If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Pokémon Go Mega Evolution update and new bonuses, how to Mega Evolve and all Mega Evolutions list

It's now easier to get your hands on the most powerful evolutions of all.

Mega Evolutions allow you to power-up existing creatures into a much more powerful form in Pokémon Go.

First introduced in the mainline games with Pokémon X and Y, Mega Evolutions took place by using specific stones in battle.

Introduced into Pokémon Go in August 2020, Mega Evolutions remain a temporary transformation, and requiring the use of a new item type - Mega Energy.

The game underwent a significant Mega Evolution update in April 2022, which allowed you to evolve without Mega Energy after the first use - and more Mega Evolution bonuses by increasing your Mega Evolution levels.

This page explains how to Mega Evolve a Pokémon in Pokémon Go, how to get Mega Energy and all available Mega Evolution Pokémon.

On this page:

Watch as battle Guzzlord - one of the Ultra Beasts in Pokémon GoWatch on YouTube

Pokémon Go Mega Evolutions update explained

In April 2022, Mega Evolutions underwent a significant update. Though the core concepts remained the same - that certain Pokémon could Mega Evolve once you have collected enough Mega Energy - you can now Mega Evolve for free after the first use and level up Mega Evolutions for additional bonuses.

The Mega Evolution update is now available worldwide.

The new changes include:

  • Once you have Mega Evolved a Pokémon once, it is free to evolve again in future, once a cooldown has ended.
  • Mega Energy can be spent to Mega Evolve that Pokémon before the cooldown ends. The shorter the rest period, the less Mega Energy is required.
  • Each time you Mega Evolve a Pokémon, it will increase in Mega Level. This will introduce additional bonuses across several tiers - including increased Candy XL drop rate, an XP catch bonus and a reduced rest rate. (These are all detailed in the next section.)
  • Mega Raids "will be easier", according to Niantic.
  • You can now Mega Evolve from the raid and battle prep screens.

In summary - the existing bonuses still remain, and though you still need to find Mega Energy to evolve a Pokémon in the first place, beyond that, the ability to evolve without needing more is a welcome one. The bonuses from higher levels are well worth working towards too - which we'll discuss in the next section.

You can read more about the changes, and Niantic's thinking about them, in the April 2022 Dev Diary:

Mega Levels list and new Mega Evolution bonuses in Pokémon Go

Introduced in the April 2022 update, Mega Evolutions now have levels. To increase your Mega Level, you must Mega Evolve that Pokémon, and after a certain number of evolutions, you will reach the next level.

Each level has a number of bonuses. The evolution requirement and bonuses are as follows:

LevelEvolves requiredRest periodBonuses
Base Level17 daysCatch Candy bonus
Boosted Ally bonus
Reduced Mega Energy to evolve
High Level75 daysCandy Candy bonus
Boosted Ally bonus
Great Candy XL chance increase
Catch XP bonus
Greatly reduced Mega Energy cost
Max Level303 daysEnhanced Catch Candy bonus
Boosted Ally bonus
Excellent Candy XL chance
Enhanced Catch XP bonus
Massively reduced Mega Energy cost

Note on the above - the Catch XP, Catch Candy and Candy XL bonuses only apply to Pokémon of the same type as the Mega Evolution. Though this initially seems restrictive, it is particularly useful for Community Day and Spotlight Hour events where you might want to maximise the amount of Candy or XP you'd like to earn from catching one particular Pokémon.

Which Mega Evolutions can be currently battled in Pokémon Go?

During the Season of Adventures Abound, there will be one Mega Evolution appearing in Mega Raids at a time.

Currently, the Mega Evolution available in Raids is Mega Altaria, appearing until Saturday 16th December.

After this Mega Evolution's time in raids has come and gone, it will be followed by:

  • Mega Abomasnow - Saturday 16th December to Saturday 23rd December
  • Mega Glalie - Saturday 23rd December to Monday 1st January

Why is this important to know? While you can get Mega Energy for a number of Pokémon at any given time through quests, field research or walking as your buddy, raids continue to be the easiest and fastest source.

How to Mega Evolve in Pokémon Go

Mega Evolutions are an additional, more powerful evolution that certain Pokémon - such as the original Kanto starters - can undertake.

