Is there still a technical definition for legendary/mythical?

Question

Until Generation 7, all legendaries and mythicals had no evolution families and BSTs of 580 or greater. For whatever reason, Game Freak decided to be extra liberal this time by introducing the Tapus, which have BSTs of 570, and introducing Solgaleo and Lunala, which have evolution families. The most logical approach I could think of is to change the definition to the following. A Pokemon is legendary or mythical if and only if:
no Pokemon in its evolution family can hatch from an egg laid by a Pokemon
its BST is 570 or greater
However, this definition would include Silvally and the Ultra Beasts. Can somebody think of a better definition? Is Silvally a legendary now?

Comments

After writing this I find it doesn't really answer your question so much as contradicts it, but if you find it satisfactory I will gladly post it as an answer.

• I don't think Ultra Beasts are Legendary Pokémon. For one, they are never referred to as Legendary in game (at least the main story, I'm not in the post-game yet.) They are only referred to as regular Pokémon. Second, you can catch multiple of certain UBs. Two Xurkitree can be captured, and [SPOILERS!] when you go to Ultra Space to find Lusamine she's surrounded by dozens of Nihilego. Now, as far as I know, there are no Legendary Pokémon with multiples (in the games, at least — the anime has baby Lugia and for some reason two Mewtwo). There are, however, multiple Mythical Pokémon like Manaphy, Shaymin and Genesect. However, given the fact that mythicals (with the exception of Deoxys in ORAS) are distributed via event, and the Ultra Beasts are not. Given this evidence, I am inclined to believe that Ultra Beasts are not Legendaries, but rather merely Pokémon from another dimension no different than a Scizor or a Hydreigon.

• Of course, Solgaleo and Lunala ARE referred to as Legendary Pokémon and they ARE Ultra Beasts (perhaps Necrozma is as well?). To me, this has one of two meanings: One, they are not actually "legendary" in the way that Groudon, Kyogre, Dialga and Palkia are — they are merely the product of folktales and legends passed down in Alolan culture. Or, the other meaning could be that Solgaleo/Lunala are Legendary Pokémon found in Ultra Space. Not every UB has to be an Legendary. But that doesn't mean that the dimension that UBs live in cannot have their version of a Legendary Pokémon.

• Finally, Type: Null and Silvally. In the game Gladion (I think) mentions how there have been many Type: Null created in an attempt to create Type: Full (which I believe is what Silvally is.) Gladion was able to save one from the Aether Foundation. Seeing as Silvally is man-made, I don not think it is a Legendary Pokémon. Now, the obvious counterexample to my conjecture is Mewtwo. However, the main difference is that Mewtwo was created with the DNA of the Legendary/Mythical  Pokémon Mew, whereas Null/Silvally were not made with the body parts or juices of a Legendary Pokémon. Null/Silvally are more akin to the Porygon line, although not exactly. Porygon was created accidentally and it can breed (with Ditto.) Type: Null was created purposefully and probably not created with reproduction in mind — after all, if you have a Pokémon that can go toe-to-toe with Legendaries and Ultra Beasts, it would be bad to let it get out of your control.

• The Tapus could go either way, really.

This has a lot of assumptions and educated guesses, and is by no means an airtight theory… but that's what I think :)

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Your comment only makes the concept more confusing.

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I wish Game Freak would just say if the UBs/Silvally/Tapus are Legendary or not and settle the debate.

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If we're gonna be using objective measurements such as BSTs and breedability (because that's a word), I think it's important to separate the anime and the games. Not only do they contradict each other quite often, but the anime doesn't use quantitative measurements like these.
I really want to answer this, but I know Sun and Moon screws with the legendary concept a bit so I know I should finish those games first. :/

Answer 1

Well first of all, mythical Pokémon are way different, though most legendaries are mythical.

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Legendary: Well, ever sense Cosmog and its evolutions, it really changed the idea for them. Quoting Bulbapedia: "no Legendary Pokémon can breed or hatch from an Egg." which is true about Cosmog. Though the fact Cosmog can evolve and can be found twice, can both be explained with reasoning. For evolution, it does state that Cosmog is legendary quoted by Bulbapedia: "Cosmog is a Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon." Only one copy of the legendary Pokémon exist in each game, but Cosmog has two of them, and this is where my theorist side came out. The reason why is because of one simple answer. The reason is the two evolutions of Cosmoem, Solgaleo and Lunala. The truth is for this is that they don't exist until you find another Cosmog. That last Cosmog is only there to restore the missing legendary, the one you can't get.

New description: A legendary Pokémon is an usually strong Pokémon with a stat total of more than 580, that can't hatched, and can only be received/caught once

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Mythical: It turns out, from the data I gathered, the Tapus are actually not mythical. Because its not a legendary or mythical Pokémon, it is just like Ultra Beasts. It's it own category. This also explains why Ultra Beasts aren't legendaries.

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Comments

Good explanation, but I want to point out that technically Cosmog/Cosmoem/Solgaleo/Lunala are Ultra Beasts, which exempts them from any rules that the mainstream Pokémon universe has for Legendaries.

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Isn't it possible to evolve both Cosmoems you get into the same Pokemon?

Also, by definition, no Pokemon can be both legendary and mythical. Mythical Pokemon are event exclusive, while legendary Pokemon can't be event exclusive.

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Astronautical, they are considered legendaries, but it is a fair point

sumwun, all mythical pokemon are legendaries except for Phione

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Good enough. Stop capitalizing my name and I'll select your answer.

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"A legendary Pokémon is an usually strong Pokémon with a stat total of more than 580"

#1 Well, but Urshifu only has a BST of 550! So.....

#2 I think Tapus, UBs and Silvally got 570 BST would be like.. how Groudon, Kyogre, Zacian and Zamazenta got 670 BST!!! I agree that UBs aren't legends but Tapus are!