Hardest Pokemon Games To 100 Percent (2024)

What does it mean to one hundred percent a Pokemon game? Is it completing the Pokedex? Obtaining all player card medals? Conquering the Battle Tower? There are a plethora of ways for completionists to achieve their Pokemon journey goals. Throughout all the main series titles, different elements have been added, tweaked, and removed, which influence the journey to one hundred percent pocket monster fulfillment.

Given how much the franchise has transformed over the years, no one pursuit to doing everything across the diverse Pokemon regions has been the same from game to game. If you’re looking for the Pokemon titles which will put you through the ringer in the crusade for ultimate gaming completion, these have you covered.

6 Pokemon Sun & Moon

Generation 7

Ever since Game Freak took the Pokemon series into the realm of the three-dimensional, starting with Pokemon X & Y, it’s fair to say that the change in visual style also came with a scaling down of difficulty. While calling any of the 3D Pokemon titles “hard” is imprecise, it’s still no cakewalk to reach the one hundred percent milestone in most of them.

The seventh generation Pokemon titles, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon, are arguably the most challenging of the 3D games. Of course, the games set in the tropical Hawaii inspired Alola region aren’t viewed as unrelenting in the grand scheme of the franchise. But between the battle tree, shiny hunting, and a myriad of other activities, there’s a whole lot to see and do in Pokemon Sun and Moon. The most laborious of the all the activities is the Ultra Wormholes. Obtaining every Pokemon residing in these fissures in space isn’t insurmountable, but will most certainly take you a while.

5 Pokemon Red, Blue, & Yellow

Generation 1

It’s hard to talk about the Pokemon’s astronomical impact without going back to the OG titles. Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow each hold a significant place in not just the annals of video game history, but the greater lexicon of all pop culture entertainment. Even though the first games have definitely shown their age, there’s a good reason these classics remain relevant decades later.

The main completionist facet of the original games is, of course, “catching them all”, i.e., completing the Pokedex. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to do this with one game, as such you’re forced to buy all three titles in order to get all the original one hundred fifty-one Pokemon. Given the game’s age, it’s lacking in side activity variety compared to subsequent entries in the franchise. Nonetheless, the quest to complete the Pokedex remains an exhausting and rough challenge that’ll test both your patience and your love of the series (as well as your wallet).

4 Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald

Generation 3

Any long time Pokemon fan knows the dreaded pain of version exclusive Pokemon. It didn’t matter how many hours you sunk into one game, without the others, you wouldn’t be able to catch all the Pokemon available. In generation three, the exclusivity was debatably at its most vexing. Each game carried Pokemon the others didn’t have. This in turns leads you to having to find someone to trade with or fork out the cash for an extra gaming cartridge.

As if finishing the Pokedex wasn’t tough enough, the generation three games also featured a monumental battle island filled with challenges that’ll require the very best out of your Pokemon team. The games also introduced mirage islands. These peninsulas would appear and disappear throughout the day and each island boasted unique hard to find Pokemon. Then, of course, you have the Legendaries, in particular the Regi Trio: Regice, Regirock and Registeel. The methods to get these three Pokemon were especially obscure before the days of the internet, which makes you wonder how anybody actually figured this out.

3 Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal

Generation 2

While Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow lacked in the post game or side activity department, the following generation was packed with things to do. Pokemon Silver, Gold, and Crystal are most strikingly the only games which let you travel back to the previous game region, allowing you to collect sixteen gym badges instead of the standard eight. Headlined by two extensive regions, the generation two entries are also loaded to the brim with more activities than you’ll ever call for.

From clashing with the protagonist of the first game. Red on top of Mt. Silver, to the Pokemon Safari, inauguration of shiny pokemon, battle facilities and so much more, Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal aren’t short on substance. In fact, when the games were remade as Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSliver in 2009, Game Freak added even more content, including the Pokeathlon and special event encounters featuring alternative regional Pokemon. If you’re going to do and see all there is in the generation two titles, you'd be wise to brace yourself for the long haul.

2 Pokemon Black 2 & White 2

Generation 5

In the conversation of which main line Pokemon titles are the most underrated, many point towards Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 as prime candidates. Because of their reputation as the only direct sequels Pokemon games, Black 2 and White 2 never quite got the appreciation they merited. While there is overlap with the two predecessor games, Black 2 and White 2 present so much fresh content to a mystifying degree. Along with everything found in the previous generation five titles, you can find all manner of additional facets which, for better or worse, make the hunt to one hundred percent more turbulent.

Along with the standard Pokedex completion, battle tower, etc., you also have the Pokemon Studio, Pokemon World Tournament, additional online features, and a host of brand new special encounters with rare and legendary Pokemon. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 also include different difficulty settings, an awesome feature that has puzzlingly never appeared in any other entry. So, while Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 are superb games, they also really push your commitment as not just a Pokemon fan, but also as a video game completionist.

1 Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum

Generation 4

In the debate for the hardest Pokemon games to complete, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are the sovereigns. Pokemon Platinum can also be included, but in terms of pure tedium, adversity, and frustration, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have it in spades. But why are these games in particular the hardest? Where to start? The most notorious aspect is the severe version exclusivity, which many regard as the worst in the series. But that’s hardly an unusual issue. Even the positively absurd hard to find Pokemon and the battle island aren’t unfamiliar. The most exhausting part of the generation four games are the online elements.

Because these titles were the first on the Nintendo DS, Game Freak took advantage of the new online capabilities. The most infamous is the Grand Underground, which is where you can find fossils and interact with fellow Pokemon trainers. Most notoriously, in order to catch the rare Spiritomb, you must talk with thirty-two different people in the Grand Underground. Given the total lack of online support for these games, you’ll need a friend or another DS. Of course, this laborious process is just one of the many things which make the generation four Pokemon games the toughest to one hundred percent.