Can You Catch 'Em All?
Though it's been years since it was first released, Pokemon GO remains a beloved game with passionate, dedicated players across the globe. But no matter how many Pokemon you've caught since you've started playing, there are likely many you've yet to catch or even encounter. Want to know which ones? Here are 20 of the rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO.
1. Diancie
This rare Pokemon made its initial debut in the 2023 GO Fest, where only ticket holders had access to its Special Research Story. That being said, Diancie was made available to catch worldwide from May 1, 2024, and onwards, where trainers must complete the Glitz and Glam Special Research Story.
2. Jirachi
Jirachi made its first appearance at the 2019 GO Fest, where again, only ticket holders had initial access to its Special Research Story. Since this story—named "A Thousand Year Slumber"—can still be completed today, Jirachi is less rare than others but remains a challenge to catch.
3. Azelf
If you're in the Americas or Greenland, you're in luck: Azelf only appears in these regions. Together with Mesprit and Uxie, these three form the Lake Guardians trio, which have been notoriously difficult to catch. Since these characters are location-locked and rarely spawn in the wild, there's only a slim possibility you'll get them.
4. Goomy
Goomy wasn't always a rare one; in 2021 when it made its debut, it was relatively easy to find. Now, other than spotting it in the wild, you're unlikely to get your hands on it—although there was a Community Day event in June 2024 where there was a high uptick in Goomy spawns.
5. Kecleon
Kecleon might be hard to find randomly in the wild, but the tip is to go to a place filled with numerous PokeStops. From there, tap on a few until you get a message that an invisible obstacle is in your way, which indicates that a Kecleon is hiding there.
6. Hoopa
Hoopa was only available for a brief time in 2021, where it could be obtained through its Misunderstood Mischief Special Research Story. If you were able to get this story then, it can still be completed to catch Hoopa now. But if you weren't able to get the story in 2021, you won't be able to access it anymore.
7. Klefki
Klefki is a rare Pokemon as it's another region-locked character, and you'll only be able to catch it if you're located in France. However, some people living near the coast bordering France have reported being able to catch it, so maybe there is hope after all.
8. Mesprit
As mentioned earlier, Mesprit is a part of the Lake Guardian trio along with Azelf and Uxie. This Pokemon is another region-specific character that only appears in Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East, which makes it rare to catch.
9. Pikachu Libre
This wrestling Pikachu is a mission to obtain: you need to reach Legend Rank in the GO Battle League to get it. This means you need to compete against other players to earn rewards, candies, and the chance to get Pikachu Libre.
10. Frigibax
Frigibax isn't technically hard to catch. But since you have to rely on it randomly spawning in the wild—which in itself is rare—it can take some time before you finally encounter one. So far, there doesn't seem to be other ways to obtain it.
11. Gholdengo
This Pokemon is another one that takes some dedication to get. First, you would need to connect to Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet to catch Roaming Form Gimmighoul before collecting 999 Gimmighoul Coins to evolve Gimmighoul into Gholdengo.
12. Kartana
Not only is Kartana only available to players in the northern hemisphere, this Ultra Beast is also only obtainable through raids. Particularly in July 2024, it appeared in 5-Star Raids during the Inbound from Ultra Space event.
13. Uxie
The last of the Lake Guardian trio, Uxie is another region-specific Pokemon that's only available in the Asia-Pacific region. Don't splurge on an air ticket just yet, though; while it's locked to this region, you'll need to count on luck to encounter it in the wild.
14. Tirtouga
This Pokemon made its first appearance during the 2020 Fossil event and has since been extremely rare and difficult to catch. Since it's not available in the wild, the only way is through eggs. But where before it might be seen in 7km eggs (and even then, it wasn't guaranteed), you'd now have to rely on hatching 10km eggs.
15. Larvesta
Larvesta can be obtained by hatching it in 2km, 5km, or 10km eggs. But since it's in the highest rarity tier, it's incredibly difficult to hatch. Your only chance to get this Pokemon is to incubate a lot of eggs—and rely on a lot of luck.
16. Volcarona
If you manage to get Larvesta, it's another challenge to evolve it into Volcarona: you need 400 Larvesta candies to do so. But the only way to get that many Larvesta candies is to hatch more Larvestas, which is already rare, or you can set Larvesta as a Buddy Pokemon and it can find you one Larvesta candy for every 5km.
Emmanuelle Magnenat on Unsplash
17. Unown
While you might encounter Unown in the wild, it's extremely rare, so it's best not to count on it. Other than that, your only hope of catching it is to attend special events like the GO Fest and Safari Zone, where you might find a few of its forms.
18. Sandile
Unless you like long walks, Sandile might be a challenging Pokemon to obtain; this character can only be obtained by hatching 12km eggs. Not only that, but since Sandile has a rare hatch rate, it's not guaranteed you'll be able to get one even after all that walking.
19. Rotom
Other than trading with a player who has it, Rotom is only available through attending events like the GO Fest. There are six different forms of this Pokemon—namely Regular, Heat, Wash, Fan, Frost, and Mow—and so far, Fan Rotom has yet to be released.
20. Mewtwo
Mewtwo is another Pokemon that can only be obtained through raids. In particular, you need to defeat it in a 5-Star Raid where it's featured as the Raid Boss. Its appearance in these raids is rare, though, so you might be waiting for a while before you see one.
