I Beat Pokemon Legends Without Catching Any Pokemon

Throughout the entire storyline of Pokemon Legends Arceus, you're told to "Seek Out All Pokemon". The concept of catching hundreds of Pokemon is the backbone to the entire game... but do you really need to do that to beat it? Today we're going to find out how easily you can beat Pokemon Legends Arceus without catching any Pokemon. This video took a lot of time and effort to put together, so I'd really appreciate it if you shared this with a friend. If you have any suggestions for the next video, leave it in the comments below! Have a great day :)
_________________________________________________________________
Follow me on Twitter!
/ johnstoneyt
Follow me on Twitch!
/ johnstone
Follow my Twitch Highlights Channel!
/ johnstonelive
Follow my Twitch VODs Channel!

[@pixlnovaofficial]

Just for the record, Prosperity is an NPC satchel that you get when you play offline or you collect too many at one time

[@bighoss7437]

She’s always dying in easy spots in my game

[@Alchemyyyyyy]

I thought she was a real person and was genuinely dumbfounded on how she died EVERYWHERE

[@Jrose11]

Minimum Battles evolved into minimum catches!

[@chonchjohnch]

I balked at the title too

[@hhjan594]

Are you considering doing minimum battles in other generations?

[@harrymoore8032]

Jrose! Great to see you.

[@adamcreech19]

From professor oak challenge to no oak challenge...

[@Anna-hq4rn]

@@chonchjohnch balked?

[@riolugaming5017]

I’m not gonna lie, i didn’t even know there was star requirements to reach the next area. When I first started playing I just had so much fun exploring that I was like star rank 4 before even taking on kleavor

[@SubwaySandwichBossIngo]

Same here. I was having the time of my life exploring. It was such a magical feeling like no other.

[@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy]

Same. I was like level 30 before kleavor and I still ended up underleveled for Avalugg

[@lethe.archive]

i had a feeling that was a thing but never encountered it in game lol

[@hawktalon7890]

Rank 5 for me haha. Screw the boss fights, I'm going to run around.

[@wolfetteplays8894]

Sameeee

[@WolfieXp]

I like how he waited to evolve his Shinx to complete the ''defeat with Ground type moves'' task as if evolving his Shinx would even hinder that in any way lmao

[@GetYourPhilUp]

Right!? What was the point in that? Lol

[@gibran6190]

Lmfaooo

[@ilovecairns5181]

@@gibran6190 Laughing my fucking ass off off off

[@NintendoViola]

LOL I was wondering if he was dead set on having his own Shinx faint for that entry

[@OmegaX5000]

@@NintendoViola He probably did it that way because when you have a Pokémon that's ready to evolve, it'll gain more EXP than usual so long as you keep it from evolving, making for quick and easy level-ups. Basically giving it the same EXP boost that a Pokémon you got in a trade would get. That, and fully evolved Pokémon need more EXP to gain a level.

[@AbsolBlogsPokemon]

This was super well-thought out!! Really like how you calculated the optimal Pokemon to use for this, and as the cherry on top, you were generous enough to include that picture of Gen VI Marshtomp at the beginning

[@bigsalad3936]

Do the same challenge, but with shiny Pokémon only.

[@ironsworddk7013]

@@bigsalad3936 that's too evil but he Will MAYBE try it

[@dagooms587]

Your the best person I just wanted to say that and if you remember me its weewoowoohooloo on twitch :3

[@ninjagamer7777]

Loved the video. Keep up the great work. Please if you haven't already repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ As Lord And Savior. Praise The Lord. Please Get Saved. Please repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ As Lord And Savior. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Love you guys. God Bless You All. Amen. God Send. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. God Bless You All. Amen. God Send.

[@klutz_potadosus]

@@ninjagamer7777 all hail Satan

[@WWEdeadman]

"So what challenge can you do for a Pokemon game that is basically a Catch Em All run by design" "Beat it without catching, of course." "You what?"

