With regular gameplay updates and events rolling out in the world of Pokemon Go, the roster of available Pokemon continues to expand. However, some Pokemon stand out as incredibly elusive catches compared to others. Let's break down the rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO and reliable ways to get them for your collection.
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Kecleon
The Invisible Pokemon Kecleon appears camouflaged and attached to specific PokeStops. Trainers need to spin the Stop's disc repeatedly to make it visible and trigger a spawn. With random visibility, it’s easily missed, making Kecleon a prime rarity.
- How to Get: Keep spinning different PokeStop discs in your area until Kecleon reveals itself on one. Then tap continuously to make it detach for a catch opportunity.
Galarian Legendary Birds - Extremely Limited Wild Spawns
Galarian forms of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres have an absurd 99% flee rate - meaning just one throw before they vanish again. They only appear during Daily Adventure Incense sessions for 15 minutes per day. With barely a capture chance, these regional Legendary variants are coveted catches.
- How to Get: Use Daily Adventure Incense, then keep moving and hope one spawns - be ready with Ultra Balls and Golden Razz to maximize odds before they flee!
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Sandile Family
Sandile and its evolutions Krokorok and Krookodile can currently only be acquired by hatching 12km Eggs. Even then, Sandile's hatch rate is decidedly low. Combined with 125 candies to fully evolve, this line represents difficult yet rewarding rare finds.
- How to Get: Hatch Eggs, prioritize Sandile as your Buddy, and be prepared to walk long distances to earn enough Sandile candies to evolve fully.
Pikachu Libre
This capped fighter Pikachu is an exclusive reward for reaching the extremely demanding Rank 24 in the GO Battle League, making it a status symbol for the top PVP competitors able to reach that level in a single season.
- How to Get: Battle relentlessly in GO Battle League, excelling across multiple categories over hundreds of matches within one season until finally reaching the lofty Rank 24.
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Vivillon
Patterns Vivillon has 18 elusive wing patterns, with each requiring players first catch a location-specific Scatterbug Pokemon from Gifts sent remotely by friends worldwide. After amassing 125 Scatterbug candies, players then evolve them into patterned Vivillon. Completing all 18 is a monumental global coordination challenge.
- How to Get: Trade Gifts on a large international scale to collect region-locked Scatterbugs across all pattern variations, evolve each after earning 125 candies.
Unown Letters
With 28 extremely scarce forms based on letters and punctuation marks, these aptly named Symbol Pokemon only appear for limited windows during special events, keeping them perpetually rare outside of such conditions.
- How to Get: Meticulously collect whatever Unown variants you encounter wild during the short event windows they appear in, with no guarantees you'll complete this elusive alphabet.
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Melmetal
Melmetal evolves from Meltan, itself one of the rarest Pokemon that can emerge from Mystery Boxes or extremely limited special research story rewards requiring Let's GO crossplay connectivity. This makes Melmetal exceptionally difficult to obtain.
- How to Get: Repeatedly open Mystery Boxes over long periods of time to slowly catch Meltan, then walk and feed Meltan for months to grind the 400 candies necessary for a Melmetal evolution.
Salazzle
A female Salandit is mandatory to evolve into Salazzle in Pokemon Go. With only a measly 12.5% chance of hatching a female, Salazzle is very rarely seen. Salandit itself appears as a 12km egg pool rarity, further compounding the challenge.
- How to Get: Hatch Eggs hoping for the roughly 1-in-8 chance of a female Salandit, then walk continuously as a Buddy to earn 50 candies so it can become a Salazzle.
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Mythical Research-Exclusives: Keldeo, Zarude and Hoopa
Mythicals like Keldeo, Zarude, and Hoopa have only been available in short-term Special Research stories making them currently uncatchable. Unless these come back, Mythicals remain extremely limited.
- How to Get: Currently, there is no way to catch these Pokemon, making them extremely rare.
The Legendary Lake Guardians: Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie
Regional Legendaries Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie spawn in the wild but barely ever. Each is restricted to specific continents appearing rarely when not using daily incense. Catching all three is a true challenge.
Regions for Each of Them:
- Uxie – Asia & Pacific
- Azelf – NA, SA, & Greenland
- Mesprit – Europe, Africa, the ME, & India
- How to Get: All three are available in the wild, but the chances of encountering them are quite low. What makes it harder is that all of them are specific to regions and to catch all three is quite hard. The best way to get them is through Remote Raids.
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Rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO | Image of Pokemon | How to Get Them |
---|---|---|
Kecleon | Keep spinning PokéStop discs until revealing a hidden Kecleon | |
Galarian Legendary Birds | Use Daily Adventure Incense & attempt catch before flee | |
Sandile Family | Hatch Strange Eggs & earn candies by walking as Buddy | |
Pikachu Libre | Battle relentlessly in GO Battle League to reach Rank 24 | |
Vivillon | Trade Gifts internationally & evolve location-based Scatterbugs | |
Unown Letters | Meticulously collect during special event windows | |
Melmetal | Open Mystery Boxes & earn 400 Meltan candies over months | |
Salazzle | Hatch Strange Eggs hoping for female Salandit, then evolve | |
Mythical Research-Exclusives | Await the return of the time-limited Special Research | |
The Legendary Lake Guardians | Use Daily Adventure Incense & attempt to catch in the wild or try raids |
While common Pokemon get easier to obtain over time, these rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO have a reputation for extreme difficulty built on region/gender locks, item requirements, or research gates. For committed collectors, part of the reward is the search itself when chasing these uniquely elusive prizes.
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