Every legendary in SoulGold: locations, boss battles, and requirements

Skip the Master Ball: how boss legendaries work

More than 30 legendaries are boss fights. They have 2, 3 or 4 health bars and 10 percent higher stats. Break the last bar and any ball catches them. Bring damage and healing, then throw the cheapest ball you have. I never once wished I’d saved a better ball.

Several change form as bars break:

• Mewtwo: base, Mega Y, Mega X, then Mega Y again
• Rayquaza: two bars normal, two as Mega Rayquaza
• Kyogre and Groudon: Primal after the first bar, for three bars
• Dialga, Palkia and Giratina: Origin Forme for the middle two bars
• Ogerpon: rotates through all four masks, Terastallized. It’s the one boss without the 10 percent boost.
• Hoopa: starts Confined, then two bars Unbound
• Darkrai: Mega Darkrai from the start

Three things to know before you go in:

• Boss fights are always Singles, even on Hard or with the Doubles format on.
• Losing or running doesn’t remove the boss. A wipe just costs you the walk back.
• Shininess rolls when the fight starts. For a shiny, save right in front of the boss and soft reset. My thumbs still remember that reset combo.

The roamers are different. Their shininess is set when they’re released at the Burned Tower, so use a Shiny Genome. You get one at 15 trophies, and the Rocket Arcade sells it too.

Most legendaries before the League are single-bar and use normal catch rates. A Dusk Ball in caves or a Timer Ball after a long fight still helps. Moltres is a normal encounter now, not a boss.

Before the League: badges and HMs only

None of these need the Champion title. Most need Rock Climb, which takes the 8th badge and the HM from Victory Road 1F, so they bunch up at the end of the main game. Waterfall is an item ball on Ice Path 1F. Nothing here needs Dive.

Pokémon	Location	Requirement	Level	Boss
Lugia	Whirl Islands, Lugia Chamber	Choose the Silver Wing after the Rocket takeover	65	2 bars
Ho-Oh	Tin Tower roof	Choose the Rainbow Wing after the Rocket takeover	65	2 bars
Shadow Lugia	Same Lugia Chamber	Dark Crystal from the Abandoned Rocket Warehouse (Surf south from Route 33 as far as you can, then turn right), brought to the Lugia encounter	65	2 bars
Zapdos	Top of Olivine Lighthouse	8 badges	50	No
Mew	Faraway Island depths	8 badges, then beat Blaine at Olivine Port (recommended Lv 60) and sail	55	No
Marshadow	Sprout Tower basement	8 badges, then beat Elder Li’s rematch in Sprout Tower (around Lv 60)	50	No
Moltres	Victory Road B1F	None	60	No
Articuno	Snowtop Mountain, outside	Rock Climb	50	No
Celebi	Ilex Forest shrine	Solve all 8 Ruins of Alph puzzles, take the GS Ball from B1F to Kurt in Azalea	40	No
Regirock	Vajra Desert West braille wall	Tyranitar in your party	50	No
Regice	Snowtop Mountain braille wall	Baxcalibur in your party	50	No
Registeel	Railway Cave braille wall	Kommo-o in your party	50	No
Uxie	Route 30, Rock Climb spot near the Berry Man’s house	Rock Climb	50	No
Mesprit	Route 47, Rock Climb spot near the last bridge before Route 48	Rock Climb	50	No
Azelf	Mahogany Town Rock Climb spot	Rock Climb	50	No
Heatran	Mt. Mortar Depths	Waterfall and Rock Climb, then the line puzzle (“select the lower line and the middle top”)	70	4 bars
Shaymin	Dream Garden, past Tohjo Falls	Rock Climb. Gracidea from the Goldenrod Flower Shop swaps forms	50	No
Chien-Pao	Ice Path Depths 2	Waterfall and Rock Climb	70	3 bars
Kubfu	Blackthorn City Rock Climb cave	Maze: down, up, left, up, left, down, right, right	5	Gift
Fezandipiti	Kitakami Well B1F	Rock Climb	55	No
Ogerpon	Kitakami Mountain Enclave	Masks are in Kitakami Temple Storage	55	4 bars
Bloodmoon Ursaluna	Lost Woods	Black Mirror from Kitakami Mountain 4F, then “follow the Murkrow”	60	2 bars
Phione	South Johto Sea	Fish with the Good or Super Rod in the one sea map that only has Shellos and Gastrodon	5 to 45	Wild
Manaphy	Evolve Phione	Level 58	58	No

Walk up to a Regi wall with the named ‘mon in your party and it opens. Tyranitar, Baxcalibur and Kommo-o are late evolutions, so start them early:

• Larvitar: Vajra Desert West grotto, or Dark Cave South at 5 percent
• Arctibax: Ice Path Depths and the Route 44 grotto
• Jangmo-o: Dragon’s Den

Plan those three lines and you’ll grab all three Regis in one loop before the League. I forgot to start Larvitar early and paid for it with an afternoon of grinding.

