Why Pokemon You Already Caught Are Showing as Silhouettes in Pokemon GO

Have you ever noticed an all-too-familiar silhouette on your nearby radar in Pokemon GO? Many players have encountered seeing the outline of creatures they’re confident they’ve already caught, leaving them to wonder – is this a glitch, or is something else going on?

What Pokemon Silhouettes Mean in Pokemon GO

Pokemon showing up as a silhouette rather than their full-color image in Pokemon GO means you haven’t yet added that creature to your Pokedex.

You could see an outline in your Nearby radar, meaning a Pokemon you haven’t caught yet is in the wild. Or, you might see it on the evolve screen if you haven’t yet added that evolution to your Pokedex.

Even though this meaning is relatively straightforward in theory, some trainers have noticed outlines for Pokemon they’re pretty sure they’ve already caught.

Related: Pokemon GO Players Furious That Mega Rayquaza Is an Elite Raid

Why Pokemon You’ve Caught or Evolved Still Show As Silhouettes

It’s happened to many of us. You’re getting ready to evolve Pikachu into Raichu and notice that, for some reason, Raichu’s a mere shadow of itself – even though your Pokemon inventory is chock full of them.

Why would a Pokemon you’ve already caught or evolved show up as a silhouette in Pokemon GO? There are actually a few reasons why this might be happening, so let’s dig in to help you solve that mystery.

You’ve Only Caught or Evolved One Gender

Some Pokemon, like Pikachu and Lechonk, have slight variations based on whether they’re male or female. The way Pokemon GO is coded, these are considered different Pokemon. So, even if you’ve evolved your male Lechonk into Oinkologne, you’ll still see a silhouette when trying to evolve a female Lechonk for the first time.

So, if you’re seeing a Pokemon outline that you’ve caught before, it might be because you’ve only caught the male or female version.

The Pokemon Is Wearing a Costume

Pokemon in costume are also registered separately in the Pokedex. Most of the time, you can easily tell the difference, but some costumes – like Eevee’s little flower crown, for instance – can be tricky to spot.

If a costumed Pokemon is showing in the wild or you’re getting ready to evolve it, it’s going to show as an outline. Even if you have evolved Eevee into Umbreon before, this one’s got a crown, which means you’ll evolve it into flower crown Umbreon. Very different, according to the game’s code.

You’re Evolving a Shadow or Purified Pokemon

Shadow Pokemon (and their purified forms) are considered different, unique Pokemon forms according to the code.

So, even if you’ve previously evolved a Bagon into Shelgon, you’ll see a silhouette when trying to evolve a Shadow or Purified Bagon.

It’s a Glitch

If you’re absolutely sure there’s no gender variation, shadow, or costume stuff happening, there’s one final explanation for the silhouette mystery: it could be a glitch.

Players have noticed that the silhouette mechanic sometimes gets a little off-kilter after updates that involve tweaking Pokemon forms in the code. In that instance, you might see the outline of a Pokemon you’ve already caught for no good reason except that Pokemon GO is a little confused.

While this isn’t the most exciting option, since it means there’s truly nothing new for you to catch, it is a real possibility when all other explanations don’t fit.

Hopefully, this helps satisfy your curiosity the next time Pokemon GO has you playing “who’s that Pokemon” with a familiar face.

Pokémon GO is available on iOS and Android.