This week, we will be dealing with Evolutions. One of the Challenges in Raising Great Pokémon is evolving the Pokémon, which doesn’t necessarily mean evolving them right away. Perhaps they are not ready yet, or maybe they are ready, but require a lot more effort to do it. With evolution being key to getting the best out of almost every Pokémon, there is bound to be a challenge there.
If you are curious to know more, please read on.
Weak Pre-evolution
Examples: Gyarados, Milotic, Eelektross, Reuniclus
Not every Pokémon starts strong. There are some that have a weak Pokémon standing in the way of greatness. They require the trainer to properly train them before you have yourself a great Pokémon. They could be frail, weak, or both. Sometimes they cannot stand on their own in a battle, so you need some assistance, such as with an Experience Share or switching around. Gyarados is a famous example, since it starts from the weak Magikarp. It may be odd to see Reuniclus as one of the examples, but it’s there because Solosis is rather frail, and it is really slow, so it couldn’t always use its powerful Special Attack to do anything. Reuniclus, in comaprison, is bulky, which is your reward.
High Level Evolution
Examples: Dragonite, Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Volcarona
One characteristic of any strong Pokémon is having a demanding evolution. Some mediocre Pokémon like Beedrill is not a bad choice in-game because they evolve early, but great Pokémon tend to have a high evolution level. Take Dragonite, for example. It requires Level 30 to evolve to Dragonair, but you need to reach Level 55 to reach Dragonite. The most notorious example is Hydreigon. Deino only evolves at Level 50, while Zweilous evolves at Level 64. They are usually rewarding, so if you could give them the experience, then it will feel worth it.
Conditional Evolution
Examples: Mamoswine, Goodra, Umbreon
To fit the theme of an evolution, certain Pokémon has special conditions when it comes to evolutions. They are also evolved through levelling up, which is good because that is the simple part. Some evolutions are not quite obvious and require knowledge (Malamar and Pangoro), but some of them are troublesome even if you know how. For example, Goodra needs the overworld to rain before it evolves at a certain level. Thing is, it’s not always raining. Some evolutions require the time to be day or night, so you might have to commit some time to evolve them.
Item Evolutions
Examples: Weavile, Chandelure, Gallade
Certain Pokémon require an item before evolving. Evolution stones are the main method of evolution in this case, but there are some where you are required to have an item to evolve. Both types of evolution have something in common: if your Pokémon has successfully evolved, the item used for the evolution is gone. All evolution items can be found in places and stocked, but there is a problem. Some items might be useful, such as the King’s Rock, so to need to use an item that’s not easily stocked could prove to be a hard decision. Another problem is that there are some moves the evolutions cannot learn, so sometimes it is best to have that Pokémon learn that move before evolving them, such as Weavile with Ice Shard and Mismagius with Perish Song.
Trade Evolutions
Examples: Gengar, Conkeldurr, Scizor
Desiring for a strong Pokémon sometimes require a friend, or if your could afford it, another system. Indeed, there are some powerful Pokémon only obtainable if you trade. Some Pokémon only require trading, with a unique one requiring a specific species to trade (Karrablast and Shelmet). There are others that require more setup, since they need specific items while trading! There are some that do not require trading, for they could be caught in the wild. I’d say that they are more convenient than having to trade to evolve them (Steelix is a great example).
Experience Group
Examples: Tentacruel, Hippowdon, Breloom, Ninjask
Perhaps this characteristic is not inherent in evolutions, but levelling up is a requirement for some Pokémon that it fits here.
Every Pokémon have their own Experience Group. This includes Fast, Medium Fast, Medium Slow, Slow, Fluctuating and Erratic. The former three are not too bad for increasing levels, especially Fast, since well, you don’t need as much experience. It’s the latter three that certain great Pokémon tend to have. The Slow group is something that legendaries and pseudo-legendaries have, meaning they require more dedication. If you combine with a high-level evolution, more dedication is required in levelling.
Pokémon in the Fluctuating group levels up fast early on, but later they will require a lot of experience to gain a level, making it a really painstaking process. A notable Pokémon to use this is Breloom. Pokémon in the Erratic group levels up slower than anybody else early on, but their levels increase the fastest later on. Great Pokémon in-game usually have this, so don’t be surprised that Ninjask and Shedinja aren’t easy to level up in-game, since they are extremely useful there.
That’s all for this week. For the next week, we will be looking at the topic on preparation, which deals with getting the Pokémon ready for battle, since the right moves and abilities are key to doing well in battle. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I have writing it.
Thanks for reading.
