12 Hardest Pokemon To Catch In Pokemon Legends: Arceus

If you have tried the underlying mission of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, you know that some Pokemon are way harder to obtain than others. On top of that, some Pokemon have easy Pokedex entries to complete while some are hour-long slogs. From the start of the game, you are told by Arceus itself that you need to catch ’em all if you want the chance to face Arceus yourself.

After your tenth time checking for shaking trees in a very specific area of the game, you will realize that this would be a Herculean task even for a Pokemon master. Whether it be a Pokemon that is difficult to catch in the wild, or one that has absolutely ludicrous evolution methods, these Pokemon gave us the most issues while we completed the Pokedex.

Updated by Gabrielle Huston on January 11, 2023: Legends Arceus is a unique Pokemon game that allows players to run around the Hisuian region which would eventually be known as Sinnoh. You can catch region-specific Pokemon and fill out a complete Pokedex for an opportunity to meet the God Pokemon: Arceus! This article has been updated to give you a helping hand with some of the job.

12 Munchlax: For A Pokemon Who Loves To Lie Around, It Sure Is Tough To Find

Munchlax is surprisingly uncommon in Legends Arceus! There are only two places where it will spawn, and it has a really low chance of appearing in both of them. You’ll wind up coming and going for a really long time trying to get it to respawn – and forget about getting a shiny!

Needless to say, if you ever happen to see a mass outbreak of Munchlax, be sure to hop on it! Otherwise, you’re bound to have trouble.

11 Manaphy And Phione: Without The Internet, This Would Be Almost Impossible

If you keep visiting Professor Laventon back in Jubilife Village, you will eventually be tasked with Request 66: ‘The Sea’s Legend.’ This incredibly vague request merely mentions that the good professor heard a sound Cobalt Coastlands that sounded like a rare Pokemon. What the mission fails to mention is that this is how you obtain Manaphy and Phione, and you also need to have a Mantyke, Overqwil, and a Buizel in your party, and swim through the gate near the Seabreak Hollow in the evening.

The only clue that tells you what you need to do is in a random book found in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl. Were it not for gamer sleuths on the internet uncovering this mystery, this would easily be at the top of the list. However, the wonders of the internet make this task much easier.

10 Abra: The Teleporting Menace

For most Pokemon, if you fail to sneak up on them, you can still battle them for a chance to catch them once you are spotted. Unfortunately, Abra does not work that way. Instead, once you are spotted by an Abra, it teleports away from you. Much like in older Pokemon games, you really only get one chance per every Abra you encounter; either you get it with your first ball, or it dips out leaving you Abra-less.

Once you get more proficient with Wing Balls and Jet Balls, Abra isn’t as difficult as other Pokemon on this list. However, if you are hoping to have this strong Psychic-type Pokemon in the early game, you are going to have to be patient.

9 Rotom: The Ever Elusive Washing Machine/Lawn Mower/Fridge/Fan/Oven

There are rare Pokemon, and then there is Rotom. Rotom is a rare spawn who appears in two locations: Stonetooth Rows and Sacred Plaza, both in the Coronet Highlands. Luckily, these two spots are right next to each other and are near a camp, so you can reset to re-check for Rotom fairly easily. However, you need to get very lucky in order to find it.

What feels like a task that will take only an hour or so may very quickly turn into a multi-day endeavor as you struggle to track down Rotom. To make matters worst, Rotom’s Pokedex entry requires you to get Rotom’s other forms. The only way to get that is to buy them off the special vendors in Jubilife Village. Whether they have them is purely based on RNG. Rotom is very tedious, but the method to catch it isn’t overly difficult, which sadly isn’t the case for the rest of the Pokemon on this list.

8 Shieldon And Cranidos: The Fossils That Require You to Break Space And Time

There are a handful of Pokemon that require you to search through Space-Time Distortions in order to track them down. Porygon can only be found in distortions in the Crimson Mirelands and Magnemite is only found in distortions in the Cobalt Coastlands. While these are hard to track down, Shieldon and Cranidos are still harder.

Shieldon and Cranidos are found in distortions in the Coronet Highlands. However, since there are two different rare spawns in the distortions you may end up finding the same one over and over again. Decent luck can make this a fairly easy task, but the fact that this can take literal hours of hunting makes the fossil Pokemon well deserving of this spot.

7 Bonsly: The Baby Pokemon That Will Leave You In Tears

There are plenty of baby Pokemon that are hard to track down. Munchlax, Pichu, and Cleffa are all very elusive and can eat up hours of your time. However, Bonsly takes the cake by far. Unfortunately, its evolution Sudowoodo takes up its spawn slots, so as you’re hunting Bonsly you may keep encountering this wannabe tree instead.

Here’s where Bonsly becomes a true nightmare. Bonsly’s Pokedex completion criteria is ludicrous. You either have to spam the move Mimic over and over again against wild Pokemon, or catch more Bonsly. Without question, Bonsly is going to be one of the last Pokedex entries you complete, but there are still Pokemon on this list that are even more difficult.