[@YukiKazeko]

16:38 - You don't even need a star to get up there. It's possible to roll dodge your way up that mountain near Lake Varity. :)

[@Thebetterrobo]

For the number caught on the research page you can just trade the same one back and forth and it will count as catching a new one on the research page. I wonder how much that would have affected the challenge if you had done that.

[@magica3526]

would have at least eliminated chatot

[@macmonkeyhat]

Kind of feels like it goes against the point of the challenge if you catch a Pokémon in a different game

[@SKMedia252]

That would be an exploit, and he would avoid that as much as possible

[@Thebetterrobo]

@@macmonkeyhat I said if you trade the same Pokémon, so it’s still the same one you caught and you aren’t catching a new one

[@Thebetterrobo]

@@SKMedia252 I can see where you are coming from but it was coded in the game that way so I don’t view it like that

[@Zambee]

For the sake of arguing the Chatot for "required catches," you could have done that with the shiny Ponyta instead which would give you Rapidash too. I'm not sure if that would have been enough to eliminate the need for Geodude or Rhydon though.

[@justinr.507]

You can't get the shiny ponyta until you capture ponyta. basically certain quest don't appear untill a requirement is met

[@Zambee]

@@justinr.507 yeah it doesn’t matter anyways. We discussed a minimum capture speedrun in the discord after this video was posted and it’s confirmed that the 3 optionals are absolutely required to finish the game. As for how fast this can be completed, that’s unknown right now but I might try a speed run of it very soon because it sounds interesting. 😅

[@spookyruinsfest4936]

I think that chatot quest, the stunky camp quest, the spirtomb and the chimchar quests are the only ones that don't get triggered by catches? Does the Alola Vulpix not activate if you don't have a regular vulpix? Cause that's a gift pokemon like your starter so it wouldn't have counted as a catch either but it would have been late into the game. Spirtomb would have also taken awhile however because you can't really complete it until you get braviary.

[@diamondmemer9754]

If you consider every Pokemon required to complete a task it is It would include several pokemon

[@ShnoodleMc]

Well you see, Technically it's not catching them if you transport your living dex from Home to Arceus-

[@timucinkiylioglu4893]

That was my first thought too xD

[@Crxsseyed1]

Sadly legends arceus DOES count that as a “catch” as it adds to the counter of Pokémon caught

[@hhjan594]

I found it interesting that another Poketuber did something similar, but he only counted how many balls he used on Pokemon. To him it's totally fine to evolve Pokemon to get more dex entries. And yes, he only caught Geodude and Ryhorn for his challenge. Afterhe beat the game, he only used a whopping 13 balls in the whole game, including all forced catches like the starters and the origin ball. As a result, I'm fairly sure that Chatot is totally not necessary. You should be able to get enough research points with Geodude and Rhyhorn.

[@Firescizor]

That man is Imported Cheese and he is a very good KZbinr I've been following lately. I recommend his content to all of you, really

[@hhjan594]

Yeah, I really like his green bug series. He's a very funny guy. Also he gets most Japanese references in the game.

[@BaamBoePanda]

Absolblogspokemon did this too and he also caught arceus

[@happythanos6632]

@@Firescizor what's his name?

[@gabriellockwood2780]

I remember my first time playing this game... I spent so much time catching as many Pokémon in the first 2 Areas before I progressed anywhere else lol I jumped from "No Star" Rank to nearly 4~5 Stars before the Ursaluna Boss fight.

[@Crxsseyed1]

You can actually get all the required stars before ever even talking to Mai I’m pretty sure, I would know, since I’m doing a challenge to complete every single dex entry I can before kleavor

[@iDr3aM]

I love this game so much. I still play it constantly. I've given myself the goal of perfecting the pokedex and to obtain a shiny living dex. On the side, I'm trying to get an alpha living dex too.

[@kooperhoy9690]

Progress?

