Rockruff’s evolution may get a little complicated in Pokemon GO. As announced recently, the Alola region is finally making its way into the phone app.
Trainers can now get the Alolan starters (Litten, Poplio, and Rowlett) and some other inhabitants of the region, including the Rock-type Rockruff. Trainers will need to pay attention to get the evolution they want, though.
Special evolution method for Alolan Pokemon
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Rockruff’s evolution, Lycanroc, has two different forms: Midday and Midnight. They each operate differently (albeit they are both Rock-type) and evolve at different times.
To evolve Rockruff into Midday Lycanroc, trainers need to feed it 50 candy during the daytime. Conversely, to evolve it into Midnight Lycanroc, trainers will need to feed it 50 candy at night.
Well, other than their designs, they have different stats and movepools. On paper, it may look like Midday Lycanroc is the better option. Its 231 Attack stat is much higher than Midnight Lycanroc’s 218.
In actuality, though, Midnight Lycanroc gets a much better movepool. It gets two big tools in the form of the fast move Counter, and the charge move Psychic Fangs. If any trainers want to use Lycanroc for PvP, Midnight Lycanroc will be much better at baiting shields and farming down opponents.
Now, trainers who have played through Generation VII might be wondering where the third form, Lycanroc Dusk, is. It’s pretty possible that Dusk form Lycanroc will come much later, as it did in the main series games.
When Generation VII was originally introduced, only Lycanroc Midnight and Lycanroc Midday were available. The Dusk form was only released in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, though, so Niantic will probably do likewise and release Lycanroc Dusk form later on.
To catch Rockruff, to begin with, trainers will need to fight it in Tier 1 Raids. Fortunately, though, its shiny is also available.
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