To Mega Evolve a Pokémon in Pokémon Go, you need a resource named Mega Energy. Once a Pokémon has been Mega Evolved, it will stay in that form for a limited amount of time (which was increased to eight hours in October 2020) and can be used in a variety of battles.

Mega Evolutions require Mega Candy, and you can see on their CP screen how long they will remain in a Mega Evolved form.

You will be able to see how much time your Mega Evolution has remaining on its CP screen.

Mega Evolutions will debut in Mega Raid encounters.

Once it has returned to its normal form, the Mega Energy you need to Mega Evolve it again later will be decreased.

This amount was further decreased on Thursday, 3rd September as Niantic performed a number of adjustments to the Mega Evolution system.

Other things you should know about Mega Evolutions:

  • You can only Mega Evolve one Pokémon at a time. If you Mega Evolve a second Pokémon, the other one will return back to normal.
  • Shadow Pokémon cannot undergo a Mega Evolution.
  • Clone Pokémon cannot undergo a Mega Evolution.
  • Mega Evolutions will be listed in your Pokédex under the 'Mega Pokédex'. So that's another thing to collect!
  • There will be two new Medals added to the game - one for collecting Unique Mega Evolutions, the other for total Mega Evolutions. (Thanks to martycochrane on reddit for revealing this.)

How to get Mega Energy in Pokémon Go

Mega Energy is specific to each individual Pokémon - similar to how Candy works in the game. So if you want to Mega Evolve a Bulbasaur into Mega Bulbasaur, you need Bulbasaur Mega Energy.

Mega Energy is primarily found from completing Mega Raids, a type of Raid encounter featuring Mega Pokémon. The faster you win a Mega Raid, the more Mega Energy you receive.

You can also earn Mega Energy through a number of other ways, including:

Certain Special Research rewards, such as Mega Energy for Beedrill from completing A Mega Discovery.
  • Research tasks from PokéStops, which update monthly or are event-specific
  • Walking with your buddy
  • Where can you use Mega Evolutions in Pokémon Go?

    While a Pokémon is in its temporary Mega Evolved form, you can use it in the following areas of the game:

    • Battling in Raids
      • All other Pokémon in the Raid will receive an attack boost. A further boost is added that Pokémon shares the same type of attack. (These boosts don't stack, so you can only benefit from one Mega Evolution at a time.)
    Mega Evolutions can be used as your Buddy and in battles.

    Meanwhile, Mega Evolutions cannot be used to:

    • Defend Gyms
    • In the Go Battle League (though Niantic has teased this might change in future, perhaps for specific Leagues or Cups)

    The Season of Timeless Travels has arrived in Pokémon Go! The Along the Routes event is here, bringing Gift Exchange and the A Route to New Friendships quest with it. During it, take the time to try out Routes and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.


    Mega Evolutions list: Which Mega Evolutions are available in Pokémon Go?

    As with regular Pokémon, you can track how many Mega Evolutions you've encountered in your Mega Pokédex.

    Though the main games span 48 Mega Evolutions (including the two Charizard and Mewtwo each have access to each) on the feature's debut in Pokémon Go, there are only four Mega Evolutions available.

