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How to Evolve Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

By Danielle Louie

Photo by The Pokemon Company

Pokemon Legends: Arceus has slightly different gameplay to what Pokemon fans are used to, including Pokemon evolutions. Heres a guide on how to evolve Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Like other Pokemon games fans are familiar with, Pokemon will usually evolve by themselves once they reach a certain level. Players will need to manually evolve their Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. On rare cases in Arceus, Pokemon may automatically evolve if a happiness level is triggered.

How to Evolve Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

To evolve your Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, players will need to enter their bag and they will see their Pokemon. A symbol of a Pokeball will appear and, if the Pokemon is ready for evolution, the Pokeball will glow yellow.

Select the Pokemon you wish to evolve and hit the 'X' button. The Pokemon will then evolve. Additionally, you can use other items to evolve your Pokemon like Fire Stones, Razor Claw and more.

This new feature of evolving your Pokemon manually can be great for players who may want to keep their Pokemon at a certain stage or even strategically evolving them with certain moves.

How to Evolve Pokemon by Leveling in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

The vast majority of Pokemon evolve by leveling in some way shape or form. This process is relatively straightforward as trainers increasing the level of their Pokemon has been a central game mechanic since the franchise's inception.

In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, trainers can increase their Pokemon's level by using them in battles, feeding them experience candies, and/or having them in their party when they catch a new Pokemon.

How to Evolve Pokemon with Special Moves in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

A handful of Pokemon require a unique move to evolve⁠—e.g.: Tangela and Yanma, who require Ancient Power in their moveset while leveling to be eligible for evolution.

To evolve these Pokemon, simply shift the correct move into their moveset and train with them. Gaining levels with the correct move in play will eventually allow that Pokemon to be eligible for evolution. The exact number of levels needed may vary, but the range tends to be around 1-5.

Others may require a certain move to be used a specific amount of times⁠—e.g.: Stantler. Trainers can evolve these Pokemon by adhering to those instructions. In Stantler's case, performing Psyshield Bash 20 times will make it eligible to evolve.

How to Evolve Pokemon with Items in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Evolving Pokemon with items requires one extra step than the traditional training method.

To evolve a Pokemon using an item, trainers simply need to "use" that item on a Pokemon by selecting it from their satchel inventory and then selecting the corresponding compatible Pokemon. If successful, the game will alert trainers to the fact that Pokemon is now ready to evolve at their request. Sometimes players will use a Dawn Stone, Leaf Stone, Dusk Stone, Thunder Stone, Water Stone, Fire Stone, Linking Cord, and Shiny Stone.

How to Evolve Pokemon by Friendship in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

The friendship mechanic works similar to the leveling mechanic. As the trainer keeps a Pokemon in their party, its bond with them will grow. Eventually, when strong enough, this bond will allow an eligible species to evolve.

This is an invisible mechanic that normally cannot be tracked through traditional means⁠—i.e. through the Pokemon's profile page. However, the NPC Bellamy can check that level when asked and give trainers a tangible idea of how strong their friendship level actually is.

How to Evolve Pokemon in the Daytime or Nighttime in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Some species of Pokemon can only evolve during the day or night. Fortunately, Pokemon Legends: Arceus has a rotating day and night cycle that naturally shifts as players are outside adventuring. They can also control the time through the resting mechanic either at one of the base camps in their region or at their sleeping quarters in Jubilife Village.

Once the time of day is correct, the game will alert trainers that those specific Pokemon can evolve.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is now available on Nintendo Switch for digital and physical copy purchase.

Update 3/14/2022: Article updated with more information.

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