Every Pokémon fan knows that catching every creature is the ultimate goal. But finding the rarest Pokémon in Pokémon Go to complete the Pokédex is more complicated than in other games in the franchise because your physical location in real life directly impacts your gameplay.
Listing the rarest Pokémon is challenging because special events frequently alter the game’s course, and what might seem like a rare Pokémon to some could be an easy catch for you.
With all that said, we considered each factor that makes a Pokémon incredibly rare so we could create a list of the top rare Pokémon plus a few bonus costume, shiny, legendary, regional, and mythical Pokémon.
At That VideoGame Blog, we want to help you catch the rarest, wild spawns so you can have a blast playing Pokémon Go. Continue reading to learn our top picks for the rarest Pokémon and how you can catch each one.
If rare isn’t your style, consider searching for some mythical feline friends. Find the total list of cat Pokémon here to get started!
The Rarest Pokémon
Which Pokémon should you look for during your next special research quest or daily stroll? Learn about all of the rarest creatures below.
Rotom
Rotom comes in a few forms, including Wash, Regular, Heat, Fan, Frost, and Mow, though Wash Rotom is the only one released so far. You could first catch the super rare Pokémon at Go Fest 2020. If you missed the chance, you can still trade with other Pokémon Go players for it.
Keep your eyes peeled for releases of the five Rotom forms in the near future.
Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie
The lake guardians of Sinnoh, Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, are the only rare Pokémon you can find outside special event hunts. Each is region locked with very rare spawn rates, making them hard to find, even though they could become accessible on any given day.
You can find Uxie in Asia and Pacific regions, Mesprit in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, and Azelf in the Americas and Greenland.
Unown
Unown comes in 26 forms, each representing a different alphabet letter. Only certain Unown forms become available at specific events each year, so collecting them all will likely take years, making Unown one of the rarest Pokémon. We recommend attending all in-game Pokémon Go events, like Go Fest, or purchasing Unown Remote Raid Passes since Unown are rarely found in the wild.
If you do find one, use Golden Razz Berries to catch it!
Galarian Mr. Mime and Mr. Rime
Pokémon Go released Galarian Mr. Mime during a pay-to-play special research quest before offering it throughout a select few Holiday-season timed research quests. If you miss these events, you either need to trade with another player or wait until the rare Pokémon appears again.
If you get your hands on a Galarian Mr. Mime, you’ll need 50 Mr. Mime candies to evolve it into a Mr. Rime. European players have a leg up since they see Mr. Mime more frequently, but everyone else in the world will seldom encounter this creature.
Salandit and Salazzle
Salandit is one of the rarest Pokémon in the game, making its evolved form, Salazzle, ultra rare. To catch and evolve a Salandit, follow these steps:
Gather Mysterious Components
Fight and defeat a Team Go Rocket Leader
Obtain a 12-km egg
Repeat until you’ve gathered a bunch of eggs to better your odds in the three-tier egg pool
Hatch a female Salandit (males can’t evolve)
Use 50 Salandit candies to evolve to Salazzle
Sandile, Krokorok, and Krokodile
Sandile also requires 12-km red-dotted eggs, making them challenging to hatch. Luckily, both male and female Sandiles evolve, though you need even more candy to ignite the lengthy double-evolution process. You must collect 125 candies, which you can acquire by hatching many Sandiles or regularly walking with the rare creature.
Tirtouga and Carracosta
For a while, Tirtouga spawned from 7- or 10-km eggs, though now, you can only find them in the wild. As their population dwindles, this Pokémon becomes a rare catch in Pokémon Go. If you find one while out hunting, don’t let the opportunity slip by!
To evolve it, you must have 50 candies, so you’ll need to spend Rare Candy (RC) or keep it as your buddy along walks.
Archen and Archeops
Archen also only appears in Pokémon Go from random, wild spawns. Some mobile game players say they’ve found it while walking along South Carolina beaches or in the middle of the night, though we don’t recommend doing so if you don’t feel safe. You need 50 Archen candies to evolve it into an Archeops, so you can either use Rare Candy or make Archen your buddy.
If you can’t catch it in the wild, some predict that Archen will appear in 10-km eggs sometime soon, so keep an eye out.
Jangmo-o, Hakamo-o, and Kommo-o
Jangmo-o is a dragon-type Pokémon that rarely spawns in the wild. You can hatch this dragon-type Pokémon from a 10-km egg, though it’s the rarest in the egg pool, so you shouldn’t depend on this event. If you use Pinap Berries when you catch it, you can get twice as much catch candy, which will be a huge help considering you need 125 candies to complete the double evolution process.
