This year, I’m taking on the ultimate Pokémon challenge

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new Pokémon game out right now in the US of A and this Friday for everyone else. Also, I can see you hiding under the bed, and I need you to crawl out and listen to what I have to say. This stuff is important to me dammit! I’ve played a lot of Pokémon games over the years. Hell, I’ve probably played all of them. But over the next year, I’m going to attempt to do something which I’ve never done before. I’m going to…catch ‘em all!

And by that, I don’t mean catching STDs like a sex tourist in Thailand. No, I mean grabbing every single Pokémon that has been released so far. That’s 719 known species of Pokémon to catch, train, breed, evolve and trade. That’s a hell of a task, but I’m determined to spend a year doing the impossible. The biggest hurdle however, will be in obtaining Legendary Pokémon. Some can only be captured once. Some are exclusive to events. Here’s a list of all the Legendary Pokémon in existence right now, with the ones that I happen to actually have so far, in bold:

Kanto

• Articuno
• Zapdo
• Moltres
• Mewtwo
• Mew

Johto

• Raikou
• Entei
• Suicune
• Lugia
• Ho-Oh
• Celebi

Hoenn

• Regirock
• Regice
• Registeel
• Latias
• Latios
• Kyogre
• Groudon
• Rayquaza
• Jirachi
• Deoxys

Sinnoh

• Uxie
• Mesprit
• Azelf
• Dialga
• Palkia
• Heatran
• Regigigas
• Giratina
• Cresselia
• Phione
• Manaphy
• Darkrai
• Shaymin
• Arceus

Unova

• Victini
• Cobalion
• Terrakion
• Virizion
• Tornadus
• Thundurus
• Reshiram
• Zekrom
• Landorus
• Kyurem
• Keldeo
• Meloetta
• Genesect

Kalos

• Xerneas
• Yveltal
• Zygarde
• Diancie

There’s a bunch of Pokémon here that I’m not too worried about catching. Critters like Ground and the Regi trio will be easy, now that the new Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire games are out. But its guys like Genesect, Meloetta and Diancie that are going to be a hassle. I’m going to need to do some serious wheeling and dealing on the Global Trade Station in order to acquire them to fill up the Pokedex.

But otherwise, I have another solid plan: I’m going back in time. I’m going to get my hands on the older games, possibly all the way back to Heart Gold and Soul Silver if I have to, and work my way up, transporting the hard to find Pokémon up a ladder of newer generations. In this regard, Pokémon Bank has been an absolute godsend.

It’s worth the annual fee of $5 to a Pokémon nut such as myself, and it works just fine between the X/Y versions of the game and the Ruby/Sapphire remakes. I plan to take things a step further if I have to. I’m saving up for one of the new 3DS consoles next year, and keeping my old one. Which means that I’ll restart several Pokémon games if I have to, in order to acquire new legendaries that can be traded. That’s how dedicated I am to this challenge.

It should be interesting to see how far I get in a year.

Last Updated: November 26, 2014