How long does it take to complete the Pokedex in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are expansive games brimming with content and areas to explore on your way to becoming the very best trainer in the Paldea region. These titles also feature an absolute ton of Pokémon to collect. In fact, the total number of available Pokémon to find is 400. Luckily, the sheer availability of the creatures while traveling mixed with Tera raid encounters found in the end game make the process of collecting them all much more accessible. Here’s how long it takes to complete the Pokédex in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

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How many hours to finish the Pokedex in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

Completing all of the main stories and accessing the end game in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet takes a good 25 to 35 hours. At the start of that journey, collecting 400 monsters might seem like a daunting task, but it does get easier as you get further into the game. If you are trying to finish the Pokédex, you are probably looking at around 50 to 70 hours depending on luck, dedication, and your access to version exclusives.

Pokémon have pretty awful catch rates for the first half of the game. The ease of catching them increases as you collect gym badges, which starts to feel so much better after around the fifth and sixth gym win. After you beat five gym leaders, you will be able to purchase Ultra Balls, and your sixth win opens up access to Quick Balls. Stock up on these and start any wild encounter with a Quick Ball. More often than not, any common wild Pokémon will be captured right then and there, which is much faster than whittling them down first.

Once you reach the end game and get access to the higher-level Tera Raids, completing the Pokédex becomes even easier if you are lucky. Certain Pokémon that have annoying or time-consuming evolution methods, such as Annilihape, can appear in these encounters. While they aren’t a pushover, this is the easiest method of obtaining the harder to acquire Pokémon, especially if you are okay with resetting the dens using the Switch’s clock.

The only other roadblock to completing the ‘dex is finding someone with the counterpart to your game to gain access to that version’s exclusive creatures. There are many ways to do this, the easiest of which is just knowing a friend with it. Players who cannot find someone nearby can also utilize Discord and other online communities to discover trading codes for players with the same goals.