These days, it’s relatively easy to catch Mythical Pokemon in the series of games, whether you’re playing a mainlinePokemongame on the Nintendo Switch or wandering around withPokemon Go. Before Generation 6, however, Mythical Pokemon were often not widely released outside of specific, limited event distributions, including some location-specific events, meaning they were often nigh impossible to get your hands on unless you were lucky (or knew how to hack the Pokemon into your game).
Thankfully, Mythical Pokemon aren’t quite as limited to attain nowadays thanks to online global distributions and the appearances of moreMythical Pokemonin newer, more accessible games, though that doesn’t mean some of them are any easier to catch! This article will be covering the most difficult Mythical Pokemon to catch within the games, from early generation OGs to some newer Switch appearances.
Celebi is a Mythical Pokemon that only really became easily accessible in the last few years, being incredibly difficult to get your hands on before that — even in its original Generation 2 titles — unless players had access to rare time and location-limited events, a Virtual Consolerelease ofPokemon Crystal, or the very specific JapanesePokemon ColosseumBonus Disc and the associated Japanese console necessary to play it. Thanks toPokemon Go— the usual success story for the boost in accessibility for Mythicals in recent years — Celebi is now fairly easy to get your hands on inPokemon Go… though this doesn’t necessarily mean Celebi is still a walk in the park to get in full Pokemon games on console.
While Celebi first became common within online distributions back in 2016 forX and Y, even these distributions weren’t fully global events, and Celebi was only available to those in Europe and America. Even when it comes to online distributions now, the last time Celebi was obtainable in an event was in a 2022 event forSword and Shield. That means Celebi is unobtainable in the last two main-series games,Pokemon Legends: ArceusandScarlet and Violet. Alongside this, the only way Celebi can be transferred into certain main-series console games throughPokemon HomefromGois if players somehow already have a Celebi in those games, defeating the point of transferring Celebi in the first place. All in all, Celebi is one difficult Pokemon to get your hands on, even today.
Jirachi is yet another Pokemon that, until very recently, was a nightmare to get your hands on. Despite being a Generation 3 Pokemon, Jirachi was initially only available inPokemon Ruby and Sapphireto players who either had a US-exclusivePokemon ColosseumBonus Disc or to players with a Europe-exclusive copy ofPokemon Channel, aniche GameCube gamethat had players watch short videos. Both of these methods required players to both own and fully beat an entirely separate game. Beyond this, Jirachi was also occasionally available through limited events, some easily accessible and others very rare, though Jirachi had no distribution events whatsoever between 2018 and 2022.
Unfortunately, even today, Jirachi still requires players to have purchased another game to be able to get their hands on it — at least inBrilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Players can only get Jirachi in a specialBrilliant Diamond and Shining Pearlevent if they have save data on their system fromSword and Shield. At the very least, this time, you don’t need to have completed the entire game first.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl’s Manaphy was an incredibly tedious Pokémon to obtain back when it originally came out if you weren’t fortunate enough to be able to access its rare location-based events in Japan, America, or South Korea. To get their hands on a Manaphy, players would also have to own a copy ofany of thePokémon Rangergamesand fully complete whichever game they have to get their hands on a Manaphy egg, which could then be transferred toDiamondorPearl. This still works now, except only the firstRangergame still allows transferring between games, and players are limited to one single Manaphy per copy ofRanger —even if they reset theirRangergame after transferring their first Manaphy.
In later games, Manaphy was somewhat easier to obtain through online events starting fromOmega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, though these events were still very limited. It wasn’t untilPokemon: Legend Arceus' release that Manaphy finally became easily obtainable in a main-series game;Legends Arceusfeatures Manaphy (and its evolution, Phione, which can only be accessed in earlier games through breeding yourRanger-transferred Manaphy) in a certain quest that allows you to battle and capture several of theseelusive Pokemonin one go.
