In This Article
Are you tired of endlessly wandering around trying to get rare, legendary, and elusive Pokemon? Look no further.
In this guide, I have compiled some proven ways to get the best Pokemon in Pokemon Go along with some special tips and tricks to catch ‘em all and become a Pokemon Go master.
Just to give you an overview of the tips and tricks I have shared in this guide, you can catch the best Pokemon by participating in Raid Battles, take part in the Pokemon Go Battle League, use Incense and Daily Adventure Incense, complete Field Research tasks and Special Research tasks, and the simplest way to get rare and Shiny Pokemon is by trading with your Pokemon Go friends.
So, without any further ado let’s quickly jump into the details:
1. Participate in Raid Battles and Elite Raids
Whenever a Boss Pokemon, which is a powerful Pokemon, takes over a gym that’s when Raid Battle begins. You have to partner up with other trainers as you need to get their help to raid the gym and defeat the Boss Pokemon.
The goal is to successfully defeat the Pokemon, which is when you will be given a chance to catch that Pokemon and you will also get tons of special items.
Apart from the regular battles, Elite Raid Battles are exactly where you have the highest chances to get legendary Pokemon.
These battles are super exciting and at the same time very challenging because your trainer team will be battling against a powerful rare Pokemon.
It is important to note here in Elite Raids all the trainers must need to be physically near the gym to participate in the raid battle. Unlike regular Raid Battles where you are allowed to invite trainers to join you from any part of the world through Raid Passes.
You can find most of the nearby raid battles using gym maps, and you can connect with other trainers via the dedicated discord channels list available here who can invite you for remote raids.
2. Enter the Pokemon Go Battle League
Participating in the GO Battle League is the simplest and the easiest way to get rare and legendary Pokemon.
You have to build your very own team for trainer battles and you need to smartly assemble them to increase your chances of winning.
There are over 24 ranks in GO Battle League so the more you win, the better you are going to rank in the league.
With every advancement in your league rank, the game will reward you with increased chances to encounter and catch some Legendary and Rare Pokemon.
You can refer to the table below to find out the possibilities to get Pokemon and certain rewards based on your league rank:
If you are lucky and circumstances are in your favor, there are chances you may find a Shiny Pokemon.
| Rank 1 and above | Get to encounter Mareanie, Metang, Meditite, Poliwag, Spheal, Swablu, Wingull |
| Rank 6 and above | Get to encounter Frillish, Skarmory |
| Rank 11 and above | Get to encounter Dratini, Lickitung, Mareanie, Onix, Swinub. |
| Rank 16 and above | Get to encounter Hisuian Sneasel, Miltank, Scraggy |
| Rank 20 and above | Get to encounter five-star Raid Boss. |
| Ace Rank 2000+ | Encounter Axew |
| Veteran Rank 2500+ | Encounter Noibat |
| Expert Rank 2750+ | Encounter Goomy |
| Legend Rank 3000+ | Encounter Pikachu Libre |
3. Catch the Region-Specific Legendary Trio in Wild
Yes, I am talking about the very well-known legendary lake guardian trio of Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf.
All three of them are Shiny Pokemon, making them some of the best ones to get that can help complete your Pokedex.
Apart from the raid battles and Go Battle League options I have discussed above, you can find these region-specific legendary and rare Pokemon in their Shiny form in wild but still, they are hard to encounter. The idea is to keep searching for one depending on your current region.
I have created a list of the best places along with their coordinates where you can find and catch all those powerful and high-level Pokemon.
You can refer to the following table to find out which Shiny Legendary Pokemon is available in your region:
| Uxie | Asia, Pacific |
| Mesprit | Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India |
| Azelf | Americas, Greenland |
4. Green/Orange Incense and Daily Adventure Incense
Incense is a really powerful in-game item and can attract Pokemon to your location for a specific period, no matter where you are.
These incenses attract not only regular Pokemon but you will even get a chance to catch rare, legendary, and some Shiny Pokemon too.
There are two basic types of incense, i.e., green incense and daily adventure incense.
You will get regular green incense whenever you level up or when you complete a Special Research task.
However, for the Daily Adventure Incense, the game will reward you with one every day at 12 AM local time. But you can have only one of these at a time in your bag. Also, using this incense will reward you with 30 Poke Balls.
Interestingly, if any special event is ongoing, then your regular green incense will automatically turn into orange incense for the period of that event, and using that incense will let you find and catch special Pokemon too, even those that don’t normally appear in the wild.
I have created a simple table to help you figure out their uses, the time it lasts, and where exactly you can find this incense:
| Green Incense | Lasts for sixty minutes | A regular incense you may get from leveling up |
| Orange Incense | Lasts for more than sixty minutes | Green incense turns into orange incense during the event |
| Daily Adventure Incense | Lasts for fifteen minutes | Automatically added to your bag daily at 12 AM local time |
5. Complete Monthly and Daily Field Research and Special Research Tasks
You can earn unique rewards and get to catch rare, legendary, and exclusive Pokemon by completing Field Research tasks as well as Special Research tasks.
The interesting thing about these research tasks is that they continue to change every month, so at the start of a new month, you will be eligible to get a new set of legendary Pokemon along with a handful of interesting rewards, provided you have completed specific tasks.
Once you have completed seven tasks, you will get research breakthrough rewards, which is a chance to catch one of the ultra-rare Pokemon.
The research tasks vary and it consists of:
- Catching specific Pokemon
- Throwing Poke balls in a specific manner
- Buddy related tasks
- Tasks related to eggs
- Raid related tasks
- And a handful of miscellaneous tasks
These wide varieties of tasks help make it easy for you to complete them as per your choice and preference. This way you can quickly reach research breakthroughs and earn rewards and Pokemon.
6. Trade Pokemon with your Friends
Trading is an interesting way and a brilliant workaround to complete your Pokedex and get some of the best Pokemon. Especially those region-specific and elusive Shiny Pokemon, which are super hard to not only catch but to find in the game.
If you are new to Pokemon trading, it is important to be aware of the requirements, i.e., you need to have a trainer level 10 or higher, you just need to be friends with the person you want to trade, and to initiate the trade you and your friend must have to be nearby (within 100 meters).
TIP
The better friendship you have with your trading partner, the less Stardust you have to spend on trading.
For every trade, you and your friend have to spend Stardust. And the amount of stardust depends on how the type of Pokemon. If you are trading a Legendary or Shiny Pokemon then it will require more Stardust.
Conclusion
That is it, these are some of the tried and tested ways to get the best Pokemon in Pokemon Go so by combining all six of them you can easily catch your favorite ones.
My personal favorite is to use lures and incense to attract Pokemon and catch them all. And there are high chances you might encounter legendary, rare, or Shiny Pokemon.
