Mega Evolution

Mega Evolution is an additional, temporal evolution form of specific Pokémon that reached their final evolution stage.

Mega Pokémon are more powerful forms of Pokémon with their attacks boosted as well as their Combat Power. Moreover, Mega Pokémon will boost the attack power of all other Pokémon when battling in Raid Battles. Pokémon with the same type as the Mega Evolved Pokémon will receive an even greater attack boost. However, these bonuses do not stack if there are multiple Mega-Evolved Pokémon battling simultaneously, and the highest possible attack boost will be applied.

HP of Mega Evolved Pokémon is the same as its standard form. Certain Pokémon may also change their types after being Mega Evolved.

Similarly to the main series games, Mega Evolution is temporary, however in Pokémon GO it is a temporal change of form that occurs in Trainer's Pokémon collection instead of a single battle.

Mega Evolved Pokémon can be assigned as a Buddy Pokémon and used to battle in raids and Gyms or against another Trainers and Team GO Rocket members. However, they cannot be deployed to defend Gyms, traded nor used in GO Battle League matches. Pokémon cannot be Powered Up while Mega Evolved.

Mega Evolving a Pokémon
In order to Mega Evolve a Pokémon, Trainer needs Mega Energy of specific Pokémon.

Pokémon will remain in their Mega form for 4 hours. Only one of Trainer's Pokémon can be Mega Evolved at any particular time. If another Pokémon is Mega Evolved, the previous Mega Evolved Pokémon will revert to standard form.

If Pokémon such as Charizard has different Mega Evolution forms, Trainer can choose into which one they want to Mega Evolve such Pokémon.

Each Mega-Evolved Pokémon for first time is registered to the Mega Pokédex.

Clone and Shadow Pokémon cannot be Mega Evolved.

Mega Energy
Mega Energy is a consumable resource that is similar to Pokémon Candy, as each Pokémon species has specific Mega Energy. While a Pokémon is Mega Evolved, its Mega Energy will deplete over time.

Mega Energy for a particular species can be received by battling that specific Pokémon in Mega Raids – a special Tier of Raid Battles or completing Research tasks.

Mega Evolving a Pokémon for the first time costs a significant amount of Mega Energy, Mega Evolving that one Pokémon subsequent times will cost less energy. Pokémon like Charizard have two Mega forms, both of them require to be unlocked at full cost first.

List of Mega-Evolved Pokémon


The following Mega-Evolved forms are available in game assets.

The following Pokémon are capable of Mega Evolve in the main game series.

Reception
Despite being highly-anticipated by the community, Mega Evolution caused a public backlash regarding its implementation. A Reddit post criticizing Mega Evolution received over 8000 upvotes and 100 rewards within the launch day. Many have pointed out the duration of Mega Evolution is not worth the Raid Passes spent on collecting Mega Energy. The difficulty of Mega Evolving one's desired species is also in concern due to specific Mega Energy and the rarity of Mega Raid Battles.

Since there is specific Mega Raid Bosses pool, there would be no way to Mega Evolve any Pokémon that has its Mega Evolved form released but is no longer available in Mega Raids. For example, once all Beedrill Mega Energy from A Mega Discovery is used, there is no possibility to continue on Mega Evolving Beedrill for a longer time period.

Competitive players have expressed their worries of Mega Evolution greatly enlarging the gap between free players and "whales". Mega Evolving Pokémon daily takes 1 to 2 Raid Passes to gather Mega Energy, which is impossible to catch up for free players.

Outside of Mega Evolution, replacing team contribution with speed bonus does harm to Premier Balls in Tier 5 Raid Bosses. It is impossible to defeat certain Legendary Pokémon in a short time, even for large group, while having more Trainers mean lowering the damage bonus.

Niantic has made a statement "We are actively listening to your feedback and look forward to sharing more about how this feature will grow in the future." in the Pokémon GO official Twitter page.

On September, 2020, several updates were made after listening to feedback. The Mega Evolution cost of subsequent Mega Evolution was reduced. Amount of Mega Energy given from Mega Raids was increased. Niantic also announced that they are working on implementing features which would allow Trainers to obtain Mega Energy in more ways, including: walking with Buddy to earn Mega Energy, more ways to earn Mega Energy through research tasks and other gameplay and earning bonus Candy when catching Pokémon that share a type with currently Mega-Evolved Pokémon in Trainer's collection.

Trivia

 * In original game series, Mega Evolution was an additional evolution that allowed Pokémon to transform into stronger form of their final evolution stage during battle.
 * Mega Evolution was first mentioned in the Pokémon Presents on June, 2020. It would be released in Fall 2020.
 * It was officially released on August, 2020.
 * Similarly, to Team GO Rocket features, Mega Evolution was introduced with a Special Research &ndash A Mega Discovery.
 * 5 days after release, with the beginning of September 2020, three-week long Mega September event series started and it revolved around Mega Evolution.
 * In a Raid Lobby, Trainers with an active Mega-Evolved Pokémon have a respective icon next to their avatar and an aura surrounding them.
 * Mega Lucario and Mega Mewtwo Y along with balloon of Mega Charizard X were featured in the key artwork for 4th Anniversary.