Pokémon Go Mega Evolution update and new bonuses, how to Mega Evolve and all Mega Evolutions list
It's now easier to get your hands on the most powerful evolutions of all.
Mega Evolutions allow you to power-up existing creatures into a much more powerful form in Pokémon Go.
First introduced in the mainline games with Pokémon X and Y, Mega Evolutions took place by using specific stones in battle.
Introduced into Pokémon Go in August 2020, Mega Evolutions remain a temporary transformation, and requiring the use of a new item type - Mega Energy.
The game underwent a significant Mega Evolution update in April 2022, which allowed you to evolve without Mega Energy after the first use - and more Mega Evolution bonuses by increasing your Mega Evolution levels.
This page explains how to Mega Evolve a Pokémon in Pokémon Go, how to get Mega Energy and all available Mega Evolution Pokémon.
On this page:
Pokémon Go Mega Evolutions update explained
In April 2022, Mega Evolutions underwent a significant update. Though the core concepts remained the same - that certain Pokémon could Mega Evolve once you have collected enough Mega Energy - you can now Mega Evolve for free after the first use and level up Mega Evolutions for additional bonuses.
The Mega Evolution update is now available worldwide.
The new changes include:
- Once you have Mega Evolved a Pokémon once, it is free to evolve again in future, once a cooldown has ended.
- Mega Energy can be spent to Mega Evolve that Pokémon before the cooldown ends. The shorter the rest period, the less Mega Energy is required.
- Each time you Mega Evolve a Pokémon, it will increase in Mega Level. This will introduce additional bonuses across several tiers - including increased Candy XL drop rate, an XP catch bonus and a reduced rest rate. (These are all detailed in the next section.)
- Mega Raids "will be easier", according to Niantic.
- You can now Mega Evolve from the raid and battle prep screens.
In summary - the existing bonuses still remain, and though you still need to find Mega Energy to evolve a Pokémon in the first place, beyond that, the ability to evolve without needing more is a welcome one. The bonuses from higher levels are well worth working towards too - which we'll discuss in the next section.
You can read more about the changes, and Niantic's thinking about them, in the April 2022 Dev Diary:
Mega Levels list and new Mega Evolution bonuses in Pokémon Go
Introduced in the April 2022 update, Mega Evolutions now have levels. To increase your Mega Level, you must Mega Evolve that Pokémon, and after a certain number of evolutions, you will reach the next level.
Each level has a number of bonuses. The evolution requirement and bonuses are as follows:
| Level | Evolves required | Rest period | Bonuses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Level | 1 | 7 days | Catch Candy bonus Boosted Ally bonus Reduced Mega Energy to evolve |
| High Level | 7 | 5 days | Candy Candy bonus Boosted Ally bonus Great Candy XL chance increase Catch XP bonus Greatly reduced Mega Energy cost |
| Max Level | 30 | 3 days | Enhanced Catch Candy bonus Boosted Ally bonus Excellent Candy XL chance Enhanced Catch XP bonus Massively reduced Mega Energy cost |
Note on the above - the Catch XP, Catch Candy and Candy XL bonuses only apply to Pokémon of the same type as the Mega Evolution. Though this initially seems restrictive, it is particularly useful for Community Day and Spotlight Hour events where you might want to maximise the amount of Candy or XP you'd like to earn from catching one particular Pokémon.
Which Mega Evolutions can be currently battled in Pokémon Go?
During the Season of Rising Heroes, there will be one Mega Evolution appearing in Mega Raids at a time.
Currently, the Mega Evolution available in Raids is Mega Pinsir, appearing until Wednesday 24th May.
After this Mega Evolution leaves, the following will be appearing in Mega Raids:
- Mega Pinsir - Thursday 11th May to Wednesday 24th May
- Mega Altaria - Wednesday 24th May to Thursday 1st June
Why is this important to know? While you can get Mega Energy for a number of Pokémon at any given time through quests, field research or walking as your buddy, raids continue to be the easiest and fastest source.
