Pokémon GO is a popular mobile game that has taken the world by storm ever since its release in 2016. There are currently over 700 Pokémon on Pokémon GO's Pokedex and counting, with the game receiving frequent updates that add more Pokemon.

Over the years, many players have been desperate to complete their Pokedex and catch every Pokémon available. However, not all the Pokémon in the game are available to catch in the wild. From adorable baby Pokémon to the awe-inspiring Legendary Pokémon; they all need to be obtained through different methods.

This list includes all the Pokémon that cannot be caught in the wild, and how they can be caught. Gotta catch 'em all!

Some disclaimers:

A couple of these Pokemon are technically caught in the wild, but they require special methods and don't just spawn randomly under normal circumstances like most other Pokemon.

Additionally, Eggs and Raids are rotated frequently. If a Pokemon listed here is found in Eggs or Raid Battles, it may not always be available through those methods, but it may come back another time.

Finally, there are always exceptions during events or other times to the Pokemon listed here. Often, Pokemon that are exclusive to Raids can spawn in the wild for an event, et cetera. This list is meant to outline the Pokemon that typically, under normal circumstances, do not spawn in the wild.

Absol, The Disaster Pokémon

Absol can be hatched from a 12km egg, which is rewarded after defeating any Team Rocket GO Leaders. Absol is also often rotated in Raid Battles.

Cherubi, The Cherry Pokémon

Cherubi can be only spawned using a Mossy Lure Module, which is used at a PokeStop and lasts for 30 minutes. Cherubi can also be hatched from an egg.

Ditto, The Transform Pokémon

Ditto can be caught in the wild by players, but never appears on the radar in its conventional form. Instead, it will always be masquerading as a different Pokémon. In the past, it has been disguised as common Pokémon, like Pidgey, Rattata, Zubat, among others. Which Pokemon Ditto uses as disguises can change from time to time.

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Players will only realize they've caught Ditto when it changes forms upon being caught in a Poke Ball.

Druddigon, The Cave Pokemon

At the time of writing, Druddigon is only available as a Raid Boss. In the past, it has been available through Field Research.

Espurr, The Restraint Pokemon

Espurr is a Psychic-type that was formerly only in Raids, but can also now be hatched from Eggs.

Frillish, The Floating Pokémon (Male)

The male variation of Frillish has previously been made available as a GO Battle League reward. It has also been a reward encounter from Research Breakthroughs.

The pink, female Frillish is available to catch in the wild as normal.

Klink, The Gear Pokémon

Klink is often available through Raid Battles, and can also be hatched from Eggs.

Mawile, The Deceiver Pokémon

Mawile can be hatched from an Egg, or caught as a reward for defeating it in a Raid Battle.

Mienfoo, The Martial Arts Pokémon

Mienfoo is usually available as a GO Battle League reward, and can also be obtained by hatching Eggs.

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Pancham, The Playful Pokémon

Currently, Pancham is only available through hatching an Egg, but it has been in Raid Battles in the past.

Pawniard, The Sharp Blade Pokemon

Pawniard is currently only obtainable through the 12km Strange Eggs dropped by Team GO Rocket Leaders.

Rockruff, The Puppy Pokémon

Rockruff can be hatched from an Egg, or obtained through winning a Raid Battle.

Rufflet, The Eaglet Pokemon

Rufflet is not catchable in the wild, but it can be encountered as a GBL reward or hatched from an Egg.

Salandit, The Toxic Lizard Pokémon

Salandit is currently an Egg-exclusive Pokémon, and it's exclusive to the 12km Strange Eggs awarded by GO Rocket Team Leaders when defeated.

Female Salandit can be evolved into Salazzle, while males cannot be evolved.

Scraggy, The Shedding Pokémon

Scraggy can be hatched from an Egg, specifically a 12km Strange Egg. Scraggy has also previously been a reward from a Research Breakthrough, as well as a GO Battle League reward.

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Shedinja, The Shed Pokémon

Shedinja is quest-locked and can only be caught during some limited-time Field Research Tasks.

Shedinja could also be caught previously as a reward for Special Research tasks in the Misunderstood Mischief and the Throwback Challenge 2020: Hoenn Special Research stories, though these are no longer available unless the player already acquired them.

Shinx, The Flash Pokémon

Shinx can be caught as a reward from simple Team Rocket GO grunts and Raid Battles. There was also a Shinx Community Day in November 2021.

