M: Okay, today is what, the 17th or something? 18th. Tell me what's going on next week for Pokemon Go in terms of what will be showing up, if any special moves will be able to be learned, and what kind of creatures will be showing up on the walk-around map around my area. That part is because I've got a couple things that I need to, or I guess just want to, evolve that require that I catch certain types, and I've been neglecting that and not paying attention.

G: TL;DR: The next week is mostly a raid-focused week rather than a giant wild-spawn shakeup. Around Richmond/the Americas, the biggest practical things are:

A more useful breakdown for your “I need specific catches for evolutions” situation:

During the tail end of Spring Marathon and immediately after, you’re more likely than usual to see:

After May 18 ends, things normalize somewhat, meaning:

For practical evolution requirements:

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Raid rotation

Until May 19

In the Americas (which includes Virginia), you have:

Europe/Middle East/Africa gets Pheromosa; Asia-Pacific gets Xurkitree. citeturn0search2

Starting May 20

You get:

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Special move / evolve windows

The big recent ones were:

Those are already over, meaning the easy exclusive-move evolution windows likely closed unless Niantic quietly extends them. citeturn0news1turn0search6turn0search23

So for the next week:

Weird/important change you may have missed

Apparently the old weekly Tuesday Spotlight Hours were retired starting with the current season. That’s a pretty significant structural change if you’ve been semi-ignoring the game lately. citeturn0search14

Most practical advice for your evolution backlog

If you tell me:

…I can tell you whether this week is favorable, whether you should use incense/lures/weather, or whether you’re better off waiting for a future event window.

M: I recognize where some of those catches come from, but not all of them. Why did you mention the various catch types? Like right now I'm focusing on the Pancham, those panda guys, in terms of what prompted me to check, which in retrospect would have been a really good thing to take care of during the last community day, but oh well, that's why I'm checking now. I've still got a few guys that need to go on the appropriate types of raids as well, so I need to remember that. But yeah, can you break down why you mentioned the various catch types? Like, I have no idea what you have to catch ice for in order to evolve.

G: Ah, I was reverse-engineering from the phrase “I need to evolve things that require certain catches,” because a bunch of later-generation evolutions in entity["video_game","Pokémon GO","mobile game"] work that way now.

Examples:

So when I mentioned Ice-types, I wasn’t saying you specifically needed Ice-types. I was mentally grouping all the “catch X type to evolve Y” mechanics together.

For Pancham specifically:

And yes, the recent entity["event","Deino Community Day Classic","Pokémon GO event"] would have been fantastic for it because Dark/Dragon overlap turns the requirement into free progress.

Right now, practical Dark-type sources this week are probably:

One subtle trick: Dark-type catches count even if they’re dual-typed. So:

…all progress Pancham.

And because you mentioned raid-evolution requirements too: A bunch of those only require the Pokémon to participate in the raid while your buddy, not actually fight effectively. So you can often:

  1. Start raid
  2. Put required buddy into party
  3. Let it exist briefly
  4. Swap to real attackers or just complete raid

Niantic is wildly inconsistent about which requirements are strict versus symbolic.

M: Check online. I don't think you have it right about the idea for the raid catches. Like, look at Quilfish, the Q-W-I-L fish. I think it's in, uh... Oh, what the hell type is that? The Galarian or something like that form. Anyway... I think what happens is it needs to be your friend, like in that friend spot, when you do the raid, not actually participate.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: I’ll verify the current Pokémon GO evolution wording rather than relying on memory. The key distinction is “set as buddy” versus “use in battle/raid party,” and I agree that I may have blurred that.

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: You’re right. I phrased that wrong.

For Hisuian Qwilfish → Overqwil, the requirement is:

Set Hisuian Qwilfish as your buddy, then win 10 raids.
It does not need to be in your raid party or fight. It just has to be your current buddy while the raid wins happen. You also need 50 Qwilfish Candy. citeturn936148search7turn936148search13

Same general category as Pancham:

So the clean rule is:

Adventure-to-evolve tasks require the Pokémon to be your buddy while the task is performed, unless the in-game text says otherwise. Once completed, the task stays completed even if you switch buddies. citeturn936148search13

M: Yeah, I think the rules are consistent, but vague. That's why I said I need to start paying more attention in order to evolve things. I've got some decent versions that require efforts like the Alolan Slowpoke evolutions. I think those require poison or psychic catches, that kind of thing.

G: Yeah, that’s exactly the pattern Niantic settled into:
the rules are mechanically consistent but the wording is often fuzzy enough that players start inventing superstitions.

For the entity["video_game_character","Galarian Slowpoke","Pokémon species"] evolutions:

And like Pancham:

That’s why I brought up current wild-spawn trends earlier. If an event temporarily floods the map with Psychic types, it suddenly becomes a good week to clear:

Meanwhile Poison-type requirements are often more annoying unless:

A few other “easy to forget until an event helps” evolutions:

The important meta-rule is: when an event heavily boosts a type, it’s usually smart to scan your backlog before the event ends, because Niantic’s evolution system quietly rewards opportunistic multitasking more than focused grinding.

