Pokemon GO Mega Evolution – Everything We Know so Far

Mega evolution, a Pokemon mechanic first introduced in Pokemon X and Y for the 3DS, is coming to Niantic’s Pokemon GO. Technically we’ve known this for a while, even seeing mega evolutions front and center on some recent official art. But now we know that mega evolution is coming soon. A new update game to the Pokemon GO APK recently, and dataminers have found a ton of information on Pokemon GO mega evolution in that update. A lot of this information is subject to change, but it looks like the framework for mega evolution is at the very least well-established. The rest of this piece could conceivably be taken as spoilers, so here’s a spoiler warning before we get into it.

Early Information on Pokemon GO Mega Evolution – What We Know

PokeMiners, a dedicated group of Pokemon-adjacent dataminers, are the source of this information. Apparently Niantic has fortified its walls a bit against datamining, so it seems like this information is not confirmed as complete yet in terms of the update’s full contents. That said, there is a list of key terms that were found in the data, and you can check them out below.

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• Mega Raids – Seems self-explanatory! Apparently there is also data for special music for these encounters. Mega Raids are their own tier distinct from normal Raids.
• Transformation – the mega evolution feature is a “Form Transformation,” meaning that unlike other alternate Pokemon “forms,” this will actually be a temporary change to the literal Pokemon that uses it, rather than being treated as a separate creature. A first for the game! This means Mega Pokemon have their own stats, and after Raids it seems like you’ll catch the Pokemon in their Mega form. This also impacts things like the camera and model size.
• Mega Candy – While it seems to inhabit a similar space to candy in the game’s backend, this is actually Mega Energy. It’s still unclear how it works, though.
• Mega Evolution quests – These quests seem to be related to mega evolving starter Pokemon, but there could be more to it as you also get Mega Energy from them.
• Mega Evolution timer – In Pokemon X and Y, you could only initiate a mega evolution once per battle. Pokemon GO seems to be adapting this limitation into a timer system.
• Mega Evolution and Devolution – these are animations associated with the upcoming new feature.
• Mega Evolved display – the display files refer to UI elements such as in the Pokedex. Presumably there will be a way to check out mega forms after you obtain them.
• Mega Evolved Badges – The badges found for mega evolution are related to specific evolutions as well as an overall number.
• Mega Evolution X and Y – This is some sort of designation for Mewtwo and Charizard, the only two Pokemon that have two different mega evolution forms.

In the original Pokemon X and Y, mega evolution was very limited in a lot of ways. First of all, only a select few Pokemon out of hundreds are capable of this feat. Second, getting to the point of having the ability required two different kinds of items – a Mega Stone for the Pokemon, and a Key Stone for the player’s Mega Ring. So with the data hinting at consumable resources for Mega Evolution, it seems like as of right now it’s going to take some effort to make it happen.

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How do you think mega evolution will ultimately be represented in Pokemon GO? Are you worried about its impact on the metagame, or do you think mega evolution will serve some other distinct purpose? Let us know what you feel about mega evolution in Pokemon GO over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!