Smeargle, The Painter Pokémon

Smeargle is a special Pokémon that can only be caught through a surprise encounter. Players will need to open up their in-game camera, also known as the GO Snapshot mechanic.

Smeargle will then pop up and photobomb a picture at random (only once per day). Once this has happened, Smeargle will then appear in the wild around the player's vicinity, ready to be caught.

Spinda, The Spot Panda Pokémon

Spinda does not spawn in the wild, and can primarily only be caught through certain Field Research tasks. There have been many variations of Spinda's fur pattern, including a Heart Pattern released specifically for Valentine's Day.

Spiritomb, The Forbidden Pokémon

Spiritomb can only be caught through some Halloween-specific Research Tasks. These tend to repeat every year during the Halloween season.

Timburr, The Muscular Pokémon

This strong Pokémon can either be hatched from a 7km Egg, or caught in the Bonus Challenge after defeating it in a Raid Battle.

Vullaby, The Diapered Pokemon

Vullaby is hatchable from 12km Eggs, and has been a Field Research encounter in the past.

Baby Pokémon

Most of the baby Pokémon in Pokémon GO are egg-exclusives, typically hatched from 5km eggs, and cannot be caught in the wild. Hatching eggs in Pokémon GO is simply a matter of putting them in an incubator and walking the required distance for them to hatch.

The list of egg-exclusive baby Pokémon includes:

• Azurill
• Bonsly
• Budew
• Chingling
• Cleffa
• Elekid
• Happiny
• Igglybuff
• Magby
• Mantyke
• Mime Jr.
• Munchlax
• Riolu
• Smoochum
• Togepi
• Wynaut

The available baby Pokémon list may cycle and rotate every so often.

Event Pokémon

During some special Pokémon GO events, players can catch featured Pokémon wearing specialized costumes. For seasonal events like Halloween or Christmas, Pikachu or Pichu could previously be seen wearing a unique hat, like a witch’s hat or a Santa hat, respectively. Raichu would retain this hat when it is evolved.

Many other Pokemon have been given costumes, and more are released from time to time. Sometimes, these costumed Pokemon make a return, but some have yet to.

Regional Variation Pokemon

Regional variations of some standard Pokémon, like the Alolan and Galarian versions, cannot be caught in the wild, while others often can be.

However, these Pokemon are not usually available as wild spawns:

• Alolan Marowak can be caught after defeating it in a Raid Battle. A-Marowak has been known to spawn in the wild during some events.
• Alolan Raichu has primarily been made available through Raid Battles.
• Galarian Ponyta can be hatched from an Egg, or found in a Raid Battle.
• Galarian Weezing could have been captured during GO Fest 2022, and can often also be caught in Raid Battles.
• Galarian Mr. Mime is typically made available through special events and Special Research questlines.

Evolved Forms

Players may notice that evolved Pokémon rarely spawn in the wild, with some not available at all. The only method of getting some of these Evolutions for players to farm enough Candy to evolve the first stage:

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While many Pokemon are available in their upper stages in the wild, like Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise many are not. There does not seem to be a pattern as to which are and which are not.

However, most Pokemon that require some special circumstances for evolving (like Aromatisse and Slurpuff, for example) are not found in the wild.

Mythical Pokémon

Mythical Pokémon are rare and difficult to obtain, as they cannot be found in the wild. Some Mythical Pokémon are only available as rewards for completing their specific Special Research tasks given by Professor Willow. There are currently over a dozen Mythical Pokémon in the game, with some still missing from the roster who may be added in future updates.

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Aside from this, some Mythical Pokémon can only be caught in Raid Battles. Most Mythicals cannot be traded.

The table below details all Mythical Pokémon currently in Pokémon GO, and how they can be obtained:

Raid-Exclusive Legendary Pokémon

There are many Legendary Pokémon currently in the game, and they are all considered to be quite rare as they are restricted from spawning in the wild.

The most common method of capturing Legendary Pokémon is by defeating them in a Raid Battle and then catching them in the Bonus Challenge, and they typically have a low catch rate of 2%. They can also be traded, but this costs large amounts of Stardust even if the Pokémon is registered by both players.

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The table below includes all the Legendary Pokémon that have previously been made available through Raids, and the region they belong to:

The Legendary Pokémon available through Raids changes quite frequently, often introducing new Pokémon or cycling back previous ones that players may have missed or require candies for.

Ultra Beasts

Ultra Beasts are kind of like Legendaries, but do have their own classification. In Pokemon GO, they have, so far, only appeared during special events. Only four have been released so far: Nihilego, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, and Xurkitree.

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