All Special Evolutions in Pokemon Legends Z-A

Most of the Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A evolve once they reach a certain level, but there are quite a few that can only evolve once certain criteria have been met. Some Pokemon evolve when they're exposed to special evolution stones, while others can only be evolved through trading. Then there are the Pokemon that evolve once the bond that they share with their trainer becomes strong enough.

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Where to Find Every Pokemon in Pokemon Legends Z-A

Complete both your Hyperspace and Lumiose Pokedexes with this guide on how to get all 364 Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

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By Tom Bowen

Understanding all of the special evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Z-A can make filling out the Lumiose Pokedex a whole lot easier, which bodes well, as there are 230 Pokemon to find and collect at launch. The following guide will go over all of the Pokemon that evolve through trading, evolution stones, and friendship, as well as any additional time of day or move set requirements that may apply.

Updated December 12, 2025, by Tom Bowen: With the release of the Mega Dimension DLC comes 21 new Pokemon Legends: Z-A special evolutions. This guide has been updated to include them all, thus bringing the total number of special evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Z-A up to a somewhat impressive 64.

All Pokemon that Evolve with Evolution Stones and Items

There are 27 Pokemon that can be obtained through the use of evolution stones and items. Players can purchase Evolution Stones from the Stone Emporium on Vernal Avenue, although they can also be found in red Pokeballs on the streets and rooftops of Lumiose City. In most cases, it's a simple case of exposing the unevolved Pokemon to the Evolution Stone or Evolution Item to get it to evolve, although there are two instances where the gender of the unevolved Pokemon also comes into play.

Unevolved Pokemon	Evolution Stone	Evolved Pokemon
Roselia	Shiny Stone	Roserade
Staryu	Water Stone	Starmie
Floette	Shiny Stone	Florges
Pikachu	Thunder Stone	Raichu
Clefairy	Moon Stone	Clefable
Doublade	Dusk Stone	Aegislash
Weepinbell	Leaf Stone	Victreebel
Pansage	Leaf Stone	Simisage
Pansear	Fire Stone	Simisear
Panpour	Water Stone	Simipour
Kirlia (Male)	Dawn Stone	Gallade
Eevee	Water Stone	Vaporeon
Eevee	Thunder Stone	Jolteon
Eevee	Fire Stone	Flareon
Eevee	Leaf Stone	Leafeon
Eevee	Ice Stone	Glaceon
Eelektrik	Thunder Stone	Eelektross
Snorunt (Female)	Dawn Stone	Froslass
Lampent	Dusk Stone	Chandelure
Helioptile	Sun Stone	Heliolisk
Capsakid	Fire Stone	Scovillain
Munna	Moon Stone	Musharna
Scyther	Black Augurite	Kleavor
Jigglypuff	Moon Stone	Wigglytuff
Crabrawler	Ice Stone	Crabominable
Charcadet	Auspicious Armor	Armarouge
Charcadet	Malicious Armor	Ceruledge

Players can get Auspicious and Malicious Armor as part of Side Mission 132 (Bitter Blue Flames vs. Blazing Crimson). Black Augurite can be found in gold bonus balls in Hyperspace Wild Zones.

Pokemon that Evolve Through Trading

There are 13 Pokemon that evolve through trading, eight of which will need to be holding a special item when the trade takes place in order for the evolution to be triggered. Players can trade with someone they know or use special Pokemon Legends: Z-A trade codes to trade with a random person online. When opting for the latter, it's important to make sure that the Pokemon you put up for trade is holding the required item where applicable, and that the Pokemon you're receiving is holding that item as well.

Unevolved Pokemon	Trade Code	Evolved Pokemon
Kadabra	0063-0063	Alakazam
Haunter	0066-0066	Gengar
Spritzee (Holding a Sachet)	0096-0096	Aromatisse
Swirlix (Holding a Whipped Dream)	0098-0098	Slurpuff
Machoke	0126-0126	Machamp
Slowpoke (Holding a King's Rock)	0137-0137	Slowking
Scyther (Holding a Metal Coat)	0176-0176	Scizor
Phantump	0182-0182	Trevenant
Onix (Holding a Metal Coat)	0197-0197	Steelix
Pumpkaboo	0204-0204	Gourgeist
Porygon (Holding an Upgrade)	0137-0137	Porygon2
Porygon2 (Holding a Dubious Disc)	0233-0233	Porygon-Z
Feebas (Holding a Prism Scale)	0349-0349	Milotic

Pokemon that Evolve Through Friendship

There are 11 Pokemon that evolve through high friendship. In previous games, players had to use their Pokemon in battle and keep it out of its Pokeball to increase its happiness, but the process is much simpler in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Players can increase their friendship with a Pokemon quickly by taking it to a cafe and sharing a few drinks with it. By doing so, they can trigger a special evolution after just two or three minutes, although it'll cost them just over one thousand Pokedollars to do so.

Unevolved Pokemon	Requirement(s)	Evolved Pokemon
Budew	High Friendship + Daytime	Roselia
Pichu	High Friendship	Pikachu
Cleffa	High Friendship	Clefairy
Eevee	High Friendship + Daytime*	Espeon
Eevee	High Friendship + Nighttime*	Umbreon
Eevee	High Friendship + Fairy-type Move*	Sylveon
Buneary	High Friendship	Lopunny
Riolu	High Friendship + Daytime	Lucario
Chingling	High Friendship + Nighttime	Chimecho
Igglybuff	High Friendship	Jigglypuff
Golbat	High Friendship	Crobat

* If Eevee knows a Fairy-type move when players attempt to evolve it with high friendship, it will always evolve into Sylveon regardless of whether it is day or night. As such, those hoping to get Espeon or Umbreon should make sure that their Eevee does not know any Fairy-type moves before attempting to evolve it.

Other Special Evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Z-A

In addition to the aforementioned special evolutions, there are 13 Pokemon who can only evolve once they reach a certain level, and then another condition is met. This could be related to the time of day or the current weather conditions, or the other Pokemon that players have in their team. When it comes to evolving Inkay into Malamar, players will need to hold their Nintendo Switch upside down to trigger the evolution, meaning they'll need to be playing the game in handheld mode.

Unevolved Pokemon	Requirement(s)	Evolved Pokemon
Pancham	Reach level 32 and then evolve Pancham while there's a Dark-type Pokemon in the party.	Pangoro
Inkay	Reach level 30 and then evolve Inkay while holding the Switch upside down. On Switch 2, you can attach the Joy-Cons the wrong way round to trigger the evolution.	Malamar
Sliggoo	Reach level 40 and then evolve Sliggoo while it's raining.	Goodra
Tyrunt	Reach level 39 and then evolve Tyrunt during the daytime.	Tyrantrum
Amaura	Reach level 39 and then evolve Amaura during the nighttime.	Aurorus
Primeape	Use Rage Fist twenty times.	Annihilape
Farfetch’d (Galarian)	Land three Critical Hits in a single fight.	Sirfetch’d
Greavard	Reach level 30 and then evolve Greavard during the nighttime.	Houndstone
Gimmighoul	Collect 999 Gimmighoul Coins.	Gholdengo
Qwilfish (Hisuian)	Teach Barb Barrage to Hisuian Qwilfish.	Overqwil
Yamask (Galarian)	Take at least 49 points of damage and then stand under the bridge between Wild Zone 11 and Wild Zone 17.	Runerigus
Clobbopus	Teach Taunt to Clobbopus.	Grapploct
Mime Jr.	Teach Mimic to Mime. Jr.	Mr. Mime