6 Cherrim: Until Recently, This Was Literally Impossible

Cherrim is one of two Pokemon on this list that can only be found by attacking shaking trees. Shaking trees is entirely based on RNG. There really isn’t anything you can do to make trees shake more frequently, and there is no way to control what pops out of the trees. What made it worse with Cherrim is that a bug that has since been patched kept the player from catching it if it enters its Sunshine form. As the weather is sunny quite often, this happened to a ton of players.

The only thing that Cherrim has going for it is that you can at least find it in shaking trees in multiple areas. Sure, you will leave a trail of dead Burmy and Wormadam in your wake, but you can find it if you check every tree in a casual playthrough. Sadly, that’s more than we can say for the top spot on this list.

5 Enamorus: The Forecast Calls For Frustration

Probably one of the most random additions to the Pokedex in Pokemon Legends: Arceus was a new recruit to the Unova Region’s weather trio. Say what you will about Enamorus’s design, all players can agree that this behemoth is brutal to catch.

In order to track down Enamorus, you first need to catch its weather brethren: Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus. Each of these Pokemon can only be found during specific weather conditions and in specific areas of the game. Once you find them, the ordeal is far from over for you as each one fights back. Each Legendary Pokemon hurls attacks at you while you work to try and stun it and eventually battle it. Along with having to catch all three of these Legendary Pokemon prior to encountering Enamorus, Enamorus has an extra trick up its sleeve. Enamorus also fights back, but the attacks it throws at you also invert your controls. Catching Enamorus is a trek that only gets more difficult, but it can still be done in about an hour if you have the skills.

4 Spiritomb: Swallow Your Pride, Use A Guide

Early in your adventure, you will be told about wisps that are hidden throughout the entire Hisui region. By collecting each and every wisp, you will eventually get the opportunity to catch a Spiritomb. On paper, that doesn’t sound too bad. However, the fact that you need to find 107 of these things is ridiculous. To make matters worse, you can only see a wisp from a distance if it is nighttime.

Your best bet for completing this gargantuan task is to save it until the end of the game and use a guide. If you start grabbing every wisp as you stumble upon them, you are going to lose track of where they are very quickly, leaving you with a complete mess of confusion. If you try to do this without a guide, good luck! You are going to need it. For the final two spots, a guide can be nice, but it is far from a game-changer, which is why Spiritomb ranks under it.

3 Ursaluna: A Literal Bear To Evolve

Using rare items to evolve Pokemon is nothing new. If you are playing Pokemon X or Pokemon Y, you know full well that you need to wait until near the end game before you can legitimately find a Dusk Stone for your Lampent. If you are playing Pokemon Platinum, you may know that there is only one Razor Claw for your Sneasel hidden away in Team Plasma’s hideout. Ursaluna requires a Peat Block to evolve, and you are going to hunt for that Peat Block for hours.

A Peat Block can only be found in the Crimson Mirelands by hunting for items using your ridable Ursaluna. It is one of the rarest items you find with Ursaluna, and there is no way to increase your chances of finding it. Instead, you are going to be resetting a lot while also avoiding attacks from nearby Gastly and Croagunk. You will get your hopes up thinking, “This is it; I finally found it,” only to have your Ursaluna dig up a couple of Balls of Mud. As frustrating as it is, the top spot is going to make you contemplate throwing your controller against the wall.

2 Cherubi: In The Game About The Pokemon God, Cherubi Plays The Devil

Take everything that makes Cherrim, Bonsly, and Ursaluna difficult and put it all together. That’s Cherubi. Cherubi can only be reliably found in trees in a single area. Cherubi has ridiculously hard Pokedex criteria that requires you to catch multiple. Finding Cherubi is entirely based on luck, and it is a rare encounter.

Cherubi is only reliably found in trees near the waters of The Heartwood within the Obsidian Fieldlands. There is nothing you can do to help your odds; you simply have to keep leaving and re-entering the area hoping that if there are any shaking trees, it’s something other than a bunch of Burmy and Combee. Once you find your first one, you can either pray that you’ll get lucky and they’ll be part of a mass outbreak, or get back to it and try to catch more. Without question, Cherubi is the hardest Pokemon to catch in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and one of the hardest Pokemon to catch in any game.

1 Arceus: God. Enough Said.

In order to catch Arceus, you need to literally catch every other Pokemon in the game. It’s part of Research Task #27, which you’ll receive after completing all the game’s main missions (even the ones after the credits roll). The only exceptions are that you don’t need to catch Shaymin, Darkrai, Manaphy, or Phione.

Once you’ve done all that back-breaking work, you’ll head to one of the Temples of Sinnoh and throw balms at Arceus, much like the previous regional bosses, to subdue it. At least you’ll finally have that sweet sweet satisfaction!

Next: Pokemon Legends Arceus: Everything You Need to Know About Shiny Hunting