, Dragon, Steel and Fairy moves, and quarters Grass-type damage.
• Does Genesect have a Mega Evolution or a Gigantamax form?
  No. No Mega Evolution, no regional form, no Gigantamax form. Its only alternate forms are the four Drive-linked variants, all of which remain Bug and Steel type with the same stats.

In short

A resurrected fossil, a reluctant cyborg and the sole user of Techno Blast, Genesect closes out the Unova generation in style. Four cassettes, four types, and always the same weakness to Fire.