[@iDr3aM]

@@kooperhoy9690 I finished a week before S/V came out. :D

[@danieldavies3092]

I would love to see this as a speedrun category. It's a huge ask since it'd be such a long category but I think with some optimizations (like seeking out the non-mandatory catches earlier in order to pre-complete research tasks), it'd be doable in under 15h.

[@rayflyers]

Poor Johnstone, forced against his will to catch that gosh darned Chatot.

[@TheRandomGuyTheFarNoGameCat]

Wait, Bibarel gets Rollout. You could totally have done the Staravia Rock Type Task. 😅

[@radiocaf]

What a really good idea for a challenge. This was really enjoyable to watch. Great video, John!

[@TheGrimBeyond]

The commitment in this challenge is insane. Well done.

[@hanachanp5335]

i love how you found your content niche and i especially love how much time and effort you put into all of these

[@Leto85]

Next challenge video idea: completing all the stickers in Pokémon Home. I like this one, because it requires you to connect with a whole lot of games, including FireRed and LeafGreen to get the original Venusaur, Blastoise and Charizard.

[@AmyraCarter]

That reference to Skyrim made me laugh. The rock climbing physics are very exploitable. lolz

[@Ylurple]

i love all the music choices you use. fun throwbacks from the good ol' games. like hearing some cyllage city from kalos too.

[@excalibur493]

27:18 I had a satchel spawn there, as well, and I was HELLA confused.

[@israelnevarez3118]

Great video. I've been wondering about this challenge since the very beginning. I'm glad you did it.

[@generationmillennium1584]

Now THIS is a method to beating PLA a visually impaired person like myself can use to beat the game :)

[@blindgirluk1845]

I'm VI too!

[@generationmillennium1584]

@@blindgirluk1845 Good to know there are more VI Pokemon fans out there :)

[@wolfetteplays8894]

The lock-on is pretty obvious though, so I’d feel bad if you couldn’t see :(

[@gamingwithfoss]

Love the video! Very creative and the editing is top tier. Well done and can’t wait to see what else you have coming

[@ironsworddk7013]

This man needs more subs for all his Hard work just for our entertainment

[@assordante2205]

27:25 John Stone classic right there lol. Tell an awkward joke, start explaining it, realize that's only going to make things worse, abruptly cut back to the script. Obviously, I've been subscribed for awhile.

[@AutisticGastrodon]

Like the Vesipiquen or the Zapdos joke

[@Ouroboros8888]

The amount of dedication you mustve had to put into this; the spreadsheet, all the grinding and stuff, definitely earned my subscribe and my respect

[@paulmyers258]

This was brilliant! Well done!

[@VirtualMarmalade]

A detail that I think has gone unmentioned in these pla videos is that having a wild pokemon use certain moves on you also counts for the "Seen it use x move" tasks. You can speed up the research considerably by battling Pokemon of the same species so you get more chances to see it use the required moves :)

[@Kahadi]

Since it doesn't need to be a mirror match, that really helps for weaker Pokemon. But when you start getting stronger than the wild ones, you start killing them too fast for it to really help. Well, except for Magikarp. Not a good option for this challenge, but in a normal or completion playthrough, facing a horde of Magikarp using your own will definitely help with seeing Splash enough times.

[@VirtualMarmalade]

@@Kahadi That's true. I guess I just find it odd that wrt to those challenges he always says "you have to use x move 40 times" when that's not 100% true - idk if he's ever mentioned that wild Pokemon's moves also count...

[@Openreality]

Honestly the fact that you beat the game with the means you did, I'm not sure anyone can do the same or better. Good video

[@Bomb-jt7ky]

Keep up the great work!

[@SilentMeteorite]

18:45 If you caught an alpha Duskull, you could have gotten an extra research task once it evolved into Dusknoir EDIT: Nevermind I just got to the point in the video where you mentioned random alphas don't spawn unless the noble of that area is defeated. F

[@Progeno]

Wouldn’t work since random alphas only spawn after defeating the Noble Pokémon

[@SchlurpzzRBLX]

I caught an alpha Dusknoir at the hauntwood area at cobalt coastlands or whatever it’s called

[@annarosem5722]

Yesss I love ! Great job as always! Would you do a PMD explorers of sky completion video? How fast can you cry in that game lmao nah: Maybe like how fast it takes to get to the highest rank? I don’t know if you ever wanted to do spin offs?

