Unown is a flat, thin Pokémon shaped like an eye with appendages resembling letters or punctuation marks. It is entirely black, except for its white sclerae. The 26 alphabetic forms of Unown have fully open eyes, while the two punctuation forms have half-closed eyes. Although each form corresponds to a letter in the Latin alphabet, Unown is said to resemble ancient writing and hieroglyphs known as Unown symbols. It remains unclear whether Unown predates or postdates written language, making it uncertain which one influenced the other. Unown can move its appendages independently, similar to tentacles or fingers.
In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, a researcher suggests that Unown began appearing at the Ruins of Alph after the Pokémon Communication Center was built in Goldenrod City, hinting at a connection between Unown and radio waves or telecommunications. This text was translated but left unused in the English release.
The Pokédex and Professor Oak's research differ on whether Unown communicates using electromagnetic waves or telepathy. Regardless, it can be detected by the Pokégear radio, which interprets it as the melody of the Azure Flute. Unown has an unknown connection to Arceus. When multiple Unown gather, they emit an "odd power." Certain Unown in the Hisui region were capable of repelling Poké Balls containing Pokémon, preventing battles. Professor Laventon's research noted that Unown resemble human writing from other lands, although no one took him seriously. In the Pokémon movie Spell of the Unown: Entei (M03), Unown demonstrates the ability to read the thoughts of other life forms. Large numbers of Unown can distort reality to match the dreams and wishes of whoever controls them, though this requires multiple Unown working together.
Unown is an extremely rare Pokémon living in its own dimension and rarely ventures into the Pokémon world. When it does, Unown tends to stick to walls like engravings of ancient texts or orbit other Unown, usually in ruins. In Pokémon Crystal, Unown is said to share a cooperative bond with Suicune.
Forms
Unown has 28 separate forms, all referred to as "One form." Pokédex 3D Pro, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and other supplemental materials such as official guidebooks refer to each form by the letter or symbol it represents. In Generation II, there were 26 Unown forms based on Latin alphabet characters. In Generation III, two new forms were introduced: ? (question mark) and ! (exclamation point).
(Source: Bulbapedia)
