All 121 SoulGold trophies and how to unlock them

SoulGold has 121 trophies. Each one has a tier, shown as a ball icon in the Trophies menu: Poké Ball for Bronze, Great Ball for Silver, Ultra Ball for Gold, Master Ball for Platinum. The trophies don’t give you anything, but your count unlocks six rewards on Route 40. Every trophy is below, then my notes on the slow ones. I’m a sucker for a trophy list.

How the trophy system and rewards work

A trophy pops the second you meet its condition. Open Trophies from the start menu to see all 121, earned or not, with what each one needs. Counters like Collector or TM Master keep a running total, so losing a facility streak never resets them.

The gentleman in the Route 40 house hands out the rewards and tells you how close you are to the next one. All six Pokémon can be shiny, and the preview shows it if yours rolled shiny. I checked that preview every single time.

Trophies earned	Reward
15	Shiny Genome (consumable; turns any Pokémon you own shiny)
30	Ash-Greninja (Battle Bond)
45	Poipole (evolves into Naganadel at Lv 50 in this hack)
60	Eternal Flower Floette (Lv 30; can Mega Evolve with Fairytite)
75	Zarude (Lv 50)
100	Original Color Magearna (Lv 80)

The count matters in two more places:

• Third Trainer Card star: 80 trophies. The other stars are the Hall of Fame, a 50-win streak in the Battle Tower or Factory, and a complete Johto dex.
• Master of Johto: all other 120.

Older trophy lists may be wrong, because some requirements dropped:

• Day Care Regular and Shell Breaker: 30 eggs, down from 100
• Battle Pyramid: 3, 6 and 10 rounds
• Undefeated Champion: 10 defenses, down from 15
• Johto Professor: legendaries and mythicals no longer count

Early game and badges (1 to 14)

You’ll get these just by playing. The only one you can walk past is Let’s Go!. Talk to Bill in the Ecruteak Pokémon Center, then pick up your Let’s Go Eevee or Pikachu in Goldenrod. I walked right past Bill the first time.

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
1	I Choose You!	Receive your first partner Pokémon.	Bronze
2	First Catch	Catch your first Pokémon with a Ball.	Bronze
3	Lucky Strike	Land your first critical hit.	Bronze
4	New Life	Receive an Egg from Day Care.	Bronze
5	Let’s Go!	Obtain Eevee Starter or Pikachu Starter.	Silver
6	Say Cheese!	Have Cameron photograph your party.	Bronze
7	Clipped Wings	Obtain Zephyrbadge by defeating Falkner.	Bronze
8	Hive Breaker	Obtain Hivebadge by defeating Bugsy.	Bronze
9	Rolled Over	Obtain Plainbadge by defeating Whitney.	Bronze
10	Lifting the Fog	Obtain Fogbadge by defeating Morty.	Bronze
11	Proven Might	Obtain Stormbadge by defeating Chuck.	Silver
12	Grace of Steel	Obtain Mineralbadge by defeating Jasmine.	Silver
13	Icebreaker	Obtain Glacierbadge by defeating Pryce.	Silver
14	Risen to the Top	Obtain Risingbadge after defeating Clair.	Silver

Champion and Title Defense (15 to 18)

Title Defense opens after the Hall of Fame. Each defense is a rematch against one of the eight gym leaders. After five defenses, Lance, Steven, Elder Li, the Director and Leaf join the pool. Ten wins gets you the Platinum. The back half kept me on my toes.

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
15	Champion	Enter the Hall of Fame for the first time.	Gold
16	Title Defender	Defend your champion title once.	Silver
17	Long Term Career	Defend your champion title five times.	Gold
18	Undefeated Champion	Defend your champion title 10 times.	Platinum

Catching, breeding, TMs and the Pokédex (19 to 35)

These are the running counters. The dex trophies count caught species. The Johto dex has 702 entries and 608 are non-legendary, so you can hit Living Archive at 500 without one legendary. Johto Professor needs all 608.