How to Mega Evolve in Pokémon Go
Mega Evolutions are an additional, more powerful evolution that certain Pokémon - such as the original Kanto starters - can undertake.
To Mega Evolve a Pokémon in Pokémon Go, you need a resource named Mega Energy. Once a Pokémon has been Mega Evolved, it will stay in that form for a limited amount of time (which was increased to eight hours in October 2020) and can be used in a variety of battles.
You will be able to see how much time your Mega Evolution has remaining on its CP screen.
Once it has returned to its normal form, the Mega Energy you need to Mega Evolve it again later will be decreased.
This amount was further decreased on Thursday, 3rd September as Niantic performed a number of adjustments to the Mega Evolution system.
Other things you should know about Mega Evolutions:
- You can only Mega Evolve one Pokémon at a time. If you Mega Evolve a second Pokémon, the other one will return back to normal.
- Shadow Pokémon cannot undergo a Mega Evolution.
- Clone Pokémon cannot undergo a Mega Evolution.
- Mega Evolutions will be listed in your Pokédex under the 'Mega Pokédex'. So that's another thing to collect!
- There will be two new Medals added to the game - one for collecting Unique Mega Evolutions, the other for total Mega Evolutions. (Thanks to martycochrane on reddit for revealing this.)
How to get Mega Energy in Pokémon Go
Mega Energy is specific to each individual Pokémon - similar to how Candy works in the game. So if you want to Mega Evolve a Bulbasaur into Mega Bulbasaur, you need Bulbasaur Mega Energy.
Mega Energy is primarily found from completing Mega Raids, a type of Raid encounter featuring Mega Pokémon. The faster you win a Mega Raid, the more Mega Energy you receive.
You can also earn Mega Energy through a number of other ways, including:
Certain Special Research rewards, such as Mega Energy for Beedrill from completing A Mega Discovery.Where can you use Mega Evolutions in Pokémon Go?
While a Pokémon is in its temporary Mega Evolved form, you can use it in the following areas of the game:
- Battling in Raids
- All other Pokémon in the Raid will receive an attack boost. A further boost is added that Pokémon shares the same type of attack. (These boosts don't stack, so you can only benefit from one Mega Evolution at a time.)
- Battling in Gyms
- Battle in Team Go Rocket encounters
- Battling against Friends
- Used as a Buddy
Meanwhile, Mega Evolutions cannot be used to:
- Defend Gyms
- In the Go Battle League (though Niantic has teased this might change in future, perhaps for specific Leagues or Cups)
The Season of Rising Heroes is here! Currently the A Valorous Hero event is running, bringing with it Mega Pinsir and the A Valorous Hero special research quest. The new Grass and Gratitude quest allows you to catch a mythical Shaymin! A new Team Go Rocket quest - From The Shadows - has been released, along with a shake up of the Giovanni and Team Go Rocket Leaders lineups. As you continue your Pokémon Go adventure, make sure to battle in the new Go Battle League season. Don't forget to take a look at the Remote Raid Passes changes or, if you purchased it, work on the Masterwork Research: Wish Granted quest. Elsewhere, be sure to use Daily Adventure Incense for the chance of encountering Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Moltres. This incense may also give you encounters with other rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go.
Mega Evolutions list: Which Mega Evolutions are available in Pokémon Go?
As with regular Pokémon, you can track how many Mega Evolutions you've encountered in your Mega Pokédex.
Though the main games span 48 Mega Evolutions (including the two Charizard and Mewtwo each have access to each) on the feature's debut in Pokémon Go, there are only four Mega Evolutions available.
