Evolving Riolu into Lucario in Pokémon GO is an exciting journey for trainers. Lucario, with its powerful Fighting and Steel typing, is a valuable addition to any team. This guide will walk you through the steps needed to evolve Riolu and offer tips to make the process smoother and more efficient.
Step 1: Accumulate Riolu Candy
To evolve Riolu, you need 50 Riolu Candies. There are several ways to gather these candies:
- Hatching Eggs: Riolu can be hatched from 10km and 2km eggs, especially during special events where its hatch rate might be increased.
- Walking with Riolu: Set Riolu as your buddy Pokémon. You earn one Riolu Candy for every 5 km walked.
- Using Rare Candies: These can be obtained from raids, research tasks, and leveling up. Convert them into Riolu Candies.
- Catching Riolu: While rare, catching Riolu in the wild or during events adds to your candy count.
- Transferring Pokémon: Transfer any extra Riolu to Professor Willow to earn one candy per transfer.
Step 2: Walk with Riolu as Your Buddy
After accumulating 50 candies, the next step is to walk 10 km with Riolu as your buddy. This step is crucial as it mimics the friendship level required in the main series games, ensuring a strong bond between you and Riolu.
Maximizing Your Efforts
Here are some tips to speed up the process:
- Use Pinap Berries: When hatching or catching Riolu, use Pinap Berries to double the amount of candy you receive.
- Participate in Events: Keep an eye on Pokémon GO events, which might increase Riolu’s hatch rate or offer special bonuses.
- Enable Adventure Sync: This feature counts your steps even when the app isn’t open, helping you accumulate distance for both hatching eggs and earning buddy candies.
- Use Incense and Lures: These can sometimes increase your chances of encountering Riolu in the wild during special events.
Step 3: Evolution
Once you have gathered 50 Riolu Candies and walked 10 km with Riolu as your buddy, you are ready for the evolution. Go to Riolu’s profile in your Pokémon list and tap the evolve button to transform Riolu into Lucario.
Additional Tips
Check IVs and Moves
Before evolving, consider checking Riolu’s IVs (individual values) using the in-game appraisal system. A Riolu with high IVs will become a stronger Lucario. Also, Lucario has access to powerful moves like Aura Sphere. Using a Charge TM can help you get the optimal move set for battles.
Post-Evolution
After evolving Riolu, you might want to switch your buddy to another Pokémon you wish to evolve or gather candies for. Lucario is particularly useful in battles due to its Steel typing, which provides numerous resistances, making it a valuable asset in various scenarios. Riolu is the only baby Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution later in its evolutionary line. During certain events, shiny variants of Riolu might be available. Shiny Riolu features a yellow coloration instead of its usual blue.
By following these steps and tips, you can efficiently evolve your Riolu into a powerful Lucario, ready to take on battles and contribute to your team’s success in Pokémon GO.
