Ilex Forest shrine

The Ilex Forest shrine (Japanese: ウバメのもりのほこら  Forest ) is a small structure located in the center of Ilex Forest, its namesake, which can be found west of Azalea Town in the Johto region. Many people say that the shrine is a symbol of good luck and wards off evil spirits. Some others say the shrine is linked to the Mythical Pokémon, which is believed to live inside it as the guardian of the forest.

Generation II
The shrine is present in, but is purely aesthetic.

In the original Japanese release of, a Celebi can be caught at the shrine. The Pokémon Mobile System GB held special events in 2001 which allowed players to obtain the GS Ball from a Pokémon Center Nurse in the Pokémon Communication Center in Goldenrod City. The GS Ball may then be taken to Kurt in Azalea Town for him to investigate. After a day passes, taking the GS Ball to the Ilex Forest shrine summons a level 30 Celebi. The player then has the opportunity to capture the Pokémon.

In the original Western releases of Pokémon Crystal, there is no way of obtaining the GS Ball, as no event equivalent to the one present in the Japanese version was ever offered to players of the Western versions of the game. Without the GS Ball, the Celebi event cannot be triggered. However, it is possible to obtain the item by hacking or exploiting glitches within the game. Some game-enhancing devices, however, such as the GameShark, can be used to generate the GS Ball right in the player's Bag in all versions of the game.

In the Virtual Console release of Pokémon Crystal, the GS Ball can be obtained without an event, allowing players to trigger the Celebi event at the shrine regardless of language.

Generation IV
The shrine appears in, in the same location as in Generation II, in the Ilex Forest. Spiky-eared Pichu will appear at the Ilex Forest shrine and will join the player's party if the player approaches it with the. A or  evolved from this Pichu will also activate the event.

If the shrine is approached with a promotional event as the partner Pokémon, Celebi will take the player and their friend back in time - first to see Giovanni leave his son Silver after being defeated in Kanto, and then further ahead in time to battle and defeat Giovanni to prevent him from reuniting with Team Rocket during their takeover of the Goldenrod Radio Tower.

In the anime
In the, the shrine briefly appeared in A Farfetch'd Tale, and another shrine appeared in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest, being strikingly similar to the Ilex Forest shrine. In Celebi and Joy!, Marion Town was shown to have a forest shrine dedicated to, which also bore a strong resemblance to the one shown in Ilex Forest.

In A Farfetch'd Tale, got lost and hungry in the Ilex Forest. smelled food nearby and they found the small Ilex Forest shrine where two dumplings were left there as offerings. Jessie snatched one, Meowth the other, leaving James empty-handed. They then spotted a rare and quickly left to pursue it. and arrived at the shrine with, who said it was a shrine to the spirit that watches over the forest. In order to find the lost Farfetch'd, they all ran in different directions, and agreed to meet back at the shrine in an hour.

Although the shrine seen in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest wasn't the same Ilex Forest shrine, it does contain the same qualities. It is found in the deepest part of the forest, and many people say that the shrine is linked to the Mythical Pokémon, Celebi, who supposedly lives inside the forest shrine, as the forest guardian. The shrine was first seen when Sam ran into it before transported him into the future, and it reappeared as Sam arrived into the future.

In Celebi and Joy!, Ritchie and Sparky saved a young Nurse Joy hanging from a cliff with some help from her. Joy explained that she saw some flowers that she wanted to pick for Celebi when she fell. She then explained the legends that say that a Celebi lives in this forest, and she believed it was true. To prove it, she showed them a shrine that was put up in the forest a long time ago. Later that night, during a thunderstorm, Nick's father was informed that Joy ran into the forest. As Ritchie and headed out to look for Joy, they found her unconscious near the shrine. As a fire raged near them, a Celebi appeared and protected them from the danger.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
In You Ain't Nothin' but a Houndour, after being attacked by a wild, quickly tells his Pokémon to run away from an advancing. They arrive at a small wooden shrine, which happened to be the Ilex Forest shrine, and decide to take shelter behind it. Later, in The Ariados up There, the little wooden shrine Gold hid behind earlier suddenly starts to glow, and the Masked Man instantly stops his pursuit of Gold to make his way towards the shrine instead. However, it stopped glowing before he gets there, concealing its secrets again.

Later, they returned to the shrine for the final confrontation. was captured in the GS Ball, and the combatants entered the timestream by passing through the shrine's doors. After defeating the foe and apparently becoming lost in time, Gold appeared from the shrine, to everyone's surprise.

Trivia

 * It resembles a, a small , and is referred to as one in the original Japanese version.
 * There are also two other shrines in the core series: one is located in Celestic Town in, and the other is located on Route 14 in called Abundant Shrine, in which the player can find.

In other languages
Steineichenwald-Schrein Autel du Bois aux Chênes Santuario del Bosco di Lecci