There are few thrills as great as evolving a Pokémon. Any trainer can relate to that dopamine kick of seeing that tiny turtle grow into a bigger, more powerful turtle. There’s just something simply satisfying about hitting that level threshold and seeing a Pokémon power up. However, there are many other ways to evolve a Pokémon. It could be bizarre and obtuse, like Feebas in Ruby & Sapphire, or as straightforward and simple as a powerful stone.
Evolutionary stones are iconic items to the series. They serve narrative weight in episodes of the anime and are often exciting to find. The door is open to get some incredible Pokémon through these stones, along with potentially early power-spikes. That in mind, one of the most iconic power-spikes is that of the Moon Stone in Mt. Moon, but there are plenty of other incredible evolutionary stones in the series.
11 Moon Stone
The Moon Stone is described as “a stone as black as the night sky,” and evolves various Pokémon. This includes Clefairy, most famously, but also others Skitty and Munna. The stone seemingly blesses the Pokémon with the power of the stars, but that doesn’t really apply to cases like Nidorino/Nidorina and, again, Skitty.
In the anime, the Moon Stone was absolutely considered to be something from outer space, at least early on. In the games, this theory doesn’t really hold. Still, the Moon Stone creates some unique evolutions, and few things are as satisfying as busting down the door to the Cerulean City gym with a full-power Nidoking.
10 Fire Stone
The Fire Stone is said to have a “fiery orange heart” and, appropriately, is used in Fire-type evolution. Many games depict it with a flame literally encased in rock. While that certainly is bizarre, the stone is at least straight-forward. Interestingly, its only non-Red & Blue evolution was added in Black & White, for Pansear (which is still a great name).
Despite being straight-forward, Fire Stone evolutions are still fairly iconic. Arcanine and Ninetales are both staple Fire-types, while Flareon is cute but not very effective. The fire burns brightly with this stone.
9 Water Stone
The Water Stone looks like water frozen in time, buried in crystal. It’s a small piece of a large pond. And, of course, it serves to evolve Water-types. From enigmatic Pokémon like Staryu to the lovable Lombre, the Water Stone Water-types fill different roles and range in their secondary-typing. It’s certainly more dynamic than the Fire Stone.
An interesting note about the Water Stone is that it actually has a use outside of evolution. Granted, it’s a bit of an obscure usage, but it still is one. In Pokémon Crystal, the stone is used to solve a puzzle in the Ruins of Alph, which is a neat bit of trivia.
8 Thunder Stone
The Thunder Stone is iconic through its design and its ties to the series’s mascot, Pikachu. The lightning bolt pattern is distinct, although it’s never really said to have an electrical charge. While it used to evolve a relatively limited set of Pokémon, it has expanded over time.
In Sword & Shield, a number of location-based evolutions were altered to be stone-based instead. This includes Magneton and Charjabug, both of which used to evolve in a specific place. Considering how late in the game Charjabug used to evolve, this is a welcome change.
7 Leaf Stone
The Leaf Stone looks like a perfectly fossilized leaf, and its natural energy resonates with several Grass-types. It doesn’t quite have the range of secondary-types as the Water Stone, but it has some interesting Pokémon tied to it. Victribell, Vileplume, and Exeggutor all require a Leaf Stone for evolution.
In Sword & Shield, Eevee is able to evolve into Leafeon with the Leaf Stone. Seeing something that was common in hacks of the series become canon is kind of neat.
6 Sun Stone
The Sun Stone, added to the series in Gold & Silver, appropriately has a number of plant-based evolutions. Initially, it started with just Sunflora and Bellossom but added more to its roster in Lilligant and Whimsicott.
Interestingly, another evolution of the Sun Stone is the Electric-type Helioptile. This lizard has an identity build around being in the sun, so it makes sense. It’s mostly just interesting because it stands out among the rest of its Sun Stone siblings.
5 Shiny Stone
The Shiny Stone, one of three stones added in Diamond & Pearl, is a dazzlingly bright rock. And, like the rest of the stones added in Gen 4, it evolves a varied set of Pokémon types. There is a bit of consistency in what it evolves, but it still feels like a more special stone.
The Shiny Stone is also notably fairly rare. In Ultra Sun & Moon, for instance, the only Shiny Stone obtainable without the use of Poké Pelago appears on the very last island of the game. Florges fans felt the pain trying to evolve the flowery Fairy-type in a time frame where it could still be useful.
4 Dusk Stone
The second of the three Gen 4 stones, the Dusk Stone is as dark as shadows. The Pokémon it evolves are equally mysterious, with a trend towards Ghost-type Pokémon. Chandelure and Aegislash in particular stand out as Pokémon that are incredibly powerful in comparison to other stone-evolution Pokémon.
It’s also just as rare as the Shiny Stone, but here it isn’t as much of a problem. All of the Pokémon that require the Dusk Stone to evolve are perfectly capable on their own, some like Doublade even being situationally better than its evolution.
3 Dawn Stone
As there is always dusk, there must also always be dawn. The Dawn Stone, however, is limited in its usage. It only evolves two Pokémon: Kirlia into Gallade and Snorunt into Froslass. These evolutions are also both based on the gender of the Pokémon they evolve, which is an interesting note.
Again, the Dawn Stone is a rare one, but because its Pokémon are so limited it isn’t so bad. Well, as long as the player has Everstones handy since both Snorunt and Kirlia will continue to try to evolve based on level, regardless of the stone evolution being an option.
2 Ice Stone
The Ice Stone is the latest addition to the stone family, with a snowflake pattern and an icy focus. In Sword & Shield, it replaces the location-based evolution of Glaceon, like the Leaf Stone. However, the trends with its other evolutions are unique.
Aside from Eevee, this stone exists to evolve regional variants of Pokémon. It evolves Alolan Vulpix and Sandshrew along with Galarian Darumaka. Darumaka and Sandshrew also didn’t evolve using stones in their original forms, which is kind of neat. Its evolutions may not be amazing, but its Ice-type focus makes it stand out.
1 Sinnoh Stone/Unova Stone
Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without including Pokémon Go‘s exclusive evolutionary stones. The Sinnoh Stone and Unova Stone both replace other stones and evolutionary items. While this is helpful considering how much junk fills up the Item bag in Pokémon Go, it is still weird.
The Sinnoh Stone evolves cross-generational evolutionary lines that aren’t location-based. Both Murkow and Electabuzz are included, for example. The Unova Stone is used to evolve any Unova Pokémon that require a stone, aside from those that evolve using the Sun Stone. It’s oddly specific, but at the very least the player doesn’t have to carry around too many junk items.
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