There are so many ways to evolve Pokémon these days that it can be hard to keep track. Many of them are fairly straightforward — level it up, trade it, expose it to a stone — while others are a little counterintuitive.
Some evolution methods are so strange that people thought they were jokes at first before realizing that, yes, the developers do want players to do that. Some of them are just annoying. Whether that translates to irritation or appreciation for something more complicated in otherwise-easy games depends on the player, but here are the most annoying Pokémon to evolve.
10 Piloswine
There are a few different Pokémon that are required to know a certain move in order to evolve, many of them introduced in Generation IV. One of them is Piloswine, which evolves into its evolution, Mamoswine, when leveled up while knowing Ancient Power.
The problem here is that it only learns it at level 1, meaning players will need to visit a move reminder or get it as an egg move. In addition to that, it’s not even a move that Piloswine receives the Same-Type Attack Bonus from.
9 Sneasel
There are, as mentioned, a wide array of evolution methods, each of which is pretty easy to make happen. However, combine them together to make a more complicated process for an individual Pokémon and they can be very irritating.
An example of this is Sneasel, which will evolve into Weavile when leveled up at night while holding a Razor Claw. This doesn’t sound too complicated, but in some games, like Sun & Moon, Razor Claws can be very hard to find.
8 Zweilous
There’s no complicated process to evolve a Zweilous, it just takes a seriously long time. This is because Zweilous evolves at the highest level of any Pokémon, and its evolution from Deino also takes seemingly forever. Deino evolves into Zweilous at level 50, and that Zweilous will then evolve into Hydreigon at the record-setting level 64.
Add in the fact that Deino is fairly slow for a pseudo-legendary and players will be here for a while.
7 Galarian Farfetch’d
It seemed the typical formula of leveling up and being exposed to certain items was getting old for the makers of the Pokémon games, because in Generation VIII Game Freak really went off the deep end and introduced some strange new evolution methods.
There’s Milcery, which evolves after the player spins in a circle while holding baked goods, and Galarian Farfetch’d, which evolves into Sirfetch’d after landing three critical hits in a single battle. This is no easy feat, and will definitely take several attempts. Luckily, there are a few ways to increase the chances of landing those critical hits.
6 Galarian Yamask
Joining its Galarian friend Farfetch’d in Sword & Shield is Yamask, which also received a regional variant. What it also received is a very strange evolution method.
In order to evolve a Galarian Yamask into a Runerigus, players have to allow it to take at least 49 HP of damage without fainting, then travel underneath the archway in the Wild Area’s Dusty Bowl. It’s a strange method that seems unreal at first.
5 Shelmet & Karrablast
Having to trade a Pokémon to evolve it is not a new mechanic — it’s one of the original methods introduced in Generation I. However, that method only required players to trade a Machoke or a Haunter (or any other trade-based evolution) and then ask the person to send it back to them.
In Generation V, that was taken to another level. Shelmet and Karrablast also evolve when traded, but only if they’re traded for each other. Nothing else will trigger their evolutions.
4 Feebas
Feebas has always been annoying to catch and evolve, and it’s the only Pokémon that has been given two different evolution methods (both annoying). In Generation III and Generation IV, the only way to evolve Feebas into Milotic is if the former has a high enough Beauty condition.
This was a chore to complete, but was changed in Generation V. Feebas now needs to be traded while holding a Prism Scale, which is better, but still tedious. This is on top of the fact that Feebas is notoriously difficult to catch in the first place.
3 Tyrogue
There’s only one Pokémon whose evolution is based on its stats, and that’s Tyrogue. This Baby Pokémon is a Fighting-type that was introduced in Generation II, and it has three possible evolutions. If its attack stat is higher than its defense at level 20, it’ll evolve into Hitmonlee; if its defense is the highest, it evolves into Hitmonchan; and if its attack and defense stats are equal, it evolves into Hitmontop.
Balancing the stats properly and ensuring the right one is dominant is difficult and annoying. It’s even more irritating to keep them perfectly equal to evolve Tyrogue into Hitmontop.
2 Combee & Salandit
Generation IV introduced the first gender-based evolutions, locking Froslass and Gallade behind female Snorunt and male Kirlia, respectively. But, that was just the beginning of the new gendered evolution mechanic.
Generation IV would also see the introduction of Combee, a honeybee Pokémon that only evolves into Vespiquen if it’s female. The female to male ratio for Combee is 7:1. In Generation VII, another Pokémon like this would be introduced. Salandit only evolves into Salazzle if it is female, again with a 7:1 female to male ratio.
1 Meltan
Possibly one of the most confusing decisions in recent years is Meltan’s evolution method. This Steel-type Mythical Pokémon introduced in Generation VII will only evolve if it’s done in Pokémon GO. This means players won’t be able to evolve it in any other game that they happen to own it in.
On top of that, it requires 400 candies to evolve. For those who don’t play Pokémon GO — that’s a lot of candies. It’ll require using a Mystery Box, which can only be done once every seven days and requires transferring a Pokémon to the Let’s Go games.
NEXT: 10 Pokémon Who Don’t Look Anything Like Their Type