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
19	Gentle Voyager	Catch Lapras in Union Cave.	Silver
20	Critical Thinker	Land 100 critical hits.	Silver
21	Collector	Catch 100 Pokémon.	Silver
22	Rare Spark	Catch a shiny Pokémon.	Gold
23	Day Care Regular	Receive 30 Day Care Eggs.	Gold
24	Shell Breaker	Hatch 30 Eggs.	Gold
25	TM Student	Collect your first TM.	Bronze
26	TM Seeker	Collect 20 TMs.	Silver
27	TM Expert	Collect 50 TMs.	Gold
28	TM Master	Collect 100 TMs.	Platinum
29	Field Researcher	Register 200 caught Pokémon.	Silver
30	Dex Specialist	Register 350 caught Pokémon.	Gold
31	Living Archive	Register 500 caught Pokémon.	Platinum
32	Johto Professor	Complete the Johto Pokédex (excluding Legendaries and Mythicals).	Gold
33	Green Thumb	Plant 10 Berries.	Bronze
34	Gaining Power	Evolve 25 Pokémon.	Silver
35	Peak of Power	Raise a Pokémon to Lv. 100.	Gold

Side activities and money (36 to 45)

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
36	Bug Catcher	Place first in the Bug-Catching Contest.	Silver
37	Buena Superfan	Answer Buena’s Password correctly on 3 days.	Silver
38	Travelling Healer	Heal the Miltank in Route 39’s barn.	Silver
39	Masterpiece	Have Kurt craft you a Master Ball.	Platinum
40	Mega Collector	Obtain every type of Mega Stone and the Bondstone.	Platinum
41	Master of Moves	Unlock Egg Moves and Tutor Moves permanently.	Gold
42	Autophotographer	Have Cameron photograph your party in all five locations.	Silver
43	Millionaire	Earn ¥1,000,000 in total.	Gold
44	Spendthrift	Spend ¥1,000,000 in total.	Gold
45	Battle Connoisseur	Earn 100 Battle Points in total.	Silver

Buy Master of Moves. The Olivine City tutor master costs 44,444 and the Blackthorn City egg move master costs 88,888. Buying both covers a big chunk of Spendthrift too. Watching that money leave hurt a little.

Cameron’s five spots for Autophotographer:

• Ruins of Alph
• Route 34
• Cianwood City
• Kitakami Border
• Route 28

Battle facilities (46 to 61)

Facility wins are lifetime totals, not streaks. A lost run still counts.

• Battle Factory: opens after the third gym
• Battle Tower, Rocket Arcade, Battle Café: postgame
• Battle Pyramid: Vajra Desert

Start with the Factory, since you can get there early. It’s my favorite facility in the game. Tips are in the Battle Factory guide.

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
46	Tower Challenger	Win 25 Battle Tower battles in total.	Silver
47	Tower Expert	Win 50 Battle Tower battles in total.	Gold
48	Tower Master	Win 100 Battle Tower battles in total.	Platinum
49	Arcade Player	Win 25 Rocket Arcade battles in total.	Silver
50	Arcade Ace	Win 50 Rocket Arcade battles in total.	Gold
51	Arcade Legend	Win 100 Rocket Arcade battles in total.	Platinum
52	Factory Challenger	Win 25 Battle Factory battles in total.	Silver
53	Factory Expert	Win 50 Battle Factory battles in total.	Gold
54	Factory Master	Win 100 Battle Factory battles in total.	Platinum
55	Pyramid Explorer	Clear 3 Battle Pyramid rounds.	Silver
56	Pyramid Expert	Clear 6 Battle Pyramid rounds.	Gold
57	Pyramid Master	Clear 10 Battle Pyramid rounds.	Platinum
58	Café Regular	Clear the Battle Café Daily Challenge.	Bronze
59	Rush Hour	Clear the Battle Café Rush Mode.	Silver
60	Full Course	Clear the Battle Café Super Challenge.	Gold
61	Endless Master	Win 15 consecutive battles in Endless Challenge.	Platinum

Gym leader rematches and route experts (62 to 71)

The gym rematches are postgame, one trophy each. Beat all eight and you also get Victini (trophy 104).

