The addition of Mega evolutions to Pokémon GO has been an exciting new feature for Trainers to enjoy and one that will continue to “evolve” in the weeks and months to come.
Although the basics aren’t hard to grasp, the new feature is proving to be a bit challenging when it comes to knowing exactly which monster to Mega evolve as well as the right time to make that new evolve work best for you.
With that in mind, here’s a brief look at how this new evolution works as well as tips and basic Mega raid information that we hope will aid you in making the most of this newest addition to the game.
Basics
Step 1: Find a Mega Evolve Egg on top of a gym.
Step 2: Once the Mega Egg has hatched, determine if this is the raid boss you want to fight.
Step 3: If there are not enough Trainers available in-person to successfully defeat the raid boss, send out invites to fellow players on your friends list.
Step 4: Decide which counters are best to use against the raid boss (refer to Mega Raids below), including a Mega evolved monster if one would be useful. (If a Trainer has a Mega monster on his/her team, it’ll be indicated with a symbol below their name/above their shoulder).
Step 5: Earn Mega Energy specific to that monster after successfully defeating the raid boss.
Step 6: Catch the raid boss with the Poké Balls available (which is based upon the factors listed in the diagram above in Step 5).
NOTES:
You’ll notice that although you fight a Mega monster in the raid, the one you catch is not in its Mega form. You’ll need Mega energy to evolve that monster and, when you have enough to do so, he/she will only be in that evolved state for a limited time.
When inviting friends to “remote in” for a raid, 5 is the max limit allowed per Trainer account. The total amount of players that can “remote in” at one time is 10. (Niantic has said this will be reduced to 5 in the future).
Mega Energy
Mega energy is the quantifying element needed to Mega evolve a monster. Mega energy is currently obtained by defeating Mega raid bosses & via special/field research.
With special research, you can only obtain the pre-determined energy amount allowed. When fighting a Mega raid boss, the faster the defeat, the more energy earned.
Currently, the maximum energy that can be earned in a Mega raid is 90 which is rewarded to anyone whose group defeats the boss in 30 seconds or less. (The next level is 80 energy which can be earned if your defeat occurs between 31 seconds & 1 minute, 15 seconds).
2,000 energy is the maximum amount you can store up on any monster capable of a Mega evolution. (Updated 10/15)
Mega Evolve Facts
- Mega evolves currently last for 8 hours.
- The amount of energy needed for a Mega Evolve varies depending on the monster.
- When Mega energy is earned, it is specific to/can only be used for a certain monster.
- The cost of a Mega evolution decreases greatly after the 1st, initial evolve (on that specific monster).
- Once you’ve Mega evolved a monster 1 time, you will fill in that monster’s Mega Pokédex entry.
- Using a Mega evolved monster in a raid can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for a defeat.
- When a Mega evolved monster is used as a counter in a raid, the attacks of all other counters (that are the same type/have the same type of movesets as the Mega monster) will be increased.
- Even if more than 1 player has a Mega monster on their team in a raid, the game counts it as if only 1 Mega is being used. (As of right now).
- Currently, the only 2 ways to earn Mega energy is via raids & research. (Additional ways will be added in the future, per Niantic).
- Mega Evolutions can be used for Team GO Rocket battles, raids, taking down gyms, and in PvP. (Niantic has promised that Mega monsters will be useable in GO Battle Leagues in the future).
- Although a Mega evolve will greatly increase the CP of a monster, for the Pokémon to be truly useful as a counter in a raid, it needs to be at a 5,000-8,000 (level 30-level 35) Stardust level prior to its Mega evolution. (The current exception to this is Beedrill).
- The Blastoise, Charizard, and Venusaur that you catch after a Mega raid defeat can be shiny.
Additional Information
How do I determine which monster to Mega Evolve?
Strong stats, high CP, and the right moveset are crucial for a Mega evolve to be an effective counter in a raid.