The Dark Crystal for Shadow Lugia takes the most time here. The Abandoned Rocket Warehouse is a puzzle dungeon (the first terminal wants 228, Houndour’s dex number), and every answer is in the puzzle guide. Already caught normal Lugia? One Title Defense run resets the spawn so you can fight the Shadow one.

Two other statics are close by. Lapras is a Lv 45 wild battle on Union Cave B2F, any day of the week, and it has its own trophy. It isn’t a boss, and it comes back after every Hall of Fame. Deep Ilex Forest has a Lv 30 Larvesta, also a normal single encounter with no bars.

After the Elite Four: Champion-gated legendaries

Beating Lance opens the biggest fights in the game. Everything here needs the Champion title, and most need something else too. The Director gives you the wing you didn’t pick, and that bird is a level 80 four-bar boss.

Pokémon	Location	Requirement	Level	Boss
Mewtwo	Nameless Cave, Kitakami Border	Champion and Rock Climb	80	4 bars, Mega Y, Mega X, Mega Y phases
Lugia or Ho-Oh (the one you did not pick)	Whirl Islands or Tin Tower	Beat the Director (around Lv 78 to 81) for the other wing	80	4 bars
Shadow Lugia (postgame version)	Lugia Chamber	Dark Crystal, if you do Lugia second	80	4 bars
Victini	Kitakami Border house	Champion, then beat every gym leader rematch, then talk to the old woman	50	Gift
Cobalion	Railway Cave 3F, Route 33-side exit	Champion	80	2 bars
Terrakion	Dark Cave North Side	Champion	80	2 bars
Virizion	Route 50	Postgame route	80	2 bars
Meloetta	Ecruteak Dance Theater	Champion	65	Not listed
Genesect	Abandoned Rocket Warehouse back room	Champion	70	2 bars
Rayquaza	Embedded Tower	Beat Steven in the Kitakami house (Lv 81 to 85 team)	70	4 bars, two as Mega Rayquaza
Regigigas	Mt. Silver back room	Regirock, Regice and Registeel in your party	70	4 bars
Magearna	Goldenrod Apartment top floor	Talk to the burglar in the Rocket Arcade, win 25 Arcade rounds, take the key	75	4 bars
Zeraora	Outside the Battle Tower	30-win Battle Tower streak	80	4 bars
Latias	Vajra Desert East temple	Postgame desert. The Latias puzzle has a reset button	80	3 bars
Latios	Vajra Desert East temple	Postgame desert. Soul Dew is hidden in the temple	80	3 bars

Victini needs all eight gym leader rematches, at about level 75 to 82. You’ll find them at:

• Falkner: Violet school
• Bugsy: National Park
• Whitney: Department Store 6F
• Morty: Bellchime Trail
• Chuck: Route 47 bridge
• Jasmine: Olivine café
• Pryce: Lake of Rage
• Clair: Dragon’s Den cave

Knock them out as you pass through for other legendaries. I did them all in one go and regretted the backtracking.

Zeraora’s 30-win Battle Tower streak takes longer than anything else and is the only one that tests your battling, not your exploring. Build for consistency, since it’s 30 straight singles battles with no bosses. Tower tips are in the postgame guide.

Do Magearna’s 25 Arcade rounds early, because the Arcade is also your postgame money farm. The Arcade shop sells the Darkness Scroll and Water Scroll for Urshifu, and they cost a lot.

The rival’s postgame story: Jirachi, Cresselia, Darkrai, Dive

This chain gives you four legendaries plus HM Dive, which opens Kyogre and Groudon. Finish the Mt. Silver event, then talk to your rival at their house.

