Every Pokémon has one official Pokédex colour ("color" in US spelling) out of ten: red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, purple, gray, white and pink. Blue is the most common, with 170 species. Black is the rarest, with 51. The counts here come from the pokee.si Pokédex data.
Bulbapedia says the Pokédex colour is "the color most apparent or covering the Pokémon's body". It is only a label for how a Pokémon looks. It has nothing to do with its stats or its type. Pokémon HOME calls it the "main color".
How many Pokémon of each colour?
These are counts of species, so each Pokémon counts once and alternate forms are left out. Bulbapedia's own counts are higher, because they also include alternate forms.
| Colour | Species | Share | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 170 | 17% | Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise, Nidoran♀, Nidorina |
| Brown | 147 | 14% | Weedle, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Raticate |
| Green | 130 | 13% | Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Caterpie, Metapod |
| Gray | 107 | 10% | Machop, Machoke, Machamp, Magnemite, Magneton |
| Red | 97 | 9% | Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Vileplume, Paras |
| Yellow | 88 | 9% | Kakuna, Beedrill, Pikachu, Raichu, Sandshrew |
| White | 88 | 9% | Butterfree, Seel, Dewgong, Togepi, Togetic |
| Purple | 87 | 8% | Rattata, Ekans, Arbok, Nidoran♂, Nidorino |
| Pink | 60 | 6% | Clefairy, Clefable, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, Slowpoke |
| Black | 51 | 5% | Snorlax, Umbreon, Murkrow, Unown, Sneasel |
Yellow and white tie at 88. The examples are the first five of each colour in Pokédex order. The ten colours do not match a school paint set. Bulbapedia says they follow basic colour words in Japanese, so there is no category for colours like cyan or magenta.
Why "Gray" and not "Grey"? That is how Bulbapedia and the Pokédex data spell this colour group, so this page does too.
Colour by type
Water Pokémon are mostly blue, Grass Pokémon are mostly green and Electric Pokémon are mostly yellow. This table counts each Pokémon under its first-listed type only. Bracketed numbers are how many Pokémon have that colour. If you want a reminder of what the types are, see the Pokémon types list.
| Type | Most common colour | Second |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Brown (42) | Pink (16) |
| Fire | Red (39) | Brown (13) |
| Water | Blue (73) | Green (11) |
| Electric | Yellow (28) | Blue (8) |
| Grass | Green (63) | Brown (11) |
| Ice | White (11) | Blue (10) |
| Fighting | Gray (11) | Brown (8) |
| Poison | Purple (21) | Blue (7) |
| Ground | Brown (15) | Gray (8) |
| Psychic | Pink (10) | Blue (10) |
| Bug | Red (19) | Yellow (15) |
| Rock | Brown (17) | Gray (13) |
| Ghost | Black (10) | Purple (9) |
| Dragon | Green (10) | Blue (9) |
| Dark | Black (11) | Brown (7) |
| Steel | Gray (15) | Blue (5) |
| Fairy | Pink (12) | White (11) |
Flying is left out. Very few Pokémon have Flying as their first type, and the top two colours are tied at 3 each, so it tells you nothing. Psychic is a tie too, with 10 pink and 10 blue.
One surprise: the most common Bug colour is red, not green.
Colour by generation
A generation is a group of Pokémon from one set of games. This table shows how many Pokémon of each colour arrived in each one.
| Gen | Red | Blue | Yellow | Green | Black | Brown | Purple | Gray | White | Pink |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 25 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 35 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
| 2 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 10 |
| 3 | 13 | 32 | 10 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 5 |
| 4 | 5 | 23 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 5 |
| 5 | 21 | 27 | 12 | 23 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 23 | 18 | 5 |
| 6 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
| 7 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 22 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 6 |
| 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 21 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 13 | 7 |
Generation 1 is the brown generation, with 35, and it has just one black Pokémon: Snorlax. Generation 3 has the most blue at 32. In generations 8 and 9, green takes over, with 22 and 21. Generation 9 has only 2 purple Pokémon.
Legendary and Mythical Pokémon by colour
There are 94 Legendary and Mythical Pokémon in the data. Blue has the most, at 16. Learn the difference between the two groups in Legendary vs Mythical.
- Blue (16): Articuno, Suicune, Regice, Latios, Kyogre, Azelf, Phione, Manaphy, Cobalion, Thundurus, Xerneas, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Zacian, Miraidon, Terapagos
- Yellow (11): Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Jirachi, Uxie, Cresselia, Victini, Keldeo, Tapu Koko, Zeraora, Regieleki
- Gray (11): Registeel, Terrakion, Kyurem, Type: Null, Silvally, Magearna, Marshadow, Meltan, Melmetal, Kubfu, Urshifu
- Green (10): Celebi, Rayquaza, Shaymin, Virizion, Tornadus, Zygarde, Zarude, Regidrago, Calyrex, Ogerpon
- Red (9): Ho-Oh, Latias, Groudon, Deoxys, Yveltal, Tapu Bulu, Zamazenta, Chi-Yu, Koraidon
- White (9): Lugia, Dialga, Regigigas, Arceus, Reshiram, Meloetta, Solgaleo, Glastrier, Chien-Pao
- Black (8): Giratina, Darkrai, Zekrom, Necrozma, Spectrier, Okidogi, Munkidori, Fezandipiti
- Purple (8): Mewtwo, Palkia, Genesect, Hoopa, Tapu Fini, Lunala, Eternatus, Pecharunt
- Brown (7): Entei, Regirock, Heatran, Landorus, Volcanion, Wo-Chien, Ting-Lu
- Pink (5): Mew, Mesprit, Diancie, Tapu Lele, Enamorus
The strongest Pokémon of each colour
This table uses the base stat total, which is the six battle stats added together. See base stats explained. It leaves out Legendary, Mythical, Ultra Beast and Paradox Pokémon.
| Colour | Highest total (not Legendary) | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Magmortar | 540 |
| Blue | Salamence, Metagross, Garchomp, Hydreigon | 600 |
| Yellow | Archeops | 567 |
| Green | Tyranitar, Dragapult | 600 |
| Black | Kingambit | 550 |
| Brown | Slaking | 670 |
| Purple | Goodra | 600 |
| Gray | Kommo-o, Baxcalibur | 600 |
| White | Archaludon | 600 |
| Pink | Blissey, Milotic | 540 |
Brown wins with Slaking, at 670. Red and pink are the lowest, both at 540.
Surprising colours
Some Pokédex colours do not match what you see first.
- Druddigon is red, even though most of its body is blue. Its face is red, and Bulbapedia says it is sorted by that.
- Snorlax is black.
- Dragonite is brown.
- Mimikyu is yellow.
- Rayquaza is green.
- Magikarp is red.
- Eevee is brown.
A shiny Pokémon is a rare version with different colours, but the Pokédex colour does not change. Read more in shiny Pokémon explained.
Where to go next
- Browse every Pokémon in the Pokédex.
- Guess a Pokémon from its shadow in Who's That Pokémon.
- Test what you know in the quizzes.
- Say tricky names like Druddigon out loud with the pronunciation guide.