Axew, Fraxurem, and Haxorus
Axew is another rare wild spawn in Pokémon Go, hatching from 10-km eggs. We recommend using a super incubator to speed up the hatching process so you can grow your full family and get all the genders you need. Use silver Pinap Berries when catching Axes to increase your Axew candies since you’ll need 125 to evolve to Haxorus.
If you don’t want to wait until you find an Axew in the wild, we recommend purchasing Go Fest tickets. Often, certain events increase your chances of finding otherwise sparse creatures.
Noibat and Noivern
Pokémon Go players in specific big cities near PokéStops might see Noibat frequently, though most consider it one of the rarest Pokémon.
Noibat is part of the third tier of 10-km eggs, making it an uncommon wild spawn. What makes this Pokémon ultra rare is how challenging it is to evolve. You need a whopping 400 Noibat candies, so you’ll either have to keep it as your buddy for a long time or spend a lot of RC.
Goomy, Sliggoo, and Goodra
Goomy used to be easy to catch, though it recently disappeared from the map. Now, you must depend on sheer luck to find or hatch one from 10-km eggs. Evolving Goomy is even more challenging.
To complete both evolution levels, you must have 125 Goomy candies and a Rainy Lure Module (at a PokéStop). You can buy the lures for 180 PokéCoins. If you want to save money, you can occasionally score lures after completing collection challenges or research quests.
Deino, Zweilous, and Hydreigon
Deino is a dragon-type Pokémon that hatches from 12-km eggs with an ultra-rare spawn rate. Finding one in the wild would be one of the rarest catches, though they appear at certain Go Fest events and Deino Community Days. You need 125 Deino candies to evolve into Hydreigon.
Meltan and Melmetal
You can catch a Meltan by completing the Let’s Go, Meltan special research quest, though evolving it using Mystery Boxes is more challenging. To open the Mystery Box and activate Meltan spawns, you need to transfer a Pokémon from Pokémon Go to any of the following Nintendo Switch games:
Pokémon Home
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!
After you open the Mystery Box, you can spawn one Meltan per minute for one hour. You must wait three days between each Mystery Box spawning period, so it might take you a few weeks to collect the 400 candies you need to evolve into Melmetal. We recommend using Pinap Berries alongside the Mystery Box to speed up the process.
Yamask, Cofagrigus, Galarian Yamask, and Runerigus
Yamask isn’t the rarest Pokémon, though it only appears in Pokémon Go during Halloween. If you play during this season, you can catch a Yamask with different special research quests, though at any other time of the year, you likely won’t get your hands on one.
Spiritomb
You can probably tell that Spiritomb is another Halloween-exclusive Pokémon given the name. You can usually catch one during the annual Halloween event by completing a Spooky Message Task or field research task, depending on the year. We recommend attending all Pokémon Go Halloween events to increase your chances.
More Uncommon Pokémon
Pokémon rarity often depends on the time of year, your location, the current special events, and other aspects. While the creatures above are the rarest, other uncommon Pokémon exist, including the following:
Bagon
Cryogonal
Dratini
Elgyem
Emolga
Feebas
Gible
Golett
Karrablast
Klefki
Larvitar
Litwick
Nincada
Scraggy
Sewaddle
Shelmet
Stunfisk
Vanillite
If any of these stumble across your radar, you’re in luck!
Costumed, Shiny, Regional, Legendary, and Mythical Pokémon
Aside from the list of rare Pokémon above, we wanted to note other Pokémon variations you might want to add to your collection.
Sometimes regular Pokémon can become rare by wearing a costume or appearing in alternative shiny forms. You can only catch some Pokémon in certain regions, making them harder to come by. Mythical and legendary Pokémon also take rarity to a new level.
Continue reading to learn more about each of these Pokémon Go creature categories.
Costumed Pokémon
Costumed Pokémon are just as they sound: regular creatures wearing special costumes. Certain ones, like Pikachu Libre, only become available with exclusive challenges, while others appear during different seasons, like Halloween. Pikachu Libre is the rarest and most desirable costumed Pokémon, though you can also try to catch many other Pikachu variants.
If you don’t catch Pikachu Libre or other costumed creatures during their specific events, you can still trade with other players to complete your Pokédex.
