Pokemon Masters: How to evolve and Mega Evolve Pokemon
Learn all about how to evolve with this Pokemon Masters evolution guide
The latest pocket monster game has people immensely confused about how to evolve in Pokemon Masters, because it's not made immediately clear. To clear it up, we've got this Pokemon Masters evolution guide which includes everything on how to evolve Pokemon in Pokemon Masters, including which Pokemon can be evolved, and even how to mega evolve. Read up for everything you need to know about how to evolve Pokemon in Pokemon Masters.
Pokemon Masters: How to evolve Pokemon
Evolution in Pokemon Masters works differently to any other Pokemon game. Gone are the days of reaching a specific level for certain Pokemon and having them automatically evolve, because now, you need to use two specific types of item to evolve Pokemon, and only when they reach a specific level, which is the same across the board for all Pokemon eligible to evolve.
First up, the required level: in order to evolve a basic Pokemon – a Pokemon before it has evolved at all, like Totodile or Surskit – the sync pair needs to be at level 30. This is a flat criteria for every basic Pokemon. If you want to evolve a stage one Pokemon (after it's evolved once) into a stage two Pokemon, the sync pair needs to be level 45. Not all Pokemon can evolve however; more on that shortly.
Even when a sync pair reaches level 30, the Pokemon won't evolve automatically. If it's one of the Pokemon eligible to evolve then you need to do a few things, starting with buying five Evolution Shards from the shop. These cost 1,000 coins to begin with, but afterwards they become significantly more expensive.
Use the five Evolution Shards on the new storyline that will have appeared for your sync pair about evolution. I'd recommend waiting until you're an even higher level before tackling it though, because these battles are tough and consume five Evolution Shards each time.
To evolve a Pokemon for the second time, such as Servine into Serperior (after evolving Snivy), the sync pair needs to be at least level 45 and it will cost three Evolution Stones at 5,000 coins. Afterwards, they ramp up to a whopping 300,000 coins. Again, wait until you've levelled up even further because these are difficult battles.
Pokemon Masters: Which Pokemon can evolve?
There's hundreds of Pokemon that can evolve in the world of Pokemon, but the rules are different here in Pokemon Masters. Only specific sync pairs can evolve, and unfortunately, your starting Pikachu isn't one of them. Unlucky, Raichu fans. Here's the full list of sync pairs that can evolve in Pokemon Masters, that we know about at the time of writing:
- Barry and Piplup (evolves into Prinplup, Empoleon)
- Kris and Totodile (evolves into Croconaw, Feraligatr)
- Lyra and Chikorita (evolves into Bayleef, Meganium)
- Pryce and Seel (evolves into Dewgong)
- Rosa and Snivy (evolves into Servine, Serperior)
- Viola and Surskit (evolves into Masquerain)
These are all the ones we've discovered so far, so we'll be sure to update this list if there's any more.
Pokemon Masters: How to Mega Evolve
Mega Evolutions also feature in Pokemon Masters, as temporary boosts for individual Pokemon for a single battle. These are available via Sync Moves for specific Pokemon, and only get triggered when you use a Sync Move but will stay Mega Evolved for the rest of the battle. Here are all of the Sync Pairs that can Mega Evolve in Pokemon Masters:
- Agatha and Mega Gengar
- Blue and Mega Pidgeot
- Bugsy and Mega Beedrill
- Karen and Mega Houndoom
- Korrina and Mega Lucario
- Noland and Mega Pinsir
Again, if we discover any more, we'll update this list and let you know.
That's all we know about how to evolve in Pokemon Masters, so hopefully you've found it useful. If you're bored of Pokemon Masters, why not take a look at our best iPhone games or best Android games lists to find something else to play?
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Give me a game and I will write every "how to" I possibly can or die trying. When I'm not knee-deep in a game to write guides on, you'll find me hurtling round the track in F1, flinging balls on my phone in Pokemon Go, pretending to know what I'm doing in Football Manager, or clicking on heads in Valorant.