With the sheer amount of unique creatures in the Pokemon franchise, it can be hard for any one of them to stand out. Game Freak, however, does give some Pokemon special tools, whether it be new forms, higher stats, or signature moves and abilities.

While signature moves and abilities are often hard to forget and contribute heavily to a Pokemon’s viability, as well as signature items can give a Pokemon a chance to stand out. Most held items in the game are usable by any Pokemon, but there are a few items that only work when given to the Pokemon they were made for.

9Pikachu – Light Ball

As the mascot of the Pokemon series, it’s not surprising that Pikachu has gotten a lot of special treatment. As opposed to the flashiness of Z-Moves and Gigantamax forms though, Pikachu’s unique item can easily go forgotten.

The Light Ball has a 5% chance to be found on wild Pikachu, and boosts any Pikachu’s attack and special attack, making it comparable in power to even its evolved form, Raichu. When held by a Pikachu during breeding, it will also make sure the resulting Pichu will know the move Volt Tackle.

8Ditto – Quick Powder/Metal Powder

Ditto has always been an interesting Pokemon. It’s quite weak and unassuming, but has the unique ability to transform into a copy of its opponents. This allows Ditto to match them down to their stats and moves, leveling the playing field.

However, Ditto also has 2 items that let it always have the advantage. Quick Powder boosts its speed, and Metal Powder boosts its defensive stats. Using either of these, Ditto is guaranteed to have the advantage against any opponent it has copied, not counting whatever items they might have.

7Cubone/Marowak – Thick Club

One of the iconic aspects of the Cubone line are the bone clubs they hold. In-game however, they can be given the Thick Club as an item. Once held by Cubone or Marowak, this item doubles their attack stat.

This also goes for Alolan Marowak, who actually made the best use of the item, as it was quite a strong Pokemon when it was introduced in Pokemon Sun&Moon. Despite having clubs in their designs, this family only has a 5% chance of holding a Thick Club in the wild.

6Farfetch’d – Leek

Farfetch’d is a Pokemon that has paradoxically remained popular due in part to its lack of redeeming features. It’s quite weak and unassuming, but does have a unique item in the form of the Leek. This item helps Farfetch’d by increasing the critical-hit chance of its moves.

Being as weak as it is, this item couldn’t exactly make Farfetch’d usable in higher level battles, but in Pokemon Sword&Shield it received a new purpose. Alolan Farfetch’d need to land 3 critical hits in one battle to evolve, making the Leek almost mandatory for obtaining Sirfetch’d.

5Latias/Latios – Soul Dew

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire introduced Latias and Latios (aka the Lati twins), two legendary Pokemon who have very similar designs, stats and moves. Fittingly, the twins also share a unique item in the form of the Soul Dew.

Previously, the Soul Dew would boost their special attack and special defense by 50 %, making it so powerful it was unusable in certain in-game challenges. However, that was recently changed in Pokemon Sun and Moon. Now, it simply powers up their psychic and dragon type moves by 20%, which is less overpowered.

4Dialga/Palkia/Giratina – Specific Orb’s

The 3 box art legendaries from the Sinnoh region share a lot of similarities, due to their relationship in the series’ lore. One of these is that they all possess an ‘orb’ item that is unique to them.

Dialga’s Adamant Orb boosts its dragon and steel type moves, Palkia’s Lustrous Orb boosts its dragon and water type moves, and Giratina’s Griseous Orb boost its dragon and ghost type moves. The Griseous Orb also has the added bonus of allowing Giratina to change into its origin form.

3Clamperl – Deep Sea Scale And Tooth

There are quite a few Pokemon who require certain items in order to evolve. However, usually these items have no use as held items otherwise. Clamperl is a rare exception. When holding the Deep Sea Tooth, its special attack is doubled, and while holding the Deep Sea Scale, its special defense is doubled.

Clamperl isn’t that remarkable a Pokemon, so the in-battle uses of these items is limited despite the big boosts they provide. Their main purpose remains evolving Clamperl into Huntail and Gorebyss respectively.

2Genesect – Drives

While Pokemon like Clamperl and Ditto have 2 unique items, Genesect pushes that even higher, with 4. These are the Shock, Burn, Chill, and Douse Drives. They come in the form of cassettes that can be inserted into Genesect’s artificial body.

As their names imply, the drives correspond to the electric, fire, ice and water types respectively. They allow Genesect to change the type of its signature move, Techno Blast, into the type of the inserted drive, giving it some impressive coverage options in battle.

1Silvally- Memories

Going even higher than Genesect, Silvally has a whopping 17 unique items in the form of the ‘memory’ items. Similar to Genesect, these items come in a variety of types, and change the type of its signature move, Multi-Attack.

Unlike Genesect however, the memory items also change Silvally’s type to match the type of the item, allowing it to be any type in the game. This functions the same way as Arceus and the ‘plate’ items. However, Arceus’ plates can be used by any Pokemon, while Silvally’s memories are exclusive to it.