Okay, let me tell you about this project I tackled recently. It all started because I was replaying Pokémon for the hundredth time and kept getting stuck on certain monsters that just wouldn’t evolve no matter what. I’d level them up like crazy, use stones, nothing worked. Got super frustrating, especially when they’d lag behind my main team. Had no clue why.
The Confusing Beginning
Right, so I decided to actually figure this out instead of just raging quit. My main problem? Graveler. That stubborn rock dude stayed a Graveler even when he hit level 40-something. I used all kinds of evolutionary stones on him – nada. Felt like banging my head against a Geodude.
This wasn’t just about Graveler, though. Realized my Machoke was stuck too, same thing. Then I remembered Haunter – another one that wouldn’t become Gengar, which everyone knows is way cooler. Started writing them all down on a piece of scrap paper:
- Haunter
- Machoke
- Graveler
- Kadabra (almost forgot about him!)
Figuring Out the Stupid Rule
Okay, time to hit the internet. Looked up “Pokemon that won’t evolve no matter what level”. Tons of stuff popped up, mostly wikis and old forum posts. Took me a minute to wade through it. Basically, the game just doesn’t tell you these specific critters need to be traded to another player.
Trade? Seriously? I mostly play solo. How’s that supposed to work? This felt like a massive, annoying roadblock the game designers threw in just to mess with folks playing alone.
The Attempt & Getting Help
So, I decided to test it. Found a random online trade group – some Discord server recommended on Reddit. Took a deep breath. Grabbed my spare, newly caught Haunter. Traded it with some random guy. Got it back instantly after it evolved. Felt weird handing my monster over to a stranger, even digitally. But hey, it worked! Haunter popped back into my box as a Gengar!
Encouraged, I did the same with Kadabra. Level 16 Kadabra out, Alakazam back in! Felt pretty awesome seeing the evolution animations when getting them back.
The “Oh Duh” Moment and the Others
Okay, so Haunter and Kadabra were confirmed. Made me think back to Graveler and Machoke. Traded them next. Boom, Golem and Machamp. Suddenly, my team was looking stacked! Even remembered Porygon needs an Upgrade item and a trade after looking it up. Then there’s Boldore – traded mine and got a cool Gigalith. Oh, and Shelmet and Karrablast – you gotta trade them with each other, which is just plain confusing.
The Ones That Need Extra Stuff
It gets even messier. Some like Scyther or Onix? They need you to slap a specific item on them before trading. Like, Metal Coat for Scyther to become Scizor. Almost traded my Scyther without it, which would’ve been a huge waste of time. Double-checking items became crucial.
Same with Poliwhirl – needs that King’s Rock held item when you trade it to get Politoed. Feels arbitrary.
The List That Actually Works
After testing pretty much all the main ones I could find or recall needing trades, here’s the core group that absolutely must be traded to evolve, no matter what version you’re playing (ignoring the item ones for now):
- Kadabra → Alakazam
- Machoke → Machamp
- Graveler → Golem
- Haunter → Gengar
- Boldore → Gigalith
- Gurdurr → Conkeldurr
- Shelmet → Accelgor (but only if traded for Karrablast)
- Karrablast → Escavalier (but only if traded for Shelmet)
- Phantump → Trevenant
- Pumpkaboo → Gourgeist
Then you got the ones needing items during the trade: Scyther (Metal Coat→Scizor), Seadra (Dragon Scale→Kingdra), Slowpoke (King’s Rock→Slowking), Porygon (Upgrade→Porygon2), and Poliwhirl (King’s Rock→Politoed). Different flavours of annoyance.
Why This Sucks (But How to Deal)
Honestly? It’s a dumb mechanic, especially now. Finding someone to trade with can be a pain, and it feels totally artificial. Game won’t tell you squat in-game about it. Wasted so much time leveling up monsters that refused to evolve naturally. Remember smacking a Haunter endlessly at Victory Road? Yeah, what a waste of time!
But, figured it out eventually. Now, I always hit up online groups or convince a friend to do quick tradebacks. Takes two seconds once you know someone. For anyone else stuck: find a trading buddy, period. That grumpy guy in Discord? He helped me evolve half my list. Now we help each other out with these annoying trade-evos all the time. Saves everyone the headache.