[@patrickpotts4598]

I went with typhlosion and don’t regret it one bit. I Normally would choose rowlet but typhlosion didn’t disappoint at all

[@generalcrashpad]

I’ve been trying to evolve my dusclops for months now. This video helped me get the reaper cloth for it. Thank you.

[@rjthepoet500]

Newly subscribed! Great content!

[@kingzerko]

Finally, at last he delivered the big video he's been hinting at for a year and a half.

[@super.potion]

Wasn’t it supposed to come out when BDSP released?

[@Ori385]

Arceus hasn't been out for that long

[@assordante2205]

@@Ori385 that's the joke

[@Ori385]

@@assordante2205 it’s not a joke?

[@kingzerko]

@@Ori385 It is, 'cause we are really hyped for that video and we are always joking. 🤣

[@angelapatterson4768]

You actually missed a gift pokemon, The alolan vulpix... might have helped a bit. Still a fun watch though

[@MrJoeMaster13]

Yeah I was wondering about the gift Pokémon 👍🏼

[@NoahMP3ttv]

You can only unlock that sidequest by having registered a Vulpix in your dex, so it's off limits.

[@testerwulf3357]

plus, don't you have to be 5 star to even reach the area it's in? sooo

[@Meanlucario]

Are we witnessing the birth of LoA's low% routes? Also, something about the last two optional catches being geodude and rhyhorn gets a snicker out of me. You can rely on the gen 1 rock walls to get the job done (even if gen 1 mechanics murdered Golem).

[@Heyimconnor]

A new Johnstone AND him finishing Black 2? It’s a good day

[@Zephyeran]

9:40 Hearing you mention how easy that noble is, while knowing it was the only noble that made me fail was... Ouch, hah, guess I just really got unlucky or had a bad day then to mess it up that bad ^^'

[@mattishidayeo]

OMG I WAS WAITING FOR THIS

[@mauriciosalasart]

your videos are keeping me alive right now

[@LovJinxx]

It was super interesting to see you break it all down and factor in which mons gave the most research points. 3 Pokemon is definitly a lot less than I thought you'd need. Great video!

[@RobynAnarchist]

Legends Arceus is a great game, but it's crazy how much it would be improved if all the task requirements were like... halved

[@RGC_animation]

No? The tasks if you actually CATCH Pokemon are SUPER easy to complete, like no, it absolutely does not need to be nerfed.

[@RobynAnarchist]

@@RGC_animation Who really needs to catch 25 Spheal - or what was it, like 15 Cherrim who are ridiculously hard to find

[@RGC_animation]

@@RobynAnarchist 99% of people WON'T go out of their way to catch 15 Cherrim, that's why. Because 99% of people aren't completionist.

[@RobynAnarchist]

Doesn't really detract from my point

[@RGC_animation]

@@RobynAnarchist Yes it does.

[@indraaa1511]

Try catching every pokemon in pixelmon next. Btw love ur vids

[@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy]

Required Catches (in progress) (included all starters because you catch at the beggining): Rowlet Cyndaquil Oshawott Bidoof Starly Shinx Duskull Chatot Geodude Rhyhorn Palkia Dialga

[@SchlurpzzRBLX]

I have all those and many more, but still i can’t catch Arceus without completing the pokédex 😢

[@testerwulf3357]

@@SchlurpzzRBLX Yea, because you have to catch every pokemon to catch arceus 💀

[@theleeman14]

glad you explained how moving faster from a mount would benefit the gameplay. groundbreaking stuff

[@sharkronical]

28:21 Rhyperior be like: three?

