Some Pokémon are common. Some appear when you least expect them… and then there are rare Pokémon that evade capture for the longest time. We’ve compiled some of the rarest species in Pokémon here and how to catch them. Note that this list doesn’t include costumed Pokémon or seasonal options like Yamask’s yearly Halloween appearance.
Need a refresher on Pokémon battle tactics? Here are all the ghost Pokémon weaknesses, electric Pokémon weaknesses, our Pokédex, and the best normal Pokémon in the mobile game.
Let’s see the rare Pokémon that evade capture.
Meltan and Melmetal
Starting off our list is a strange situation – Meltan and its evolution Melmetal. Getting your hands on this metallic ‘mon is hard. There are two ways to get it. First, you can complete the ‘Let’s Go Meltan’ research tasks and get the catch encounter as a reward, or you can use Mystery Boxes from the Let’s Go Switch games.
The Mystery Boxes are rewards earned by transferring Pokémon in Let’s Go: Eevee and Pikachu at the Go Park. when you’ve got some boxes, activate one in Pokémon Go, which causes Meltan to spawn for a while. Then, when you’ve got a stack of 400 candies, you can evolve them into Melmetal.
Vivillon
Getting a Vivillon can be a total head-scratcher and getting each different pattern is even more hard work. To put it simply, to get a Vivillon, you need to pin postcards from different regions, as each pattern of the Pokémon hails from a different area of the world. There are 18 patterns to collect, so you need to get some friends in far-off places to send you gifts in order to get postcards.
Once you’ve pinned plenty of postcards, you get the chance to catch a Scatterbug, which evolves into Spewpa with 25 candy, and the Vivillon pattern related to the region it came from with 100 candy. To begin with, you need to pin three cards, but the number rises the more encounters you do. Check out our Pokémon Go Vivillon guide for more info.
Kecleon
Kecleon, the chameleon Pokémon, is suitably hard to find and catch. Though it may not take on the colors of its surrounding area, it does hide in plain sight. You find them clinging to Pokéstops in your area.
How do you find one? Click every single stop and don’t stop clicking. Eventually, a Pokéstop will have a see-through Kecleon on it – you can still see its pinkish band. Then, tap it until it hops off, exit the Pokéstop, and you can click it on the world map to start the catch encounter. On top of this, Kecleon is a rare spawn – so good luck finding one.
Salazzle
Most Pokémon players know the deal with Salandit and Salazzle – only the females of the species can evolve, but they’re a rarer spawn. This translates to Pokémon Go where the spawn rate of females is a very low 12.5%. Even worse is that Salandit only hatches from the 12k eggs, doesn’t spawn anywhere, and is a rare hatch. Getting a Salazzle is likely to be a long journey.
Unown
U-know that Unown is going to be a hard Pokémon to catch given that there are 26 variants to get. Best of all, they’re incredibly rare spawns! Love that. They do tend to get a boost during festivals, for instance during the Go Fest, the letters G and F got a significant boost to their spawn rates. Still, even with these events, finding the entire alphabet is a very arduous task.
Goodra
In the Goomy evolutionary line, the issue lies with the final form, Goodra. In order to get the third evolution, you need 125 Goomy candies and a rainy lure module. Why do you need this? Well, sneaky Sliggoo only evolves when it’s at a Pokéstop that has an active rainy lure module. Therefore, we must play to its desires and set one up so it can evolve. The issue is that Goomy’s are rare spawns, to begin with as well…
Galarian legendary birds
2022 saw many Pokémon appear in Pokemon Go, including the Galarian legendary birds – Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. Now, legendary Pokémon are rare anyway, but this trio takes the cake. There’s only one way to find them and that’s by using a daily adventure incense. This gives you a tiny 15-minute window to find them. But it doesn’t stop there! Once you find one of these birds, get your finest berries and balls out because their flee rate is high. Very high.
Region-locked rare Pokémon
Now, for those who really want to complete the Pokédex, you’ve got a bit of a roadblock ahead. We recommend finding some online friends and trading for these region-locked specialties, as that’s more feasible than traveling around the entire globe.
| Pokémon | Location |
| Azelf | US and Greenland |
| Basculin: Red stripe Blue stripe |
Eastern hemisphere Western hemisphere |
| Bouffalant | New York |
| Carnivine | Southern US |
| Chatot | Southern hemisphere |
| Comfey | Hawaii |
| Corsola | Coastal areas between 31N and 26S latitudes |
| Durant | Western hemisphere |
| Farfetch’d | Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea |
| Flabebe: Red flower Yellow flower Blue flower |
Europe, Africa, and the Middle East Americas Asia and Pacific regions |
| Furfrou: Debutante Diamond Star La Reine Kabuki Pharaoh |
Americas Europe, Africa, and the Middle East Asia and Pacific regions France Japan Egypt |
| Hawlucha | Mexico |
| Heatmor | Eastern hemisphere |
| Heracross | Central America and South America |
| Illumise | North America, South America, and Africa |
| Kangaskhan | Australia |
| Klefki | France |
| Lunatone | Europe, Australia, and Asia |
| Maractus | Mexico, Central America, and South America |
| Mesprit | Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East |
| Mime Jr. | Europe (in 7km eggs) |
| Mr. Mime | Europe |
| Oricorio: Baile Pom Pom Pa’u Sensu |
Europe, Africa, and the Middle East Americas African, Pacific, Caribbean, and Asian islands Asia and Pacific regions |
| Pachirisu | Arctic hemisphere |
| Panpour | North America, South America, and Greenland |
| Pansage | Asia and Pacific regions |
| Pansear | Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East |
| Relicanth | Oceania and New Zealand |
| Sawk | Europe, Australia, and Asia |
| Seviper | North America, South America, and Africa |
| Shellos: East Sea West Sea |
Eastern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere |
| Sigilyph | Greece and Egypt |
| Solrock | North America, South America, and Africa |
| Tauros | US and Canada |
| Throh | North America, South America, and Africa |
| Torkoal | Western Asia and South-Eastern Asia |
| Tropius | Africa and the Middle East |
| Uxie | Asia and Pacific regions |
| Volbeat | Europe, Australia, and Asia |
| Zangoose | Europe, Australia, and Asia |
And there you have it, a guide to the rarest Pokémon in Pokémon Go. For some respite, why not grab these Pokémon Go codes or Pokémon Unite codes, for some in-game goodies. If you want to learn more about your favorite pocket monsters then check out our lists of big Pokémon and small Pokémon.