The Pokedex tracks every Pokemon you've registered in Pokemon GO. This comprehensive 2025 guide covers all methods to add Pokemon to your Pokedex and complete your collection.
Quick Answer: Add Pokemon to your Pokedex by catching them, hatching eggs, trading with friends, winning raids, evolving Pokemon, and completing research tasks. The complete Pokedex contains 926 catchable Pokemon as of November 2025.
How the Pokedex Works
The Pokemon GO Pokedex tracks Pokemon you've encountered and registered:
Pokedex Features
- Individual Pokemon Entries: Each species has its own Pokedex entry
- Variant Tracking: Forms, costumes, shinies shown as part of individual entries
- Lucky Pokemon Tracking: Separate count with gold-glowing backgrounds
- Event Pokemon: 282 event Pokemon from 118 species integrated into entries
- Total Available (Nov 2025): 926 Pokemon (90.34% of National Pokedex)
2025 Update: As of February 6, 2025, forms, costumes, and shinies are shown as variants within individual Pokemon entries rather than separate Pokedex entries.
Method 1: Catching Pokemon
The primary way to register Pokemon in your Pokedex:
Catching Basics
- Wild Encounters: Pokemon appear on your map as you explore
- Vibration Alert: Device vibrates when Pokemon spawn nearby
- AR Mode: Use augmented reality to see Pokemon in real world
- First Catch: Automatically adds to Pokedex
- Rewards: 500 XP for new Pokedex entries
Incense for More Spawns
- Normal Incense: Spawns Pokemon based on your biome (1 every 5 minutes for 1 hour)
- Event Incense: Features special event Pokemon
- Daily Adventure Incense: Free daily use, spawns unexpected species
Method 2: Hatching Eggs
Eggs contain Pokemon not always found in the wild:
Egg Hatching Guide
- Finding Eggs: Random items from PokeStops and Gifts
- Incubator Placement: Place eggs in incubators to hatch while walking
- Distance Requirements:
- 2 km Eggs: Common Pokemon
- 5 km Eggs: Moderate rarity
- 7 km Eggs: From gifts, often regional forms
- 10 km Eggs: Rare Pokemon
- 12 km Eggs: Strange Eggs from Team GO Rocket
- Baby Pokemon: Certain evolutionary lines only available as babies in eggs (Pichu, Togepi, Cleffa)
- Adventure Sync Rewards: 25km or 50km weekly walks trigger special egg rewards
Method 3: Trading with Friends
Trading is essential for regional exclusives and completing your Pokedex:
Trading Requirements
- Minimum Level: Trainer Level 10
- Friendship Required: Must be in-game friends
- Distance: Within 100 meters of each other
- Daily Limits:
- Regular Trades: Up to 100 per day
- Special Trades: 1 per day (legendaries, shinies, new Pokemon)
Trading Mechanics
- Regular Trade Cost: Minimum 100 Stardust
- Special Trade Cost: 20,000-1,000,000 Stardust (varies by friendship level)
- Lucky Pokemon Chance: Random chance from any trade
- Guaranteed Lucky Trades: 35 per trainer (increased in 2025)
- Trade Evolution: 11 Pokemon evolve through trading without Candy cost
What Cannot Be Traded
- Favorite Pokemon
- Current Buddy Pokemon
- Shadow Pokemon
- Mythical Pokemon (except Meltan/Melmetal)
- Previously traded Pokemon
Method 4: Raids & Battle League
Raid Battles
- Raid Tiers: 1-Star (solo), 3-Star (2-3 trainers), 5-Star (5-8 trainers)
- Mega Raids: Special raids for Mega Energy
- 6-Star Max Raids: Gigantamax Pokemon with unique G-Max moves
- Legendary Pokemon: Available in 5-Star raids (rotate monthly)
- Catch Opportunity: After winning, chance to catch raid boss
- Raid Passes:
- Free Daily Raid Pass: 1 per day from gym spins
- Premium Raid Pass: 100 PokeCoins
- Remote Raid Pass: 195 PokeCoins
GO Battle League
- Win battles to access legendary Pokemon as rewards
- Rank-based rewards increase legendary encounter chances
- Competitive PvP format with seasonal rotation
Method 5: Field Research Tasks
Complete tasks for guaranteed Pokemon encounters:
Research Types
- Daily Field Research: Spin PokeStops for tasks
- Weekly Rewards: Complete 7 tasks (one per day) for special encounters
- Research Breakthrough: Complete 4 monthly for exclusive Pokemon
- Special Research: Story-driven questlines (mythical Pokemon rewards)
- Timed Research: Limited-time event research
Method 6: Evolution
Evolving Pokemon adds new entries to your Pokedex:
Basic Evolution System
- Candy Requirement: Varies by species (12-400 Candy)
- Candy Sources:
- Catch Pokemon: 3 Candy
- Transfer to Professor: 1 Candy
- Walk as Buddy: 1 Candy per distance milestone
- Pinap Berry: Doubles candy from catches
Special Evolution Methods (2025)
Evolution Items Required:
- Sun Stone (Gloom → Bellossom, Sunkern → Sunflora)
- King's Rock (Poliwhirl → Politoed, Slowpoke → Slowking)
- Metal Coat (Onix → Steelix, Scyther → Scizor)
- Dragon Scale (Seadra → Kingdra)
- Up-Grade (Porygon → Porygon2)
- Sinnoh Stone (Various Gen 4 evolutions)
- Unova Stone (Various Gen 5 evolutions)
- Gimmighoul Coins (999 needed for Gholdengo)
Buddy Evolution Examples:
- Pancham → Pangoro: Buddy + catch 32 Dark-types + 50 Candy
- Eevee → Sylveon: Buddy + earn 70 hearts + 25 Candy
- Feebas → Milotic: Walk 20km as Buddy + 100 Candy
Unique Evolution Mechanics:
- Inkay → Malamar: Hold device upside down during evolution
- Tyrogue Evolution: Determined by highest stat (Attack/Defense/HP)
- Wurmple: Random evolution (cannot be influenced)