M: Go online and try to derive me a list of every creature in Pokémon Go that has some sort of special evolution requirement that isn't just the use of some item like a stone or, um, I think Porygon uses some kind of switch or circuit board. The ones that require some sort of situational effort are the ones that I'm looking for. The order doesn't matter. I just want you to try and get me a complete list.

G: This is the closest thing to a “complete modern list” of Pokémon in entity["video_game","Pokémon GO","mobile game"] that require something beyond just candy and/or a normal evolution item. I’m excluding plain stone/item evolutions like Kings Rock, Upgrade, Sinnoh Stone, etc., unless another gameplay condition is layered on top. Sources cross-checked from GO Hub, Pokémon GO Wiki/Fandom, PokémonDB, and several maintained guides. citeturn0search4turn0search6turn0search8turn0search10turn0search12turn0search13

Buddy walking requirements

Day/night or time-sensitive evolutions

Catch-type requirements

Raid/battle requirements

Throw/task requirements

Weird/mechanical evolutions

Lure-module evolutions

These technically use environmental conditions rather than ordinary items:

Trade-discount evolutions

These can evolve normally, but become free after trading:

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M: That wasn't above and beyond, at least in terms of effort. Not sure if it was good or bad, but I appreciate that you tried to be as complete as possible. I'm gonna try and remember that because that's like five types of raids that I need to keep an eye out for, although I can tell you from experience, that when it says defeat, that seems to mean that you can use max battles as well, unless they are specific like with the Bishop. But for the Charcadet and Primeape, the max raids can count as well. It seems like what I need to do is keep track of when there will be dark, steel, psychic, ghost, or water raids, particularly on weekends when there's going to be some kind of targeted raid in order to really be able to take care of those requirements. The problem is that I'm also trying to build the friendship level of a lot of the creatures that I really like, not for any reason, but the point is that often either I get caught off guard in terms of having an opportunity to do a raid so I can't switch in time, or I forget to, or I've already done a little bit of poking at the game already that day beforehand and ended up in a situation where I'm not able to make that change. I don't know, it just requires me to take a different approach to things, I think.

G: Yeah, what you’re running into is that entity["video_game","Pokémon GO","mobile game"] has quietly evolved into a game about state management more than moment-to-moment decisions.

Not “can I beat this raid,” but:

And because the game is built around interruptions and opportunism, the optimal strategy is less “focus on one thing” and more:

always have some long-term evolution objective equipped.

That way random gameplay advances something.

You already seem to have identified the real bottleneck:

Especially because buddy swapping collides with:

So practically speaking, your idea is probably right: instead of tracking individual Pokémon, track raid-type opportunities.

Meaning:

That scales much better mentally.

And yes, your observation about Max Battles appears to be correct in practice for many “defeat X type” requirements. Niantic seems to classify them internally as sufficiently raid-adjacent unless the wording is specifically constrained. The game’s text often lags behind the actual backend behavior.

The other thing worth noticing: many of these requirements are retroactively easy during themed events and miserable outside them.

For example:

So the efficient mentality is less:

“I will now grind this evolution”

…and more:

“I will opportunistically attach this evolution to an event already happening.”

That’s basically how veteran GO players preserve sanity now.

M: I'm gonna ask you to go online and find if there's any Pokemon creature who can benefit from being part of my stable or my buddy while fighting against the Mega Phalanx today in terms of evolution. I know that the quillfish needs raids and I think the Yamask does, but I don't know if anyone specifically needs to either be victorious over fighting creatures or fighting raids in particular.

G: Yes. Today’s entity["event","Falinks Raid Day","Pokémon GO event"] is actually unusually good for clearing several evolution requirements at once because Falinks is pure Fighting-type.

The important distinction is:

So for today specifically:

Definitely useful today

entity["video_game_character","Bisharp","Pokémon species"] → Kingambit

Requirement:

Falinks does not help. It’s Fighting-type only.

entity["video_game_character","Primeape","Pokémon species"] → Annihilape

Requirement:

Falinks does not help directly.

However: Fighting-types are weak to Psychic, so if there are Psychic counters featured around the event, you might incidentally encounter useful targets elsewhere.

entity["video_game_character","Charcadet","Pokémon species"] → Ceruledge / Armarouge

Requirements:

Falinks does not count.

entity["video_game_character","Kubfu","Pokémon species"] → Urshifu

This is the big one.

Falinks does not help.

entity["video_game_character","Hisuian Qwilfish","Pokémon species"] → Overqwil

Requirement:

This does benefit from Falinks Raid Day. A lot.

Today is excellent for this one because:

Same for:

So the practical answer is:

Best buddy choices for today

Best value

NOT useful today

Because Falinks being Fighting-type doesn’t satisfy their type-defeat requirements.

Honestly, your earlier observation becomes even more important here: the optimal strategy is often not “who do I like most right now,” but:

“what passive evolution objective matches today’s event typing?”

M: Just to be a hundred percent, please check online and make sure that the evolved, sorry, that the Mega Phalanx stays a pure fighting type. I know the Gyarados, at least, gets an element of dark, I think, during its Mega Evolution, and a couple others do. So I just want to make a hundred percent sure.

