Pokemon Go Mega Evolutions: How To Get Mega Energy And Mega Evolve Your Pokemon

Mega Evolutions have arrived in Pokemon Go. Just as in the mainline Pokemon games, select pocket monsters now have the ability to Mega Evolve, a temporary transformation that changes their appearance and grants them a significant stat boost. While the basics of the feature remain the same, however, Mega Evolution functions a little differently in Go than in other Pokemon games.

Mega Evolution allows select Pokemon to power up and take on a new, temporary form. In the mainline games, Mega Evolution can only be triggered during battle, and a Pokemon needs to be holding its corresponding Mega Stone in order to undergo the transformation. Once a Pokemon has Mega Evolved, its appearance will change and it will receive a significant stat boost.

Mega Evolved Pokemon also often gain a new Ability and typing. Charizard, for instance, becomes a Fire/Dragon type when it Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X. As previously mentioned, Mega Evolution works a bit differently in Pokemon Go than in the mainline games. Rather than a Mega Stone, you will need to gather a new resource called Mega Energy to Mega Evolve your Pokemon.

You will receive Mega Energy by participating in Mega Raid Battles, which feature a Mega-Evolved Pokemon as the Raid boss.

The faster your team is able to defeat the Mega Raid, the more Mega Energy you will receive as a reward. Once you have amassed enough Mega Energy, you will be able to Mega Evolve the corresponding Pokemon. Unlike in the mainline games, Pokemon will remain Mega Evolved in Go for a limited time, even outside of battle. As such, you will be able to see your Mega-Evolved Pokemon following you around on the map if you set it as a Buddy.

You will also be able to take Snapshots with it and use it in battle against Team Go Rocket, other players, and Raid bosses. After you Mega Evolve a Pokemon for the first time, its Mega Energy requirement will decrease, letting you Mega Evolve it again in the future much more quickly. It will also be logged in your Mega Pokedex, so you can easily keep track of which Pokemon you have Mega Evolved.

There are a few restrictions to keep in mind regarding Mega Evolutions. First, Mega-Evolved Pokemon cannot be left to defend a Gym. On top of that, only one Pokemon can Mega Evolve at a time. If you Mega Evolve a second one, the first will revert back to its original state. Finally, Clone and Shadow Pokemons that have not yet been purified will not be able to Mega Evolve.

Pokemon that Mega Evolve receive a significant stat boost, making them much more potent in battle, but the benefits of Mega Evolution extend to other players as well.

If you bring a Mega-Evolved into a Raid, every other player will receive a stat boost as well. On top of that, attacks that are the same type as the Mega-Evolved will get an additional boost, adding a new cooperative wrinkle to Raid Battles. Coinciding with the arrival of Mega Evolution, Niantic is introducing a new tier of Raid Battles to Go: Mega Raids.

Initially, the only bosses you will encounter in these Raids are the Mega-Evolved forms of Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. If you manage to defeat the boss, you will get the corresponding Mega Energy. Defeat Mega Blastoise, for instance, and you will collect Blastoise Mega Energy, which you can then use to Mega Evolve your own Blastoise when you have accumulated enough.

Mega Raids are roughly comparable to five-star Legendary Raids in terms of difficulty, by Niantic’s estimates, so they will put up quite a challenge and require you to team up with other players. Like standard Raids, however, you will be able to join Mega Raids remotely if you have a Remote Raid Pass. The faster you defeat the Mega Raid boss, the more Mega Energy everyone will earn, and you will have a chance to catch the boss in its standard, non-Mega-Evolved form after the battle.

In addition to Mega Raids, Niantic has introduced a new Special Research questline called “A Mega Discovery” to the game.

Complete the questline to learn more about Mega Evolution and earn various rewards including Beedrill Mega Energy, which you will be able to use to Mega Evolve your Beedrill. At the beginning, only four will be able to Mega Evolve in Go: Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, and Beedrill. Many more than that are capable of Mega Evolving in the mainline series however, and Niantic says it will introduce additional Mega-Evolved forms to the game gradually to give each one a moment in the spotlight.