Pokémon evolution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the fictional Pokémon universe, evolution is a sudden change in form of a Pokémon, usually accompanied by an increase in stat values. Evolution can be triggered in a variety of ways, but most often it occurs once a certain amount of experience points are accumulated by the creature. In real world terms, Pokémon evolution is analogous to metamorphosis (it is unlike Darwinian evolution).
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[edit] Evolutionary stages
All Pokémon can be placed at one of four evolutionary stages (though no existing Pokémon line includes more than three stages out of the four stages) – Baby, Basic, Stage 1, and Stage 2. A Basic Pokémon is usually the first one in the evolutionary line, but some do evolve from Baby (or “pre-evolution”) Pokémon. Many of these Basic Pokémon can evolve, and the forms just above the basic level are known as Stage 1 Pokémon. When these Stage 1 Pokémon evolve, the new form is known as a Stage 2 Pokémon. When bred under certain conditions, Basic or Stage 1 Pokémon may produce an egg which hatches into a Baby Pokémon that then evolves into the Basic form.
A Pokémon higher up on this evolutionary scale is called an evolved form of the previous stages; a Pokémon lower down on the scale is often said to be a pre-evolved form of later Pokémon in the chain.
Some Pokémon, such as Eevee, Slowpoke, Tyrogue, Clamperl, Ralts, and Minomutchi have branching evolutionary chains. All of these branches occur at the evolution of Baby, Basic or Stage 1 Pokémon; there may be multiple Basic, Stage 1, and/or Stage 2 Pokémon in an evolutionary chain, but only the Wurmple line contains a divergence in evolution prior to the final stage.
[edit] Forms of Pokémon evolution
Evolution can occur in Pokémon for several different reasons. However, the four most common kinds of evolution are leveling up, stone evolution, trade evolution, and happiness evolution.
[edit] Evolution through leveling up
As in many RPGs, a Pokémon’s overall strength is measured by its level, which ranges from 1 to 100 (except for Missingno-related glitches, which can get up to level 255 when given Rare Candies). The most common trigger of Pokémon evolution is “leveling up” either by gaining experience points, or by being fed Rare Candies, which instantly elevate the Pokémon 1 level for each candy consumed. A Pokémon that evolves in this manner will evolve once it reaches a certain level, e.g., Bulbasaur evolves into Ivysaur at level 16, and Ivysaur evolves into Venusaur at level 32. Level-based evolution can be halted by the trainer at any time before the process is complete, or prevented outright by having the Pokémon hold a special item, the Everstone. This is useful because, with this method of evolution, the more evolved states learn moves at a slower rate. For example, Bulbasaur learns its final - and most powerful - move, Solar Beam, at level 48, but Ivysaur only learns it at level 54, and Venusaur does not learn it until level 65. On the other hand, evolution in this manner can open up new move sets - especially if the evolved form is of a different type - or the ability to learn from different Technical or Hidden Machines. For example, the only Pokémon in Charmander’s evolution chain that can learn the move Fly is Charizard.
[edit] Evolution with evolution stones
Another possible evolution trigger is exposure to an evolution stone. These stones have unusual, typically elemental properties which affect specific Pokémon, apparently via some kind of radiaton. The elemental stones are the Fire Stone, the Water Stone, the Thunder Stone, the Leaf Stone, and the Moon Stone from the original games; the Sun Stone, introduced in the second generation; and the Light Stone and Dark Stone in the fouth generation (currently only available in Japan). There are also the Everstone, from the second generation, which is held by Pokémon to prevent evolution; and the Awakening Stone in the fourth generation, which causes a divergent evolution in some Pokémon if the subject is of a particular gender.