G: Yep. I checked, and Mega Falinks remains a pure Fighting-type after Mega Evolution. It does not gain a secondary type. citeturn0search2turn0search9turn0search8

So:

But it does still help:

…because those care about raid completions generally, not typing.

And yes, your Gyarados comparison was exactly the right instinct: entity["video_game_character","Gyarados","Pokémon species"] is Water/Flying normally, but Mega Gyarados becomes Water/Dark, so checking Mega typing absolutely matters in GO because Niantic generally follows the Mega form’s canonical type changes.

M: During the couple hours when they are having the event, are there any particular creatures that are going to be particularly around my area, or is it just the same scattershot menagerie that we've seen all week?

G: From everything I can find, today’s entity["event","Falinks Super Mega Raid Day","Pokémon GO event"] is basically a raid-focused event, not a “wild-spawn takeover” event like Community Day. So during the 2–5 PM window in Richmond, you should expect:

In other words: the map spawns should mostly remain the same general seasonal scattershot you’ve already been seeing this week. citeturn0search3turn0search13turn0news0

That’s actually important strategically for you, because it means:

So if you were hoping:

“Will Fighting-types suddenly flood the map?”

…apparently no, not in any major documented way.

The closest thing to a side-focus today seems to be:

One subtle indirect effect: because Falinks is a Fighting-type raid boss, a lot of players will be running Psychic/Flying/Fairy attackers. So if you’re doing party play or scanning gyms, you may incidentally see more:

…but that affects combat bonuses more than wild catches.

So practically: today is probably best treated as:

“normal wild gameplay + dense rapid-fire raids”

…rather than:

“special biome/event spawn window.” citeturn0search3turn0search7

M: I am transferring creatures from Pokemon Go to the Pokemon Home app. Can you please go online and figure out what happens during that transmission in terms of adding statistics or adding moves or otherwise modifying things, and what the limitations are? Because, for instance, I actually have two perfect examples of a particular creature, and I'm considering sending it to home, except that I don't know if it would actually keep its advantage during that transfer. And by perfect, I mean, like, has the four-star perfect attack, defense, and health statistics.

G: The short version is:

Your 4★ perfect Pokémon in entity["mobile_app","Pokémon GO","mobile game"] absolutely does keep most of its advantage when transferred into entity["mobile_app","Pokémon HOME","cloud storage app"] / the mainline games. A GO hundo converts into an almost-perfect or fully perfect main-series Pokémon. The one exception is Speed, because GO has no Speed stat. citeturn0search7turn0search17

The important details:

IV/stat conversion

GO uses:

  • HP
  • Attack
  • Defense (each from 0–15)

Mainline games use:

  • HP
  • Attack
  • Defense
  • Special Attack
  • Special Defense
  • Speed (each from 0–31)

The conversion formula is:

Main-series IV = (GO IV × 2) + 1

So:

  • GO 15 → mainline 31 (perfect)
  • GO 0 → mainline 1

And the mapping works like this:

GO Stat HOME/Mainline Result
Attack Attack + Special Attack
Defense Defense + Special Defense
HP HP
Speed Randomized

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So a GO hundo (15/15/15) becomes:

  • HP: 31
  • Attack: 31
  • Defense: 31
  • Sp. Atk: 31
  • Sp. Def: 31
  • Speed: random 0–31

Meaning:

A GO hundo effectively becomes a guaranteed 5IV Pokémon with random Speed.

That’s actually extremely good by main-series standards. citeturn0search0turn0search17

Moves do NOT transfer

This is one of the biggest surprises.

GO moves are discarded completely.

The Pokémon gets rebuilt using the move learnset of the destination-era games at its transferred level. citeturn0search7turn0search9turn0search19

So:

  • Legacy GO moves do not matter
  • Community Day moves usually do not carry over
  • GO-exclusive move weirdness disappears

Level / CP conversion

CP itself does not transfer.

Instead:

  • the Pokémon keeps roughly its GO level
  • rounded down to an integer
  • max transfer level is effectively 50 now

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Nature and Ability

These are generated during transfer because GO doesn’t track them.

So:

  • Nature = random
  • Ability = random legal ability

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This means:

  • your hundo might still get a mediocre Nature
  • or the less desirable Ability

…but those can often be changed later in modern games using mints/capsules/etc.

Things that are LOST

These do not survive transfer:

  • Lucky status
  • Purified status
  • Shadow status (cannot transfer at all)
  • Mega status
  • Buddy status
  • GO battle relevance
  • CP meaning

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Important restrictions

You cannot transfer:

  • current buddy Pokémon
  • favorited Pokémon
  • Shadow Pokémon
  • Mega-Evolved Pokémon
  • many costume Pokémon
  • some special forms

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The BIG practical conclusion

For valuable Pokémon:

  • GO hundos are often worth transferring
  • especially shinies, legendaries, mythicals, or hard-to-breed species

Because:

GO is actually one of the easiest legal sources of guaranteed 5IV Pokémon in the franchise.

The main gamble is Speed IV + Nature + Ability.