How to Complete Your Living Dex in Pokémon HOME

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, and where the real bottlenecks are.

What counts as a Living Dex?

A standard Living Dex means one of every Pokémon species stored in your HOME boxes. Collectors often go further: including regional forms (Alolan, Galarian, Hisuian, Paldean), gender differences, or the ultimate version — a full Shiny Living Dex, where every single Pokémon is shiny.

What you'll need

Pokémon HOME with a Premium plan — the free plan only gives you one box of 30 Pokémon, nowhere near enough. Premium unlocks all 200 boxes (6,000 slots). You'll also need games to transfer from: the more titles you own, the more of the dex you can fill yourself.

The realistic roadmap

1. Start with what you have. Transfer everything from your current games into HOME and check your progress in the Pokédex tab.

2. Fill the easy gaps. Breed starters and version exclusives, evolve what you can, and use in-game trades. Games like Scarlet & Violet, Sword & Shield and Legends Z-A each cover a different slice of the dex.

3. Hunt the hard part. This is where most Living Dex projects stall: version exclusives from games you don't own, trade-only evolutions, event-exclusive mythicals like Mew, Celebi and Zeraora, and Pokémon locked to older generations. Some species haven't been obtainable in years without trading.

4. Trade for the rest. The final 10–20% is almost always completed through trading — either with friends, online communities, or a trading service.

How long does it take?

Starting from scratch with a few games: expect months of breeding, catching and hunting. The shiny version multiplies that many times over — full odds shiny hunting for hundreds of species is a multi-year project.

The shortcut

This is exactly what I do at PokeTradingShop. I've completed these collections many times over, and you can order a complete Living Dex — or the full Shiny Living Dex (Gen 1–7, every form, every legendary and mythical) — delivered straight to your HOME boxes in a single planned trade session. Same-day in most cases, with a free bonus shiny included.

Whether you finish it yourself or let me handle the hard part: a completed box view in HOME is worth it. Questions about what's possible for your setup? Message me anytime — I reply personally.