Stat wise, you’ll want to pick a monster with 80% or higher IV’s. As for CP, you’ll want the monster to be at a 5,000-8,000 Stardust level. (Movesets will differ depending on the monster. You can read more about the best movesets further down in this article).
If you have a monster that already meets the above listed qualifications, then it’s an easy choice.
If you have a really high stat, but low CP monster, you’ll of course, need to decide whether or not it’s worth spending the needed resources (TM’s, Stardust, Candy) to make it useful in raids.
On the other hand, if you leave it at a lower CP, it could be a nice counter in (Great or Ultra League) PvP.
When Should I use my Mega Evolve?
When you use your Mega evolve is up to you. Currently, Mega monsters can be used for taking down gyms, in PvP, battling against Team GO Rocket, and as counters in raids. (Niantic will be expanding this list to include GO Battle League in the future).
If your goal is to obtain as much Mega energy as possible for a particular species, then we suggest using your evolve when battling in Mega raids. Although (after the 1st evolve) you’ll spend 20-40 energy to Mega-size your monster, you have the potential to earn 70-90 energy with a successful defeat.
Of course, if you prefer to PvP, battle Team GO Rocket, and/or take down gyms, then that works too. You just won’t be earning Mega energy when you do so.
Should I Mega evolve more than one Pokémon at a time?
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to Mega evolve more than one monster at a time. If, however, you’ve Mega evolved a monster and, during the 8 hours it’s in an evolved state you decide you’d rather Mega evolve a different monster, you can do so.
What happens if I hit the 2,000 maximum limit of energy on a Mega evolvable monster?
Unfortunately, once you’ve hit the 2,000 energy limit on a Mega evolvable monster, you will not be able to add to its energy level while it’s at that maximum amount. The good news is that hitting that limit won’t prevent you from continuing to participate in Mega raids for that species. You just won’t be able to collect the energy reward, like normal, after the raid boss has been defeated.
Mega Monster Raids
Mega Gengar
Available: October 23rd
1st Mega Evolve: 200 energy
All Other Evolves: 40 energy
Recommended # of Trainers: 4-5
100% IV: 1644 CP
100% WB IV: 2055 CP
Weather Boosted: Foggy, Cloudy
Counters:
Mega Houndoom:
Snarl/Foul Play
Snarl/Crunch
Mega Gengar:
Lick/Shadow Ball
Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
Mega Blastoise: Bite/Hydro Cannon
Mewtwo w/Psystrike or Psychic
Shadow Mewtwo w/Psystrike or Psychic
Tyranitar: Bite/Crunch
Shadow Tyranitar: Bite/Crunch
Origin Forme Giratina: Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
Darkrai:
Snarl/Dark Pulse
Snarl/Shadow Ball
Groudon: Mud Shot/ Earthquake
Best Movesets:
Lick/Shadow Ball
Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Venusaur Raid (using Shadow Claw/Sludge Bomb)
Shiny:
Halloween Gengar:
Mega Charizard X
1st Mega Evolve: 200 energy
Additional Mega Evolves: 40 energy
Recommended # of Trainers: 3-4
100% IV: 1651 CP
100% WB IV: 2064 CP
Weather boosted: Sunny, Windy
Counters:
Palkia: Dragon Tail/Draco Meteor
Rayquaza: Dragon Tail/Outrage
Reshiram: Dragon Breath/Draco Meteor
Rhyperior: Smack Down/Rock Wrecker
Tyranitar: Smack Down/Stone Edge
Regirock: Rock Throw/Stone Edge
Groudon: Mud Shot/Earthquake
Dragonite: Dragon Tail/Outrage
Mega Blastoise w/Hydro Cannon (rainy weather)
Best Moveset (Prior to CDay):
Fire Spin/Blast Burn
Best Movesets (After CDay):
Fire Spin/Blast Burn (Fire Moves)
Dragon Breath/Dragon Claw (Dragon Moves)
Whenever Charmander is once again the featured monster for Community Day in October, players will be able to evolve a Charizard with the fast move, Dragon Breath. Any high stat/CP Charizard that possesses Dragon Breath paired with the charge move, Dragon Claw, will be a perfect candidate for a Mega Charizard X evolve (if you wish to have a Pokémon that is a great counter with Dragon type moves).
