Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX — Can you evolve your Pokémon?

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is different from typical Pokémon games in that you play a Pokémon rather than a Pokémon trainer. You'll spend the game helping other Pokémon and recruiting them to join your Rescue Team and adventure with you. The flavor might be unusual, but the game is still about filling out your Pokédex, and some of the Pokémon can only be added to your team through evolution.

While you can catch evolved Pokémon throughout the game, you can't do any evolving until you've completed the main story — but, yes! You can do it. After you complete the game, you'll want to pay a visit to Whiscash Pond. From there, you'll gain access to the Wonderous Cave along with your other unlocked dungeons. Send the Pokémon you want to evolve there alone and designated as party leader, and if they are ready to evolve, they will.

The game will notify you if they don't meet a level requirement. You can then come back when they're leveled up, which usually just takes a few runs in the game's training dojo.

The stones and items that were used to evolve Pokémon in the main series and previous versions of Mystery Dungeon have been abandoned here. Instead, some Pokémon can only evolve with Evolution Crystals. These can be found in endgame dungeons and are occasionally acquired as a reward for performing jobs or sold by dungeon vendors. Because these resources can be hard to find, you should save them for Pokémon whose evolutions aren't easy to catch during your regular adventures.

Evolution upgrades your Pokémon's stats, though it can't be reversed, so make your decisions carefully. It's great for improving your starter and partner Pokémon, who have to be used in some dungeons, but they will sadly lose their cute scarves when you do it.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX also allows Mega Evolutions for some Pokémon. This requires another rare item, Empowerment Seeds, and also is only available once you've completed the main story. While regular evolution is permanent, Mega Evolution is a buff that will improve your Pokémon's stats and make all of their linked moves critical hits for a few floors of the dungeon you're in. Those boosts are extremely useful in the game's tougher boss fights, so choose when to use your Seeds wisely.