When used on a compatible Pokémon, the stones instantly precipitate evolution (unless the Pokémon is holding an Everstone). The changes caused by stone evolution are usually more radical than those caused by evolution through gaining experience. Often, the newly evolved Pokémon will learn an entirely new set of moves after evolution than the ones it would have learned had it stayed in its original form; in fact, some Pokémon stop learning new moves altogether after Stone evolution. Stone evolution, once initiated, cannot be stopped, and the stones, which are rare, are consumed in the process, so trainers must exercise caution. Pokémon which are produced by stone evolution will not evolve further, but there is the possibility of multiple evolutionary pathways triggered by stones, which is perhaps most noticeable in the Pokémon Eevee. A fairly unassuming Normal-type, Eevee has seven possible evolutions, three of which, Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon, are triggered by the Water, Thunder, and Fire stones respectively. Another Pokémon with a split Stone evolutionary path is Gloom, which can evolve with either the Leaf Stone (into Vileplume) or the Sun Stone (into Bellossom). Some other Pokémon that can evolve with stones are Poliwhirl with a Water Stone (into Poliwrath) and Skitty with a Moon Stone (into Delcatty).
Because some Pokémon games do not have an internal clock, and some of Eevee’s evolutions are dependent on the time of day (see below), Pokémon XD introduced the Sun Shard and Moon Shard (Sun Dust and Moon Dust in Japan, not to be confused with the Sun and Moon Stones mentioned above). Having one or the other on hand simulated the effects of Day or Night, respectively, allowing a happy Eevee to evolve into Espeon or Umbreon. As no other Pokémon in the game had time-related evolutions, it is currently unknown whether the shards would have similarly affected a Lysian or Sneasel, for example.
The Pokémon anime does not always strictly abide by the rules of the games. The anime addressed an unusual case with Ash’s Pikachu, who is self-content and would prefer not to evolve. It is also mentioned that Pokémon who evolve may lose some degree of versatility in regard to learning other skills (a reference to techniques in the game which cannot be learned by Pokémon whic evolve before reaching certain levels). Pikachu cannot evolve into Raichu without a Thunder Stone in any game, regardless of level. Also, In Pokémon Yellow, the player’s starting Pikachu refuses to evolve, mimicking the anime (on which that game is looseley based). In one episode of the Pokémon anime, “March of the Exeggutor Squad”, Melvin’s Exeggcute evolved without the use of a Leaf Stone, contradicting the video games.
[edit] Evolution through trading
The third type of evolution is trade evolution. In this case, Pokémon evolve after they are traded by the trainer that caught and/or raised them to another trainer. (In real-world terms, this generally involves some mechanism - either a cable or a wireless feature/device - to connect two game consoles and trade the Pokémon from one gamepak or card to another.)
Four Pokémon evolve simply by being traded; all are Stage 1 Pokémon from the first generation: Kadabra (into Alakazam), Machoke (into Machamp), Graveler (into Golem), and Haunter (into Gengar). This evolution cannot be stopped, but it can be prevented if the Pokémon is holding an Everstone during trade.
Other Pokémon will not evolve by trade unless they are holding certain items, a twist introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. As with stone evolution, the item is consumed, and cannot be used for another trade, or for its potential benefits as a hold item. An early example of this is Onix which must hold a Metal Coat while being traded in order to evolve into Steelix. Poliwhirl and Slowpoke would normally evolve through other methods (into Poliwrath and Slowbro, respectively), but can evolve into Politoed and Slowking instead if traded while holding a King’s Rock. One Pokémon, Clamperl, introduced in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, can evolve in two different ways via this method depending on whether it holds a Deepseatooth or Deepseascale when it is traded. Only one Pokémon evolves twice through trade (in fact, the only Pokémon that evolves twice in the same fashion other than by simply gaining levels): Porygon, when traded while holding the Up-Grade becomes Porygon2, and Porygon2, when traded with the Eerie Patch, evolves into PorygonZ).
Because the evolution occurs after the trade, a trainer receiving a trade evolution Pokémon will get two Pokédex entries, one for the pre-evolved Pokémon, and one for the evolved Pokémon; meanwhile, the trainer who traded the Pokémon away will not get a Pokédex entry for the evolved form unless it is traded back.
