Gaining EXP and Evolving

[Akira]

First things first. For a Pokemon to evolve, they must first gain Experience, or EXP for short. There are a number of ways to do this, and, if one plays their cards right, they can gather a fair bit of exp fairly quickly. The following is a list of the ways one can gain EXP;

Battling a wild Pokemon
Each wild Pokemon you battle will give out one point of EXP, regardless of whether or not you catch it. If more than one Pokemon is used against a single opponent, only the Pokemon who did the majority of the battling (i.e. was out for the most turns) will get the exp. In the event that two Pokemon were out for the same number of turns, the point will go to whichever Pokemon landed the last attack. Should you face more than one wild Pokemon in a single thread (only possible during missions), a single Pokemon may gain EXP for each battle.

Battling against another trainer
Like with wild Pokemon, defeating a trainer's Pokemon will net one point of EXP. However, there is one major difference, in that only a Pokemon who was knocked out will actually give any EXP; those who are still conscious will not. Like in wild battles, the Pokemon that did the most battling against a single opponent will get the EXP for knocking out an opponent. Even if a different Pokemon finishes the opponent off after they've been knocked out, they will get the EXP; not the new Pokemon. To put it simply, try not to get swept.

Battling against a Gym Leader or Elite Four member
These are a bit simpler compared to other Pokemon battles. Basically, as long as a Pokemon lands at least one hit on any of the opponent's Pokemon, they will gain two points of EXP. Unlike other battles, there is no extra EXP for knocking out multiple Pokemon.

Completing a Mission
On top of any EXP gained during any potential battles, completing a Mission will give the character's entire party one point of EXP each as a reward for doing so.

Using the Training Grounds
Though this can only be done once a week, trainers can use the Training Grounds to give one of their Pokemon one free point of EXP. Battlers, due to the class bonus, get two points instead of just one.

Using a piece of Rare Candy
This is simple. Each piece of Rare Candy gives two points of EXP. Only one piece of Rare Candy can be used toward a single evolution.

Catching a Pokemon with a Luxury Ball
Another simple one. Though they're a little on the pricey side, catching a Pokemon with a Luxury Ball will automatically give them a bonus of one point of EXP.

Evolved Spawns
Evolved spawns can happen occasionally, in which a wild Pokemon you encounter will be an evolution stage higher than normal. If you defeat that Pokemon with one of your own that's at a lower evolution stage, then that Pokemon will get an extra point of EXP on top of what they would normally get. Additionally, if you use two Pokemon against a single evolved Pokemon, so long as both of them are at lower evolution stage, both of them will gain exp; in this case, the two EXP will simply be split between them. Keep in mind that this only applies to wild encounters, and not PvP battles.

Tough Pokemon
In addition to Evolved Spawns, it's been decided that numerous Pokemon who are either single-stage Pokemon or were once single-stage but gained an evolution in a later entry will also grant an extra point of exp, but only if you're using a Basic-stage Pokemon capable of evolving. This is because most of these Pokemon are quite tough when compared to an unevolved Pokemon, especially if their opponent doesn't have any way of exploiting their weakness(es). Like Evolved spawns, this only applies to wild threads, and if you use two Pokemon, the exp is split between them, meaning each will get one point. The following is a list that this applies to;
• Tauros
• Kangaskhan
• Scyther
• Pinsir
• Lickitung
• Lapras
• Shuckle
• Corsola
• Heracross
• Miltank
• Skarmory
• Absol
• Relicant
• Nosepass
• Sableye
• Mawile
• Zangoose
• Seviper
• Castform
• Tropius
• Kecleon
• Torkoal
• Carnivine
• Rotom
• Spiritomb
• Basculin
• Bouffalant
• Cryogonal
• Druddigon
• Durant
• Maractus
• Sawk
• Sigilyph
• Throh
• Carbink
• Hawlucha
• Klefki
• Mimikyu
• Passimian
• Turtonatur
• Drampa
• Minior
• Bruxish
• Dhelmise
• Wishiwashi

Either way, that's about it. If you have any questions regarding any potential EXP you think your Pokemon may or may not be eligible to receive, contact a staff member and they'll help you sort everything out.