Here is the complete list of costumed Pokémon:
Pikachu Libre
Fragment hat Pikachu
Detective hat Pikachu
Straw hat Pikachu
Safari hat Pikachu
Okinawan Kariyushi shirt Pikachu (only in Japan)
Sunglasses Squirtle
New Year Slowpoke
New Year Slowbro
Bow Smoochum
Kirlia with a top hat
Shinx with a top hat
Backward Cap Croagunk
Shiny Pokémon
Shiny Pokémon are regular creatures in exclusive colors. Pokémon Go hasn’t released each Pokemon’s shiny variant yet, so whenever they make more available, they become extra valuable.
If you’re lucky enough, you can also find shiny Pokémon wearing costumes, creating the rarest combination possible. Always watch for shiny Pokémon wearing hats, costumes, trinkets, or crowns. Shiny Pikachu Libre and detective hat Pikachu are the rarest combinations in all of Pokémon Go.
Other collectible shiny Pokémon include:
Bellsprout
Deino
Doduo
Durant
Farfetch’d
Goldeen
Ledyba
Roggenrola
Rufflet
Skorupi
Slowpoke
Spiritomb
Stantler
Voltorb
Wooper
Deoxys
Genesect
Regice
Regirock
Registeel
Terrakion
Virizion
Regional Pokémon
Regional Pokémon are creatures with region-locked availabilities, meaning you can only find them if you physically live in certain parts of the globe. For example, European Pokémon Go players can easily find Mr. Mime, though everyone else in the world must work tirelessly to catch the elusive creature. Conversely, Europeans likely struggle to find Relicanth, though New Zealand residents shouldn’t have a problem.
Some popular regionally exclusive Pokémon and their respective locations include:
Maractus: Northern United States
Sigilyph: Egypt and Greece
Bouffalant: New York City, NY
Corsola: The Southern Hemisphere and other tropical locations
Relicanth: New Zealand
Solrock and Lunatone: Their locations rotate
Legendary Pokémon
Legendary Pokémon gain their status because you must catch them by participating in a five-star raid. Pokémon Go ranks these creatures based on how hard they are to defeat, not how frequently they spawn (which is how we rank rarity). We recommend using a Remote Raid pass or joining a local group to prepare for your first raid.
Occasionally, you can find legendary creatures without participating in a raid by completing different special research tasks. You can also receive one as a reward for completing GO Battle League Rank 20. The most sought-after legendary Pokémon include:
Armoured Mewtwo
Spiritomb
Wash Rotom
Meloette
Shiny Mew
Galarian Mr Mime and Mr Rime
Clone Pokémon
Mythical Pokémon
Mythical Pokémon require you to complete special research quests. You might notice some of the names below from our other lists. We dedicated an individual portion to mythical creatures if you want something to refer back to the next time you’re in the mood for a quest.
Some popular mythical Pokémon include:
Mew
Celebi
Jirachi
Victini
Meloetta
Zerude
Hoopa
How To Collect the Rarest Pokémon
Aside from following the specific capture instruction we defined with each creature, you can adopt a few standard practices to your Pokémon Go gameplay to increase your chances of catching the rarest Pokémon. Here are a few tips:
Elevate your trainer level to encounter more exclusive Pokémon
Take advantage of Lure Modules and Incense to attract creatures
Trade with other Pokémon Go players to acquire any Pokémon you can’t catch
Prioritize hatching as many eggs as possible
Spend time in places where Pokémon hang out (For example, you’re more likely to find sea creatures near real-life water locations.)
Use a Remote Raid Pass for any five-star raids
Locate Pokémon nests in your area to find the rarest spawns
Level up your Catch Bonus medals
Complete as many special quests as possible
Catch every Pokémon you see because you never know what might help in the future
Do GO Battle League Ranks Affect Your Ability To Catch Collectibles?
Yes, high GO Battle League rankings offer different rewards. For example, at Rank 20, you unlock your ability to catch Pikachu Libre. You’ll enjoy even more exclusive benefits if you win enough matches and catch it.
While your ranking improves your catching odds, you don’t have to rank high to catch collectibles. Many of the rarest Pokémon on our list occasionally spawn in public locations, meaning you could get lucky. We recommend following our list above and the specific instructions for each creature to catch the rarest ones.
That VideoGame Blog: Offering Exclusive Content for all Pokémon Go Fanatics
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Dane started off gaming at the tender age of 3 with the first Atari console. His favorite video game genres are turn-based RPGs (can I get a shout out for Tactics Ogre?) and fighting games. Read more...
