After almost a year of waiting for an important update from Alola, players can finally complete their collection of Rockruff evolutions in Pokémon Go with Dusk Form Lycanroc becoming available.
Prior to Jan. 6, Rockruff could only evolve into its Midday and Midnight variants in Pokémon Go, which are its two standard evolutions based on the time of day it evolves. Niantic has now made it possible to obtain Dusk Form Lycanrock, however, the method of getting one is still a bit tedious—just like in main series games like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
How to evolve Rockruff into Dusk Form Lycanroc in Pokémon Go
Unlike Midday Lycanroc or Midnight Lycanroc, Dusk Form Lycanroc can’t be obtained simply by evolving your Rockruff at the right time. Instead, there is an element of randomness that you have no control over.
To get Midday or Midnight Lycanroc, you need to evolve your Rockruff using 50 Rockruff Candy during the day or nighttime, respectively.
To get Dusk Form Lycanroc in Pokémon Go, you need to get lucky with the Rockruff you capture. Niantic has made it so any Rockruff you encounter has a random chance at being able to evolve into Dusk Lycanroc rather than the other forms. You can tell based on the silhouette on the Evolve button in the Pokémon Summary page, but you won’t be able to evolve just any Rockruff into Dusk Lycanroc.
In the main series, you could get Dusk Form Lycanroc by evolving a Rockruff with the Ability Own Tempo between 5 and 7pm local time, though that doesn’t work in Pokémon Go since Abilities aren’t in the game.
However, an additional method was also added in Pokémon Go. If you have a Dawn Wings Necrozma or a Dusk Mane Necrozma, activate their Adventure Effect attacks, Moongeist Beam, or Sunsteel Strike, respectively. While in these effects, there’s a chance for Rockruff to evolve into its Dusk Form Lycanroc form, but only a chance. It is not guaranteed.
This method is a bummer for some players who may have been saving a strong or Shiny Rockruff to evolve into potentially the strongest version of Lycanroc. It also means that you won’t be locked out of potentially getting Dusk Lycanroc, since it should always be available if you catch the right Rockruff. Hopefully, the Adventure Effects of Dawn Wings Necrozma and Dusk Mane Necrozma make it easier for players to unlock this rare Pokémon form.
