Niantic make much needed changes to Mega Evolution in Pokemon Go

Paul Cot

Niantic heard the feedback loud and clear and have responded by making some much wanted changes to Mega Evolution in Pokemon Go.

They announced on the official Pokemon Go blog that they have made the following changes:

  • The Mega Energy requirement to Mega Evolve a Pokemon that has already Mega Evolved before has decreased
  • The amount of Mega Energy that Trainers receive from winning Mega Raids has increased

Those changes are now live. While they didn’t announce the specific numbers, it has been confirmed that the Mega Energy requirement to Mega Evolve a Pokemon that has already been Mega Evolved before has decreased by 20%.

This means Venusaur, Charizard X and Y, and Blastoise all cost 40 instead of 50. Beedrill now requires 20 Mega Energy as opposed to 25.

The initial cost of Mega Evolving a Pokemon is unchanged, however. Niantic didn’t comment on whether this specifically will change in the future.

Upcoming changes to Mega Evolution

The Pokemon Go developer did share some adjustments that they are currently working on, though:

  • Walking with your buddy to earn Mega Energy
  • More ways to earn Mega Energy through research tasks and other gameplay
  • Earning bonus Candy when catching Pokemon that share a type with your Mega-Evolved Pokemon

Initial feedback

While players will appreciate the intent of Niantic to improve the Mega Evolution system, already trainers are sharing further criticism.

One Reddit user, Remiticus, believes the entire Mega Evolution system is flawed and that a 20% reduction won’t solve the problem. They said: “The entire system is flawed, people wanted it torn up and completely done over.” They went on to suggest that your Buddy level with that particular Pokemon should determine the cost of re-Mega Evolution.

Other trainers have even offered a more cynical view saying that the reduction was Niantic’s intention all along. It’s going to be interesting to see how all this plays out!