Trained Pokémon evolve into their stronger forms through experience gained with their trainer in battle. In the original games, this came from earning experience, while in Pokémon GO, it comes from shoving a bunch of candy down their gullet. Some Pokémon aren’t really fans of candy, however. So how are you supposed to get them to evolve if you can’t stuff a bunch of sweets in their mouths? Here’s how to evolve Pokémon in Pokémon GO without candy.
The vast majority of Pokémon can only evolve when fed a sufficient amount of their personal candy, earned from fighting battles, catching duplicates, and so forth. However, there is a particular list of Pokémon that can evolve in a different way: trading. In a carryover from the main series, some Pokémon can be evolved into their final forms simply by trading. Of course, since return trades aren’t permitted in Pokémon GO, this isn’t exactly an economical means of filling your PokéDex, but if you happen to have a friend that, I dunno, wants to give you a good Pokémon, this is how you do it.
How to Evolve Pokémon in Pokémon GO without Candy
These are the Pokémon that can be evolved through trading:
- Kadabra to Alakazam
- Machoke to Machamp
- Graveler to Golem
- Haunter to Gengar
- Boldore to Gigalith
- Gurdurr to Conkeldurr
- Karrablast to Escavalier
- Shelmet to Accelgor
If you look at the Evolution button on these Pokémons’ pages, you should see a little circular symbol with a couple of Pokéballs on it. That’s the trade evolution symbol, signifying that these Pokémon can be evolved in this manner. When you trade a Pokémon with that symbol to a friend, the symbol will get a little checkmark next to it, signifying that the Pokémon can be evolved for free. These Pokémon can also be evolved through candy as well, albeit at a high markup.