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Venusaur Raid (using fire moves)
– Mega Charizard X (using dragon moves)
Shiny:
Mega Charizard Y
1st Mega Evolve: 200 energy
All Other Evolves: 40 energy
Recommended # of Trainers: 2-3
100% IV: 1651 CP
100% WB IV: 2064 CP
Weather boosted: Sunny, Windy
Counters:
Tyranitar: Smack Down/Stone Edge
Rhyperior: Smack Down/Rock Wrecker
Terrakion: Smack Down/Rock Slide
Rampardos: Smack Down/Rock Slide
Omastar: Rock Throw/Rock Slide
Golem/Alolan Golem: Rock Throw/Stone Edge
Mega Blastoise w/Hydro Cannon (rainy weather)
Best Moveset: Fire Spin/Blast Burn
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Venusaur Raid
Shiny:
Mega Blastoise
1st Mega Evolve: 200 energy
All Other Evolves: 40 energy
Recommended # of Trainers: 4-5
100% IV: 1409 CP
100% WB IV: 1761 CP
Weather Boosted: Rainy
Counters:
Mega Venusaur: Vine Whip/Frenzy Plant
Zekrom: Charge Beam/Wild Charge
Electivire: Thunder Shock/Wild Charge
Roserade: Razor Leaf/Grass Knot
Magnezone: Spark/Wild Charge
Raikou: Thunder Shock/Wild Charge
Zapdos: Thunder Shock/Thunderbolt
Mega Houndoom: Snarl/Foul Play
Palkia: Dragon Tail/Draco Meteor
Best Moveset: Water Gun/Hydro Cannon
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Charizard Y Raid
– Mega Houndoom Raid
Shiny:
Mega Venusaur
1st Mega Evolve: 200 energy
All Other Evolves: 40 energy
Recommended # of Trainers: 3-4
100% IV: 1554 CP
100% WB IV: 1943 CP
Weather boosted: Sunny, Cloudy
Counters:
Heatran: Fire Spin/Flamethrower
Reshiram: Fire Fang/Overheat
Charizard: Fire Spin/Blast Burn
Mega Charizard Y: Fire Spin/Blast Burn
Lugia: Extrasensory/Sky Attack
Moltres: Fire Spin/Sky Attack
Mewtwo/Shadow Mewtwo: Confusion/Psystrike
Mega Houndoom: Fire Fang/Flamethrower
Mega Pidgeot: Wing Attack/Brave Bird
Best Moveset: Vine Whip/Frenzy Plant
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Blastoise Raid
Shiny:
Mega Pidgeot
1st Mega Evolve: 100
All Other Evolves: 20
Recommended # of Trainers: 3
100% IV: 1216 CP
100% WB IV: 1521 CP
Weather Boosted: Partly Cloudy, Windy
Counters:
Raikou: Thunder Shock/Wild Charge
Zekrom: Charge Beam/Wild Charge
Mega Charizard Y: Fire Spin/Blast Burn
Mega Blastoise w/Hydro Cannon
Electivire: Thundershock/Wild Charge
Rhyperior: Smack Down/Rock Wrecker
Magnezone: Charge Beam/Wild Charge
Zapdos: Thunder Shock/Thunder Bolt
Tyranitar/Shadow Tyranitar: Smack Down/Stone Edge
Best Moveset: Air Slash/Brave Bird
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Venusaur Raid
Shiny:
Mega Houndoom
1st Mega Evolve: 200
All Other Evolves: 40
Recommended # of Trainers: 3-4
100% IV: 1505 CP
100% WB IV: 1882 CP
Weather boosted: Foggy, Sunny
Counters:
Mega Blastoise w/ Hydro Cannon
Kyogre: Waterfall/Surf
Machamp/Shadow Machamp: Counter/Dynamic Punch
Tyranitar/Shadow Tyranitar: Smack Down/Stone Edge
Rhyperior: Mud Slap/Rock Wrecker
Conkeldurr: Counter/Dynamic Punch
Terrakion: Smack Down/Rock Slide
Best Moveset:
Fire Fang/Flamethrower (Fire moves)
Snarl/Foul Play (Dark moves)
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Venusaur Raid (using Fire moves)
– Mega Gengar (if it’s ever added to raids/use Dark moves)
Shiny:
(Non-Raid) Mega Monsters:
Mega Beedrill
1st Mega Evolve: 100 energy
All Other Evolves: 20 energy
100% IV: 1054 CP
100% WB IV: 1318 CP
Weather Boosted: Rainy, Cloudy
Best Moveset: Poison Jab/Sludge Bomb
When to Use as a Mega Raid Counter:
– Mega Venusaur Raid
Team GO Rocket Battles:
Niantic has stated that Mega Beedrill should be quite useful as a counter against Team GO Rocket monsters. Be sure to keep that in mind when you find yourself going against new, upcoming adversaries in Team GO Rocket battles, starting this month!
