There are 25 Fossil Pokémon. Fifteen of them are brought back to life from a fossil you find in the games, and the other ten are what those Pokémon evolve into. The first were Omanyte, Kabuto and Aerodactyl, back in the very first Pokémon games.
To get one, you find a fossil, usually by digging or exploring in a cave, and take it to a scientist with a special machine. They revive it into a living Pokémon you can add to your team.
Every fossil and what it revives
| Gen | Fossil | Revives | Type | Evolves into |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helix Fossil | Omanyte | Rock/Water | Omastar (Level 40) |
| 1 | Dome Fossil | Kabuto | Rock/Water | Kabutops (Level 40) |
| 1 | Old Amber | Aerodactyl | Rock/Flying | does not evolve |
| 3 | Root Fossil | Lileep | Rock/Grass | Cradily (Level 40) |
| 3 | Claw Fossil | Anorith | Rock/Bug | Armaldo (Level 40) |
| 4 | Skull Fossil | Cranidos | Rock | Rampardos (Level 30) |
| 4 | Armor Fossil | Shieldon | Rock/Steel | Bastiodon (Level 30) |
| 5 | Cover Fossil | Tirtouga | Water/Rock | Carracosta (Level 37) |
| 5 | Plume Fossil | Archen | Rock/Flying | Archeops (Level 37) |
| 6 | Jaw Fossil | Tyrunt | Rock/Dragon | Tyrantrum (Level 39, during the day) |
| 6 | Sail Fossil | Amaura | Rock/Ice | Aurorus (Level 39, at night) |
| 8 | Fossilized Bird + Fossilized Drake | Dracozolt | Electric/Dragon | does not evolve |
| 8 | Fossilized Bird + Fossilized Dino | Arctozolt | Electric/Ice | does not evolve |
| 8 | Fossilized Fish + Fossilized Drake | Dracovish | Water/Dragon | does not evolve |
| 8 | Fossilized Fish + Fossilized Dino | Arctovish | Water/Ice | does not evolve |
The fossils mostly come in pairs. In the first games you pick either the Helix Fossil or the Dome Fossil, not both. Later pairs work in a similar way: Root and Claw, Skull and Armor, Cover and Plume, and Jaw and Sail. Depending on the game, you get one of each pair by choosing or by which version you own, so getting both usually means trading with a friend.
Galar's mix-and-match fossils
Pokémon Sword and Shield did something different. Instead of whole fossils, you find four fossil halves: a Bird, a Fish, a Drake and a Dino. A scientist called Cara Liss sticks a top half and a bottom half together, and the result is a strange combination Pokémon.
| Fossilized Drake (bottom) | Fossilized Dino (bottom) | |
|---|---|---|
| Fossilized Bird (top) | Dracozolt | Arctozolt |
| Fossilized Fish (top) | Dracovish | Arctovish |
None of the four evolves. They also aren't Rock type, which makes them the odd ones out. Of all 25 Fossil Pokémon, 21 are part Rock type, and these four Galar ones are the only ones that aren't.
Their Pokédex entries hint that these combinations were never real animals. Putting the wrong halves together made Pokémon with odd problems. Arctovish, for example, is described as having trouble breathing.
Where to revive a fossil
Every game with fossils has one place that can bring them back. These are the main ones:
| Games | Where |
|---|---|
| Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen | The Pokémon Lab on Cinnabar Island |
| Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald | The Devon Corporation in Rustboro City |
| Diamond, Pearl and Platinum | The Oreburgh Mining Museum |
| Black and White | The Nacrene City Museum |
| X and Y | The Fossil Lab in Ambrette Town |
| Sword and Shield | Cara Liss, on Route 6 |
Most of these places will also revive fossils from older regions if you bring them, so one game can give you several generations of Fossil Pokémon.
Fossil Pokémon facts
- Most Fossil Pokémon are part Rock and part something else, often a type that matches the animal: Water for sea creatures like Omanyte and Kabuto, Flying for Aerodactyl and Archen, Grass for the sea lily Lileep.
- Generations 2, 7 and 9 added no Fossil Pokémon at all.
- Tyrunt and Amaura are a matched pair. Tyrunt evolves at level 39 during the day, and Amaura at level 39 at night.
- In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the Skull Fossil (Cranidos) is only in Brilliant Diamond and the Armor Fossil (Shieldon) is only in Shining Pearl.
- Aerodactyl can Mega Evolve into Mega Aerodactyl.
Fossil Pokémon vs Ancient Paradox Pokémon
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have Pokémon that look prehistoric, like Great Tusk and Roaring Moon. They are Paradox Pokémon, not Fossil Pokémon. In the story they come from the distant past through a time machine, so nobody digs them up. Our Paradox Pokémon list has all 22.
How to say them
A few fossil names trip people up. Archen is AR-ken, with a hard K sound, and Archeops is AR-kee-ops, according to The Pokémon Company's own 2025 list of mispronounced names. Kabutops is usually KAB-uh-tops, but "kuh-BOO-tops" is heard too. Hear it on pokee.si: Archen, Archeops and Kabutops each have a clip on their page. There are more in our guide to Pokémon names people get wrong.
See all 25 together with the Fossil filter in the Pokédex.