Can you complete a Pokédex?

[Amore]

I've never completed any Pokédex, even a regional one. I imagine I'm not alone in this. I have games from Gen III through V, but due to not having anyone to trade with in Gen III, the not having the patience or interest during the brief time global wireless trades were available for Gen IV-V, I never completed any Pokédex. I came pretty close on the original Sinnoh and Unova versions but at times when I wasn't active on these forums (a user agreed to store a bunch of Pokémon for me then never came back online, after which I resolved to only ever use the in-game GTS) and the GTS was full of unreasonable demands.
Now, with Pokémon having left me well, well behind I know I can't complete the National Pokédex, but I did decided to investigate how close I could get. I consider Gen III and IV to be a combined package given how I play the games, with Gen V separate so, using Bulbapedia and a look in my old storage save I figured out that I can get infuriatingly close:

• Gen III-IV: 488/493
• Gen V: 147/156

In Gen III-IV through a combination of LeafGreen, Emerald, HeartGold, Diamond and Platinum there are only 2 non-event Pokémon I can't obtain: Glameow and its evolution Purugly, which are exclusive to Pearl out of the five games of Gen IV. I have some event Pokémon but sadly lost my Darkrai, Shaymin and Deoxys to the charlatan I mentioned previously, and will never manage those again. I do have Pokémon God, Mew, and Celebi though!
In Gen V the sheer number of special legendaries sees me further away from completing the Unova Pokédex than I would be the previous gens' National Pokédex. Alongside event-exclusive legendaries Keldeo, Meloetta and Genesect (I think I may have got my hands on the latter once, but back when I only had one Gen V game and eventually I took the plunge to restart it as I liked the game), my purchasing of Black and then its direct sequel means I can't access Solosis or Rufflet and their evolutions (can't even see the latter in Black 2, which brings its own issues) or Thundurus.
So yeah, with two DS' for trading (well, one Lite and one DSi), the good fortune to have working Wi-Fi to obtain some event Pokémon and the patience to keep them, I can get one National Pokédex 98.98% complete and 94.23% of the largest single generation of Pokémon introduced. I can actually complete one regional Pokédex, the Gen IV Johto Pokédex:

Given some of us on here will be absolute diehards with games from Red through to Sword, with multiple consoles whilst others may only have the one generation and/or console, I'm curious. Can you, without outside help / GTS (I assume that hasn't gone away in the new generations), currently complete any Pokédex? If so, which one and how?

 

[DragonKing48]

With two games/DSes or at least 2 games and GTS you can catch and evolve/trade evolve everything easily. I just completed Sun not too long ago.

 

[ShyRayq]

I have all the games and multiple DS, 3DSes as well as access to Nintendo Switch Online.
I've completed multiple pokedexes multiple times, as shown in my signature.

 

[TacoTach]

I'm currently going through my gen 3 & 4 games to complete the gen 4 pokédex. I have Fire Red, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, and Heart Gold. I looked into all the version-exclusives, legendaries, and other special pokémon and, if I'm not overlooking something, I shall be able to complete the whole gen 4 national dex, except for the events (although I have Celebi & Phione in my 13-year old Pearl save).

 

[pkmin3033]

Because of the absurd and infuriating attitude that Nintendo/Game Freak have taken to various Legendary Pokemon over the years, it is not actually possible to complete a Pokedex without trading. A lot of Pokemon have only been available through timed Events - most of those at the very end of the Pokedex - so if you don't already have them from earlier distribution, you're out of luck if you don't want to trade with other players for them.

 

[Percy]

if I had the console, games, and time - I would if I really gave my focus. but dang, it seems so taxing to me, especially now that there's almost a thousand pokemon ehehe

 

[budube]

Completing the PokeDex is a boring task imo. Even if it were possible to do it without trading, I like catching what I know or think I'm going to use; I'm not the kind of trainer who'll run in circles just to catch a 1% encounter just to throw it into a box later.

 

[Zeostar]

Absolutely not.

I have more fun constructing my team and playing through the story than collecting.

 

[Sheep]

i have the games and consoles needed, yes, but the time.... probably not haha. D: touch trading with friends is a lot quicker usually, but as a dex completionist i'd probably do it myself if that wasn't an option.

 

[PageEmp]

Probably not in a few years.

 

[colours]

on my own? heck no lmao

 

[Mamamiawow]

I completed the national dex including mythicals in every game from gen 1-4, bdsp, sv and its dlc, pla, lets go, bank, I'm about to do it on all 4 3ds games and swsh plus dlc, technically I'm also about to do a full dex in mystery dungeon rescue team dx, also gen 5 will get its national dex done in both games eventually, so I'm gonna be finished with every dex in the series besides go and home probably this year

 

[giradialkia]

A while back I committed to collecting all the mainline Pokemon games. In most cases I already had one of each paired versions and the third-version, so it meant picking up the remaining games second-hand. Since SwSh, I've gratefully had the expendable income to buy both new games at launch.

I've also got two of each console (I mod my consoles as a hobby but like to keep one "vanilla"), so unlike my poor childhood self, there are no more barriers to trade evolution/dex completion!

Back in ORAS I committed to making a living Dex and I've essentially updated it ever since with each new release. Although I have a bunch of duplicate lines now, because they keep delaying Home support in the new games and I never have the patience to wait to complete my regional Dex the "easy" way 😂

 

[Zeostar]

Updated post since it's been years.

I tried this with Ultra Sun. I got pretty far, but my attention span simply didn't hold up. With the 3DS internet going down (>.> thanks nintendo) I don't think I'll ever go back and finish it.

 

[Devalue]

Owns both X and Y. Covers that regional dex. Might be the only one without the GTS or other outside trading. Misses a couple Pokemon with the combination of Fire Red + Sapphire and Gold + Crystal. Could transfer from Red/Yellow to Generation 2, though. Possesses the link cable to do that. Might get another that way.

 

[Explorer of Time]

The only dex where I have all the event Pokemon on real hardware is Gen IV, and I could get everything on my own except for Stunky and Skuntank, since my brother has our family's only Diamond cartridge. I could trade for a Stunky fairly easily, though.