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Completing a Living Dex With Gens 1 and 2 (Pokémon Red)

A "living dex" is a fan designation for when a player completes the Pokédex and has one of each species in the PC or the party at the same time. It's often considered to be much more difficult and time-consuming than a regular Pokédex because it often involves, for instance, playing the same game multiple times to get multiple copies of a Legendary Pokémon.

The method by which you can get a completed Pokédex with Gen 2 on Red is described here. This page will focus more on requirements specific to a living dex.

Version Exclusives

You will need to trade for multiple members of a version-exclusive species' evolutionary family, instead of just one. This is due to the lack of the breeding mechanic in Gen 1. You will need all of the following: Sandshrew, Sandslash, Vulpix, Ninetales, Meowth, Persian, Bellsprout, Weepinbell, and Victreebel.

Mutually Exclusive Pokémon

To have a living dex, you will need all of the following on your file:

• Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise
• Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan
• Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto, and Kabutops
• Eevee, Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon

If you have access to Pokémon Stadium, you can get an unlimited number of these by defeating the Elite Four and Rival repeatedly.

Otherwise, to complete this living dex on Red alone, you will need at minimum three separate Gen 1 save files and one Gen 2 save file. Your process should look something like this:

1. On the first save file, collect starter #1 and trade it to Gen 2.
2. On the second save file, collect starter #2 and Omanyte or Kabuto and trade it to Gen 2.
3. On the third save file, collect starter #3 and the other of Omanyte or Kabuto. Trade them to Gen 2 and breed Omanyte, Kabuto, and all three starters. Breed the Eevee you get from Bill, and evolve the Tyrogue you get from Kiyo in Mt. Mortar and breed it. (Alternatively, you can also trade Eevee or Hitmonlee/Hitmonchan from Gen 1 to Gen 2 to breed.) Trade all of the bred Pokémon back to Red.

If you have access to Yellow, the first two steps can be completed in one file on Yellow, making the minimum number of Gen 1 save files needed two.