Pokemon games have come a long way over the last 30 years, and it’s exciting to see how Pokemon Winds and Waves kick things off for the next era of the series when Gen 10 is released. Not much is currently known about Gen 10, but the latest leaks point to Pokemon Winds and Waves releasing in late 2027. This means that fans will have some replaying or catching up to do in the meantime, with Gen 9 lasting five years total. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have all this time, as fans can spend it completing the Pokedex in as many games as possible, which will inevitably help when Pokemon Home and Gen 10 become compatible.
Without looking too far into the future, there are already a lot of games that can be played or replayed in the series, and each has its own Pokedex. It’s also worth noting that there is a distinction between regular Pokedex and National Dex, with the latter being only available post-game, and typically including most past Pokemon up to that point, or a few hundred of them. Sometimes, completing the Pokedex in Pokemon games is an achievement worth treasuring, and other times, it also comes with tangible rewards. Yet, not all games in the series are born equal when it comes to this task.
Technically, the full National Pokedex is no more as of Gen 8, but the name stayed.
Pokemon: Pokedex Completion Rewards From Every Game
Over the years, one of the highlights of the Pokemon games has been completing the Pokedex, and here is every reward players can gain from it.
S Tier — Pokemon Games Where Completing the Pokedex is Pretty Brutal
- Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
- Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire
- Pokemon Emerald
- Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
After playing Pokemon games for over 11,000 hours, I think Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are the absolute hardest when it comes to completing the Pokedex. The National Dex in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen requires a lot of trading with the other version of the game, and then it includes all Pokemon up to the full Gen 3 Dex, with most of them only being available in Gen 3 games. This is a massive ordeal to complete, and it’s not all that better in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, which act similarly in terms of National Dex. Pokemon Emerald does help a bit compared to the base Gen 3 games, but it’s far from easy.
New Questions Added!
GameRant Quiz
Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)
Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald ports on Switch will make things much easier for these games overall, as Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen ports are already available. Even then, without Pokemon Home support to mass-transfer Pokemon across these games, the number of trades required to finish the Dex is still humongous.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s Suicune, Raikou, and Entei are arguably the most tedious part of the process, as they are not only spawning depending on the starter of choice, but they are also random moving encounters. This means players effectively need three separate saves to get all three Legendary Beasts, and since they are post-game, it’s also extremely time-consuming. Gen 3 games also have this issue with Latias and Latios, and then others plague the Pokedex completion process, such as Feebas’ rarity (and trade evolution).
Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver have some of the hardest Johto Pokemon to catch, a whopping 493 critters in the Pokedex, tons of version exclusives, day and night cycles with their respective encounters, rare spawns, and the usual trade evolutions. Completing the Pokedex in Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver can be genuinely exhausting and incredibly frustrating, just as much as it’s rewarding to do so, as it’s often considered one of the hardest challenges within the series (and one I haven’t completed, personally). The redeeming factor is not needing excessive trading compared to Gen 3 games and remakes, though the story sprawling both Kanto and Johto can take quite some time to finish.
A Tier — A Challenging Experience in Completing the Pokedex
- Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
- Pokemon Platinum
- Pokemon Gold and Silver
- Pokemon Crystal
Some of the best Pokemon in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are strangely post-game only, including some Gen 4 critters, so playthroughs can be a bit frustrating because of that. More importantly, this generation introduced many unique evolution methods and trade evolutions, and had I not had two other friends who were actively playing at the same time as I did when Gen 4 came out, I would have struggled immensely to finish the Dex. And that’s just for the basic Pokedex. The National Pokedex is still very hard to complete because it includes some Legendaries and Mythicals that are not easily available, such as Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus, so the experience is overall pretty challenging.
New Questions Added!
GameRant Quiz
Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)
Pokemon Platinum improved Gen 4 mechanics overall and made some critters more easily accessible, but it still had a difficult Pokedex to complete. This remains a rather unique game after all this time because Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl cut Platinum‘s content and features, so it’s the only Gen 4 game with some of them, like the Battle Frontier. Completing the Pokedex in Platinum is quite an ordeal to this day, but slightly better than the base Gen 4 games.
Pokemon Gold and Silver were the first Johto Pokemon games, and thus had a bit of a disadvantage compared to Pokemon Crystal when trying to complete the Pokedex. These were some of the earliest games in the series, and despite a Pokedex with just 251 entries, trade evolutions and version exclusives made trades mandatory to complete the Pokedex, and arguably much harder than Gen 1 games due to the extra 100 Johto Pokemon. Some rare encounters made things a bit frustrating, though not as nearly impossible as a genuine Gen 3 playthrough where one wanted to find a Feebas. Pokemon Crystal helped with some accessibility tweaks and the Battle Tower, but still required lots of trading.
