Recently I pondered the question, “What is the Rarest Pokémon in Pokémon GO?” and wanted to figure this out. Through a survey on my social media, people could select which Pokémon (out of a list of 57 Pokémon) they have in their collection. Here’s a look at the final statistics (as of September 27th 2023) and results of the survey:
NOTE: This article does not include Shiny or Costumed Pokémon. There may be articles and surveys for those individually in future.
Top 15 Rarest Pokémon
1. Frigibax, Arctibax & Baxcalibur
20.1% of trainers who completed the survey have a Frigibax
10.2% of trainers who completed the survey have a Arctibax
8.9% of trainers who completed the survey have a Baxcalibur
Frigibax was only recently added as an extremely rare wild spawn during the Paldea Ultra Unlock in September, so its first place spot on this list is understandable. After the event, it has become available in 10km Eggs, in the fifth rarity tier, which may have possibly made them easier obtain. I expected a lot less than 20% for Frigibax, so there must be a lot of lucky people or hard grinders!
To evolve Frigibax into Arctibax requires 25 candy, and evolving Arctibax into Baxcalibur requires 100 candy. Reaching 125 candy purely from wild catches and egg hatches in just a few weeks seems humanly impossible, so just under half of the Frigibax owners have likely already used 100+ rare candies to evolve it completely. Impressive!
2. Volcarona
15.3% of trainers who completed the survey have a Volcarona
Volcarona is currently very difficult to obtain due to its rarity in Eggs and its evolution requirements. Larvesta is available in 2km, 5km and 10km Eggs, however its hatch level is Level 5 (the hardest level). Even if you are lucky enough to hatch a Larvesta you still need 400 candies to evolve it, which is extremely unlikely with hatches itself so Rare candy and Buddy walking candy are needed.
Volcarona is the most recently released Pokémon on this list, so as time passes there will be more trainers who hatch enough Larvesta or obtain enough Rare Candies, making it less rare. Given it is a 400 candy evolution, it would be no surprise to see Larvesta have its own Community Day or featured event.
3. Gholdengo
15.7% of trainers who completed the survey have a Gholdengo
Gholdengo is one of the most difficult Pokémon to obtain in the game. To begin with, trainers must own a copy of Pokémon Scarlet or Violet and a Nintendo Switch to get its pre-evolution, Gimmighoul. Then Postcards must be sent 5 days consecutively to get a Golden Lure Module, which is used to get Gimmighoul coins, which you need 999 of to evolve Gimmighoul.
If trainers organise Golden Lure Module meet-ups and all help each other get the coin requirement it becomes relatively easy. However, because most trainers don’t have a strong enough local community or don’t have the Switch games themselves, Gholdengo is a very rare Pokémon.
4. Hawlucha
20.6% of trainers who completed the survey have a Hawlucha
Hawlucha is a Pokémon exclusive to the country of Mexico. That being factored in with it being the 2nd most recently released Pokémon on this list (added March 1st, 2023) explains why it is so rare. In the future I believe Hawlucha is very likely to get a feature in a GO Fest or Safari Zone event, but for now it remains in the Top 5 rarest!
5. Comfey
21.1% of trainers who completed the survey have a Comfey
Comfey is a Pokémon exclusive to the region of Hawaii. Although a popular tourist destination, the island off the coast of the US is not a place trainers would pay to visit just to catch a Pokémon. Comfey was released on March 1st, 2022 for the Season of Alola and has been available for a year, yet it still remains extremely rare in Pokémon GO.
6. Galarian Legendary Birds
27.7% of trainers who completed the survey have a Galarian Articuno
29.6% of trainers who completed the survey have a Galarian Zapdos
27.7% of trainers who completed the survey have a Galarian Moltres
Galarin Articuno, Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Moltres are some of the most sought after Pokémon in the game. Their surprise debut occured alongside the Daily Adventure Incense’s addition in July 2022. Despite being out for over a year, they are extremely hard to find and catch. The likelihood of one spawning on a Daily Adventure Incense is very rare, and if you do find one they have a catch rate of 0.3% and a flee rate of 90%. Even with the use of Ultra Balls, Excellent Throws and Golden Razz Berries, they were extremely hard to catch for a long time after their initial debut.
However, the Master Ball was recently added in May 2022 and so far trainers have had two chances to obtain one. With the Master Ball giving a guaranteed catch, many trainers have used them on these rare Galarian Legendary Birds, making them a lot less rare over time.
7. Sigilyph
29.8% of trainers who completed the survey have a Sigilyph
Sigilyph is exclusive to the countries of Israel, Greece and Egypt. These three countries have a relatively low player base and due to its region exclusivity, not many trainers have caught one in its 3 year availability period (released January 10th, 2020).
