Why Is My Scarlet Violet Pokemon Not Evolving? (How to Fix Pokemon Not Evolving in Pokemon Scarlet)

Last year, I caught Gimmighoul in Scarlet and Violet. Despite its low stats, I thought it was cute and couldn’t wait to evolve it into a Ghouldengo 😊. However, the process was anything but easy.

Gimmighoul is a coin hoarder that requires hundreds of coins to evolve. The process was tiring, but it inspired me to explore Pokemon evolution in Scarlet and Violet.

Here’s what I learned…

How do you fix Pokemon not evolving in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?

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Some players report that their Pokemon aren’t evolving in the Scarlet and Violet games 🧐. Most think it’s a bug, but this isn’t the case.

The most likely reason is relying on Auto Battles to level up your Pokemon. Auto Battling lets you send your Buddy Pokemon to fight wild ones to boost its XP.

The feature relies on your Pokemon’s strength and type to determine the outcome. As such, use this feature in areas where your Pokemon and the wild Pokemon are of the same level.

Although Auto Battles are a great way to improve your Pokemon’s XP, they aren’t sufficient to evolve your Pokemon.

Here’s what to do to trigger an evolution:

1. Give your Pokemon a Rare Candy.
2. Initiate and win a regular battle outside the “Let’s Go” feature.

Do Pokemon automatically evolve in Scarlet and Violet?

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No 🙅‍♂️. Not all Pokemon automatically evolve in Scarlet and Violet. Most will evolve once they reach the required levels, and some have special requirements like weather, friendship, trade, and gender.

Here’s a list of 10 Pokemon summarizing their special evolution requirements 👇.

Pokemon	Evolution Requirements
Gimmighoul	Evolves into Gholdengo after leveling up and collecting 999 Gimmighoul coins.
Bisharp	Level Up and defeat three Bisharp that lead Pawniard groups. These Bisharps have a Leader’s Crest.
Cetoddle	Use an Ice Stone to evolve Cetoddle into Cetitan.
Pawmo	Walk 1000 steps using the Let’s Go Feature to evolve Pawmo into Pawmot.
Yungoos	Evolves into Gumshoos after reaching level 20 during the day.
Sunkern	Relies on the Sun Stone to evolve into Sunflora.
Floette	Relies on the Shiny Stone to evolve into Florges.
Finizen	Connect with another player using the Union Circle once your Finizen reaches level 38. It will evolve into Palafin.
Riolu	Requires High Friendship to evolve into Lucario.
Sneasel	Evolves into Weavile if it levels up at night holding the Razor Claw item.

Interestingly, some Pokemon don’t evolve in Scarlet and Violet. These include Squawkabilly, Dedenne, Pachirisu, Zangoose, Indeedee, and Klawf.

What is the most difficult Pokemon to evolve in Scarlet and Violet?

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Via GIPHY

Gimmighoul takes the prize for the most difficult Pokemon to evolve in Scarlet and Violet. This is a Ghost-type Pokémon with two forms – Chest and Roaming Form.

The Chest Form hides in treasure forms and is the main form in the game. On the other hand, the Roaming form has hiding places in Paldea.

You’ll often see it carrying a coin on its back, and it runs away when you approach it.

To evolve this Pokemon, gather 999 Gimmighoul coins and level up. Amassing these coins is an arduous process requiring several explorations.

This process takes time, and given Gimmighoul’s low stats, most players don’t think it’s worth it.

Other difficult Pokemon to evolve in the game include:

Dunsparce

This Normal-type Pokemon evolves into Dundunsparce after learning Hyper Drill at level 32. Dundunsparce has two forms- the two and three-segment forms. The three-segment is rarer since most Dunsparce evolves into two-segment forms.

Primeape

This Fighting Pokemon evolves into Annihilape after using Rage Fist 20 times. Primeape doesn’t learn this move until level 35. However, once it does, it can easily reach this number.