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There are so many Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A that evolve based on friendship. Within the first hour, you’re probably going to catch a Pichu that won’t turn into Pikachu unless it likes you! While a Soothe Bell does exist as a side quest reward, I didn’t see it show up on my map until I was past the 10 hours point. So it might not be an early option. However, there are some other reliable means of getting characters to like you so they’ll evolve.
How to build up friendship with Pokemon to evolve them in Pokemon Legends: Z-A
The first and easiest way to get a Pokemon to like you is to keep them around. Have the character in your active party. Set them so they walk around with you as you explore Lumiose City. If you did manage to acquire the Soothe Bell, having the character hold that is a big help too. It is the reward for Side Mission 36: Some Friendly Competition.
Likewise, using them is another critical element. There will be clusters of Mega Shards appearing on the ground and walls around Lumiose City. Any type of melee or ranged attack can break them. Tasking a Pokemon with being the one to smash them up increases their friendliness a little. If the character also has a move that can break rocks, clean up poison, or uproot roots, that helps too.
As usual, using items on them is another way to build up a bond. Ones that increase stats, such as vitamins or feathers, both seem to help. I used about five of each on my Eevee that I evolved into Sylveon, and that did the trick.
But the really helpful means of getting a character to like you involves heading to a cafe. There are a number of little coffee shops where you can pay 300-700 for some coffee, tea, or another drink. Your current selected or active Pokemon and you will then sit outside and relax, with a photo mode option coming up. After about two trips, I found it tended to make a substantial enough boost to make evolution possible.
Which Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A evolve based on friendship.
Like I mentioned, there are a lot of Pokemon that won’t evolve unless they like you in this game! Here are the ones I’ve found. I included which character they evolve into in parenthesis after their name:
- Budew (Roselia during day)
- Buneary (Lopunny)
- Cleffa (Clefairy)
- Eevee (Espeon during day, Sylveon at any time with a fairy type move equipped, and Umbreon at night)
- Pichu (Pikachu)
- Riolu (Lucario during day)
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is available for the Switch and Switch 2.
