How to Evolve Grimer

Grimer evolves into Muk automatically upon reaching Level 38. This applies to both the standard Kantonian form and Alolan Grimer. No special items, trading, or friendship levels are required. Simply use Exp. Candies, Rare Candies, or gain experience through standard battles to hit the level threshold.

Grimer follows one of the most traditional evolution paths in the franchise. You do not need to hunt for specific stones or trade with other players.

• Target: Muk (Kantonian) or Alolan Muk
• Method: Experience Leveling
• Requirement: Level 38

In-Game Performance Verdict: 6/10

Neither Muk variant appears in serious Smogon SV competitive tiers. They lack the speed to act as sweepers and do not possess the reliable recovery moves required to function as dedicated walls against modern hyper-offense teams.

For a standard story playthrough, however, they serve as excellent bulky pivots. Alolan Muk is vastly superior due to its Poison/Dark typing. This combination grants a crucial immunity to Psychic attacks and leaves it with only a single weakness to Ground-type moves.

Standard Kantonian Muk struggles with a pure Poison typing. It remains vulnerable to ubiquitous Earthquake users and offers less offensive coverage. Both forms rely heavily on Gunk Shot and Poison Jab for STAB damage, but Alolan Muk gains STAB on Knock Off, making it a far more versatile utility attacker.

Leveling Grimer in the urban environment of Pokémon Legends: Z-A relies strictly on gaining experience through battles and quests within Lumiose City.

1. Place Grimer in your active party to benefit from the global Exp. Share system.
2. Engage in trainer battles within the higher-tier Lumiose City sectors.
3. Complete urban side quests to stockpile Exp. Candies.
4. Feed these candies to Grimer until it hits Level 38.

The evolution sequence will trigger immediately after the battle concludes or the candy is consumed. If you accidentally cancel the evolution by pressing the B button, you do not need to level up again.

Modern mechanics allow you to trigger the evolution manually from the party menu at any time once the level 38 threshold is met. This prevents the need to grind an additional level if you make a mistake.

Paldea offers the fastest methods for reaching Level 38 thanks to the abundance of Tera Raid rewards.

1. Farm 3-star or 4-star Tera Raids to stockpile Exp. Candy M and Exp. Candy L.
2. Open your bag and feed the candies to Grimer until the summary screen shows Level 38.
3. Alternatively, keep Grimer in your party while clearing high-level wild encounters in the Great Crater of Paldea.

Alolan Grimer, which becomes available via the Indigo Disk DLC in the Terarium, follows the exact same Level 38 requirement. Catching an Alolan Grimer in the Coastal Biome usually yields a Pokémon already above level 38.

If you catch a Grimer at level 40, it will not evolve immediately. You must level it up one more time to level 41 to trigger the evolution check.

The mobile mechanics differ entirely from the mainline games, bypassing levels in favor of a resource grind.

1. Collect 50 Grimer Candy by catching Grimer, transferring duplicates, or walking with Grimer as your Buddy.
2. Open the Pokémon menu, select Grimer, and tap the Evolve button.

Kantonian and Alolan Grimer share the exact same candy pool. You can catch the standard Kantonian version to farm candies and spend them to evolve an Alolan Grimer without penalty.

Reaching Level 38 does not guarantee a Muk if specific game mechanics block the process. These are the most common progression blockers.

• The Let's Go Auto-Battle Blocker: In Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon cannot evolve if they level up via the R-button auto-battle feature. Fix: Use a Rare Candy or fight one manual battle to trigger the evolution screen.
• Holding an Everstone: If Grimer holds this item, the evolution sequence is disabled entirely. Fix: Remove the Everstone from the held item slot and level up once more.
• Regional Form Breeding Errors: Players attempting to breed Alolan Grimer in Paldea often hatch standard Grimer by mistake. Fix: The parent Alolan Muk must hold an Everstone in the picnic to pass down the Alolan form to the egg.