    Pokémon Go Mega Evolution list

    Mega EvolutionTypeSource
    Mega Venusaur
    Grass / PoisonMega Raids
    Mega Charizard X
    Fire / DragonMega Raids
    Mega Charizard Y
    Fire / FlyingMega Raids
    Mega Blastoise
    WaterMega Raids
    Mega Pidgeot
    Normal / FlyingMega Raids
    Unlocked September 2020 following a community event
    Mega Beedrill
    Bug / PoisonField Research and Special Research
    Unlocked September 2020 following A Mega Discovery Special Research
    Mega Houndoom
    Dark / FireMega Raids
    Unlocked September 2020 following the Mega Event
    Mega Gengar
    Ghost / PoisonMega Raids
    Unlocked in October 2020 as part of the Halloween event
    Mega Abomasnow
    Grass / IceMega Raids
    Unlocked in December 2020
    Mega Ampharos
    Electric / DragonMega Raids
    Unlocked in January 2021 as part of the Hoenn Celebration event
    Mega Gyarados
    Water / DarkMega Raids
    Unlocked in February 2021 as part of the Lunar New Year event
    Mega Manectric
    ElectricMega Raids
    Unlocked in March 2021 as part of the Charge Up! event event
    Mega Lopunny
    Normal / FightingMega Raids
    Unlocked in April 2021 as part of the Spring event
    Mega Altaria
    Dragon / FairyMega Raids
    Unlocked in May 2021 as part of the Swablu Community Day
    Mega Slowbro
    Water / PsychicMega Raids
    Unlocked in June 2021 as part of the A Very Slow Discovery
    Mega Absol
    DarkMega Raids
    Unlocked in October 2021 as part of the Halloween event
    Mega Steelix
    Steel / GroundMega Raids
    Unlocked on Wednesday, 1st December 2021
    Mega Aerodactyl
    Rock / FlyingMega Raids
    Unlocked on Friday, 7th January 2022 as part of the Mountains of Power event
    Mega Kangaskhan
    NormalMega Raids
    Unlocked on Friday, 29th April 2022 as part of the Mega Evolution rework
    Mega Latias
    Dragon / PsychicMega Raids
    Unlocked on Tuesday, 3rd May 2022 as part of the Air Adventures event
    Mega Latios
    Dragon / PsychicMega Raids
    Unlocked on Tuesday, 3rd May 2022 as part of the Air Adventures event
    Mega Scizor
    Bug / SteelMega Raids
    Unlocked on Wednesday, 10th August 2022 as part of the Bug Out! event
    Mega Alakazam
    PsychicMega Raids
    Unlocked on Tuesday, 6th September as part of the 2022 Psychic Spectacular event
    Mega Aggron
    Mega Aggron
    SteelMega Raids
    Unlocked on Friday, 16th September as part of the 2022 Test Your Mettle event
    Mega Banette
    GhostMega Raids
    Unlocked on Thursday, 20th October as part of the Halloween 2022 event
    Mega Sceptile
    Grass / DragonMega Raids
    Released on Saturday, 3rd December 2022 as part of the Hoenn Mega Raid Day
    Mega Blaziken
    Fire / FightingMega Raids
    Released on Saturday, 3rd December 2022 as part of the Hoenn Mega Raid Day
    Mega Swampert
    Water / GroundMega Raids
    Released on Saturday, 3rd December 2022 as part of the Hoenn Mega Raid Day
    Mega Glalie
    IceMega Raids
    Released on Thursday, 15th December 2022
    Mega Salamence
    Dragon / FlyingMega Raids
    Released on Tuesday, 10th January 2023
    Mega Gardevoir
    Psychic / FairyMega Raids
    Released on Wednesday, 8th February 2023
    Mega Medicham
    Fighting / PsychicMega Raids
    Released on Wednesday, 8th March 2023
    Mega Pinsir
    Bug / FlyingMega Raids
    Released on Thursday, 11th May 2023
    Mega Sableye
    Dark / GhostMega Raids
    Released on Thursday, 29th June 2023
    Mega Tyranitar
    Rock / DarkMega Raids
    Released on Tuesday 25th July
    Mega Rayquaza
    Dragon / FlyingMega Raids
    Initial release on Friday 4th August as part of the in-person Go Fest 2023 events
    Global release on Sunday, 27th August 2023
    Mega Diancie
    Image credit: The Pokémon Company
    Rock / FairyInitial release as part of the ticketed Go Fest London, Osaka, New York and pay-to-play Go Fest Global experience in August 2023
    Mega Garchomp
    Dragon / GroundReleased Saturday 11th November 2023

    All Mega Evolution in Pokémon explained

    Meanwhile, here are all the Mega Pokémon ever released in the mainline games in a single image, courtesy of a tier list (thanks to gerbetta33 on reddit for this).

    To clarify - these are not currently in Pokémon Go, and there's no guarantee they will appear in the game.

    However, this list might be useful to learn what could be coming to the game one day:

    Image credit: gerbetta33 on reddit

    Good luck on your hunt for Mega Evolutions!

    From Assassin's Creed to Zoo Tycoon, we welcome all gamers

    Eurogamer welcomes videogamers of all types, so sign in and join our community!

    In this article
    Follow a topic and we'll email you when we write an article about it.

    Pokémon Go

    Android, iOS

    Related topics
    About the Author
    Matthew Reynolds avatar

    Matthew Reynolds

    Contributor

    Matthew Reynolds edited guides and other helpful things at Eurogamer from 2010 - 2023. When he wasn't doing that, he was out and about playing Pokémon Go or continuing to amass his amiibo collection.

    Comments