[@sausagetornado7468]

Your vids are sick! Any more BD/SP?

[@XylonVermilion]

Here's an idea, can you complete the Pokedex right at the start? Now that Pokemon home is compatible can you send every Pokemon needed into Legends Arceus and professor laventon be surprised at the start?

[@wolfetteplays8894]

No, because each Pokédex entry has multiple tasks, and the entry is only filled when you catch them in-game and complete all the sidequests

[@XylonVermilion]

@@wolfetteplays8894 I transferred over every Pokemon from my main switch account and made a second one, found out how to transfer from one profile to another and got it all filled up. Legendary to.

[@kintsugikame]

@@XylonVermilion I think you two are talking about two different things - you can send your pokemon over to a new arceus game and get them all registered in your pokedex, but in order to trigger the professor’s response you have to get all the research levels up to level 10, which requires more than just catching the pokemon.

[@g-hongroberthsu4695]

Video Idea:How to 100% complete Legends arceus, which is everything

[@thedragonguru2332]

He already did that

[@hhjan594]

I suggest you to look for his previous video.

[@crystalcamellia]

This is so neat!

[@pixelstormy]

another banger video king

[@DeK-]

Alternative name how fast can you beat Pokémon legends arcues with the leases amount of catches. Or how fast can you beat PLA with the least amount of task done.

[@ccheart8574]

Would it have been possible to beat without the Chatot? Could you have gotten it with just the Geodude and Ryhorn catches-- since their final forms still had tasks left uncompleted?

[@ZeeJayUK]

If you catch geodude instead of Chatot in the coastlands can you do it in 2 unrequired captures?

[@NumaNoom149]

I’d be curious what the minimum number of Pokémon/catches are to get to 10-star.

[@Mr.Amazon.Delivery.Box.]

To get ten star you need to perfect the dex, so, every Pokémon lol

[@RubberCrowy]

(This is my first time seeing any of the opening to this game.) The game really starts with god updating your phone and sending you a chat message. Oh my Arceus.

[@TsukaiKugatsuGA]

2:20 immediately contradicted the thumbnail and the title lmao I feel sorta clickbaited but nice video

[@BasketOfPuppies642]

I really gotta replay this game. It's so good.

[@cj_skywalker]

This video and the many speedruns of this game I saw on GDQ will really help me make a plan to complete the game as quickly as possible with the minimum amount of catchies so I can do all the catches in post-game and not have to spend a full year playing this game. Don't get me wrong, this is a nice game... I just haven't gotten past the first mission yet. :(

[@lethe.archive]

skyrim horse was exactly what came to mind when i was using my wydeer to shimmy up cliffs im glad i wasn’t the only one LOL also i suck at the boss battles and i got dialga first try. it’s just the easiest.

[@ThaDocta0623]

People die there intentionally to see who gets their satchel. The only way to die there is to hop on Braviary from the rock wall there and or up on top of the hill, glide to the opening there, and fall to your death. 27:21

[@NonsensicalTrickster]

I can't be the only one wondering if he could manage the nightmare that is the endgame battle with the team he had.

[@minecraftboi58]

Bibarel should have rollout which is a rock type move

[@miles2419]

You seem like the type of person to collect all botw korok seeds. 🤔 Scrolled through your videos and half expected to find a video on the subject, though I guess it makes sense as you're an exclusively pokemon channel. (Or so far, at least 😉)

[@hupla2185]

I actually did this same thing a few months ago. I wasn’t worried about the evolution thing, so I ended up catching Rhyhorn, Budew, and Ralts instead. But either way, still only 3 catches (I also made it a goal to beat Volo, which adds 6 more catches)

[@jogadorjnc]

I appreciate the picture of gen 6 marshtomp a lot

[@jonathanpeterson1189]

I’m doing a similar thing, but in regards to required ENTRIES, not catches. I’ll have extra lines filled in for catching multiple, and will be able to farm grit by catching loads of starly, shinx, etc. I will also add any entries filled by catching a random shiny (or shiny ponyta)

[@sarcasm-aplenty]

I wonder if it would be possible with just 2 extra catches if done so earlier in the game. You only needed to catch chatot to fill in a little bit of points. I never completed the spiritomb quest in my playthrough (i just bred a spiritomb from elsewhere lol) so I don't know if you catch it in the wild or if it manifests into your party, but if it doesn't count as a "capture" you could fill the dex with its entry too. I don't know if that would be enough. Alternatively if there are any in-game trades you could maximize entries by getting 2-5 for the price of 1 but I don't remember there being any.

