Evolution Cost Ranker

Rank Pokemon evolution lines by effort — levels required, items, trades, and special conditions.

367 evolution paths

From	To	Stages	Difficulty	Requires	Steps
magnemite	magnezone electricsteel	2	★★★★★	Special	Level 30 → Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Use thunder stone
rhyhorn	rhyperior groundrock	2	★★★★★	Trade	Level 42 → Trade (holding protector)
porygon	porygon-z normal	2	★★★★★	Trade	Trade (holding up grade) → Trade (holding dubious disc)
deino	hydreigon darkdragon	2	★★★★★		Level 50 → Level 64
cosmog	solgaleo psychicsteel	2	★★★★★		Level 43 → Level 53
cosmog	lunala psychicghost	2	★★★★★		Level 43 → Level 53
dreepy	dragapult dragonghost	2	★★★★★		Level 50 → Level 60
machop	machamp fighting	2	★★★★★	Trade	Level 28 → Trade
horsea	kingdra waterdragon	2	★★★★★	Trade	Level 32 → Trade (holding dragon scale)
mime-jr	mr-rime icepsychic	2	★★★★★	Special	Level up, know mimic → Level 42
elekid	electivire electric	2	★★★★★	Trade	Level 30 → Trade (holding electirizer)
magby	magmortar fire	2	★★★★★	Trade	Level 30 → Trade (holding magmarizer)
eevee	leafeon grass	1	★★★★★	Special	Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Use leaf stone
eevee	glaceon ice	1	★★★★★	Special	Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Use ice stone
dratini	dragonite dragonflying	2	★★★★★		Level 30 → Level 55
larvitar	tyranitar rockdark	2	★★★★★		Level 30 → Level 55
nosepass	probopass rocksteel	1	★★★★★	Special	Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Use thunder stone
aron	aggron steelrock	2	★★★★★		Level 32 → Level 42
trapinch	flygon grounddragon	2	★★★★★		Level 35 → Level 45
duskull	dusknoir ghost	2	★★★★★	Trade	Level 37 → Trade (holding reaper cloth)
spheal	walrein icewater	2	★★★★★		Level 32 → Level 44
bagon	salamence dragonflying	2	★★★★★		Level 30 → Level 50
gothita	gothitelle psychic	2	★★★★★		Level 32 → Level 41
solosis	reuniclus psychic	2	★★★★★		Level 32 → Level 41
vanillite	vanilluxe ice	2	★★★★★		Level 35 → Level 47
klink	klinklang steel	2	★★★★★		Level 38 → Level 49
litwick	chandelure ghostfire	2	★★★★★	Item	Level 41 → Use dusk stone
axew	haxorus dragon	2	★★★★★		Level 38 → Level 48
goomy	goodra dragon	2	★★★★★		Level 40 → Level 50
grubbin	vikavolt bugelectric	2	★★★★★	Special	Level 20 → Level up, specific location, Level up, specific location, Use thunder stone
jangmo-o	kommo-o dragonfighting	2	★★★★★		Level 35 → Level 45
hatenna	hatterene psychicfairy	2	★★★★★		Level 32 → Level 42
impidimp	grimmsnarl darkfairy	2	★★★★★		Level 32 → Level 42
frigibax	baxcalibur dragonice	2	★★★★★		Level 35 → Level 54
pichu	raichu electric	2	★★★★	ItemFriendship	Level up, friendship → Use thunder stone
cleffa	clefable fairy	2	★★★★	ItemFriendship	Level up, friendship → Use moon stone
igglybuff	wigglytuff normalfairy	2	★★★★	ItemFriendship	Level up, friendship → Use moon stone
poliwag	politoed water	2	★★★★	Trade	Level 25 → Trade (holding kings rock)
abra	alakazam psychic	2	★★★★	Trade	Level 16 → Trade
geodude	golem rockground	2	★★★★	Trade	Level 25 → Trade
slowpoke	slowking waterpsychic	1	★★★★	Trade	Trade (holding kings rock), Use galarica wreath
gastly	gengar ghostpoison	2	★★★★	Trade	Level 25 → Trade
togepi	togekiss fairyflying	2	★★★★	ItemFriendship	Level up, friendship → Use shiny stone
teddiursa	ursaluna groundnormal	2	★★★★	Item	Level 30 → Use peat block, full-moon
swinub	mamoswine iceground	2	★★★★	Special	Level 33 → Level up, know ancient power
budew	roserade grasspoison	2	★★★★	ItemFriendship	Level up, friendship, day → Use shiny stone
beldum	metagross steelpsychic	2	★★★★		Level 20 → Level 45
gible	garchomp dragonground	2	★★★★		Level 24 → Level 48
roggenrola	gigalith rock	2	★★★★	Trade	Level 25 → Trade
timburr	conkeldurr fighting	2	★★★★	Trade	Level 25 → Trade
sandile	krookodile grounddark	2	★★★★		Level 29 → Level 40
tynamo	eelektross electric	2	★★★★	Item	Level 39 → Use thunder stone
pawniard	kingambit darksteel	2	★★★★		Level 52 →
honedge	aegislash	2	★★★★	Item	Level 35 → Use dusk stone
bulbasaur	venusaur grasspoison	2	★★★		Level 16 → Level 32
charmander	charizard fireflying	2	★★★		Level 16 → Level 36
squirtle	blastoise water	2	★★★		Level 16 → Level 36
pidgey	pidgeot normalflying	2	★★★		Level 18 → Level 36
nidoran-f	nidoqueen poisonground	2	★★★	Item	Level 16 → Use moon stone
nidoran-m	nidoking poisonground	2	★★★	Item	Level 16 → Use moon stone

Showing 60 of 367

How Evolution Difficulty Is Scored

Not every evolution takes the same effort. A Pidgey that evolves at level 18 is trivial compared to a trade evolution that also demands a rare held item and a specific time of day. This tool scores each path from the base form to the final stage on a 1-5 star difficulty scale.

What Factors Increase Difficulty?

High level requirements -- evolving above level 40 adds more difficulty than a level 16 evolution
Trade dependency -- requires a second player or a second game, making it inaccessible for solo players
Item requirements -- evolution stones and held items must be found or purchased first
Friendship grinding -- raising happiness to the threshold takes time and specific actions
Special conditions -- location-locked, move-dependent, or weather-based evolutions add extra planning

Multi-stage lines stack difficulty across each step. A three-stage Pokemon with a trade in the middle and a high-level final evolution will rank higher than a two-stage Pokemon that needs only a stone. Sort by difficulty, total levels, or number of stages to plan your team around what your playthrough allows.