Pokémon Go Mega Evolutions list and how to get Mega Energy

It's now easier to get your hands on the most powerful evolutions of all.

Image credit: Niantic

Guide by Matthew Reynolds Contributor

Additional contributions by Jessica Orr, and Lottie Lynn

Updated on Aug. 21, 2024

1 comment

Mega Evolutions allow you to power-up existing creatures into a much more powerful form in Pokémon Go.

First introduced in the mainline games with Pokémon X and Y, Mega Evolutions took place by using specific stones in battle.

Introduced into Pokémon Go in August 2020, Mega Evolutions remain a temporary transformation, and require the use of Mega Energy.

The game underwent a significant Mega Evolution update in April 2022, which allowed you to evolve without Mega Energy after the first use - and more Mega Evolution bonuses by increasing your Mega Evolution levels.

This page explains how to Mega Evolve a Pokémon in Pokémon Go, how to get Mega Energy and all available Mega Evolution Pokémon.

On this page:

Pokémon Go Mega Evolutions explained
Pokémon Go Mega Levels list explained
Which Mega Evolutions can be currently battled?
How to Mega Evolve in Pokémon Go
How to get Mega Energy in Pokémon Go
Where can you use Mega Evolutions?
Mega Evolutions list

Pokémon Go Mega Evolutions explained

In April 2022, Mega Evolutions underwent a significant update. Though the core concepts remained the same - that certain Pokémon could Mega Evolve once you have collected enough Mega Energy - you can now Mega Evolve for free after the first use and level up Mega Evolutions for additional bonuses.

The new changes included:

Once you have Mega Evolved a Pokémon once, it is free to evolve again in future, once a cooldown has ended.
Mega Energy can be spent to Mega Evolve that Pokémon before the cooldown ends. The shorter the rest period, the less Mega Energy is required.

Each time you Mega Evolve a Pokémon, it will increase in Mega Level. This will introduce additional bonuses across several tiers - including increased Candy XL drop rate, an XP catch bonus and a reduced rest rate. (These are all detailed in the next section.)
Mega Raids "will be easier", according to Niantic.
You can now Mega Evolve from the raid and battle prep screens.

In summary - the existing bonuses still remain, and though you still need to find Mega Energy to evolve a Pokémon in the first place, beyond that, the ability to evolve without needing more is a welcome one. The bonuses from higher levels are well worth working towards too - which we'll discuss in the next section.

You can read more about the changes, and Niantic's thinking about them, in the April 2022 Dev Diary:

Pokémon Go Mega Levels list explained

Introduced in the April 2022 update, Mega Evolutions now have levels. To increase your Mega Level, you must Mega Evolve that Pokémon, and after a certain number of evolutions, you will reach the next level.

Each level has a number of bonuses. The evolution requirement and bonuses are as follows:

Level	Evolves required	Rest period	Bonuses
Base Level	1	7 days	Catch Candy bonus Boosted Ally bonus Reduced Mega Energy to evolve
High Level	7	5 days	Candy Candy bonus Boosted Ally bonus Great Candy XL chance increase Catch XP bonus Greatly reduced Mega Energy cost
Max Level	30	3 days	Enhanced Catch Candy bonus Boosted Ally bonus Excellent Candy XL chance Enhanced Catch XP bonus Massively reduced Mega Energy cost

Note on the above - the Catch XP, Catch Candy and Candy XL bonuses only apply to Pokémon of the same type as the Mega Evolution. Though this initially seems restrictive, it is particularly useful for Community Day and Spotlight Hour events where you might want to maximise the amount of Candy or XP you'd like to earn from catching one particular Pokémon.

Which Mega Evolutions can be currently battled?

During the Shared Skies season, there will be one Mega Evolution appearing in Mega Raids at a time.

The current Mega Evolution is Mega Salamence, appearing until Tuesday 3rd September.

Why is this important to know? While you can get Mega Energy for a number of Pokémon at any given time through quests, field research or walking as your buddy, raids continue to be the easiest and fastest source.

How to Mega Evolve in Pokémon Go

Mega Evolutions are an additional, more powerful evolution that certain Pokémon - such as the original Kanto starters - can undertake.

To Mega Evolve a Pokémon in Pokémon Go, you need a resource named Mega Energy. Once a Pokémon has been Mega Evolved, it will stay in that form for a limited amount of time (which was increased to eight hours in October 2020) and can be used in a variety of battles.

Mega Evolutions require Mega Candy, and you can see on their CP screen how long they will remain in a Mega Evolved form.

You will be able to see how much time your Mega Evolution has remaining on its CP screen.

Once it has returned to its normal form, the Mega Energy you need to Mega Evolve it again later will be decreased.

This amount was further decreased on Thursday, 3rd September as Niantic performed a number of adjustments to the Mega Evolution system.

Other things you should know about Mega Evolutions:

You can only Mega Evolve one Pokémon at a time. If you Mega Evolve a second Pokémon, the other one will return back to normal.
Shadow Pokémon cannot undergo a Mega Evolution.
Clone Pokémon cannot undergo a Mega Evolution.
Mega Evolutions will be listed in your Pokédex under the 'Mega Pokédex'. So that's another thing to collect!
There will be two new Medals added to the game - one for collecting Unique Mega Evolutions, the other for total Mega Evolutions. (Thanks to martycochrane on reddit for revealing this.)

How to get Mega Energy in Pokémon Go

Mega Energy is specific to each individual Pokémon - similar to how Candy works in the game. So if you want to Mega Evolve a Bulbasaur into Mega Bulbasaur, you need Bulbasaur Mega Energy.

Mega Energy in Pokémon Go is primarily found from completing Mega Raids, a type of Raid encounter featuring Mega Pokémon. The faster you win a Mega Raid, the more Mega Energy you receive.

You can also earn Mega Energy through a number of other ways, including:

Certain Special Research rewards, such as Mega Energy for Beedrill from completing A Mega Discovery
Research tasks from PokéStops, which update monthly or are event-specific
Walking with your buddy

Where can you use Mega Evolutions in Pokémon Go?

While a Pokémon is in its temporary Mega Evolved form, you can use it in the following areas of the game:

Battling in Gyms
Battle in Team Go Rocket encounters
Battling against Friends
Used as a Buddy
Battling in Raids*

* All other Pokémon in the Raid will receive an attack boost. A further boost is added that Pokémon shares the same type of attack. (These boosts don't stack, so you can only benefit from one Mega Evolution at a time.)

Meanwhile, Mega Evolutions cannot be used to:

Defend Gyms
In the Go Battle League (though Niantic has teased this might change in future, perhaps for specific Leagues or Cups)

The Shared Skies Season is here! Go Fest 2024 may have been and gone, but you can still play around with the Fusion mechanic. Meanwhile, ticket holders can finish Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper and The Dusk Settles. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.