Tips for Collecting All 151 Pokémon in Google’s Pokémon Challenge

Google has added a new quirky feature to its search: the ability to catch Pokémon, namely the original 151 Pokémon from the Kanto region. If you’re looking to catch ‘em all, we’re here to help you out.

It should be noted before you dive in that this game is only playable via mobile browser. If you’re trying to get it to work on your desktop, it won’t. Unlock your phone and try there!

Below we explain how Google’s Pokémon easter egg works and how to catch all 151 Pokémon using it.

How to play the Google Pokémon catching game

To start collecting the Kanto region Pokémon, you’ll just need to log into your Google account and start searching up the names of various Kanto region Pokémon. That’s literally it.

Once you do, you’ll be prompted with a Poké Ball in the bottom right corner of your screen. Tap it and an animation will play, allowing you to catch it.

There may be some quirks, like the search for “Ditto” bringing up the dictionary definition of the word and not the Pokémon. Adding “Pokémon” to the end of your search should help bring up the actual catchable creature, making the Poké Ball prompt appear, too.

How to catch every Pokémon in the Google Pokémon game

To catch everything, you will just need to Google each individual Pokémon, but there’s a catch — Legendary and Mythical Pokémon (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, and Mew) will require Master Balls and will need to be unlocked in a specific order.

This means, no, you cannot just catch five Pokémon and then jump straight into catching Mewtwo. You’ll need to prove your Pokémon prowess first by catching a bunch of the other creatures that came before it in the Pokédex.

You’ll unlock Master Balls as you catch more Pokémon. You’ll get one Master Ball after you catch five, 20, 50, 100, and 150 Pokémon. After each these requirements, you’ll be prompted with specific Legendary or Mythical Pokémon:

However, after catching your first Pokémon, Google will keep things moving by showing you a silhouette with a hint about another Pokémon you have yet to catch, similar to a “Who’s that Pokémon?” segment from the show. You can just keep answering these prompts to quickly nab everything, or you can go down a list like the one on the Pokémon website to just manually search things in order. The order you catch the Pokémon doesn’t seem to matter, so long as they don’t require a Master Ball.