Pokémon	Location	Requirement	Level	Boss
Jirachi	Mt. Silver Summit	Complete the rival story at Mt. Silver (gift egg)	Egg	Gift
Cresselia	Lake of Rage, north-east corner	After Mt. Silver, talk to the rival at home, then the Hidden Power Dude at the lake	60	3 bars
Darkrai	Cherrygrove inn	Show Cresselia to the rival, then enter the inn with Cresselia in your party and solve the 7-step inn puzzle	70	4 bars, fought as Mega Darkrai
Kyogre	Dive cave south of Route 33	HM Dive from the rival after Darkrai; Surf south from Route 33 and take the first left	80	4 bars, Primal for three
Groudon	Small cave past the Route 50 dive spot	Dive	80	4 bars, Primal for three

Catch Kyogre and you get the Blue Orb automatically. Catch Groudon and you get the Red Orb. Give your own Kyogre or Groudon its Orb and it goes Primal in battle.

Cresselia runs Psychic, Moonblast, Toxic and Calm Mind over three bars, so it gets stronger the longer you take. Hit it with a physical Dark or Bug attacker. Don’t trade special hits into Calm Mind. I tried, and by the third bar it was laughing at me.

Darkrai runs Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Dark Void and Dream Eater. Bring a Chesto Berry or a ‘mon with Insomnia or Vital Spirit. Four bars of Dark Void with no answer to sleep is a loss.

The inn puzzle is in the puzzle guide. This story also gives you the Oval Charm, so do it before you start breeding for the dex.

Hoopa and the Spear Pillar

Hoopa unlocks the three Sinnoh dragons and Primal Dialga. Treat the whole thing as one project. It was my favorite stretch of the postgame.

Pokémon	Location	Requirement	Level	Boss
Hoopa	Vajra Pyramid depths	Trade a Tinkaton to the Rinto Village scientist, then after the Champion title descend the pyramid and win the Gastly, Haunter and Gengar spirit trainer battles	80	3 bars, Confined then Unbound for two
Dialga	Spear Pillar Summit portal	Hoopa in your party, all 8 Ruins of Alph puzzles solved, then touch the back wall of the Celebi secret room	85	4 bars, Origin Forme for two
Palkia	Spear Pillar Summit portal	As above	85	4 bars, Origin Forme for two
Giratina	Spear Pillar Summit portal	As above	85	4 bars, Origin Forme for two
Primal Dialga	Spear Pillar Summit, Time Gear	Grovyle, Dusknoir and Celebi in your party	85	4 bars

The Adamant, Lustrous and Griseous Orbs are hidden on the Summit. Use them after the catch to change the dragons’ forms.

For Primal Dialga you need Grovyle, Dusknoir and Celebi in your party. Celebi takes the longest, so catch it before you start the pyramid. Primal Dialga runs Roar of Time, Flash Cannon, Earth Power and Thunder.

The Prison Bottle swaps Hoopa between Confined and Unbound. It’s in the Vajra Pyramid Final Chamber, and you pick it up right after you catch Hoopa.

The roamers: Raikou, Entei, Suicune

The three beasts start roaming after the Burned Tower. They’re the only roamers in the game.

1. Open the Pokégear region map and press R for the Roamer Tracker.
2. Walk the route where it blinks until the beast shows up. Entei made me chase it across half of Johto.
3. Put it to sleep with Spore or Hypnosis.
4. Trap it with Mean Look.
5. Wear it down and catch it. It can’t flee while asleep. If it wakes and things go bad, you can run.

Soft resetting a roamer does nothing for shinies. Use the 15-trophy Shiny Genome, or reset from before the Burned Tower.

Catch all three before the Paradox walls. Walking Wake, Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt each need one of them in your party.

Battle Café, trophies and other gifts

A lot of legendaries are bought or earned, not fought. The Battle Café on Route 50 opens in the postgame and sells them for Café Points. Your first Forces of Nature purchase also gives you the Reveal Glass for Therian forms. Claim trophy rewards from the gentleman on Route 40. I spent more Café Points on legendaries than I’d like to admit.