[edit] Evolution through happiness
Happiness-based evolution, also known as “friendly evolution”, is a variation on level-up evolution. Since Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the games track a hidden stat measuring a Pokémon’s contentedness. It changes based on several factors, such as how often a Pokémon is defeated in battle or if it has been fed stat-enhancing items. A player can gauge his/her Pokémon’s general happiness level by taking it to certain NPCs, or using Pokémon Stadium 2 or Pokémon Box to rate the strength of its friendship with the trainer. If this statistic is at a high level, a Pokémon that evolves in this manner will evolve upon gaining another level. Usually, the baby forms of Pokémon, such as Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff and Togepi, evolve in this way, and some older Pokémon, such as Chansey and Golbat, were given new evolutions through this method, Blissey and Crobat respectively.
In some cases, this evolution will only occur at a particular time of day; for instance, a happy Eevee will evolve only into the Dark-type Umbreon at night, and the Psychic-type Espeon during the daytime.
[edit] Unusual evolutions
There are a few other variations on level-based evolution, often applying only to a few Pokémon, in several cases, only one.
Tyrogue has three possible evolutions, depending on the ratio of its Attack and Defense stats when it reaches level 20. If the value of its Defense stat is greater than that of its Attack stat, it will evolve into Hitmonchan; if its Attack stat is greater than its Defense, it will evolve into Hitmonlee; and if its Attack and Defense stats are equal, it will evolve into Hitmontop, possibly the hardest to obtain, as the nature of the Tyrogue may prevent equal growth of the Attack and Defense stats. Protein is an item that will raise a Pokémon’s attack, and it can be used if the Attack is too low. If the Defense stat is too low, then the item Iron can be used.
In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Wurmple evolves into either Silcoon or Cascoon at level 7. There have been many theories about what determines which way it evolves, including Day/Night evolutions, gender evolutions and even Nature-based ones, but it is actually determined by a hidden variable that is generated when the Wurmple is encountered.
Another unusual form of evolution is the Nincada evolutionary family. When Nincada evolves into Ninjask at level 20, if the player has no more than five Pokémon at that time, then he or she will also receive its other “evolved” form, Shedinja, in the empty slot of his/her party.
One Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire, Feebas, evolves into Milotic when it levels up while an extra statistic, Beauty, is at its maximum possible value. This statistic is otherwise useful only for contests.
The fourth generation games introduce even more abnormal evolution methods (as well as several new items for trade evolution).
Certain Pokémon will only evolve if they level up in specific places, including two new evolutions of Eevee, Leafia and Glacia. They only appear when Eevee levels up near the Moss Rock and Ice Rock, respectively. Magneton can evolve and Nosepass can evolve if they level up in the Tengan Mountain are.
Other new evolutions may require Pokémon to have have learned certain moves, such as a Lickitung knowing Rollout, or an Aipom knowing Double Attack. Several Pokémon evolve after learning Ancientpower, including Piloswine and Yanma. Other new techniques require the Pokémon to hold a specific item upon leveling up. In some instances a Pokémon must be holding the item at a certain time of day, as is the case with Sneasel’s evolution into Weavile.
A new Baby Pokémon, Tamanta, will only evolve into Mantine if there is a Remoraid in the party.
Lastly, there are two Bug-type Pokémon which evolve according to their gender: Mitsuhoney will only evolve into a Beequeen if it is female, a requirement met by only 1 in 8 Mitsuhoney. Minomutchi will simply evolve into a Bug/Flying-type Moth Pokémon Garmeil if it is male and Minomadam if female. The latter case has a further complication, however: Minomucchi, classified as a Bagworm Pokémon, will rebuild the case around its body from new material when it faints, using what it finds in the area. If near grass or in a forest, it will build a case of leaves like the one it has when caught; if in a cave, it will use rocks and sand; and if it faints in a building, it uses pink fiberglass insulation. The composition of this case when a female Minomutchi evolves will determine the Minomadam’s second type (and the composition of its case). The Minomadam will be a Bug-type, and also a Grass-, Ground-, or Steel-type, depending.
[edit] External links
- Pokémon Evolution Chart
- Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - New Evolutionary Methods - Section from Serebii.net that explains all the new evolutions methods for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
