Between all the different variations of Pokémon, from the anime to the video games, the idea of rare Pokémon is one that is heavily centered on, mostly when it comes to how powerful they are. For the video games, these Pokémon can mean the difference between winning and losing a battle and tend to be regarded as a well-earned reward for the player's hard work in finding and catching it.
Some rare Pokémon in the anime serve the same function, with the likes of Tobias from the Sinnoh League sweeping through strong trainers as if they were bug catchers, his reward for catching a Darkrai and Latios. This can sometimes be very inconsistent between the anime and video games, however, as some Pokémon that are very hard to find in the games are around every second corner in the anime.
10 Eevee
For the longest time, Eevee was a gift Pokémon that players could only obtain one of, unless they bred one so they could evolve it into every available form. Although many players used one in their playthroughs, its sparsity made it one of the more difficult to obtain multiples of, until it became a wild encounter in later generations.
In the anime, it seems like every other companion Ash travels with catches and evolves an Eevee, with Gary, Dawn, and Serena all having one, to name a few. Eevee and their evolutions also play pivotal roles in many episodes, and there are enough trainers who use one on their teams to think that they aren't as rare in the anime as they are in the games.
9 Lugia
After first appearing in the second Pokémon film, Lugia has come back into both the series and the films time and time again, with one even being the central encounter in the second episode of Pokémon Journeys.
Considering how difficult Lugia is to find in the games, as well as the fact that it lives at the bottom of the ocean, it stands to reason that it should not appear as much as it does in the anime. It has had more appearances than even the likes of Ho-Oh and Mewtwo, two legendaries that Ash has encountered multiple times.
8 Dragonite
As a fan-favorite Pokémon, it's no surprise that Dragonite appears quite often in the anime, particularly in early seasons. It holds a special place in many players' hearts as not only their first Dragon-type Pokémon but also one they will keep on their teams if possible.
Although it dipped for a while in terms of appearances, Dragonite came back hard when Iris caught one for herself and has recently gained yet another boost with Ash catching one of his own. Considering Dragonite is usually found at the end of the game, sometimes even after the Elite Four battles, it seems to be on a lot of teams in the anime.
7 Lucario
Like Dragonite, Lucario is a long time favorite for many fans, though it was one of the harder Pokémon to obtain for quite a while. Black and White 2 had the easiest encounter for it, with Riolu being catchable before the first gym battle, but every other game in the series has made it incredibly difficult.
With Ash's Riolu well on its way to evolving, as well as Kukui and Korrina both having one, there seems to be more Lucario in the anime than in the games, and that's not including its film appearances.
6 Rotom
With the introduction of the Rotom Dex, it seems like every regional Professor has an endless supply of this Pokémon at their disposal. In contrast to this, it's usually quite hard to find in the video games and is oftentimes either a gift or an overworld encounter.
The most recent games, Sword & Shield, give players a much easier way of catching one, as there are dedicated Raid Dens that hold only Rotom. Before this, it wasn't so easy to catch.
5 Metagross
Even though Dragonite has been around longer, Metagross takes the crown for the pseudo legendary that appears the most number of times in the anime. Steven's shiny Metagross is the most iconic from both the games and the series, but his prize Pokémon is only a drop in the bucket, with multiple other strong trainers possessing one.
In its debut games, Metagross was only obtainable by evolving the Beldum left to the trainer after they had beaten the Elite Four, and hasn't gotten much easier to catch since then.
4 Articuno
Even though it isn't well regarded in terms of its competitive usefulness, Articuno is still one of the stronger Pokémon from its generation as well as being one of the hardest to catch. Like Lugia, it only appears at the bottom of a cave in the middle of the ocean, and most other times it has returned to the series it hasn't been any easier to catch.
In the anime, a wild Articuno has appeared multiple times and some have even been caught or befriended. The most notable example was the one Noland used against Ash and his Charizard for the Battle Frontier challenge.
3 Charizard
Charizard's appearance in both the video games and anime could be meme-able at this point, as it seems it's one of a handful of Pokémon that are destined to stick around forever. Despite how many times it has appeared in video games, it is always either hard to find, a one-off gift, or one of the starter Pokémon for that region.
In contrast, it seems like most of the strong main trainers in the anime have a Charizard, with Alain, Trevor, Leon, Kiawe, and Ash all having one. And that's not counting the wild ones in the Charicific Valley.
2 Absol
Although Absol hasn't appeared as many times as some of the other rare Pokémon, it makes far more appearances than its rarity would suggest. Not only is it hard to find in its native region, but it has been described to live a life of solitude since it is blamed for many natural disasters, despite not actually being responsible for them.
Absol's most notable appearances are probably Drew's from Hoenn and Astrid's Mega Absol from Kalos, but it has also appeared a handful of times in films as well.
1 Smeargle
Smeargle is one of the few Generation II Pokémon that players of Gold & Silver could have gone through the campaign without seeing once. It has become a little easier to find over the years, but it is still usually relegated to only one or two routes in the entire game.
While it doesn't appear all that often in the anime, with the exception of Linka's in the Alola series, it does make enough appearances to question whether it actually deserves to be so hard to find in the video games.