Evolving gen two Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go’s latest update added a wrench into the evolution process. In order to get many of the new, second-gen Pokémon now available in the game, players will have to amass not just the appropriate types of candy, but certain evolutionary items as well.

This may seem like a confusing addition to something that takes some time to understand in the first place. It may be especially confusing to know that these Pokémon that need an item to evolve are the powered-up forms of some popular first-generation Pokémon, giving some monsters already in players’ parties a major power boost.

Luckily, anyone who’s played the second generation of Pokémon games will be familiar with this change. But even if they haven’t, we’ve compiled all the items they should be on the lookout for if they want to complete that Pokédex.

Evolving Pokémon with an item

There are a handful of second-gen Pokémon that evolve from first-gen monsters, and the majority of these are the ones that need a separate item to actually unlock them. These items are used in addition to pre-existing Pokémon candies. (Candy is the main way to evolve a Pokémon, as anyone who’s been playing Pokémon Go for awhile knows. Players can collect great quantities of them by catching the same species of Pokémon repeatedly.)

What are these new items?

These items range from a new evolutionary stone (think Fire, Thunder, Water, etc.) to some more specific, species-centric items.

The whole list is as follows:

• Sun Stone
• King’s Rock
• Metal Coat
• Dragon Scale
• Up-Grade

Which items work for which Pokémon?

Each item has a highly specific use, with only two of the new evolutionary items working with more than one Pokémon.

A Sun Stone will transform Gloom into Bellossom when coupled with 100 Oddish candies. Combining Seadra with 100 Horsea candies and a Dragon Scale gets Kingdra, its final form. Porygon becomes Porygon 2 with 50 Porygon candies and an Up-Grade.

Both Poliwhirl and Slowpoke use the King’s Rock to evolve, and Onix and Scyther rely upon Metal Coat.

Imgur via Reddit

When evolving Onix or Scyther, all that’s needed is 50 of their candies and a Metal Coat item. When it comes to Slowpoke and Poliwhirl, however, things are a bit different. Both Slowpoke and Poliwhirl have two different evolutionary forms, including the first-gen Slowbro and Poliwrath. With the new Pokémon update, players can now choose between which of the forms they want their Pokémon to evolve into. This is noted on the Pokémon’s detailed profile screen, so players have complete control over their collection’s evolutionary path.

To get Politoed and Slowking — the new forms of Slowpoke and Poliwhirl — players need a respective 100 and 50 candies, as well as the King’s Rock item.

How do I find these items?

These items are found randomly at PokéStops. There’s no guarantee that a PokéStop will dispense the item you want or need, of course, so just find and swipe on them as often as possible.

Are there any other first-gen Pokémon with new, second-gen evolutionary forms?

Yes! Not every single one of them needs an item to evolve, as we mentioned. There are a small amount of Pokémon that just require a set number of candy in order to evolve into their new, Johto-native forms.

These Pokémon are Crobat, which evolves from Golbat with 100 Zubat candies; Blissey, which Chansey evolves into with 50 of its candies; and Eevee, which has another two new forms that evolve under some other special circumstances.

Oh? How do I get the new Eevee forms?

Typically, evolving Eevee into any of its (currently) five different forms is totally random. After using 25 Eevee candies, it just transforms into whatever it wants. That’s frustrating for anyone dedicated to catching ‘em all, but just as they did with the original set of Pokémon Go monsters, there’s a trick to getting the two new Eeveelutions.

To get Espeon, name an Eevee Sakura for a guaranteed shot at the psychic-type. Getting Umbreon is as easy as naming Eevee Tamao. These are both references to the Pokémon cartoon, and they only work once — so make sure you’re using it on an especially good Eevee.

Are there other new Pokémon to look out for?

There sure are! There are 80 in total, in fact. Some are super hard to find right now, while others will take substantially less work than collecting extra items on top of last gen’s monsters to capture. Get out there and start finding them all!