Mew didn’t really become accessible until recently, but its availability is still surprisingly dependent on having played through certain side games. This included a strange WiiWare game called ‘My Pokemon Ranch,’ intended as a companion game for owners ofPokemon Diamond, Pearl, andPlatinum. Even back in the 90s, it was especially shockingly hard to get — in fact, its first distribution event was limited to atiny number of Japanese playersthrough a distribution method that was then considered very experimental. Mew’s scarcity was part of the reason why so many rumors appeared about how to get it.
Getting your hands on Mew became a little easier with the introduction of Hoenn thanks to the Faraway Island event, though this remained an exclusive event in Japan and Taiwan. However, in 2007, Mew did get global distributions in select locations for short periods of time. Availability became a lot better in the 2010s thanks to games likePokemon Goand the rise in online distributions in the main series of games. Nowadays, Mew can be caught inPokémon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlif the player has save data fromPokémon Let’s Go: EeveeorPikachu.
Magearna is a slightly niche and somewhat forgettable Pokémon for most players, being a Mythical that first appeared inPokémon Sun and Moon’s Alola region. As a Mythical, it had the typical special release associated with most Mythicals, as it could only be accessed through a region-specific QR code that players would have to scan with their 3DS camera. Thankfully, these codes are still available to find and still work despite the 3DS' Wi-Fi functions being shut down. This is the only time Magearna has ever been distributed, still making it a fairly rare Pokémon to have in your Dex.
However, for hardcore Pokédex completionists, Magearna is something like the final boss of Pokémon catching. Magearna has a special ‘Original Color’ form that can only be received once every single Pokémon up to Eternatus is registered onPokémon Home. Its special form only changes in color, with its coloration changing to resemble that of a Pokeball.Filling the Dex upto Eternatus is a difficult enough task as it is, as players will need to have access to event-exclusive Mythical Pokémon from years prior. That being said, this task used to be even harder — originally, players needed to have an entire living Dex saved inPokémon Homebefore Original Color Magearna was unlocked!
Darkrai was initially distributed throughPokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. InPlatinum, players could catch it by visiting Newmoon Island through a special Wi-Fi event item called the Member Card. Strangely, though Darkrai and its event were coded intoDiamond and Pearl, the Member Card was never officially distributed outside ofPlatinum, leaving the event inaccessible in those games without cheats. Instead,Diamond and Pearlplayers could only get Darkrai through a movie-related, in-person distribution event.
Beyond the Gen 4 games, Darkrai could only be obtained if players could go to in-person events or receive physical distribution codes. It wasn’t untilPokémon Legends: Arceusthat Darkrai made an appearance in a main series game without being attached to a distribution event of some sort, meaning Darkrai was all but impossible to catch for over a decade. However, as with many other Mythicals covered here, this special appearance is once again only possible if players have save game data forBrilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Alongside all of this, Darkrai has one of the lowest catch rates of any Pokémon seen in the games, having only a 1.6% base rate chance of being caught.
Kalos' three Mythical Pokémon are some of the rarest Mythical Pokémon available to the series, even in today’s era of readily-available Mythical and Legendary distributions. All three of them were originally only distributed through regional, limited events, and despite the emergence of online distribution events making once-rare Pokémon much easier to get your hands on, the only one of these three to have a relatively recent event is Volcanion, which was distributed inSword and Shieldback in 2022. Hoopa did have some special distribution events inSun and Moonin particular, but Diancie has not had a single distribution event for nearly a decade, since Generation 7’sOmega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This also means that Diancie is now impossible to trade out ofX and Ydue toPokémon Bankclosing down alongside the 3DS’s Wi-Fi capabilities.
However, Diancie and Hoopa are available inPokémon Go, meaning that they can be traded fromGotoHome, and then into a mainline game. Of course, catching these Pokémon in the main series games is much different to catching them inGo. With the muchanticipated release ofPokémon Legends: Z-Ahopefully coming soon, maybe these three will soon make a reappearance for the first time in a very long time. We can only hope!
