Plate

A Plate (Japanese: プレート Plate) is a type of held item introduced in Generation IV. There is one Plate for each type, except Normal (and ???). They boost the power of the holder's moves of the corresponding type, and change and its signature move  to that type.

There are 16 Plates in Generations IV and V, and 17 Plates from Generation VI onward with the introduction of the Fairy type and the corresponding Pixie Plate.

In, the 16 Plates are spread far and wide across Sinnoh, and an additional copy of each Plate can also be dug up in the Underground. In, the captain of the S.S. Aqua will give one away in index number order each day after the player has all 16 Badges. In, two of the Plates are given to the player by a treasure hunter in a house in. The treasure hunter will mention that he found the Plates in the Abyssal Ruins, where the player can find the rest of the Plates.

Engravings
When each Plate is obtained in Generation IV, a different engraving appears on the back of the Plate which reveals part of the myth of the creation of the Pokémon universe. No engraving is tied to a specific Plate; they will appear each one at a time depending on how many Plates the player has found so far, with the ninth Plate found using the same engraving as the first. In Platinum, after talking to the Hiker on the second floor of the Canalave Library, a book on the second floor with the engravings written in it will be left by the Hiker the player met in Oreburgh Mine during the Arceus-triggered event.
 * "When the was created, its shards became this Plate."
 * "The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate."
 * "Two beings of and  set free from the ."
 * "Three beings were born to bind and ."
 * "Two make matter and make spirit, shaping the ."
 * "The breathed alone before the universe came."
 * "The powers of Plates are shared among Pokémon."
 * "The rightful bearer of a Plate the Plate it holds."

In the anime
Plates debuted in Journey to the Unown!, where Saturn and two s placed three of them in a room located in the Solaceon Ruins, in order to obtain the Spear Key and awaken the there. These Plates were specifically the Draco Plate, Iron Plate, and Splash Plate, which power up the three types of and  (Dragon, Steel, and Water) combined.

All of the Plates present at the time appeared again in Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Referred to as Life Plates, these are a set of Plates that give life to, and also allow it to change its type. Arceus almost died when it lost all of the Plates after destroying a meteor that endangered the land that would become Michina Town. Damos found one of these lost Plates and returned it to Arceus, giving it the strength to recall the other 15 Plates. This heroic, selfless act earned its trust and prompted it to detach the Earth Plate, Splash Plate, Meadow Plate, Zap Plate, and Draco Plate, and merge them to form the Jewel of Life so Damos could make the land flourish.

The Splash, Flame, and Earth Plates appeared in a flashback in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, where Ghris was seen using their combined powers to create the Prison Bottle.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
The Plates appeared in the, where they were initially being collected by Petrel for Team Rocket's plan. After stole the few Plates he had managed to find, Petrel decided to let him gather all 16 Plates, just to get them back at once later. With his leaving messages for  and  across Johto, Silver soon indeed gathered all 16 Plates for himself. At the Sinjoh Ruins, surrendered the Plates to Archer, who used them to seemingly take control of, ordering it to recreate. When the Pokédex holders used their Pokémon's ultimate attacks to stop the creation, all the Plates were absorbed by Arceus.

The Pixie Plate has not appeared in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Underground
This is artwork of the Plates as seen in the Sinnoh Underground.

Global Link
This is artwork of the Plates as seen on the Pokémon Global Link.

Trivia

 * Plates may have some relation to Shards, which are described as pieces of ancient tools. Their underground sprites likewise imply that they are broken parts of Plates.
 * While all Plates will rearrange Arceus's Pokéathlon stats, the Draco Plate will boost Arceus's total Pokéathlon stats by 1.
 * Pixie Plate is currently the only obtainable held item that can boost the power of the holder's moves.
 * While data for Fairy Gem exists within the coding of Generation VI games, it cannot be obtained through legitimate means.
 * In, the Flame Plate is the only Plate that cannot be obtained outside of the Underground before obtaining the National Pokédex. This may have been the reasoning for the event to give specifically this Plate to the player in.
 * In the Generation IV games, there is a sprite for Arceus in the games' data, but there is no associated ??? Plate.

In other languages
Tafeln Tabla Plaque Lastre プレート 石板