Pokémon	Source	Requirement	Level
Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos, Galarian Moltres	Battle Café	5 Café Points each	70
Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Enamorus	Battle Café	5 Café Points each; first purchase gives the Reveal Glass	70
Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini	Battle Café	5 Café Points each	70
Koraidon, Miraidon	Battle Café	25 Café Points each, after every other Paradox Pokémon	70
Diancie	Battle Café owner	Beat every regular Café opponent once	70
Chi-Yu	Battle Café fountain	Fish from the fountain	Not listed
Poipole	Route 40 gentleman	45 trophies. Evolves into Naganadel at level 50	Gift
Eternal Flower Floette	Route 40 gentleman	60 trophies	30
Zarude	Route 40 gentleman	75 trophies	50
Original Color Magearna	Route 40 gentleman	100 trophies	80
Arceus	Professor Oak, Radio Tower 2F	Catch all 608 non-legendary, non-mythical Pokémon (gift egg)	Egg
Meltan	Rinto Village	Trade a Tinkaton. Melmetal at level 60; Meltan breeds in the Mineral group	Trade
Urshifu	Evolve Kubfu	Darkness Scroll or Water Scroll from the Rocket Arcade shop	Item

Chi-Yu is real and you can get it. Fish in the Café’s fountain. Some lists call 29 legendaries missing. The real number is 24, because Chi-Yu, Heatran and the three roamers are all obtainable.

None of the legendaries, mythicals or Paradox Pokémon count toward the 608 for Arceus. For the ones that do count, see breeding-only species and commonly missed species.

Meteor Island and the Paradox Pokémon

Meteor Island, in the South Johto sea, is the only place with Paradox Pokémon. Twelve are wild in two caves. Six more are bosses behind two Unown walls.

Pokémon	How	Level	Boss
Great Tusk, Scream Tail (30% each), Sandy Shocks, Brute Bonnet (15%), Slither Wing, Roaring Moon (5%)	Wild, first Meteor Island cave	56 to 60	No
Iron Treads, Iron Bundle (30% each), Iron Hands, Iron Jugulis (15%), Iron Moth, Iron Thorns (5%)	Wild, second Meteor Island cave	56 to 60	No
Flutter Mane, Iron Valiant	“Legendary encounter” on Meteor Island	70	Not listed
Walking Wake, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt	Register every past Paradox in your dex, interact with the Unown wall at the back, then bring Entei, Raikou and Suicune to their walls in the next room	75	2 bars each
Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, Iron Crown	Register every future Paradox, then bring Virizion, Terrakion and Cobalion to their walls	75	2 bars each

Catch all twelve wild ones, don’t just see them. I didn’t risk finding out if seeing is enough. Iron Thorns alone ate a whole evening. The 5 percent spawns (Slither Wing, Roaring Moon, Iron Moth, Iron Thorns) take the longest, so chain them with the DexNav.

The six boss Paradox respawn after a Title Defense run, so you can’t lose one. Koraidon and Miraidon only show up in the Café once you have every other Paradox.

Not obtainable in 1.2.1

Stop looking for these 24. They have no encounter, gift, trade or evolution in the current version:

Deoxys, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Volcanion, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Zacian, Zamazenta, Eternatus, Regieleki, Regidrago, Glastrier, Spectrier, Calyrex, Terapagos, Pecharunt.

You don’t need any of them. I went looking for Deoxys anyway before I knew. Arceus wants the 608 non-legendaries, the Johto Professor trophy skips legendaries and mythicals, and the Paradox trophy only counts Meteor Island. If an update adds any, it’ll be on the version notes page.

The order I’d catch them in

Before the League:

1. Pick your wing. It only decides which bird you fight at 65 and which at 80.
2. Do all eight Ruins of Alph puzzles for Celebi. That also makes the Spear Pillar one trip later.
3. Build Tyranitar, Baxcalibur and Kommo-o as you go, and catch the Regis.
4. Get the 8th badge, then grab the Rock Climb group in one loop: Articuno, the lake trio, Shaymin, Kubfu, Fezandipiti.

After you’re Champion:

1. Do the rival story first. Dive opens Kyogre and Groudon, and the Oval Charm speeds up every egg after.
2. Beat the Director for your second bird.
3. Beat Steven for Rayquaza, and catch Mewtwo. Both are near Kitakami.
4. Do the Arcade rounds for Magearna whenever you need cash.
5. Save Hoopa, the Spear Pillar and the Paradox walls for last. They need Celebi, all three roamers and all three Swords of Justice in your boxes.

Playing Unbound too? Unbound’s legendary page is laid out the same way. Unbound leans on missions and Mystery Gift codes, SoulGold on boss fights and the Café.