How To Get Zygarde Cells In Pokemon Go: Step-by-step Guide

Last updated on October 18th, 2025 at 01:56 pm

So, like I’m not gonna make an effort to sugarcoat it yes, getting Zygarde Cells in Pokemon Go is a grind. I mean 84+ days if you’re regular, more if not.

But there’s a catch: Complete Forme Zygarde is, well… insane in Ultra and Master League, so if you’re eyeing that 4208 CP monster, it behooves you to know exactly what’s up here.

What Are Zygarde Cells Anyway?

Consider them LEGO pieces in assembling your Zygarde. These shining green yellow things appear as small translucent twinkling objects on the ground when exploring Routes. They’re also really ugly and kind of hard to see if you don’t have your screen brightness cranked all the way up trust me, I walked by a ton before I realized that was an option.

You will keep them in the Zygarde Cube (you’ll receive this item after completing Stage 3 of the “From A to Zygarde” Special Research). Niantic increased the size of the cube from 250 to 300 sometime early in 2025, which allows you to fully evolve one Zygarde and continue collecting any extras.

How To Get All Zygarde Cells: The Route System

Here’s where it gets specific. You can get a maximum of three Zygarde Cells per day and on each Route, Cells are only available once every 24 hours. Having to run the same Route 5 times? Doesn’t matter you’re getting cells out of the thing once.

Routes are essentially predefined paths between PokeStops or Gyms. They have to be 0.5km and 20km in length, so not everywhere has them. If you’re in a suburban or rural area, Route availability can be sparse.

When you are walking a Route, those green sparkles come down on the trail. You don’t need to walk directly on the line but that inner circle radius you must stay within, otherwise it won’t spawn. And here’s the irritating bit — you need to tap each cell manually or else it will vanish.

The Math Behind Complete Forme

Here’s how to find Zygarde cells in the most efficient way possible:

• 10% Forme: You start here after the Special Research
• 50% Forme: Requires 50 Zygarde Cells to unlock
• Full Forme: Total of 250 cellsipherals

At three cells per day, it takes a minimum of 84 days to reach Complete Forme. But such is life the average rate of reports states players only encounter cells on 67% of Routes so when logging into the game, expect closer to about 120-150 days since the last Pokéstop visit.

The Restart Trick Everyone Uses

So you’re walking a Route and … crickets. No sparkles. This used to happen all the time until I figured out this hack:

Head somewhere around 75-100 meters away from the Route endpoint, close it out (or force quit Pokemon Go), restart and pick up where you left off on your Route. Cells that weren’t there before suddenly strut onstage.

That is annoying that the trick even should be needed but it does work. I went from zero cells to almost maxing out my daily cap like clockwork as soon as I began doing this.

Why You Can’t See The Cells

The visibility issue is real. Cells are little see-through green specks that you can barely pick out unless it’s 100% screen brightness on your phone. And I have been on Routes in bright sun yet have missed them.

There are also spawning bugs where a cell doesn’t appear when it should, even though one exists. Here’s where the restart trick is useful.

Is Complete Forme Worth The Effort?

Short answer: if you’re into PvP, definitely.

Complete Forme has the highest stat product of any Pokemon in Master League. In Ultra League, it is fourth in the rankings.

The best moveset? Dragon Tail for your fast move, and Crunch (or Earthquake) with Bulldoze as charged moves. Bulldoze just got buffed and now brings defense debuffing potential, allowing you to do some damage over time.

This thing has 389 Stamina at Complete Forme, and it easily sponges hits that would erase other Dragons. And then, there’s the Ground STAB coverage to help deal with Steel (and Fairy) types that typically wall dragons.

Quick Tips Before You Start

Don’t rush the evolution. You can also use the 10% Forme in great league for if you need to test it there first. You can always evolve later.

Form switching is reversible. Downgrade Zygarde and you’ll get some candy and stardust back, before upgrading through your stored cells once more. So trial and error won’t wreck your progress.

Walk Zygarde as your buddy. It’s 20km per candy and you’ll need XL candy to power it up for Master League.

Check Route availability. If there aren’t any lists, level 35+ players can actually create their own Routes provided you have enough PokeStops or Gyms in your area.

The Bottom Line

Acquiring Zygarde Cells in Pokemon Go will not be a swift process, and there’s no easy shortcut research tasks, events, raids or the shop won’t make them available. It’s Routes or nothing.

But if you’re grinding out that Complete Forme, just force yourself to complete three Routes a day. When cells don’t appear, use the restart trick. Max your brightness. And one other reminder shiny Zygarde isn’t yet available but could well release during the Generation 6 Tour event in 2026, so you’ve got plenty of time to build multiple copies if Jacobian wants.

The grind is real, but that 4208 CP beast in Master League? Yeah, it’s worth it.

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