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Evolutionary stages
All Pokémon can be placed at one of three evolutionary stages – Egg Only, Basic, Stage 1, and Stage 2. A Basic Pokémon is one that cannot be evolved from another. Many of these Basic Pokémon can evolve, and the forms just above the basic level are known as Stage 1 Pokémon. When these Stage 1 Pokémon evolve, the new form is known as a Stage 2 Pokémon. Egg Only Pokémon always have a basic stage which is used to reproduct the Egg Only Pokémon.
A Pokémon higher up on this evolutionary scale is called an evolved form of the previous stages; a Pokémon lower down on the scale is often said to be a pre-evolved form of later Pokémon in the chain.
Although some Pokémon, such as the Oddish family, have branching evolutionary chains, all of these branches occur at the evolution of Basic or Stage 1 Pokémon; there may be multiple Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokémon in an evolutionary chain, but there have never been any Stage 3 Pokémon.
Forms of Pokémon evolution
Evolution can occur in Pokémon for several different reasons.
Evolution through leveling up
Evolution101.png
The most common initiator of Pokémon evolution is by gaining experience points, or "leveling up". Like in many computer role-playing games, a Pokémon's overall strength is measured by its Level, which ranges from 1 to 100 (except for Missingno-related glitches, which can get up to level 255 when given Rare Candies.) A Pokémon that evolves in this manner will evolve once it reaches a certain level. For example, Bulbasaur evolves into Ivysaur at level 16, and Ivysaur evolves into Venusaur at level 32. With this method of evolution, the more evolved states learn moves at a slower rate. For example, Bulbasaur learns its final move, Solar Beam, at level 48, Ivysaur learns it at level 54, and Venusaur learns it at level 65. However, evolution in this manner can open up new move sets, or the ability to learn from different Technical or Hidden Machines. For example, as of the release of Pokémon Yellow, the only Pokémon in the Charmander evolution chain that can learn the move Fly is Charizard.
Also, when a Pokémon is given a Rare Candy, it will go to its next level, except for when it is at level 100, the highest possible Pokémon level. If a Pokémon evolves at a certain level, enough Rare Candies can be given to the Pokémon to make it evolve. (See picture at top of page).
Evolution with Evolution Stones
Next to leveling up, the most common evolution initiator is exposure to an Evolution Stone. As of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the existing stones are Fire, Water, Thunder, Leaf, Moon, and Sun. When used on a compatible Pokémon, the stones trigger instant evolution. The changes caused by stone evolution are usually rather more drastic than those caused by evolution through gaining experience. Often, the newly evolved Pokémon will learn an entirely new set of moves after evolution than the ones it would have learned had it stayed in its original form; in fact, some Pokémon stop learning new moves altogether after Stone evolution. Evolution by stone is always the last stage in evolution. There is also the possibility of multiple evolutionary pathways triggered by stones, which is perhaps most noticeable in the Pokémon Eevee. A fairly unassuming Normal-type, Eevee has five possible evolutions, three of which are triggered by the Water, Thunder, and Fire stones respectively. Another Pokémon with a split Stone evolutionary path is Gloom, which can evolve with either the Leaf Stone or the Sun Stone.
Evolution through trading
The third common form of evolution is called Trade Evolution. These evolutions are triggered by the Pokémon being traded to another Pokémon gamepack with the use of a Game link cable. It doesn't have any of the flaws of the other two common evolutionary initiators. One example is Kadabra evolving into Alakazam. A twist to this form of evolution was introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. In this variant, the traded Pokémon will only evolve if it is holding a certain item while being traded. An example would be Onix having to hold a Metal Coat while being traded in order to evolve into Steelix. In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, one Pokémon, Clamperl, can evolve through this method two different ways depending on if it holds a Deepseatooth or Deepseascale when it is traded.
Evolution through happiness
Happiness-based evolution was first encountered in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Starting in that era, the games keep track of a hidden Happiness stat that changes depending on several factors, such as how often a Pokémon is defeated in battle or if it has been fed stat-enhancing items. If this statistic is maxed out, a Pokémon that evolves in this manner will evolve upon gaining another level. Usually, the baby forms of some Pokémon, such as Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, and Togepi, evolve in this way, and two additions to the Eevee evolution family, the Dark-type Umbreon and the Psychic-type Espeon, also come from this method of evolution. However, these two Eevee evolutions are unobtainable in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen because there is no clock system in these versions. (Therefore, Eevee had to be traded to Ruby or Sapphire and then leveled up.) Some older Pokémon, such as Chansey and Golbat, were given new evolved forms through this method.
Unusual evolutions
One Pokémon in Ruby and Sapphire evolves according to an extra statistic otherwise used only in minigames – the Beauty stat. This Pokémon, Feebas, will evolve into a Milotic once its Beauty is maxed out and it gains a level. This evolution cannot be obtained in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen because the Beauty stat is not part of these versions.
Another unusual form of evolution is the Nincada evolutionary family. When Nincada evolves into Ninjask, if the player has no more than five Pokémon at that time, then he or she will also receive its other evolved form, Shedinja, in an empty Pokémon slot.
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Wurmple evolves into either Silcoon or Cascoon. There have been many theroies about what determines which way it evolves, including Day/Night evolutions, Gender evolutions and even Nature-based ones, but it is actually determined by a hidden variable that is chosen when the Wurmple is encountered.
Tyrogue has three possible evolutions, depending on the ratio of its attack and defense stats. If the value of its attack stat is greater than that of its defense stat, then it will evolve into Hitmonchan; if its defense stat has the greater value, then it will evolve into Hitmonlee; and if its attack and defense stats are equal, it will evolve into Hitmontop.