Why can't some pretty obvious candidates be used in Sky Battles?

Question

I was wondering why Pokemon like Volcarona, Giratina, and Reshiram cannot be used in Sky Battles. They can all learn Fly and have wings. Volcarona is floating. Giratina has Origin Forme and by the look of Shadow Force, it flies to use said move. Reshiram is pretty self-explanatory if Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 are any indications. I have tried using Volcarona. It won't let me use it for a Sky Battle. Thank you for the help!

Comments

Hawlucha can't either and it's actually a Flying type!

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I think that's because it's never *actually* seen flying, though I could be wrong.

Answer 1

It's really just Game Freak logic. I suppose it's because they don't have Levitate or a Flying type, and nearly all the Pokemon eligible for Sky battles have either Levitate or are part flying type. I think if you become too concerned with "a Pokemon looks like it could fly/ float", you would end up including stuff like Mew and Jirachi, which can technically float through the air from their Psychic powers. I think just limiting it to Flying types & Levitate users would make categorisation and explanation easier, because saying "a Pokemon looks like it can Fly" is pretty much based on personal opinion.

Dratini is listed as eligible for Sky battles on Bulbapedia for some reason.

Sky Battle

Comments

Pretty sure Bulbapedia just accidentally used a Dratini sprite for Dragonite there.

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Most likely. I didn't actually think that Dratini could participate in sky battles. The Bulbapedia list is incomplete as well, since it doesn't list Emolga...