How to Evolve Spearow

Spearow evolves into Fearow simply by reaching Level 20. There are no evolution stones, friendship requirements, or trading mechanics involved. Once Spearow hits Level 20 through standard battling, EXP Candies, or Rare Candies, the evolution sequence will trigger automatically.

Evolving Spearow is a straightforward process that relies entirely on experience points. Unlike regional birds from later generations that feature a three-stage evolution line, Spearow only evolves once.

• Target Pokémon: Fearow
• Required Level: 20
• Required Item: None
• Evolution Type: Linear Level-Up

Because the level requirement is so low, you can usually secure a Fearow before facing the second or third Gym Leader in most mainline games where it is available. Relying on passive party experience or utilizing a Lucky Egg will accelerate this process significantly.

Spearow is originally part of the Kalos regional Pokédex, making its return highly anticipated in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. If the game follows the mechanical foundation established by Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the evolution process will shift from automatic to manual.

Hitting Level 20 will not force the evolution screen. Instead, Spearow's Poké Ball icon in your party menu will begin glowing. You must manually select Spearow and press Evolve to trigger the transformation into Fearow.

This manual trigger system prevents accidental evolutions and removes the need for an Everstone if you wish to keep Spearow unevolved to learn specific moves earlier. Keep an eye on your party menu after completing research tasks or capturing Pokémon in Lumiose City to see if the evolution prompt is ready.

In Pokémon BDSP, Spearow is relatively easy to find and evolve. You can encounter Spearow early on Route 225 or within the Grand Underground's Spacious Cave and Grassland Cave biomes.

To rush the evolution to Level 20, equip Spearow with a Lucky Egg to boost its experience yield by 50%. You can find a Lucky Egg in the Grand Underground's Icy Cave. Place Spearow at the front of your party, or simply keep it in your active team to benefit from the universal EXP Share mechanic.

If you catch a Spearow in the Grand Underground after acquiring a few Gym Badges, it will likely spawn at a level higher than 20. In this scenario, you only need to level it up exactly one time—either through a single battle or by feeding it one Rare Candy—to immediately trigger the evolution into Fearow.

In Pokémon GO, levels do not exist. Spearow evolves into Fearow for a flat cost of 50 Spearow Candies. Because Spearow is a common Normal/Flying-type spawn in partly cloudy or windy weather, gathering these candies takes very little time.

1. Use Pinap Berries or Silver Pinap Berries on every Spearow you encounter to double the catch candy from 3 to 6.
2. Transfer any Spearow with low IVs to Professor Willow to earn 1 additional candy per transfer.
3. If you are short on spawns, set Spearow as your Buddy Pokémon. It requires only 1 kilometer of walking to generate a candy.

Do not waste Rare Candies on Spearow. Save those premium resources for Legendary or Mythical Pokémon. Stick to catching and transferring to reach the 50-candy threshold.

Do not waste time searching for Spearow in the Paldea region, Kitakami, or the Blueberry Academy terrarium. Spearow and Fearow are not programmed into Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

They cannot be encountered in the wild, nor can they be transferred into the Gen 9 games via Pokémon HOME. If you have a Spearow in HOME, it must remain there or be moved to compatible games like BDSP or Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee.

If your Spearow has surpassed Level 20 and remains unevolved, one of a few specific mechanics is blocking the process. Check your game for these common roadblocks.

• Holding an Everstone: If Spearow is holding an Everstone, the evolution sequence is completely disabled. Remove the item from its summary screen and level it up one more time to fix the issue.
• Pressing the B Button: During the evolution animation, pressing the B button cancels the process. This is a classic feature meant to delay evolution. If you did this by accident, simply level Spearow up again to re-trigger the prompt.
• Auto-Battles (Let's Go Mechanic): In modern games featuring the Let's Go auto-battle system, Pokémon cannot evolve from experience gained through auto-battles. If Spearow hits Level 20 while fighting autonomously, it will not evolve. You must initiate a traditional turn-based battle or use an EXP Candy to trigger the evolution.
• Fainting in Battle: In older generations, if Spearow faints during the exact battle where it reaches Level 20, it will not evolve. Revive it and level it up to 21 to solve this.

Spearow is strictly an in-game story Pokémon. It has zero presence in serious Smogon competitive tiers due to its frail defenses and heavily outclassed offensive stats. For a standard playthrough, we rate Fearow a 5/10.

Fearow acts as an early-game physical sweeper. Its main advantage over Pidgeot is its access to Drill Peck, a high-power Flying-type move that carries no recoil damage. Combined with its base 100 Speed and base 90 Attack, Fearow can effortlessly clear early Bug and Grass-type Gyms.

However, Fearow falls off drastically in the mid-to-late game. Its defensive stats (65 HP / 65 Defense / 61 Special Defense) mean it cannot survive neutral hits from late-game bosses or Elite Four members. Furthermore, it completely lacks the utility of later regional birds like Staraptor (Intimidate, Close Combat) or Corviknight (bulk, steel typing).

If you are using Fearow in a playthrough, equip it with Drill Peck, Return (or Double-Edge), U-turn for pivoting, and Roost. Use it aggressively in the early routes, but be prepared to swap it out for a stronger Flying-type before challenging the Pokémon League.