Pokemon Sword & Shield Evolution Stones: Which Stones Evolve Which Pokemon?

Pokemon Sword and Shield are out now on Nintendo Switch. The Gen 8 games feature a variety of new and returning Pokemon, and just as before, many of them can only evolve by using certain elemental stones. On top of the traditional Water, Fire, and Leaf Stones, Game Freak has introduced a number of new evolutionary stones to the series over the years, such as the Dawn Stone and Dusk Stone. If you're not sure which monsters evolve using these items, we've outlined all the evolutionary stones in Sword and Shield and the Pokemon that require them below.

Which Pokemon Evolve With Which Stones?

Evolutionary Stone	Pokemon
Water Stone	Lombre -> Ludicolo, Shellder -> Cloyster, Eevee -> Vaporeon
Fire Stone	Vulpix -> Ninetales, Growlithe -> Arcanine, Eevee -> Flareon
Leaf Stone	Nuzleaf -> Shiftry, Gloom -> Vileplume, Eevee -> Leafeon
Thunder Stone	Pikachu -> Raichu, Eevee -> Jolteon
Ice Stone	Eevee -> Glaceon, Galarian Darumaka -> Galarian Darmanitan
Moon Stone	Clefairy -> Clefable, Munna -> Musharna
Sun Stone	Gloom -> Bellossom, Cottonee -> Whimsicott, Helioptile -> Heliolisk
Dawn Stone	Snorunt (female) -> Froslass, Kirlia (male) -> Gallade
Dusk Stone	Lampent -> Chandelure, Doublade -> Aegislash
Shiny Stone	Minccino -> Cinccino, Roselia -> Roserade, Togetic -> Togekiss

Where To Find Evolutionary Stones

There are a couple of reliable ways to find evolutionary stones in Sword and Shield. Each day, you can find different stones behind the boulders in the Lake of Outrage, so it's a good idea to return to the area often to pick them up. You can also give 500 Watts--a new type of currency in Sword and Shield--to the Digging Duo near the Pokemon Nursery in Bridge Field to have them excavate items. The items they can dig up typically include evolutionary stones, so you'll want to collect as many Watts as you can and visit the duo often to stock up.

There are a lot of other features to dig into in Pokemon Sword and Shield. If you're just getting started on your Pokemon journey, check out our other Sword and Shield guides below for more helpful tips. For our full thoughts on the new Pokemon games, be sure to read our Pokemon Sword and Shield review.

How To Use Stones

Once you've obtained the right elemental stone, you can evolve a compatible Pokemon simply by selecting the item from your bag. You can evolve a Pokemon at any time using an elemental stone, but in the past, it was often prudent to wait until it reached a certain level first; if you evolved the Pokemon too early, it was unable to learn some useful attacks that it could only get in its unevolved form.

Sword and Shield, thankfully, do away with this caveat by letting you teach a Pokemon attacks it could previously learn from the Move Reminder, who can be found inside every Pokemon Center across the Galar region. This means you can now evolve a Pokemon with a stone at any time without having to worry about missing out on certain moves that it could only learn in its unevolved form.

Pokemon Sword & Shield Guides

• Pokemon Sword & Shield Max Raid Guide
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Weather Guide: Symbols, Conditions, And More
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How Do Fossils Work?
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How To Get Gigantamax Pokemon
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Eevee Guide: How To Get Every Eevee Evolution
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Stone Evolutions Guide: Which Pokemon Evolve With Which Stones?
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How To Unlock Mew
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: Essential Tips To Help Get You Started
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: Where To Catch Cool And Rare Pokemon
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How To Evolve Applin
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How To Evolve Sinistea Into Polteageist
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How To Evolve Galarian Linoone Into Obstagoon
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: How To Evolve Milcery into Alcremie
• Pokemon Won't Drop Its Guard - What Does That Mean?
• Pokemon Sword & Shield: What Are Watts?