The 16 Rarest Pokemon in 'Pokemon Go'

For a Pokémon that’s technically available to catch in the wild, Archen is one of the rarest Pokémon in the game. Perhaps that’s rightfully so, considering it’s a Fossil-type Pokémon. It’s incredibly unlikely you’ll have ever come across an Archen, even back in the day when it was available in 7km eggs. As of now, you can only find Archen in 10km eggs. Archen is known globally by the game's community as one of the rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO worth seeking out.

As of right now, Azelf can only spawn in North America, Central America, South America, and Greenland regions, which means if you’re not in one of those, there’s 0 chance you’ll see one in the wild and even if you are in those regions, there’s still an incredibly low chance you’ll see one. The only way players outside of those regions can hope to catch one is by battling it in a raid.

Comfey’s design is essentially a lei, a wreath of flowers that’s commonly found in Hawaii, amongst other places. So it might not shock you to find that you can only catch a Comfey in the wild in Hawaii. If you happen to have a friend that plays the game in Hawaii, you’re in luck and might be able to trade with them but otherwise, keep an eye on events in the future and hope for the best.

The Dragon-type Pokémon Goomy made its debut in 2021 and wasn’t particularly difficult to get a hold of then. But ever since, it’s been difficult to catch. You can currently catch a Goomy from a 10km egg, special walking rewards, and by seeing them in the wild, which we wouldn’t bank on.

Hawlucha was added to the game in March of this year. As its name might suggest to you, the Fighting/Flying birdlike Pokémon is only available in Mexico. Like with Klefki, there are noted instances of players in surrounding areas in America having the Pokémon pop up on their game, but that’s not a solution for most.

Kecleon’s arrival in Pokémon GO was a big moment for fans because it was the first Generation III Pokémon that got added in nearly four years. Getting a Kecleon isn’t as easy as finding one on a map, but if you know what to do, it’s also not the most difficult thing in the world. What you need to do is spin a bunch of PokéStops until you find one blocked by an invisible creature, which will reveal itself to be Kecleon.

Like a bunch of the Pokémon on this list, Klefki is a rare Pokémon not because of its stature necessarily within the lore of Pokémon itself, but because it’s region locked. Specifically, GO players can only hope to catch a Klefki in France. Amazingly though, a few years ago there were reports that Klefki can be caught in a south-east corner of England whose coast is close to France.

Along with Azelf, Mesprit is another Legendary Pokémon that can spawn in the wild. Also like Azelf though, if you’re not in certain regions, you’ll have no chance of that happening. Mesprit can only be found in Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East. Even if you’re not in one of these regions, it is possible, albeit highly unlikely that you’ll battle a Mesprit through a raid.

Fairy/Psychic type Pokémon Mime Jr. was introduced as part of World Tourism Day in 2019, but your only shot at getting a Mime Jr. is by hatching 5km eggs in Europe. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to players who know that Mr. Mime is confined just to European players too.

Not only is Noibat hard to obtain in the first place, but if you were hoping to quickly evolve it into Noivern, you might have to put a pause on that because you need 400 Noibat candy, which can take a while to acquire. A great tip is that these are slightly more likely to appear in raids during cloudy and windy weather. This Generation VI creature is certainly up there when it comes to mentioning the rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO.

Pikachu Libre is rare in the sense that it takes a lot of skill to get one, but no luck. Players can get this costumed Pikachu by reaching Rank 24 in the GO Battle League, which is the top rank, meaning you’ll have to fight and win against the best of the best to get it. With all of the updates the league has seen in recent years, this one only gets harder and harder. This cool alternate version of the world-famous electric mouse stands out as one of the rarest Pokemon in Pokemon GO.

Rotom hasn’t been available in the game 100% of the time, so for a while, your only chance of getting it was through a trade. There are six variations of this Pokémon, with Wash and Mow being the only ones released. They were available for a limited time through events, which is why trading with a player who has them is the only way to get them. Otherwise, hold out for another rare appearance during a future event.

Neither Salazzle nor its base form Salandit can be found in the wild. Salandit is in the 12km egg pool, but not only do you need to land on one to turn it into a Salazzle, but you also need to land on a female one, which again decreases your chances of obtaining a Salazzle greatly. Of course, that’s not saying anything about the 50 Candy you’ll also need.

Like Archen, Tirtouga is another Fossil-type Pokémon that’s frustratingly difficult to catch in Pokémon GO. If you didn’t get it from 7km eggs during the February 2020 Fossil event that it first appeared in, then you likely haven’t come across one at all. They’re now available in 10km eggs at tier two rarity.

Uxie is the last of the three Legendary Pokémon that you can find in the wild and this one is locked to Asia-Pacific. Do your best to find someone in another region during raids and hope you can get some luck that way, or save up for a very expensive Pokémon GO trip.

Last up, Unown. There are players who have been playing this game religiously for years with hundreds of thousands of catches who have only seen one or two of these in the wild. Outside of events like "GO Fest," where Unown F and Unown G were a little more common, these are almost impossible to just run into.