Pokemon Emerald
Pokemon Emerald

Evolution Methods

Master Pokemon Emerald's Evolution Methods. Learn how to evolve your Pokemon through leveling, item usage, trading, and special conditions to build a stronger .

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Evolution Methods

Understanding how your Pokémon evolve is crucial for building a powerful team in Pokémon Emerald. While many Pokémon simply evolve by gaining experience and leveling up, others require specific items, conditions, or even trading. This section will detail all the various evolution methods available to you in the Hoenn region.

Level-Up Evolution

The most common evolution method, many Pokémon will evolve automatically once they reach a certain level. Simply battle, use Exp. Share, or give them Rare Candies to reach the required level. Once they do, they will attempt to evolve after the battle or item use. You can cancel an evolution by pressing 'B' during the evolution animation, but this is generally not recommended unless you have a specific strategy in mind.

  • Example: Treecko evolves into Grovyle at Level 16, and Grovyle evolves into Sceptile at Level 36.
  • Strategy: Pay attention to your Pokémon's level. If you want a specific move learned at an earlier stage, you might delay evolution, but remember that evolved forms generally have better stats.

Stone Evolution

Certain Pokémon require an Evolution Stone to evolve. These stones are single-use items that, when given to the correct Pokémon, will trigger an immediate evolution regardless of the Pokémon's level. Once a Pokémon evolves via a stone, it generally won't learn any more moves by leveling up, so consider teaching it desired TMs/HMs beforehand.

Finding Evolution Stones:

  • Fire Stone: Required for Vulpix (Ninetales), Growlithe (Arcanine), Eevee (Flareon).
    • Location: Fiery Path (hidden, requires Strength), or can be purchased from the Slateport City Market's "Energy Guru" after obtaining the National Dex.
  • Water Stone: Required for Staryu (Starmie), Eevee (Vaporeon), Lombre (Ludicolo).
    • Location: Abandoned Ship (requires Dive), or can be purchased from the Slateport City Market's "Energy Guru" after obtaining the National Dex.
  • Thunder Stone: Required for Pikachu (Raichu), Eevee (Jolteon).
    • Location: New Mauville (requires Surf and Strength), or can be purchased from the Slateport City Market's "Energy Guru" after obtaining the National Dex.
  • Leaf Stone: Required for Nuzleaf (Shiftry), Gloom (Vileplume).
    • Location: Route 119 (hidden, requires Surf), or can be purchased from the Slateport City Market's "Energy Guru" after obtaining the National Dex.
  • Moon Stone: Required for Nidorina (Nidoqueen), Nidorino (Nidoking), Clefairy (Clefable), Jigglypuff (Wigglytuff), Skitty (Delcatty).
    • Location: Meteor Falls (hidden), Mt. Pyre (hidden), or sometimes held by wild Lunatone (5% chance).
  • Sun Stone: Required for Gloom (Bellossom), Sunkern (Sunflora).
    • Location: Sometimes held by wild Solrock (5% chance).

Friendship Evolution

Some Pokémon evolve when they have a high friendship level with you and then level up. Friendship is a hidden stat that increases through various actions.

Increasing Friendship:

  • Walk with the Pokémon: Keeping the Pokémon in your active party and walking around increases friendship.
  • Win Battles: Winning battles with the Pokémon in your party (even if it doesn't participate) boosts friendship.
  • Use Vitamins: Items like HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos increase friendship.
  • Give Soothe Bell: This item, found in the Pokémon Fan Club in Slateport City, doubles the rate at which friendship increases when held by a Pokémon.
  • Massage: The woman in Mauville City (in the house to the right of the Pokémon Center) can give one Pokémon a massage per day, significantly boosting friendship.
  • Avoid Fainting/Bitter Items: Letting your Pokémon faint repeatedly or giving them bitter-tasting healing items (like Energy Powder or Heal Powder) will decrease friendship.

