Introduction

Welcome to my guide on how to acquire all the ribbons that are available in the main series Pokémon games (including the GameCube games). 


This guide will be tailored around the premise of creating a Ribbon Master, a Pokémon that has obtained all the possible ribbons available to it. 

Before deciding to jump headfirst into this venture, know that it is not an easy challenge. It will take a fair amount of time, will have a lot of grinding and can be frustrating at times.  But in my opinion it is the most rewarding Pokémon challenge run that you can do, as you get to keep a trophy Pokémon that you can take to future games!


This guide will be based around my experiences with my Ribbon Master team, Raikou, Entei and Suicune. If the challenge seems daunting enough already, I would recommend doing it with only 1 Pokémon (I personally couldn’t choose one of the legendary beasts without using the others).


Ribbons were first introduced in Generation 3, so if you are planning to do this challenge on retail consoles, there will be a lot of required equipment, they are as follows:

++ Games and Equipment Needed

 (Keep in mind if you plan to use a specific Pokémon for the challenge they might not be available in certain games and as such you don't need those games for the challenge, more explained on the next page)

Consoles / Gear

-Game Boy Advance/GBA SP (No Micro GBA)

-GameCube/Wii

-GameCube Controller

-GameCube Memory Card

-GBA to GC Link Cable

-Original DS/DS Lite (No DSI)

-Any 3DS Variant

-Switch


Games

-Colosseum/XD

-Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (Having a working Battery is ideal but not required)

-Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

-Heart Gold/Soul Silver

-Black/White/Black 2/White 2

-X/Y

-Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire

-Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

-Sword/Shield (DLC are not necessary even if your Pokémon was introduced with one)

-Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl

-Legends: Arceus

-Scarlet/Violet (DLC are not necessary even if your Pokémon was introduced with one)


Other

-Pokémon Transporter

-Pokémon Bank

-Pokémon Home (can be free version)

-Internet Connection (Unencrypted or WEP Encrypted for World Ability Ribbon)

This guide will assume that you understand the basics of mechanics / modes (For example the guide will not explain what a contest is, but it will explain what you need to do in a contest to get ribbons)

This guide assumes that you are starting from gen 3, and getting ribbons as soon as they are available. If you are planning to start after gen 3 there will be a small "Returning Ribbons" section at the bottom of a page for ribbons that have been re-added that originated from previous generations (I won't be going into detail on these ribbons so you might need to read the original entry earlier in the guide).

There will also be light spoilers from the games the guide covers, you have been warned!