- Trade Evolutions: 11 Pokemon evolve through trading without Candy
Regional Exclusives and How to Get Them
39 "true" regional Pokemon only spawn in specific geographic regions:
Regional Examples by Location
- Kangaskhan: Australia/Oceania
- Farfetch'd: Asia
- Tauros: North America
- Mr. Mime: Europe
- Corsola: Southern hemisphere (tropical regions)
- Klefki: France only
- Hawlucha: Mexico
- Paldean Tauros: Region-locked by hemisphere
- Blaze Breed: Western hemisphere
- Aqua Breed: Eastern hemisphere
- Combat Breed: Spain/Portugal
How to Obtain Regional Exclusives
- Travel: Visit the specific region where Pokemon spawn
- Trade with Friends: Most effective method - add friends from different regions
- Special Events: Regionals sometimes appear globally during events
- Research Tasks: Occasionally featured in Field Research rewards
- Regional Raids: Some regionals appear in regional raid events
Special Forms and Variants
Regional Forms
- Furfrou: Can change forms (Pokedex feature)
- Vivillon: Multiple patterns collectable via Postcards from different regions
- Oricorio: Four forms, regionally locked by hemisphere
- Tatsugiri: Curly, Droopy, and Stretchy forms in specific regions
Event Pokemon & Costumes
- Total Event Pokemon: 282 from 118 species (November 2025)
- Recent Examples:
- Halloween 2025: 11 costume variants
- GO Fest 2025: Dapper Pikachu, Formal Pikachu
Gigantamax Pokemon (Gmax)
- Count: 13 available (November 2025)
- How to Obtain: Appear in 6-Star Max Battles at Power Spots
- Recent Debuts: Garbodor, Grimmsnarl, Snorlax, Machamp, Butterfree
Lucky Pokemon & Other Special Features
Lucky Pokemon
What They Are:
- Pokemon obtained through trading with enhanced stats
- Minimum IV: 12/12/12
- Gold-glowing background in Pokedex
- Green label in Pokemon summary
- Benefits: Cost 50% less Stardust to power up
How to Obtain:
- Random chance when any Pokemon is traded
- Guaranteed Lucky Trades (35 per trainer as of 2025)
- Trading Pokemon from 2019 or earlier increases chances
Shadow Pokemon
- Cannot be traded
- Can be purified to increase IV stats
- Tracked separately in Pokedex
- 419 Shadow Pokemon species available (October 2024)
Tips for Completing the Pokedex
Strategic Approach
- Participate in Monthly Events
- Community Days: Single Pokemon with increased spawn rates
- Special Research: Mythical Pokemon unavailable otherwise
- Seasonal Events: Limited-time spawns
- Use Incense Strategically
- Event Incense for limited-time event Pokemon
- Daily Adventure Incense for unexpected spawns
- Normal Incense for biome-based Pokemon
- Maximize Egg Hatching
- Walk varied distances (different eggs = different Pokemon)
- Use multiple incubators simultaneously
- Adventure Sync: 25km or 50km weekly rewards
- Complete Field Research Daily
- Spin PokeStops for guaranteed encounters
- 7-day streaks give special rewards
- Build Trading Network
- Add friends from different regions
- Exchange regional exclusives
- Trade for Pokemon with exclusive moves
- Challenge Raids Regularly
- Raid Pokemon rarely appear in wild
- Coordinate with local community
- Participate in GO Battle League
- Win battles for legendary encounters
- Higher ranks = better rewards
Efficiency Strategies
- Focus on Regions: Complete one regional group at a time
- Track Progress: Use Pokedex completion percentage
- Plan Travel: If traveling, prioritize regional exclusives
- Event Planning: Check event calendars for limited-time Pokemon
- Friendship Levels: Increase to reduce Special Trade costs
Rewards for Pokedex Milestones
Important Note: Unlike main series Pokemon games, Pokemon GO does NOT currently offer specific rewards for completing the entire Pokedex (as of November 2025).
However, Completing Activities Earns:
- Stardust: Earned from catching and trading
- Candy: Essential for powering up and evolving
- Experience Points: Level up as Trainer
- Special Research Encounters: Unlocks legendary Pokemon
- Achievement Recognition: Complete Pokedex (all 926) is major personal achievement
- Bragging Rights: Respected in the community
November 2025 Statistics
| Metric |
Count |
| Total Available Pokemon |
926 |
| Regional Exclusives |
39 |
| Event Pokemon Species |
118 |
| Costume Variants |
282+ |
| Gigantamax Pokemon |
13 |
| Evolution Items |
8 |
| Special Trade Daily Limit |
1 |
| Regular Trade Daily Limit |
100 |
| Guaranteed Lucky Trades |
35 per trainer |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to catch every Pokemon to complete the Pokedex?
Yes, catching is the primary method. However, you can also register Pokemon through trading, hatching, and evolving.
Can I get regional Pokemon without traveling?
Yes! Trading with friends from different regions is the most practical method. Regional Pokemon also occasionally appear globally during special events.
What's the fastest way to complete the Pokedex?
Attend Community Days, participate in events, trade regularly with friends from different regions, and complete all available research tasks.
Do shiny Pokemon count as separate Pokedex entries?
As of February 2025, shinies are tracked as variants within the Pokemon's main Pokedex entry, not as separate entries.
Can mythical Pokemon be traded?
Most mythical Pokemon cannot be traded. The only exceptions are Meltan and Melmetal.