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Once you've collected enough EXP to do so, you may go to the trainer shop in the PokeMart to purchase the appropriate Evolution and evolve your Pokemon. On this site, this method covers all of the ways to evolve a Pokemon from the actual games, from item-induced evolutions and trading, to the more obscure methods, like needing a Dark-type in your team to evolve Pancham or having to battle in a specific location. Of course, you're welcome to RP using an item like a Thunder Stone or having a Pokemon train in a similar-enough location to places like Mt Coronet to evolve a Magneton, but this is hardly required.

After buying the evolution, post in the Evolution Request thread to confirm it. You will need to provide links to all of the threads that Pokemon gained EXP in. If everything checks out, then the evolution item will be removed from your inventory and you may update your PC and evolve the Pokemon. As a quick recap, the amount of exp you need to evolve a Pokemon depends on how many Evolution Stages it has and what its current stage is.

• To evolve a basic three-stage Pokemon to its middle stage (Charmander; Geodude, etc), they need a total of 8 EXP.

• To evolve a middle-stgae Pokemon into its final stage (Charmeleon; Graveler, etc), they need a total of 10 EXP.

• and last but not least, to evolve a Pokemon only has two stages to their final form (Growlithe, Onix), they need a grand total of 12 EXP.

One last thing worth mentioning is that EXP is not cumulative between evolutions. Once that Pokemon evolves, and if it's capable of further evolution, its EXP is reset to 0 regardless of how much the amount of EXP it gained goes over the minimum amount required. Also, at no point will there ever be "half" or ".5" exp...just wanna get that out of the way now.

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Last but not least, here is a list of other things to keep in mind when evolving your Pokemon;
• For Pokemon who evolve into a different form based on specific stats or seemingly random factors like IVs (for example, Tyrogue evolving into either Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee or Hitmontop based on its Attack or Defense stat, or Wurmple evolving into either Silcoon or Cascoon based on IVs), you may simply choose which form they take.

• The same goes for Pokemon who can potentially have an Alolan Form upon evolving, like Pikachu, Cubone or Exeggcute. When you evolve them, you may simply choose whether the resulting Pokemon will be in its Alolan Form. That said, you may not do the same with lines that have Alolan Forms for all of it evolution stages; an Alolan Sandslash may only evolve from an Alolan Sandshrew, and an Alolan Meowth can only evolve into an Alolan Persian. The only reason you can choose when evolving Pikachu, Cubone or Exeggcute is because they themselves don't have an Alolan Form, even though their evolved forms do.

• When you evolve your Pokemon, you may change one the Pokemon's Normal Moves to something else if you wish, but only to one learned via Level-up. If the Pokemon in question has less than four moves (Abra or Caterpie), you may give it additional moves until it has at least four of them. Lastly, you may only give it moves that its new form is capable of learning; if the new form lacks a move that its previous form had, then you better make sure it knows that moves before you evolve it.

• Starting in Generation VII, some Pokemon gained the ability to automatically learn a new move immediately upon evolving, regardless of what level they were at when they evolved. For example, whereas Lucario used to only learn Aura Sphere at a specific level or as a Move Relearner move, it now learns the move automatically upon evolving from a Riolu. On Bulbapedia or Serebii, these are marked as "Evo" or "Evolve". Here, this is still a thing, and Pokemon who learn such moves are free to gain them on top of also being able replace one of the Normal Moves with a level-up move.

• If the Pokemon you're evolving has more than one Ability, then you are welcome to switch to a different ability upon evolving them (for example, changing a Scyther's Swarm into Technician upon evolving them into Scizor). However, it may only be to its other normal Ability; you may not give a Pokemon its Hidden Ability in this manner. If you are evolving a Pokemon that already has its Hidden Ability, you may, if you so wish, change said Ability to one of its normal Abilities upon evolving it. Just keep in mind that, if you do change your Pokemon's Ability, you'll have to buy another Ability Capsule if you change your mind want your Pokemon to go back to having its previous Ability. In other words, think carefully before doing so. Naturally, if your Pokemon already has its Hidden Ability before evolving, you're welcome to keep said Hidden Ability, even if it changes between evolution stages.