Top 10 Hardest Pokémon to Evolve in Scarlet and Violet

There are quite a few Pokémon that have unnecessarily tough processes to execute in order to evolve them into their final form. These range from in-game trading to incredibly difficult tasks to complete. Whilst trading is simple should you have friends that play a version of Scarlet or Violet, those who do not will struggle to get their favourite Pokémon evolutions. These are the top 10 hardest Pokémon to evolve in Scarlet and Violet.

Worst Evolutionary Requirements

Gholdengo

One of the hardest Pokémon to evolve in Scarlet and Violet is the newest addition to the franchise, Gholdengo. This new evolutionary requirement is by far the longest and most tedious method of evolving a Pokémon. However, the result is worth the hassle.

Related: Best Pokémon Builds to Use in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet 5 and 6-Star Tera Raids.

To evolve Gimmighoul, players must obtain a total of 999 Coins. These Coins can be picked up after defeating the two forms of Gimmighoul: roaming and chest. The easiest to locate is the chest-form of Gimmighoul, however the process is still tough. This chest Pokémon can be found atop Watchtowers and inside of Runes. The Provinces with Watchtowers where Gimmighoul can be found are:

• North Province Lake (Area One)
• South Provinces (Area Two, Three, Four and Five)
• East Provinces (Area One and Three)
• West Province (Area One and Two)
• Asado Desert
• Glaseado Mountain

To make this process even harder for players who are looking to evolve multiple Gimmighouls is that this collection of 999 Coins must be repeated. Who wants to do this process multiple times? Getting a Gholdengo is unnecessarily tough and whilst the reward is worth it, do not let that take away from the fact that finding and beating Gimmighoul is a task that I do not wish for any Pokémon fan to have to do. The amount of Coins dropped after defeat varies. At least the final step is simple. Take your caught Gimmighoul and level up once in order to evolve.

Palafin

With Finizen, players have another process to go through than just simply levelling this Pokémon up. Once again, if players do not know how to evolve this Pokémon then this process will be impossible to complete. What players need to do is find someone, preferably a friend, and invite them to their game. Here, you need to set up a Union Circle to do so. To set up a Union Circle, go to any Pokémon Centre and interact with the yellow kiosk. Open the Poke Portal from the menu screen and select Union Circle. Here, you can either start your own lobby for your friend to join or join their lobby that they have made. An important note is that to join or have your friend join, a 4 digit code must be entered.

Now, for players who have friends on Scarlet and Violet, this process will be simple from here on out. However, for those who do not, inviting a stranger into your game may not be something you want to do. Therefore, you may decide that Finizen is not worth the hassle to evolve.

Should you invite another player, Finizen needs to evolve with the player in the game with you. So long as you are in Multiplayer when Finizen hits Level 38, this Pokémon will evolve into Palafin. Whilst, it could be perceived as a nice touch to have players interact with each other in game, it is a evolutionary requirement for Finizen only. Therefore, this evolutionary process feels more like an attempt for this generation of players to get a feel for what it was like for those playing on Game Boy and DS. However, this feeling is not achieved and just feels unnecessary.

Volcarona

The problem with evolving Larvesta is not due to any ridiculous process to evolve. Actually, the process is as simple as the majority of Paldean Pokémon. All you have to do is evolve Larvesta to Level 59 to get Volcarona. Yes, Level 59. This is one of the biggest commitments you will make in Scarlet and Violet for Larvesta is not a particularly stop Pokémon to play with. In fact, you will likely evolve this Pokémon in the end game of Scarlet and Violet.

This process is difficult purely for the fact that you are working with a weaker Pokémon which requires a lot of time and dedication spent to level them up. Whilst you can use the EXP sharing mechanic, the process will go quicker by manually fighting with Larvesta as your main Pokémon. Just keep in mind that no matter what, you are Larvesta are in it for the long haul if you wish to obtain a Volcarona.

Hydreigon

Deino has multiple evolutions in its chain. It is one of the Scarlet exclusive Pokémon and a tough one to evolve at that. Players will want to obtain Deino relatively quickly in the game in order to commit to the levelling-up process. Whilst there are no evolutionary requirements that make this process difficult as Deino requires the standard levelling-up process of battling or Candies. Deino does not evolve into its second form until Level 50. Then once more at Level 64 into Hydreigon.

Similar to Larvesta, this process is an extremely long commitment where you will have to either use the EXP sharing function or manually battle with Deino often to reach Level 50. Once again, you will likely be left with Deino in your party in the end game, depending on when you obtain this Pokémon. Luckily, Deino is a stronger Pokémon to Larvesta, however the evolutionary process is still an incredibly long one.

Dragapult

Dreepy is the Violet exclusive counterpart to Deino. So just like that Pokémon, the process to evolve Dreepy into Dragapult is two parts. From levelling up Dreepy to Level 50 and again at Level 60. You could use Candies to fast-track the levelling-up process either Dreepy or Deino, depending on which version you have. Especially as this Pokémon will be with you for a very long time in its first form.