[@themetalhead8927]

I'm so used to the ding-ding's in John's videos so not hearing a single one was throwing me off lol.

[@abbilocke736]

Great video! So many good words

[@incineroar9933]

Cute haircut and color, it really suits you bro. 💗

[@johnb4301]

I just remembered that he didn’t do a sun and moon professor oak challenge

[@realthat1gamer]

thank you for that image of gen 6 marshtomp

[@thefirespecialist9007]

27:22 Best Lost Satchel location I've ever seen!

[@MisterPagin]

PulseEffects did a minimum captures speedrun a while back, and he did manage to do it with 22 Pokedex counted captures, across everything. You do consider "catching" to be different than what he did, so just something to know

[@KingMe-qz2hr]

Hey pal still looking forward to that shiny showcase from the dex perfection challenge we were promised

[@johnlynch1353]

How few Pokémon do you need to face Arcus?

[@courtneyevie]

i love the cruelty of the fact that there are four gift pokemon in this game, but three of them don't matter since alolan vulpix is in the icelands where you don't need to get any more research points and the other two starters are post game.

[@benwillis07]

John should do this challenge as a nuzlocke.

[@LotosAnalysisCorner]

First time watching this game getting played and I was expecting more for the graphic designs lol

[@JC-hi8fk]

I never knew you need Star Ranks to reach new areas…

[@mediocreboi]

But how much do you have to catch for the postgame/getting to rank 10?

[@Flamgeir]

I don't get the challenge being "least catches" but then you playing it like "least pokemon registered in the dex"

[@Jeskai]

akari is cutest char in any pokemon series

[@ADRMajestic12]

Speedrunners rubbing their hands over this...................

[@ozzyashton1746]

This is the weirdest team I have ever seen, and I love it

[@cybo_vampire9145]

You want a challenge in a game that's (somewhat) similar to this? Try to beat Pokepark for the Wii one with the least number of friends possible. Never done this myself, and I imagine it'd either be super annoying, or super easy. In case it's super easy, try doing it with the least number of upgrades too. (Honestly, just want to see more people play my favorite childhood pokemon game)

[@Germanempirerectangle]

The game is a complete what you’re supposed to do is battle Arceus then that’s the end of the game but since you don’t have the entire Pokédex done you can’t do that which means it is not possible to complete the actual game it is possible to complete the main story but not the actual game

[@testerwulf3357]

"complete the game" usually refers to completing the main game...not 100%ing a game.

[@FactswithKat]

NEW MAIN CHANNEL VIDEO??? OH MY GOD THIS IS BIG CONTENT ON JOHNSTONE MAIN CHANEL AND WE GOT IT TODAY WOWEEEEE

[@ashtonculp2952]

Nice one shot pfp

[@rayyaninspookymonth1630]

"we have no rock type moves" *points to bibarel's rollout*

[@nathankeesickquayash2192]

Should beat with only catching 6 Pokémon minus starters/and story catching Pokémon…just have to choose wisely which to catch

[@Angryoyster]

Nuzlockers need to watch this vid

[@davisreckard8709]

This should be a speedrun

[@aisforandis7928]

Could you trade over Dialga and Palkia from another game to do their tasks instead of Chatot, since you will inevitably have to catch them both?

[@zero-pointgamer]

Ask this man to do a pokèmon challenge and 1 or 2 months latter he releases the vid of the challenge.