The five Route Experts are:

• Nate: Route 31
• Kiana: Goldenrod Shore
• Laurel: Route 43
• Vera: Route 47
• Anton: Route 27

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
62	Wings Grounded	Defeat Falkner’s rematch.	Gold
63	Bug Squasher	Defeat Bugsy’s rematch.	Gold
64	Stomped Twice	Defeat Whitney’s rematch.	Gold
65	Ghost Buster	Defeat Morty’s rematch.	Gold
66	Luchador	Defeat Chuck’s rematch.	Gold
67	Steelmind	Defeat Jasmine’s rematch.	Gold
68	Cold Heart	Defeat Pryce’s rematch.	Gold
69	Dragon Master	Defeat Clair’s rematch.	Gold
70	Now I’m the Expert	Defeat all route experts.	Gold
71	Blood Moon	Catch Blood Moon Ursaluna.	Gold

Legendary and mythical catches (72 to 120)

Forty-nine trophies are legendary catches or gifts, and they’re most of your postgame count. For boss legendaries, you win the fight, catch it with any ball, and the trophy pops. The last column tells you if you need to be Champion. Every encounter is in the legendary locations guide.

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier	When
72	Mineralogy	Defeat Champion from another region.	Platinum	Postgame (Steven, Kitakami house)
73	Frozen Legend	Catch Articuno.	Gold	Rock Climb (badge 8)
74	Storm Legend	Catch Zapdos.	Gold	After badge 8
75	Flame Legend	Catch Moltres.	Gold	Victory Road
76	The Experiment	Catch Mewtwo.	Gold	Postgame
77	The Original	Catch Mew.	Gold	After badge 8
78	Roaming Surge	Catch Raikou.	Gold	Roams after Burned Tower
79	Roaming Howl	Catch Entei.	Gold	Roams after Burned Tower
80	Roaming Gale	Catch Suicune.	Gold	Roams after Burned Tower
81	Sea Guardian	Catch Lugia.	Gold	Story (Silver Wing) or postgame
82	Rainbow Guardian	Catch Ho-Oh.	Gold	Story (Rainbow Wing) or postgame
83	Forest Guardian	Catch Celebi.	Gold	After all 8 Ruins puzzles
84	Rock Unsealed	Catch Regirock.	Gold	Vajra Desert West, bring Tyranitar
85	Ice Unsealed	Catch Regice.	Gold	Snowtop Mountain, bring Baxcalibur
86	Steel Unsealed	Catch Registeel.	Gold	Railway Cave, bring Kommo-o
87	Eon Duo	Catch both Latias and Latios.	Gold	Postgame
88	Primal Sea	Catch Kyogre.	Gold	After the Darkrai event (HM Dive)
89	Primal Land	Catch Groudon.	Gold	Route 50 dive spot
90	Ruler of Skies	Catch Rayquaza.	Gold	Postgame, after Steven
91	Wish on a Star	Obtain Jirachi.	Gold	Mt. Silver rival story
92	Being of Knowledge	Catch Uxie.	Gold	Rock Climb
93	Being of Emotion	Catch Mesprit.	Gold	Rock Climb
94	Being of Willpower	Catch Azelf.	Gold	Rock Climb
95	Time Warden	Catch Dialga.	Gold	Needs Hoopa and all 8 Ruins puzzles
96	Space Warden	Catch Palkia.	Gold	Same as Dialga
97	Lord of Abyss	Catch Giratina.	Gold	Same as Dialga
98	Face of Heat	Catch Heatran.	Gold	Waterfall and Rock Climb
99	Ancient Awakened	Catch Regigigas.	Gold	Bring the three Regis to Mt. Silver
100	Pleasant Dreams	Catch Cresselia.	Gold	After the Mt. Silver rival story
101	Under the Sea	Fish up a Phione.	Gold	South Johto Sea
102	Nightmare’s End	Catch Darkrai.	Gold	After Cresselia
103	Blooming Flower	Obtain Shaymin.	Gold	Rock Climb (Dream Garden)
104	Star of Victory	Obtain Victini for overcoming all gym leaders in rematches.	Platinum	Postgame
105	Iron Justice	Catch Cobalion.	Gold	Postgame
106	Stone Justice	Catch Terrakion.	Gold	Postgame
107	Verdant Justice	Catch Virizion.	Gold	Route 50
108	Pirouette Melody	Catch Meloetta.	Gold	Postgame
109	Master of Wishes	Obtain all four forces of nature.	Gold	Battle Café, 5 points each
110	Interloper	Catch Hoopa.	Gold	Postgame
111	Crown Jewel	Obtain Diancie.	Gold	Beat every regular Café opponent once
112	Mechanical Soul	Catch Magearna.	Gold	Postgame, 25 Arcade wins
113	Thunderclap	Catch Zeraora.	Gold	30-win Battle Tower streak
114	Island Guardians	Obtain all four guardian deities.	Gold	Battle Café, 5 points each
115	Sacred Ghost	Catch Marshadow.	Gold	After badge 8 (Elder Li)
116	Galarian Special	Obtain all three Galarian legendary birds.	Gold	Battle Café, 5 points each
117	Ruinous Blade	Catch Chien-Pao.	Gold	Waterfall and Rock Climb
118	Masked Friend	Catch Ogerpon.	Gold	Kitakami Mountain Enclave
119	Across the Ages	Obtain both Koraidon and Miraidon.	Platinum	Battle Café, 25 points each
120	Paradoxical	Catch all Paradox Pokémon.	Platinum	Meteor Island