The last two Pokémon mentioned, alongside Dreepy are Pokémon that will likely hit their first evolution in the later half of the base-game. Because of this, players need to be ready for this commitment for these Pokémon will stay in your active party for a long time until you finish their evolution chain.

Pawmot

There are only a few Pokémon that have a very specific and tedious evolutionary requirement of walking. Pawmot is one of these Pokémon. Whilst, on paper, this requirement sounds simple enough. It is made tedious due to the difference in walking speed from yourself and your Pokémon. This evolutionary requirement is for you to use the let’s go feature. This is when you throw your Poke Ball and have your Pokémon walk beside you. To fulfil this requirement you must walk 1000 steps with the Pokémon alongside you.

The issue with this is that it could be as simple as it sounds, but it is not. Because your Pokémon is significantly slower than you are, most of the walking is done either in a large circle or to traverse across the wilderness so slowly that it will bore you to pieces. Why Game Freak decided to make your Pokémon walk at a snail pace is unknown but it makes for an evolutionary process that not many will want to partake in.

Whilst some players have found ways to exploit this evolutionary process, by getting their Pokémon caught in a space where they are continuously running on the spot. This process, done properly feels completely unnecessary for how long it takes to complete.

Lycanroc

Lycanroc is the evolution of Rockruff. Although, after learning how to evolve this Pokémon, the process is much simpler. But for those who do not know, Rockruff has the standard levelling-up requirement to Level 25. However, Lycanroc has three forms. These are determined by the time of day in which you level up Rockruff. The forms are:

• Midday – evolve in the day.
• Midnight – evolve at night.
• Dusk – evolve at dusk.

Once learnt, the process is relatively simple. However, players need to first learn which form they want as the result of the evolution and when dusk falls should they want to evolve Rockruff into the Dusk form of Lyranoc. For players waiting for Dusk, they must look out for the orange hue in the sky, this appears after day ends and just before night falls. It does not last for long, so when you find it, make sure that you evolve to Level 25 immediately. We recommend using XP Candy here for the final level up.

Look out for the orange Dusk icon at the top of the map when you open it. This will tell you the time of day it is. As you cannot change the time of day in Scarlet and Violet, players must be patient if they want either the Dusk or Night form of Lyranoc.

Trade Evolutions Made Difficult

Gengar

As the Linking Cord is not available in Scarlet and Violet, players instead must evolve Haunter into Gengar via trade. Whilst Haunter can be evolved at any point, not depending on its level, the process is made harder due to the ask of trading. This process is out-dated at this point as it references the old method of evolving these Pokémon through linking two hand-held devices together in order to trade.

Whilst Pokémon Arceus offered players the opportunity to get the “trading” experience of the good old days via an item called the Linking Cord. This was removed in Scarlet and Violet, with online trade brought in return. However, there is a way to evolve Haunter into Gengar without online trading. What you need to do is trade a Pinchurchin with a female NPC in Levincia located beside the Electric Gym. She asks for a Pinchurchin and in return, will trade you a Gengar.

Scizor

Just like obtaining Gengar, Scizor is only evolved from Scyther by online trading. Once again, this process feels unnecessary for the fact that online trading does not resemble the trading across hand-held devices. It does not invite players to experience what these gamers experienced with the likes of Pokémon Red and Blue. The Linking Cord was a good idea for these Trade Pokémon seen in previous installments. It is unfortunate that Game Freak have brought in online trading as the only means of getting a Scizor.

To evolve Scyther, you are also required to have a Metal Coat. This can be bought in a Delibird Presents shop for 3,000 Pokémon Dollars. The Metal Coat must be given to Scyther to hold. You can select the item in your Bag. For the trading process, just like trading Haunter, you need to trade Scyther once to your friend and a second time to get Scyther back into your party. Upon receiving Scyther again, they will evolve into Scizor.

Slowking

Slowbro is another Pokémon that requires you to first, buy an evolutionary item and second, trade the Pokémon back and forth in online trading. You need to purchase the King’s Rock item. This can also be bought in a Delibird Presents shop just like the Metal Coat for Scyther. The price of King’s Rock is 10,000 Pokémon Dollars. To purchase this item you need to have beaten four Gym Leaders. With King’s Rock bought, give the item to Slowbro and trade with your friend. Slowking will return to you in the second trade.

The problem with online trading is that you are required to have friends to trade with due to the inability to tell strangers via the trading screen that you are trying to evolve your Slowbro, Scyther and Haunter. You could easily lose your evolved Pokémon in your trade. Therefore, for players who have no one to trade with, similar to evolving Finizen, this evolution process is made impossible.

Those are the 10 hardest Pokémon to evolve in Scarlet and Violet. Depending on your patience and ability to trade or play with friends in Scarlet and Violet will show how difficult it is to evolve these Pokémon. For those completing the Pokédex or trying to get strong Pokémon such as Palafin, these processes are made more difficult than they need to be. We hope you enjoyed our Pokémon list. Join in on the discussion and stay up to date on all the latest Gamer Journalist content over at our Facebook. For more articles, take a look at either How to Play Pokemon Scarlet and Violet with GameCube Controller or How to Use Town Method to Find Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.