B Tier — Pokemon Games Where Completing The Pokedex is Moderately Difficult
- Pokemon Black and White
- Pokemon Black 2 and White 2
- Pokemon Red and Blue
- Pokemon Yellow
- Pokemon X and Y
- Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
- Pokemon Sun and Moon
- Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
- Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Pokemon Black and White were a soft reboot for Pokemon games, as they featured exclusively new Pokemon throughout the story and region, with returning ones only available in the post-game. This made many fans upset, as they couldn’t use their favorites for many hours, and the series has since tried to include as many nostalgia callbacks as possible. Aside from this, completing the Pokedex in Gen 5 was not too bad, as there were usual gimmicks like version exclusives and trade evolutions, but players could find most Pokemon in the wild. Some critters were still impossibly hard to find, or not present at all.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 were sequels to the originals, and that’s something that has never really happened again — though one may argue that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a sequel to X and Y. The sequels made completing the Pokedex in Gen 5 a more approachable experience, as more pocket monsters were available in the post-game.
The very first Pokemon games, excluding the Japanese-only Pokemon Red and Green in 1996, were Pokemon Red and Blue, which went on to become some of the most iconic video games ever made. With no breeding for extra Eevee and Eeveelutions, several version exclusives, and wired trading, Gen 1 was quite complicated to fully beat if one wanted to complete the Pokedex. This was made much easier with two Game Boy consoles and game cartridges, but it was a luxury that virtually no one had back then. Currently, though, and considering a smaller Pokedex compared to all other generations, finishing the Pokedex in Pokemon Red and Blue is not too difficult.
Pokemon Yellow is one of those Pokemon games with Pikachu as a starter, and despite being one of the oldest overall, the Pokedex doesn’t require too much of an effort to complete. The most problematic thing is how to get Mew in Pokemon Gen 1 games, as it’s a Mythical Pokemon, but this game has an easier time than its predecessors because the three Kanto starters are given to players for free.
Pokemon X and Y have the smallest Regional Pokedex ever when it comes to new species, as Gen 6 only added 72 critters to the roster. The National Pokedex is still quite full, but features like online trading and easy breeding make the task fair overall in terms of requirements and time needed. Additionally, the reworked Pokemon Safari experience, called Friend Safari, could make things more or less complicated based on the number of friends one had on their 3DS.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.
EasyMediumHardPermadeath
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were Gen 3 remakes with the addition of returning Mega Evolutions from Gen 6, as well as new ones, like the ever-popular Mega Rayquaza. The National Pokedex includes over 700 Pokemon in these games, but modern mechanics like the DexNav and online trading make the experience much less of a hassle.
The Regional Pokedex in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, as well as their predecessors, was relatively easy to finish. Despite several version exclusives in Gen 7, these games were very hyped thanks to the many (and arguably very cool) Alolan regional forms, so online trading made completing the National Pokedex a rewarding and chill experience. Most Pokemon were already present in the games, anyway, so the effort was not excessive.
Completing Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Pokedex requires trading, as the base game has some Pokemon that cannot be obtained without trading, such as Scizor. All of these critters become much more accessible with the DLC, and the only Pokemon for which trading is mandatory is Milotic, as Feebas only evolves via trade.
Completing the Dex is still one of the easiest feats in the series overall, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s trade codes make things very smooth with online access. However, the DLC’s Pokedex can require some luck to get all the Pokemon needed for completion, and it can be a frustrating process. Fans need to use a lot of ingredients to make many different Donuts, and then hope for the right special scans from Philippe.
C Tier — The Easiest Pokedex to Complete in Pokemon Games
- Pokemon Sword and Shield
- Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
- Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu! and Eevee!
- Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Pokemon Sword and Shield marked the era of the so-called “easier Pokemon games,” mostly because each new release made things more and more accessible for both collectors and competitive players alike. With the infamous Dexit cutting the number of Pokemon in the Pokedex, combined with even more modern features than Gen 7, Gen 8 had a pretty easy Pokedex completion overall. The DLC-exclusive Glastrier, Spectrier, Regieleki, and Regidrago made things a bit more annoying, as players needed to either have friends with the missing Pokemon to trade them, or own two copies of the game and the DLC pack on both.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have an even easier Pokedex to complete, as the games are faithful Gen 4 titles with modern features. For example, Pokemon BDSP‘s Grand Underground makes completing the Pokedex a breeze, as most critters are available in the different biomes in the post-game, including older starters.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are gradually easier still, mostly because Gen 9 added a plethora of accessibility features and removed tall grass encounters, meaning players can see wild Pokemon in the overworld and go catch them. This makes the process of completing the Pokedex easier, which the 400-Pokemon Dex in the base game helps even more. The DLCs do have some annoying exclusives to get, such as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Raging Bolt and Gouging Fire vs. Iron Boulder and Iron Crown, but trade codes make it quite easy anyway.
Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu! and Eevee! are the most accessible games in the series. They have easy mechanics, they act as a perfect introduction to Pokemon, and even shiny hunting is very straightforward. Catching Pokemon is very newcomer-friendly, and one can reliably complete the Pokedex by playing the game. Some Pokemon require Pokemon GO transfers, though, and the same holds for trade evolutions. The games’ Pokedex cannot be completed solo, but Pokemon Home helps, or solves the problem entirely.
Though Pokemon Legends: Arceus can be a bit brutal when it comes to its gameplay loop and surviving in the untamed lands of Hisui, completing the Pokedex can be done completely solo, making it the easiest experience overall. Players can easily get Darkrai in Legends: Arceus, as well as Shaymin and Arceus, which means it then becomes even easier to transfer them onto Pokemon Home to complete the Dex in Gen 4 remakes, for example.
