Every game where you can obtain a non-boxart legendary/mythical before the elite 4?

Question

I want to use some legendaries during my playthroughs because they usually end up sitting in my PC, but I can't think of any other than the swords of justice and victini. Please include event Pokemon, but only if they have an in-game event (think liberty pass victini or oaks letter shaymin.)

Comments

ORAS: Latias or Latios
Crystal/HGSS: Entei and Raikou
BDSP: mew, jirachi
LGPE: mew

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Do legendaries you get after you catch the box art legendaries like the Gen 4 lake spirits or the ORAS portal legends count?

What about the DLCs where you can get kubfu/ogerpon after playing through the DLC story but not the main story? Do you want the DA legends which you can get early on but they are super over leveled?

On a similar note, what about the Ruinous Quartet which may have obedience issues if you get them early? Do you want an answer to include those as well?

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after the box art doesn't count because then I'm getting them after beating the e4, dlcs do count, DA doesn't count, and the ruinous quartet does count.

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So to be clear, games with box arts you can catch before the e4/clearing the 8th gym don't count?

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Kanto games: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres
GSC: Entei, Raikou, Suicune (Suicune is much easier to catch in Crystal, but it's also the box art Pokemon)
RSE: Regice, Registeel, Regirock
DPPt: Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf
HGSS: Entei and Raikou
BW: Virizion, Terrakion, Cobalion, Tornadus, Thundurus
B2W2: Virizion, Terrakion, Cobalion
I don't remember which in-game events require defeating the champion or having the national Pokedex.

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Do the myths you can get using the void glitch that count?

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yes but only if they're obtainable before the e4 during normal gameplay (so like you can get victini with the liberty pass just 2 badges in, but u cant get shaymin with oaks letter until the postgame so it doesnt count)

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I think you can get Shaymin in DP before post-game by abusing the glitch. In Pt, this works if you have Oak's letter somehow, but I don't know if there's a different glitch that lets you give yourself items.

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well yeah, but I want to play as intended

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What about Pokemon from the DNS exploit?

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So do glitches count or no?

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no glitches, DNS only counts if it can give me an item to obtain them like victini

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Im not sure if this counts, but if you use the dynamax adventures in s and s, which you can go to with expansion as soon as you finally get out of the first town on train, you can beat Peonyor lose to him and in the first adventure you always get suicune, and since you caught it there even though using the professors lender mon, you have a level 70 suicune and it will obey you at the start, no glitches but it’s dlc so, well, might not count,

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There is Eternatus before the whole tournament in Sw/Sh

Answer 1

In R/B/Y (and remakes)you can catch all the legendary Birds before the elite 4 , (Also Mew Glitch is very easy to perform)
G/S/C has the legendary Beast roaming the overworld (remakes suicune is post game)
R/S/E Have the Regi's (Brail quest),
Emerald has Mew and Deoxys event tickets.
D/p/PL you can catch the Lake Trio, (remakes give you mew and jirachi for owning Lets go and Sw/Sh)
B/W have tornados/thunderous(roaming) swords of justice, and Victini via Liberty pass.
B2/W2 don't have the genies but you can get them all with dream Radar if you have that. Sword of Justice again
X/Y None
Sun/moon none
Ultra S/M ultra wormholes allow you catch like 20 different legendaries before elite 4 but late game during the ultra necrozma story stuff.

Sw/Sh only eternatus can be caught before the endgame (base game) However DLC allows you catch almost every legendary Pokemon. However some like the Regis require 7 badges. But realistically Kubfu will be the one you get and once its in the mid 30s you can return to the isle of armor to challenge one of the towers to evolve it.

Sc/vi Wo-Chien, Chien-Pao, Ting-Lu, and Chi-Yu can be caught before elite 4. DLC for teal mask can be completed early and the legendary Pokemon can be caught but they are hard coded to be at like level 70.

Edit: added info later generations

Comments

In RS, you can't Rayquaza before defeating Steven, and in Emerald it's the box art Pokemon.
In DPPt, you can get Dialga/Palkia/Giratina before the last gym.
Also shouldn't this be a comment if it's incomplete?

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Dialgliaglia, Pakalkaleki, and Girgaragatina are box art legends.

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I cannot literacy.

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Me niether.

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I have now added info from later gens the best I could to make answer complete. DLC is a bit tricky. If any more mistakes let me know.

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All the SwSh DLC legends (excluding the kubfu line and the DA legends since OP said not to include those) can only be caught after obtaining all 8 gym badges, and the Swords of Justice can only be caught after the post game is beat, to clarify your "almost every legendary" point.

To clarify for S/V, ogerpon can be caught at level 20 if you do the DLC earlier, but the Lousy (loyal) Three are capped at level 70. The Lousy (loyal) Three and the Treasures of Ruin can technically be caught before you obtain any gym badges I believe, but they will have obedience issues until you obtain all the gym badges.

Also you never included ORAS, where you get a free latios/latias midway through the game, and after you get the national dex after beating the cover legend, you get access to the portals which lets you get the legendary Beasts (after catching Ho-Oh/Lugia), the lake trio, heatran, cresselia, the SOJ, and the Forces of Nature (given you meet the necessary requirements). Then of course, there's still the regis and regigigas you can get with their respective puzzles.