Pokemon GO has eleven evolution items, and seven of them cannot be bought: Sun Stone, Dragon Scale, Metal Coat, Up-Grade, King's Rock, Sinnoh Stone, Unova Stone, and the four Lure Modules (Mossy, Glacial, Magnetic, Rainy). Each one unlocks one specific evolution, always on top of 100 candy of the base Pokemon (50 for a few), and drops from PokeStops, Field Research or Team GO Rocket battles.
Eevee, whose evolutions split between Lure Modules, time of day and buddy distance. © 2026 Pokemon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
What are the special evolution items in Pokemon GO?
Eleven items in total: Up-Grade, Dragon Scale, Metal Coat, King's Rock, Sun Stone, Sinnoh Stone, Unova Stone, and the Mossy, Glacial, Magnetic and Rainy Lure Modules. Only the four modules sit in the in-game shop, bought with Stardust: the other seven drop at random from PokeStops, Field Research tasks or Team GO Rocket battle rewards. Unlike the Switch games, Pokemon GO has no Razor Claw, Razor Fang or Reaper Cloth: the evolutions that need those items on console run through the Sinnoh Stone here instead, with no time-of-day condition attached.
The split between "candy only" and "candy plus item" started in Generation 2 on the Switch and console games, and Niantic only partly carried it over to Pokemon GO in 2017, folding several console-only lines into the Sinnoh Stone or the Unova Stone instead of recreating every item. The point stayed the same: stop a whole evolution line from boiling down to candy farming. In Pokemon GO nothing stops you from stockpiling several items, but the drop rate stays low, the community describes it in tens of stops per drop rather than a one-in-a-handful rate.
How do you evolve Eevee into Leafeon or Glaceon with a Lure Module?
Place a Mossy Lure Module or a Glacial Lure Module on a PokeStop, stay inside its range, then start Eevee's evolution screen with 25 candy in hand. The Mossy Lure Module produces Leafeon, the Glacial one produces Glaceon.
Glaceon, one of the two Eevee evolutions that run through a Lure Module instead of a pickup item. © 2026 Pokemon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
Both modules are sold for Stardust in the in-game shop, unlike the other nine items on this list, which makes these two evolutions the only ones you can guarantee without waiting on a drop. The usual trap: the module has to stay active while you confirm the evolution, and it benefits every trainer standing in range, so a busy PokeStop keeps one running non-stop on event nights. The other six Eevee evolutions skip items entirely: Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon come from a nickname set before evolving, Espeon and Umbreon from levelling up with high friendship by day or by night, and Sylveon from walking a set distance as your buddy.
How do you get a Sinnoh Stone or a Unova Stone, and what do they unlock?
The Sinnoh Stone alone unlocks more than fifteen Generation 4 evolutions: Togekiss, Magnezone and Rhyperior, but also lines that need a separate item on console, Weavile (from Sneasel), Gliscor (from Gligar) and Dusknoir (from Dusclops) among them. It drops as a reward from Field Research, Team GO Rocket battles or Trainer Battles, never from a purchase. The Unova Stone works the same way for a handful of Generation 5 evolutions, Pansear into Simisear leading the list, and comes from the same sources, in smaller numbers.
The detail that matters for anyone in a hurry: both stones only come guaranteed during certain community events, which hand one out at set quest milestones. Outside those windows, stacking 100 candy plus a random stone can take several weeks for one specific evolution line, because the stone does not target a single Pokemon: it applies to the whole eligible list, and you choose which one evolves once the item is in your bag.
Gliscor, an evolution that needs a separate item on Switch but runs through the Sinnoh Stone in Pokemon GO. © 2026 Pokemon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
Beating a Team GO Rocket Grunt or Leader also drops both of these stones, on top of the Mysterious Components needed to climb up to Giovanni. The full breakdown of that route, Rocket Radar included, is in our Harvest Festival and Shadow Zekrom guide.
Porygon2, the only evolution tied to the Up-Grade, an item dedicated to a single line. © 2026 Pokemon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
Which item unlocks which Pokemon? The full table
Five items each cover a handful of fixed evolutions, against the two regional stones that span dozens of Pokemon on their own. Here are the confirmed pairs, from the easiest ones to plan for to the longest ones to put together.
| Item | Base Pokemon | Evolution | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up-Grade | Porygon | Porygon2 | Field Research, PokeStops |
| Dragon Scale | Seadra | Kingdra | PokeStops, Team GO Rocket battles |
| Metal Coat | Onix, Scyther | Steelix, Scizor | PokeStops, Field Research |
| King's Rock | Poliwhirl, Slowpoke | Politoed, Slowking | PokeStops, Trainer Battles |
| Sun Stone | Gloom, Sunkern | Bellossom, Sunflora | PokeStops, Field Research |
| Sinnoh Stone | Sneasel, Dusclops... | Weavile, Dusknoir... | Field Research, Team GO Rocket battles |
| Unova Stone | Pansear | Simisear | Field Research, Team GO Rocket battles |
| Mossy Lure Module | Eevee | Leafeon | In-game shop, Stardust |
| Glacial Lure Module | Eevee | Glaceon | In-game shop, Stardust |
| Magnetic Lure Module | Nosepass | Probopass | In-game shop, Stardust |
| Rainy Lure Module | Sliggoo | Goodra | In-game shop, Stardust |
Slowking, one of the two evolutions unlocked by King's Rock. © 2026 Pokemon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
Which evolutions depend on time of day, a nickname or a walking distance instead of an item?
Weavile, another line that runs through the Sinnoh Stone rather than a dedicated item. © 2026 Pokemon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
The phone's clock plays a real role, but never paired with an item like on Switch: Eevee becomes Espeon by levelling up with high friendship during the day, and Umbreon under the same conditions at night, no item to pick up for either one.
Other evolutions depend purely on behaviour: female Combee is the only one that can become Vespiquen, 50 candy decide nothing if the catch was male. Feebas needs 100 candy plus 20 km walked as your buddy before it can become Milotic, and Eevee becomes Sylveon at 10 km walked as a buddy with at least 70 hearts of affection. No item to pick up for any of the three, just regular play time.
Does a Pokemon GO evolution item also work on Switch?
No, and that is the most common mix-up for anyone playing both. Pokemon GO's items are a mobile-only construct, with no shared inventory with Sword, Shield, Scarlet, Violet or Legends: Z-A. An Up-Grade earned on GO stays on GO. Only the Pokemon themselves travel, through Pokemon HOME, once the evolution has happened on either side.
What does hold true across both platforms is the underlying logic: Metal Coat and Sun Stone have existed since Generation 2 on console, and Niantic kept both the name and the role. For the console items GO never recreated, Razor Claw and Reaper Cloth among them, Niantic chose to fold their lines into the Sinnoh Stone instead of leaving them stuck. Item storage itself now tops 10,000 slots after the latest capacity increases, far beyond the pouch from the console games.
For anyone who keeps spare Poke Balls next to a card collection, a Espeon Pokeball LED is a reminder that Espeon is one of six Eevee evolutions that never needed an item, just levelling up at the right time of day. And for the line that demands the most patience on this list, the Articuno Pokeball LED at 29.99 EUR sits on a shelf while you wait for the next Sinnoh Stone drop.