Shiny:
Since Beedrill is not available in raids (as of now) the only way to retrieve the needed energy for its Mega evolve is by completing the currently available, 4-stage research. Be on the lookout for additional ways to earn this needed energy, coming in the near future (to this and other Mega Evolution monsters).
Tips
1. Defeat as many Mega raid bosses as you can while they’re available in raids to stockpile that needed energy. (This is especially important on fantastic fighters such as Charizard X & Y). As more Mega raid bosses are added to the game, older ones may start to disappear. Get that energy while you can!
2. Stock up on coins to easily be able to purchase remote raid passes so you can participate in Mega raids at a moment’s notice. You don’t have long to respond once a remote raid invite is sent out.
3. If you want to be invited to Mega raids, make sure to have your “online” feature turned on whenever you’re available to participate. That way your friends will easily know you’re a good candidate for an invite.
4. Work on increasing your friend list so you’ll have even more people to choose from when needing additional Trainers to remote in for a Mega raid.
5. Pick one monster from each species to always use as your Mega evolve in raids, if you want to save on Mega energy. Each time you choose a different monster to Mega for the first time, you will have to pay that expensive, initial cost all over again. (The exception to this is Charizard. With him, you’ll probably want two; 1 with Dragon moves & 1 with Fire moves).
6. In order to quickly identify the monsters you want to use for Mega evolutions, change each of their names to something easy to find (i.e. Mega).
7. Make sure the Mega monster you’re using as a raid counter matches the type of monster & movesets of the counters being used by your fellow Trainers to give their attacks an extra boost.
For example, if your group is using Fire type attackers, use Mega Charizard Y.
8. If you have plenty of Trainers available in a raid, you may want to consider dodging with your Mega monster for a few seconds to give other players a few extra moments with boosted attacks.
9. Don’t forget to revive your Mega monster after you’ve used it in battle. (Glitch warning: Just use 1 Max Revive OR 1 Revive & 1 Potion to fill it back up. Although the Mega will continue to show under the Potion area as if it’s not been fully revived, in reality it actually has been).
10. Make sure that you have plenty of time (more than 5 minutes) left on a Mega raid before your group joins the lobby for a fight. Due to a current glitch, if the timer on the Mega raid runs out while your group is still battling, anyone who goes through their 1st team of 6 counters and then tries to rejoin will be completely kicked out of the battle.
We hope this brief look at Mega evolutions has been helpful. Be on the lookout for additional monsters to Mega evolve as well as new ways for earning that much needed Mega energy, which will be coming to the game in the near future.
And, be sure to come back to this article whenever new additions are made as we will continue to update it accordingly.
MEGA THANKS:
A BIG thanks to JVPBlackhawks20 (the original Mr. 40) who helped us with research and pictures for this article!
Sources: Niantic, JVPBlackhawks20, pokemongohub.net, pokemonpets.com (gengar pic), irisguardian.com (halloween gengar)
