Pokemon Go Fans are Frustrated Over New Evolution Requirements

Pokemon Go‘s current Might & Mastery season has put a big focus on Kubfu, a Fighting-type first introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Players have been waiting since March to find out how to evolve Kubfu into Urshifu, and they’ll finally have an opportunity to do so at the end of May. However, a number of fans have already voiced frustration over how Niantic is handling the requirements, which will take a lot of hard work on the part of players. Regardless of which Urshifu form players decide between, players will have to participate in a lot of Raids and Max Battles.

For those that didn’t play Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s DLC expansion, Urshifu has two distinct forms: Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style. To evolve Kubfu into Single Strike Style Urshifu, players need 200 Candies, and must defeat 30 Dark-type Pokemon in Raids or Max Battles. Rapid Strike Style has similar requirements, but players must defeat 30 Water-type Pokemon instead. Kubfu doesn’t actually have to participate in these battles, but it does have to be the player’s partner Pokemon while those Raids are happening.

The Urshifu event doesn’t kick off until May 21st, but players are already unhappy about it. An event just recently kicked off in the game marking the debut of Kingambit in Pokemon Go, and that similarly tasks players with defeating 15 Dark-type or Steel-type Raid bosses while Bisharp is your buddy. It’s a steep ask, and players aren’t too happy about the close proximity between these events. Players basically have to participate in 45 very specific Raid types to get just two Pokemon, which is going to take a lot of time to complete.

What makes this evolutionary requirement so frustrating is the Raid aspect. Pokemon like Charcadet have also required that players similarly defeat a certain number of Pokemon. However, that allowed for battles with Team Rocket. For both Kingambit and Urshifu, the game is forcing players to participate in Raids, which is going to make this take a lot longer, and could get expensive if players have to purchase Remote Raid tickets.

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Hopefully some of the negativity will convince Niantic to rethink these steep evolutionary requirements. It makes sense that the developer wants to keep players engaged and offer content that might take a while to complete. However, the proximity between these challenges and the strict nature make it more of a grind for Pokemon Go players and a less than enjoyable note to end the Might & Mastery season on. Hopefully the next season will offer some more enjoyable tasks, and we should learn more soon, as Might & Mastery comes to an end on June 3rd. At this time, the new season theme has not been revealed, but Niantic has started to pull back the curtain on some of the events that will take place throughout.

How do you feel about these tasks for evolving Urshifu and Kingambit? Do you think the requirements are too steep? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!