How to Complete a Living Dex in Pokémon HOME (2026 Guide)

A Living Dex is one of the most satisfying collections in Pokémon: one of every species, all in one place, alive in your boxes — not just registered as "seen". Here's what it takes to complete one in Pokémon HOME, where the biggest bottlenecks are, and how to fill the final gaps.

What counts as a Living Dex?

A standard Living Dex means keeping one of every Pokémon species in your Pokémon HOME boxes at the same time.

Many collectors go further by including regional forms such as Alolan, Galarian, Hisuian and Paldean Pokémon, gender differences, alternate forms, or even building a Shiny Living Dex with every legally obtainable shiny Pokémon.

There isn't one single "correct" Living Dex. You can keep it simple with one of every species or build a much larger collection containing forms, variants, legendaries, mythicals and shinies.

What you'll need

For a full Living Dex, Pokémon HOME Premium is the practical choice. The free Basic Plan only provides one box for 30 Pokémon, while Premium provides 200 boxes with space for up to 6,000 Pokémon.

You'll also need Pokémon to transfer from compatible games. The more games and generations you have access to, the more of the Pokédex you can complete yourself.

Games such as Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, Sword & Shield, Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Legends: Z-A each cover different parts of the wider Pokédex, so combining several games can fill a large portion of your collection.

The realistic roadmap

1. Start with what you already have. Transfer Pokémon from your current games into HOME and check your progress in the Pokédex.
2. Fill the easy gaps. Catch and evolve missing species, breed Pokémon where possible, collect version exclusives and make use of in-game and online trades.
3. Work on the difficult Pokémon. This is where many Living Dex projects slow down. Version exclusives from games you don't own, trade evolutions, rare forms, legendaries, mythicals and Pokémon originating from older generations can be considerably harder to obtain.
4. Trade for the remaining gaps. Once you've collected everything available through your own games, trading can help complete the species and forms you're still missing.

For many collectors, those final gaps take far longer than the first few hundred Pokémon.

What about mythical and rare Pokémon?

Mythical Pokémon can be one of the hardest parts of completing a Living Dex.

Pokémon such as Mew, Celebi and other mythicals have historically been distributed through specific games, events or other limited methods. Availability varies between Pokémon and can change over time.

The same applies to shiny Pokémon. Not every Pokémon can legally be shiny, and shiny availability depends on the species, game, encounter and distribution.

If you're building a Shiny Living Dex, checking whether each shiny can legitimately exist is therefore just as important as obtaining it.

How long does it take to complete a Living Dex?

Starting from scratch with only a few Pokémon games can turn a Living Dex into a project lasting months.

A Shiny Living Dex is considerably more demanding. Shiny hunting hundreds of individual species yourself can turn the collection into a long-term project, especially when different games, forms and rare distributions are involved.

But that's also part of what makes completing one so satisfying: watching hundreds of empty spaces gradually become a complete collection.

The shortcut

If you'd rather skip some of the grind, this is exactly what I help collectors with at PokeTradingShop.

I've completed these collections many times, and you can order complete Living Dex sets or Shiny Living Dex sets covering Gen 1–7, delivered directly to your Pokémon HOME boxes through a planned transfer.

Every order is arranged personally, so we can make sure the collection and transfer method fit your setup. Same-day delivery is available in most cases, and every order includes a free bonus shiny.

Want to skip the grind? Browse our Pokémon HOME Transfers & Living Dex collection.

Whether you build the entire Living Dex yourself or get some help with the hardest parts, seeing those completed boxes in Pokémon HOME is worth it.

Questions about what's possible with your games or HOME setup? Message me anytime — I reply personally.