However, Sigilyph was recently available at the live events of Pokemon GO Fest 2023 in New York, Osaka and London, so its rarity has slightly decreased recently.
8. Klefki
32.1% of trainers who completed the survey have a Klefki
Klefki, a strange Pokémon resembling keys, is only encounterable in the country of France. It has been available for 2 and a half years, since December 2nd, 2020, but few trainers have the opportunity to travel to France and catch one. Klefki has been available for multiple years though, so it being featured in a GO Fest or Safari Zone event soon is quite likely.
9. Pawmot
33.4% of trainers who completed the survey have a Pawmot
Like Frigibax, Pawmot became available a few weeks ago during the Paldea Ultra Unlock event in September 2023. Although Pawmi was extremely common in the wild, evolving Pawmo (Pawmi’s evolution) into Pawmot requires trainers to Walk 25km while it is their buddy. Many trainers are yet to complete this evolution requirement, which explains it current rarity, but as time goes on more people will complete the task Pawmot will no longer be rare.
10. Keldeo
33.6% of trainers who completed the survey have a Keldeo
Keldeo was released in December 2022 as part of the Mythic Blade, and was available through a $7.99 USD ticket called “Something Extraordinary”. Keldeo from the ticket knows Sacred Sword, making it one of the games best Fighting type Pokémon. This ticket was very frowned upon by the Pokemon GO Community and many people believed Keldeo’s research did not live up to the eight dollar price tag. Many people did not buy the ticket, making Keldeo one of the Top 10 rarest Pokémon in Pokémon GO.
11. Salazzle
35.5% of trainers who completed the survey have a Salazzle
Salazzle debuted in April 2022 as part of the All-Hands Rocket Retreat event. In order to obtain one, trainers must hatch a female Salandit from 12km Eggs and evolve it with 50 candies. Salandit has a 1/8 (12.5%) chance of being female which makes it very hard to hatch the correct gender to evolve it. Combined with having to walk 12km each time and that you must beat a Team GO Rocket Leader to even get one egg in the first place just makes it extremely difficult. Salazzle has been available for a year and a half now but the requirements to get one and have the correct factors to be available to evolve it causes it to be one of the games rarest Pokémon.
12. Maractus
37.6% of trainers who completed the survey have a Maractus
Maractus debuted in January 2020 with the debut of Unova Region, alongside the debut of the new Trade Evolution feature. Maractus is a regional Pokemon only available in Mexico, Central & South America and a few southern US states. Similarly to other regionals previouslt mentioned, Maractus has been available for three years, so a GO Fest or Safari Zone feature is likely.
13. Bouffalant
38.6% of trainers who completed the survey have a Bouffalant
Bouffalant was released in August 2020 as part of the Unova Week event, and was featured at Pokémon Worlds 2022 in London in research tasks. It is exclusive to the New York City region, so not many people have been available to obtain one. With a potential Unova Tour in 2025, a GO Fest or a Safari Zone feature, Bouffalant could eventually be devalued and less rare.
14. Palossand
38.8% of trainers who completed the survey have a Palossand
Palossand became available in June 2023 as part of the Water Festival: Beach Week event, meaning it has only been available for 4 months. However, it was only available in 1-Star Raids or in Field Research with the task “Catch 25 Water‑type Pokémon”. Due to the rarity of the task and spending on raid passes being seen as unnecessary to many trainers, most people didn’t catch a Sandygast. Even if they did, most did not get 50 candies to evolve it into Palossand and would be required to used rare candies.
However, its rarity will likely drop over the next few months as it is available as a featured spawn near ‘Beaches & Water’ during the Season of Adventures Abound. Many trainers have recently noticed Sandygast has become available as a rare Daily Spawn so lucky trainers may find that surprise too!
15. Chatot
39.9% of trainers who completed the survey have a Chatot
Chatot is a regional Pokémon that debuted in October 2018, and despite being available for five years it is still quite rare. It can only be caught in the Southern Hemisphere, where only around 10% of the worlds population lives. If the pattern of Pokémon GO Tour events continues, Sinnoh Tour will likely happen around February 2024 so Chatot would most likely be featured with a shiny and lose rarity very quickly.
Do you have any of these Pokémon? If you do, congratulations, you have some of the rarest Pokémon in Pokémon GO!
Stay tuned, I plan to write a rarest Costumed Pokémon and rarest Shiny Pokémon article soon, so keep an eye out for a survey on my Twitter/X.
Until next time!
