Pokemon Go allows Trainers to catch Pokemon from just about every Generation. At the time of writing, there are over 800 Pokemon in Go, which is a staggering amount. The monumental task of catching them all will take even hardcore players years, but are you a true Pokemon Master if you don’t? Many Pokemon spawn across the world and can be found purely by chance. Others are either elusive or locked behind grueling tasks. Here are our picks for the 5 rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO and how to get them.
Related: How to catch Ditto in Pokemon GO: All Disguises
5 Rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO and how to get them
These are in no particular order, but each Pokemon here is obtainable through normal gameplay and doesn’t require a special event to be live. Don’t think that means these Pokemon are easy to find. You could be chasing these elusive Pokemon for months or even years!
Kecleon
If you’ve played the older mainline games, you’ll remember what a pain our invisible friend Kecleon can be. Kecleon can be found in the wild but must be obtained a certain way.
For starters, you won’t see Kecleon on the world map. When you interact with a Pokestop, there’s a tiny chance that Kecleon will appear on the disc. Kecleon will prevent you from spinning the Pokestop until you tap on it a few times to shake it off. Only then can you try and catch it. Finding a Kecleon is rare enough, but this Pokemon has the potential to be shiny too.
Larvesta and Volcarona
You can find Larvesta in most Eggs, but it is among the rarest Pokemon in any Egg pool. If you hatch a truckload of Eggs, you’ll get Larvesta eventually, but here’s the catch. If you want to evolve it into Volcarona, you need 400 Larvesta Candy.
This endeavor can take months, and the odds are always against you. Still, if you’re a keen walker, you will get this done eventually.
Salandit and Salazzle
Salandit is a ‘Strange Egg’ exclusive, and these are only obtainable by defeating Team Rocket Leaders. Salandit is a rare spawn in those Eggs, so you won’t get one immediately. To make matters worse, you won’t even get an Egg if your Inventory is full when you beat a Leader.
Curiously, only a female Salandit can evolve into a Salazzle, and you still need 50 Salandit Candy’s. To get a Salazzle, you must triumph over two layers of RNG and gather the required Candy, which can take months. If you persevere, you’ll get this one, but it’s an arduous task.
The Lake Trio
Many of the rarest creatures in Pokemon GO are locked behind tasks or are hidden in specific Egg Pools. The Lake Trio are Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie and are different as they are simply wild spawns.
Wild spawn or not, these Pokemon are obnoxiously rare and only appear near water. Each of the trio is region exclusive, and you can find each in the following areas:
- Azelf – Americas
- Mesprit – Europe, Africa and India, Middle East
- Uxie – Asia and Pacific regions.
It’s hard enough to find one of the Lake Trio but a nigh impossible task to get all three.
Galarian Legendary Birds
You can find Galarian variants of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres by walking while using your Daily Incense. This Incense only lasts 15 minutes, but there’s a rare chance that one of the Galarian Legendary Birds will appear.
The problem is these Legendary Pokemon love to run when you encounter them. In most cases, you’ll only get one chance to throw a Pokeball before they fly away, and they have a brutally low catch rate.
When they flee, the only thing you can do is brush yourself off and try again tomorrow. You can increase your chances of a catch with a Golden Razzberry, but the odds are still against you.
You can’t get Melmetal without Pokemon: Let’s GO – Image by Pc Invasion
Are there any other Rare Pokemon in Go?
There are plenty of other Rare Pokemon in GO, but the ones above are all obtainable for a dedicated Trainer. There have been many timed exclusives, but these boil down to ‘you were either playing back then, or you weren’t.’ Sadly, for these Pokemon, we’re at the mercy of Niantic whenever they decide to bring them back.
For long-term goals, why not try hunting for some variants?
Unown and Vivillon are a collector’s worst nightmare as they all have multiple forms. Fortunately, you only need one for the Pokedex entry, but there’s a Unown for every letter of the Alphabet. There are 18 Vivillon patterns to collect, which require you to pin Postcards from all across the globe. You’ll have to make a lot of friends worldwide if you want them all.