Pokémon Go Mega Evolution list
| Mega Evolution | Type | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mega Venusaur | 
| Grass / Poison | Mega Raids |
| Mega Charizard X | 
| Fire / Dragon | Mega Raids |
| Mega Charizard Y | 
| Fire / Flying | Mega Raids |
| Mega Blastoise | 
| Water | Mega Raids |
| Mega Pidgeot | 
| Normal / Flying | Mega Raids Unlocked September 2020 following a community event |
| Mega Beedrill | 
| Bug / Poison | Field Research and Special Research Unlocked September 2020 following A Mega Discovery Special Research |
| Mega Houndoom | 
| Dark / Fire | Mega Raids Unlocked September 2020 following the Mega Event |
| Mega Gengar | 
| Ghost / Poison | Mega Raids Unlocked in October 2020 as part of the Halloween event |
| Mega Abomasnow | 
| Grass / Ice | Mega Raids Unlocked in December 2020 |
| Mega Ampharos | 
| Electric / Dragon | Mega Raids Unlocked in January 2021 as part of the Hoenn Celebration event |
| Mega Gyarados | 
| Water / Dark | Mega Raids Unlocked in February 2021 as part of the Lunar New Year event |
| Mega Manectric | 
| Electric | Mega Raids Unlocked in March 2021 as part of the Charge Up! event event |
| Mega Lopunny | 
| Normal / Fighting | Mega Raids Unlocked in April 2021 as part of the Spring event |
| Mega Altaria | 
| Dragon / Fairy | Mega Raids Unlocked in May 2021 as part of the Swablu Community Day |
| Mega Slowbro | 
| Water / Psychic | Mega Raids Unlocked in June 2021 as part of the A Very Slow Discovery |
| Mega Absol | 
| Dark | Mega Raids Unlocked in October 2021 as part of the Halloween event |
| Mega Steelix | 
| Steel / Ground | Mega Raids Unlocked on Wednesday, 1st December 2021 |
| Mega Aerodactyl | 
| Rock / Flying | Mega Raids Unlocked on Friday, 7th January 2022 as part of the Mountains of Power event |
| Mega Kangaskhan | 
| Normal | Mega Raids Unlocked on Friday, 29th April 2022 as part of the Mega Evolution rework |
| Mega Latias | 
| Dragon / Psychic | Mega Raids Unlocked on Tuesday, 3rd May 2022 as part of the Air Adventures event |
| Mega Latios | 
| Dragon / Psychic | Mega Raids Unlocked on Tuesday, 3rd May 2022 as part of the Air Adventures event |
| Mega Scizor | 
| Bug / Steel | Mega Raids Unlocked on Wednesday, 10th August 2022 as part of the Bug Out! event |
| Mega Alakazam | 
| Psychic | Mega Raids Unlocked on Tuesday, 6th September as part of the 2022 Psychic Spectacular event |
| Mega Aggron | 
| Steel | Mega Raids Unlocked on Friday, 16th September as part of the 2022 Test Your Mettle event |
| Mega Banette | 
| Ghost | Mega Raids Unlocked on Thursday, 20th October as part of the Halloween 2022 event |
| Mega Sceptile | 
| Grass / Dragon | Mega Raids Released on Saturday, 3rd December 2022 as part of the Hoenn Mega Raid Day |
| Mega Blaziken | 
| Fire / Fighting | Mega Raids Released on Saturday, 3rd December 2022 as part of the Hoenn Mega Raid Day |
| Mega Swampert | 
| Water / Ground | Mega Raids Released on Saturday, 3rd December 2022 as part of the Hoenn Mega Raid Day |
| Mega Glalie | 
| Ice | Mega Raids Released on Thursday, 15th December 2022 |
| Mega Salamence | 
| Dragon / Flying | Mega Raids Released on Tuesday, 10th January 2023 |
| Mega Gardevoir | 
| Psychic / Fairy | Mega Raids Released on Wednesday, 8th February 2023 |
| Mega Medicham | 
| Fighting / Psychic | Mega Raids Released on Wednesday, 8th March 2023 |
| Mega Pinsir |
| Bug / Flying | Mega Raids Released on Thursday, 11th May 2023 |
All Mega Evolution in Pokémon explained
Meanwhile, here are all the Mega Pokémon ever released in the mainline games in a single image, courtesy of a tier list (thanks to gerbetta33 on reddit for this).
To clarify - these are not currently in Pokémon Go, and there's no guarantee they will appear in the game.
However, this list might be useful to learn what could be coming to the game one day:
Good luck on your hunt for Mega Evolutions!