The last one (121)

#	Trophy	Requirement	Tier
121	Master of Johto	Earn all Trophies.	Platinum

The SoulGold trophies you’ll get stuck on

Masterpiece (39). It pops when Kurt’s daily gift rolls a Master Ball. You don’t need an Apricorn. From your 5th daily visit on, each gift has a 1 in 16 chance to be the Master Ball. It was the last trophy I was missing for a long time, purely because I kept forgetting to visit him. Talk to Kurt in Azalea every day you play.

Gentle Voyager (19). Only the static Lapras in Union Cave counts. Lapras also shows up surfing in two later sea areas at 10 percent, but those don’t count.

Under the Sea (101). Fish with the Good or Super Rod in the South Johto Sea area where the water only has Shellos and Gastrodon. Phione’s slots are 20, 4 and 1 percent. Bring Repels and patience. I needed a lot of both.

Autophotographer (42). Cameron needs to shoot your party at all five spots. Kitakami Border and Route 28 are late-game areas. Say Cheese! pops at the first one, so it’s easy to forget the rest. Don’t be me, I forgot Route 28 and went back for it.

Endless Master (61). You need fifteen wins in a row in the Battle Café’s Endless Challenge.

1. Clear the Café’s Super Challenge. It’s six-on-six, and they can throw anything at you.
2. Start Endless Challenge. You heal after every win.
3. Win fifteen straight against level 90 opponents on Normal, or level 100 on Hard.

Undefeated Champion (18). Ten Title Defenses. After five, Lance, Steven, Elder Li, the Director and Leaf join the pool, so the back half is tougher. You never get the same challenger twice in a row.

Paradoxical (120) and Across the Ages (119).

1. Catch the twelve wild Paradox Pokémon on Meteor Island.
2. Catch Flutter Mane and Iron Valiant.
3. Bring the three beasts to the Unown walls for Walking Wake, Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt.
4. Bring the three swords for Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder and Iron Crown.
5. Buy Koraidon and Miraidon at the Battle Café, 25 points each. They only show up after all the others.

Messed up a Paradox catch? It respawns after a Title Defense.

TM Master (28). You can get all 100 TMs. Ice Beam, Thunder, Psychic, Double Team and Flamethrower are Game Corner prizes, and about a dozen are shop stock, so the last twenty come down to money. You’ll fill in Millionaire and Spendthrift on the way.

Living Archive (31) and Johto Professor (32). Living Archive is 500 caught species. Johto Professor is all 608 non-legendaries. The breeding-only babies and the 173 evolution-only ‘mons are where you’ll stall. The commonly missed Pokédex guide lists them.

Mega Collector (40). You need all eighteen type stones and the Bondstone. The Bondstone comes after badge 8 and Steeltite is on Victory Road B1F, so the earliest you’ll get this is on the way to the League.

Buena Superfan (37). Get Buena’s password right on three different days. Just remember to tune in on the Pokégear radio. I kept forgetting to tune in.

About 50 of the 121 need the Champion title. Next, open the postgame guide. It orders them so your rewards come as early as possible.