Pokémon that evolve via Friendship:

  • Golbat evolves into Crobat (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Chansey evolves into Blissey (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Pichu evolves into Pikachu (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Cleffa evolves into Clefairy (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Igglybuff evolves into Jigglypuff (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Togepi evolves into Togetic (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Azurill evolves into Marill (requires high friendship + level up).
  • Wynaut evolves into Wobbuffet (requires high friendship + level up).

Trade Evolution

Several Pokémon can only evolve by being traded to another game. This requires linking up with another Game Boy Advance and another copy of Pokémon Emerald (or Ruby/Sapphire).

Pokémon that evolve via Trade:

  • Kadabra evolves into Alakazam.
  • Machoke evolves into Machamp.
  • Haunter evolves into Gengar.
  • Graveler evolves into Golem.

Trade Evolution with Held Items:

Some Pokémon require holding a specific item while being traded to evolve. Ensure the Pokémon is holding the correct item before initiating the trade.

  • Seadra evolves into Kingdra when traded holding a Dragon Scale.
    • Dragon Scale Location: Sometimes held by wild Horsea or Seadra (5% chance). You can also find one on Route 124 using Dive.
  • Porygon evolves into Porygon2 when traded holding an Up-Grade.
    • Up-Grade Location: Not available in Pokémon Emerald. Porygon and its evolutions are not natively found in the Hoenn Pokédex. You would need to trade a Porygon holding an Up-Grade from a different game (like FireRed/LeafGreen) to evolve it.
  • Scyther evolves into Scizor when traded holding a Metal Coat.
    • Metal Coat Location: Sometimes held by wild Magnemite or Skarmory (5% chance).
  • Onix evolves into Steelix when traded holding a Metal Coat.
    • Metal Coat Location: Same as above.

Remember that traded Pokémon gain experience faster, which can be a double-edged sword if you want to control their level-up move learning.

Specific Condition Evolution

A few Pokémon have unique evolution requirements beyond the standard methods.

  • Feebas evolves into Milotic. This is one of the most challenging evolutions in Emerald.
    • Steps:
      1. Catch Feebas: Feebas is found in only 6 specific fishing tiles on Route 119 (out of hundreds). These tiles change daily. Use an Old Rod, Good Rod, or Super Rod to fish. It has a very low encounter rate.
      2. Raise Beauty Condition: Feebas evolves when its Beauty condition is maxed out and it levels up. Beauty is increased by feeding it Pokéblocks made from dry-flavored berries.
      3. Pokéblock Creation: Use a Berry Blender (found in Slateport City, Lilycove City, Verdanturf Town, and the Battle Frontier) with dry-flavored berries.
        • Recommended Berries: Pamtre Berry, Chesto Berry, Wiki Berry, Kelpsy Berry, Hondew Berry. Aim for high-level, dry Pokéblocks.
        • Strategy: Use the Berry Blender with NPCs to create better Pokéblocks. The woman in Lilycove City's Contest Hall is particularly good. Focus on making Indigo or Blue Pokéblocks.
      4. Feed Feebas: Continuously feed your Feebas these high-Beauty Pokéblocks until its Beauty condition is maxed out (check its summary screen).
      5. Level Up: Once Beauty is maxed, simply level up Feebas once (even with a Rare Candy) to trigger its evolution into Milotic.
  • Nincada evolves into Ninjask and Shedinja.
    • Steps:
      1. Level Nincada to Level 20: Nincada evolves into Ninjask at Level 20.
      2. Have an Open Slot in Your Party: Crucially, you must have an empty space in your party (5 Pokémon or fewer) when Nincada evolves.
      3. Have a Poké Ball in Your Bag: You must also have at least one standard Poké Ball (not Great Ball, Ultra Ball, etc.) in your bag.
      4. Simultaneous Evolution: When Nincada evolves into Ninjask at Level 20 under these conditions, a Shedinja will mysteriously appear in your empty party slot, possessing the same nature and IVs as the Nincada.