Silvally #773: the Legendary that changes type with the Memory it holds

Only one Pokémon changes type the way you'd swap a game cartridge. Silvally (Silvallié in French) is the liberated form of Type: Null, the one that emerges when its restraining helmet shatters. Its RKS System Ability lets it take on seventeen different types depending on the memory disc you give it.

Contents

• Who is Silvally?
• RKS System: one Ability, seventeen Memories, eighteen forms
• Multi-Attack, a tailor-made move
• Evolution: a shattered mask, not a level reached
• Type: Full, silver and ally
• Silvally at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Silvally?

Listed as #773 in the National Pokédex, Silvally is the "Synthetic Pokémon" of the seventh generation, the generation of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. It stands 2.3 meters tall and weighs 100.5 kilograms : taller than Type: Null, but twenty kilos lighter once the mask comes off.

A silvery mane covers its head and neck, its nose and upper jaw are metal, and a bolt sits on each of its cheeks. From the top of its head rises an axe-shaped crest tipped with three white feathers.

The rest of its body gives away its nature as a chimera: black fur, green, insect-like forelegs, hind legs covered in large purple scales, and a fish-like tail with two blue points joined by a fin.

Once freed, it regains the wild nature it was born with, but remains utterly loyal to its Trainer, to the point of risking its life to protect them. The Pokémon Shield Pokédex puts it this way: "The final factor needed to release this Pokémon's true power was a strong bond with a Trainer it trusts."

RKS System: one Ability, seventeen Memories, eighteen forms

Holding nothing, Silvally is pure Normal type : only Fighting hits it twice as hard, Ghost-type attacks have no effect on it, and it doesn't resist any type.

Everything changes with its unique Ability, RKS System, which gives it the type of the Memory it holds. These memory discs come in seventeen varieties, one for every type except Normal: that makes eighteen forms, counting its original one.

The names speak for themselves, from the Fire Memory to the Fairy Memory, by way of the Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark and Steel Memories. Its eyes, crest feathers, bolts and tail fin change color to match the type it takes on.

Don't confuse RKS System with Multitype, Arceus's exclusive Ability, which works with Plates: they're two entirely separate Abilities. Silvally's also has the distinction of being impossible to copy, swap or suppress.

Multi-Attack, a tailor-made move

Silvally is the only Pokémon that can learn Multi-Attack, its signature move. The move follows the same logic as Silvally itself: its type matches that of the Memory it holds, and stays Normal when it isn't holding one.

It's a physical move with 100% accuracy and 10 Power Points. Its power was 90 in the seventh generation; it has been 120 since the eighth.

Here again, the nod to Arceus is deliberate: Judgment plays exactly the same role for the Alpha Pokémon. Two variable-type moves, each reserved for a single Pokémon.

✨ Looking to treat an Alola fan? Our Pokémon gift ideas have as many facets as Silvally has Memories.

Evolution: a shattered mask, not a level reached

Silvally doesn't appear at any set level. It evolves from Type: Null, and the evolution triggers when Type: Null levels up while its happiness is at its peak.

The threshold is at least 220 friendship points in Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and 160 since Pokémon Sword and Shield. A Soothe Bell, walks and Rare Candies make the counter climb faster.

Once the bond is formed, Type: Null destroys its own helmet. The Ultra Sun Pokédex sums up the scene: "This is its form once it has awakened and evolved. Freed from its heavy mask, its speed is greatly increased." The numbers back this up: its Speed goes from 59 to 95, the only stat that changes.

Silvally is the final stage of its line: it doesn't evolve any further, and this family has no Mega Evolution, no regional form and no Gigantamax form. Its eighteen faces are more than enough to fill a shelf of Pokémon plushies.

Type: Full, silver and ally

Its name is thought to blend the English word silver, as in the metal, and the word ally — a choice that fits its story, since it was Gladion who named it after evolving it, as the Pokémon Moon Pokédex points out.

In the Aether Foundation's documents, it went by an entirely different name: Type: Full, a nod to its full range of eighteen types. A lab label, a world away from the name its Trainer would later give it.

Its design borrows from the chimera and the griffin, while the bolts on its cheeks recall Frankenstein's monster. Its variable-type mechanic, meanwhile, mirrors that ofArceus, which simply has 25 more points in each of its six stats.

In the anime, Silvally makes its entrance in episode SM049, when Gladion's Type: Null evolves to save Lillie from Faba's Alakazam. An appearance that turned it into a display-case star as a Pokémon figure.

Silvally at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you get Silvally?
  By evolving Type: Null, which can't be caught but is received as a gift. Gladion gives it to you at Aether Paradise in Pokémon Sun and Moon, Wicke on Ancient Poni Path in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and a Macro Cosmos employee at the Battle Tower in Pokémon Sword and Shield, always after you've won the League. The Memories are handed over at the same time. Then all you have to do is level it up while its happiness is high.
• At what level does Type: Null evolve into Silvally?
  At no particular level. The evolution depends not on the level reached but on happiness: Type: Null has to level up while its friendship is high, meaning at least 220 points in Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and 160 since Pokémon Sword and Shield. A Soothe Bell, walks, battle wins and Rare Candies speed things up.
• How many Memories are there, and what are they for?
  There are seventeen, one for every type except Normal: Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel and Fairy Memory. They're memory discs for Silvally to hold: they change its type and the type of its Multi-Attack move, and have no other use. Without a Memory, Silvally stays Normal type, which brings the total to eighteen forms.
• What is Silvally's Ability?
  RKS System, its signature Ability, and it has no other: no second Ability, no hidden Ability. It gives Silvally the type of the Memory it's holding. Be careful not to confuse it with Multitype, Arceus's exclusive Ability, which relies on Plates: the two are similar but remain two different Abilities. RKS System can't be copied, swapped or suppressed by an opponent's move or Ability.
• What is Silvally's signature move?
  Multi-Attack, and it's the only Pokémon that can learn it. It's a physical move with 100 accuracy and 10 Power Points, and its power went from 90 in the seventh generation to 120 as of the eighth. Its type follows that of the Memory it holds, and stays Normal if Silvally isn't holding one. It plays the same role for Silvally that Judgment plays for Arceus.
• Does Silvally have a Mega Evolution or a Gigantamax form?
  No, and neither does Type: Null. This line has no Mega Evolution, no regional form and no Gigantamax form. Its eighteen type forms aren't evolutions or permanent transformations: they simply depend on the Memory it holds and disappear as soon as you take it away.

In short

A lab-made weapon turned loyal partner, Silvally is the only Pokémon whose type is decided before the battle, in its Trainer's pocket. Seventeen Memories, eighteen faces, and only one bond of trust to earn.