The world of Pokémon Go continues to expand; as it should if it’s to catch up to the new Gen 8 Pokémon about to be introduced through Pokémon Sword & Shield. With each new generation comes a few unique evolution methods – like through the use of new special items.
If you’ve looked at a counter list for raids recently, you’ll likely have noticed a fair few of the top-tier ‘mons evolve through the use of items. Getting these coveted trinkets is rarely explained in-game, so we’ve detailed the numerous ways you can go about trying to find them on your travels down below.
Special items explained
So, what are special items in Pokémon Go? Well, as we mentioned, they are items that trainers can use to evolve their Pokémon. Special items are much rarer and harder to find than your typical potion or Ultra Ball. While the generation one games have Pokémon that can evolve from stones like Eevee, that initially wasn’t the case in Pokémon Go as special items weren’t introduced until the release of generation two. Since then, Niantic has continued to add even more special items for players. In fact, new special items were added in September 2019.
List of all special items in Pokémon Go
Here is the full list of all currently available special items and when they were released below:
- Dragon Scale: Evolves Seadra into Kingdra
- King’s Rock: Evolves Poliwhirl into Politoed and Slowpoke into Slowking
- Metal Coat: Evolves Onix into Steelix and Scyther into Scizor
- Sun Stone: Evolves Gloom into Bellossom and Sunkern into Sunflora
- Up Grade: Evolves Porygon into Porygon 2
- Sinnoh Stone: Evolves Gen 1 and 2 Pokémon to Gen 4 evolutions with 100 candy. See the table below for all the Pokémon that presently evolve with the Sinnoh Stone.
- Unova Stone: Evolves Gen 5 Pokémon that would otherwise evolve through a stone unavailable in Pokémon GO (like a Thunder Stone)
| Pokémon | Candy to evolve |
Evolution | ||
| Aipom |  |
100 | Ambipom |  |
| Dusclops |  |
100 | Dusknoir |  |
| Electabuzz |  |
100 | Electivire |  |
| Gligar |  |
100 | Gliscor |  |
| Kirlia (m) |  |
100 | Gallade |  |
| Lickitung |  |
100 | Lickilicky |  |
| Magmar |  |
100 | Magmortar |  |
| Misdreavus |  |
100 | Mismagius |  |
| Murkrow |  |
100 | Honchkrow |  |
| Piloswine |  |
100 | Mamoswine |  |
| Porygon2 |  |
100 | Porygon-Z |  |
| Rhydon |  |
100 | Rhyperior |  |
| Roselia |  |
100 | Roserade |  |
| Sneasel |  |
100 | Weavile |  |
| Snorunt (f) |  |
100 | Froslass |  |
| Tangela |  |
100 | Tangrowth |  |
| Togetic |  |
100 | Togekiss |  |
| Yanma |  |
100 | Yanmega |  |
| Lampent |  |
100 | Chandelure |  |
| Eelektrik |  |
100 | Eelektross |  |
| Minccino |  |
50 | Cinccino |  |
| Munna |  |
50 | Musharna |  |
| Pansear |  |
50 | Simisear |  |
| Pansage |  |
50 | Simisage |  |
| Panpour |  |
50 | Simipour |  |
How to get special items in Pokémon Go
There are a few different ways that you can get special items like King’s Rock, Metal Coat, Dragon Scale, Up-Grade, Sun Stone, Unova Stone, and Sinnoh Stone in Pokémon Go. It’s important to note that they are all obtained the same way, so until Niantic changes this, there are no special methods for acquiring specific evolutionary items. Here are the best options for getting these super rare items.
1. Poke Stops
Poke Stops are places scattered around the world that you can physically visit and spin the medallion to get free items. You can also find them at Gyms. Poke Stops are the standard method of getting special items in Pokémon Go but they’re also one of the hardest. The chances of getting special items at Poke Stops are pretty slim. They are by far the rarest item you can get so it can take hundreds, if not thousands of tries using this method.
2. Gifts
Another way to get special items in Pokémon Go is through gifts. Gifts are items that players can send to and receive from friends, as well as through Poke Stops. Gifts are like a free Poke Stop, offering rewards like special items. If you have one of these, be sure to send them to your friends and maybe you’ll get one in return.
3. Weekly rewards
Another way that you can get special items is through weekly rewards. For example, if you spin at least one Poke Stop a day for seven days straight, you will receive a weekly reward. What’s the reward? Well, it’s a guaranteed special evolution item. This is by far one of the easiest methods but it does require patience and you can only get one per week.
4. Field Research
Every once in a while a new Field Research task might contain a special item. These could be ‘Battle X number of Gyms’ or ‘Walk 10 kilometers.’ Field Research rewards are always the same for each individual mission objective, so it’s worth checking out a compendium online to see which (if any) yo should be looking out for.
5. Trainer battles
Last but not least, trainer battles are one of the best ways to get special items in Pokémon Go. Recently introduced, you can now battle against your friends and NPC team leaders. You can receive rewards from these battles up to three times per day for real players and one time per day for NPCs. On Community Day, you can usually earn a good amount of Sinnoh Stones through battling with other trainers., so be sure to check the events page to see when the next one takes place.
6. Research Breakthroughs
Currently, the only way to get the new Unova Stone item is through what are known as a Research Breakthroughs. These are the 7 stamp slots at the top of the research tab, and you earn one of these per day when turning in a Field Research task. Once you turn in your seventh (not necessarily in a row), the Research Breakthrough box can be opened, giving you a chance at a Unova Stone, Sinnoh Stone, or some non-evolution items like Rare Candy and Pokeballs.
7. Microtransactions
While largely unheard of before the reveal of the Regiggigas ticketed event, it’s now possible to get a few rare evolution items like Unova and Sinnoh Stones by opening your wallet at the right time.
Buying into the Regiggas ticketed event awarded players with access to the event, raid passes during the event window, and Unova and Sinnoh Stones. If you need them, this is the only one way to guarantee them. They’re not available in regular shop bundles right now, but the Regiggas event could open up the possibility. It’s worth regularly checking in to see what’s available.
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