Pokemon GO players can finally Mega Evolve their beloved Pokemon for an even greater advantage in battles. The latest update to Niantic's hit game has introduced the concept of Mega Evolution, alongside a new set of accompanying Special Research.
Mega Evolution, Mega Pokemon, and Mega Raid Battles have all been officially introduced to Pokemon GO as of today. That being said, players can't simply Mega Evolve any of their Pokemon with an existing Mega Evolution. To start, players will only be able to Mega Evolve a select few Pokemon: Blastoise, Charizard, Venusaur, and Beedrill.
As mentioned above, only four Pokemon are currently able to Mega Evolve. This means that players actually have access to five different Mega Pokemon though, given Charizard's two distinct Mega Evolutions. The first five entries to the Mega Pokedex are: Mega Blastoise, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Venusaur, and Mega Beedrill. Players looking for an easy intro to the new mechanic should take advantage of the "A Mega Discovery" Special Research Challenge, which rewards all the tools required to Mega Evolve a Beedrill (even the Beedrill itself) by the time it's completed.
Although the available Mega Pokemon are few, players can at least look forward to obtaining Shiny Mega Pokemon right away. All of Pokemon featured for the introduction of Mega Evolution to Pokemon GO can be obtained in their Shiny forms. It's also worth noting that although Shadow and Clone Pokemon are unable to Mega Evolve, players are currently able to Mega Evolve Blastoise with sunglasses ("currently", because some fear that this may be adjusted in a future patch.)
To actually Mega Evolve a Pokemon, players need only gather the Pokemon's corresponding Mega Energy by defeating it in Mega Raid Battles. The option to Mega Evolve is found on the Pokemon's status page, just under the "Power Up" button. Mega Energy, which was mistakenly referred to as "Mega Candy" in recent datamines, is rewarded at a rate of ~30-45 Mega Energy max, per Mega Raid Battle. Alongside the removal of two and four star Raids, this very much feels like a shakeup to the Raid Battle system.
Specifically, it seems that the cost of Mega Evolution is a hefty 200 Mega Energy for any Pokemon, but that said, Niantic has also assured players that after a Pokemon is Mega Evolved, "the Mega Energy required to Mega Evolve that specific Pokemon will decrease from then onward." Hopefully, this decrease is substantial enough to compensate for the fact that Mega Pokemon will inevitably eventually revert to their normal states.
After an incredibly long-winded tease, Pokemon Trainers can finally unlock that next level of friendship and power with their Pokemon buddies. The question has now become: When will other Mega Pokemon begin to roll out? Should we expect a surprise addition to the schedule of September events? Even Pokemon like Mega Pidgeot, which were fully expected to premiere alongside the first few Mega Pokemon, have yet to join the fray. Yet, Niantic's recent Mega Evolution promo video, featuring upwards of ten different Mega Pokemon, promises a colorful palette of Mega Pokemon to choose from.
Pokemon GO is available now on the App Store and Google Play.
Source: Niantic