'Pokemon Quest' Evolution: How to Evolve Pokémon and Level Up

Nintendo’s latest surprise came yesterday in the form of the first-ever Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Quest. Like any Pokémon game, one of the most pressing questions that anybody has is how to become “the very best like no one ever was.” To get there, you always have to evolve your Pokémon, right?

But how do you do that in a game that feels like a Minecraft-inspired Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp clone that also happened to have action-packed missions where you send out a squad of three Pokémon to wreak havoc upon hordes of wild Pokémon?

Despite having plenty of Pokémon in it, Pokémon Quest’s character progression system is a stripped-down alternative to the main games. Each Pokémon only has Attack, HP, and two moves instead of four. Whenever you take your three Pokémon out on an expedition, they gain experience and level up accordingly. Whereas the main Pokémon games have different methods of evolving certain Pokémon according to annoying things like happiness level or time of day, Pokémon Quest’s evolution system has Pokémon evolve when they reach a certain level. Yes, even Pikachu and Eevee, which normally would only evolve using special in-game items.

Much like Pokémon GO, Pokémon Quest supposedly has its own weird method for allowing players to choose their Eevee evolution. Most players on various Pokémon-related subreddits suggest that Eevee evolves at level 36 depending on the color of the party slot its in. Referencing the above picture, if Eevee is in the left red slot, then it’ll evolve into Flareon. Middle-green will result in Jolteon, and right-blue gets the player Vaporeon. This remains unconfirmed as of this writing, but it seems likely considering you could determine your Eevee evolution in Pokémon GO by giving it a specific name.

And before you go into Pokémon Quest with the hopes of evolving your Eevee into Umbreon or Glaceon, think again, because Quest exclusively focuses on Pokémon from the Kanto region, or rather the first 150 or so monsters from Pokémon Red and Blue. Which means that Vaporeon, Flareon, and Jolteon will be your only options for Eevee as of right now. (Sadly, Alolan Raichu is also not an option here.)

But who knows, maybe we’ll get future updates to the game that add more levels and Pokémon to the mix?