Pokémon Go is getting another Scarlet and Violet debut this month. Annihilape is set to punch its way into the mobile game with one of the most brutal evolution methods in recent memory, Niantic confirmed today.
Starting on Jan. 19 at 10am local time and running until Jan. 24 at 8pm local time, Pokémon Go’s next Battle Week event, “Raging Battles,” will feature several strong Pokémon appearing in the wild and raids to coincide with plenty of event bonuses. This includes Timed Research, increased bonuses for participating in Go Battle League sets, and Sawk and Throh appearing in the wild globally instead of in their limited regions.
The main focus for most players during this event, though, will be evolving their Primeape into Annihilape as it becomes available for the first time. Tying the Fighting/Ghost-type Rage Monkey into a Battle Week event was also done on purpose since you need to clear battles to evolve your Primeape.
To evolve a Primeape in Pokémon Go, you need to have it set as your Buddy Pokémon while taking on battles. You need to defeat 30 Ghost or Psychic-type Pokémon while Primeape is your active Buddy to get Annihilape. Niantic has specified that you don’t need to use Primeape in the battles at all, it just needs to be set as your Buddy. It also takes 50 Candy to evolve Mankey into Primeape, but Niantic has not provided the amount of Candy, if any, you need to reach Annihilape yet.
It is currently unclear if the battles you need to take part in have to be against other players, whether that be custom matches or the Go Battle League, or if battling NPCs like Team Go Rocket or completing raids will count toward that total. Considering Go Rocket Grunts will be spawning more frequently during the event, it seems like they should count.
More information about the Raging Battles event will drop next week as the Timeless Travels season continues with various pieces of content, like seasonal Special Research and events.
