Alright, so if you don’t know this about me, I absolutely adore Pokémon. From the original Red and Blue on the GameBoy to the current generation of Pokémon games on the Switch, I have enjoyed every region and every journey I took through them. I have built countless teams and replayed these games numerous times. However, the one thing I never was able to accomplish is completing the National Pokédex.
As a long time fan of the franchise, it has been a dream of mine since I was a small child. I had always told myself that one day it would happen. I am so happy to say that the long awaited day has finally come. With Pokémon being my favorite franchise, I can’t even explain the sheer joy and accomplishment that I feel right now. To be perfectly honesty, I cried.
At the beginning of 2020, they finally released Pokémon Home for the Switch and for mobile devices. This allowed me to move all of my Pokémon from Pokémon Bank forward into Pokémon Home. Pokémon Home is compatible with the Let’s Go games and Sword and Shield. Once you move Pokémon forward, like always, they cannot go back. This is all well and good, but at the time only 400 could be moved into Sword and Shield and the Let’s Go games can only accept Kanto Pokémon. So for a while, it was nice to have them in Home, but you couldn’t do anything with over half of the Pokémon.
With Sword and Shield’s two DLC packs The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, the number of allowed Pokémon was raised to something around 600. Both expansions packs brought back Pokémon, but The Crown Tundra also brought back every single Legendary Pokémon. This was a big deal, especially for me, because a lot of the Pokémon I was missing were from game versions I didn’t own. So, with The Crown Tundra I was finally able to finish up my Legendary count.
However, Legendary Pokémon weren’t the only holes I had in my National Pokédex. Since I had transferred forward directly from Pokémon Bank, I had some evolutionary gaps. For example, I may have had my Greninja but because he was already evolved, Pokémon Home didn’t register Froakie or Frogadier into my Pokédex. For those gaps, I had to get out my trusty Nintendo 3DS and go snag those guys. Sword and Shield still locks out many Pokémon, so I had to pay visits to their home regions to get them. Thankfully I had my old saves still so I was able to breed what I needed for each evolution phase, put them into Pokémon Bank, and move them forward as well. Essentially, I now have a living dex in Pokémon Home.
I am beyond grateful for the 20th anniversary Mythical giveaways that the Pokémon Company did back in 2016. If it had not been for that, I’d be missing quite a few Mythical Pokémon. Not too mention Crown Tundra brining back every Legendary and Ultra Beast. Those were certainly a big blind spots in my Pokédex
Realistically, this is all still wild to me, though. I remember being excited to have completed Sword and Shield’s 400 count Pokédex, but this is an all together different feeling. This accomplishment brings my sense of pride for the series so much higher than I ever thought possible. And now moving forward, it won’t be as daunting as 898 Pokémon to complete, it’ll be around 100 each new generation if they keep their patterns up.
Honestly, I am beyond honored to have finally completed this feat. It didn’t go unnoticed either. When you finally register your 898th Pokémon, the mobile version of Pokémon Home will prompt you with a gift. You’ll be given an original color Magearna. Of course, this is just an added bonus to the feeling of finally having this daunting task completed.
Now as I sit here and write this, I want to replay every Pokémon game all at once. Now, each time I do, I won’t have this accomplishment weighing on me. If I’m honest though, it was absolutely joy to complete. However, I am looking forward to whichever region I replay next, not being weighed down by the classic “Gotta Catch ‘Em All’, mentality. For those of you who may find it impossible, especially with how many Pokémon there are nowadays, just remember that if I can do it you can, too!
