How to Evolve Riolu into Lucario Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

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Lucario is a great Pokémon and one of the best and most reasonable to add to your team. Lucario boasts great attack and excellent speed to become a quick sweeper but acquiring it is a bit technical and requires some luck. It might need some effort since, for it to evolve, it needs the friendship counter to reach 220.

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How to Get Riolu

 A rare Pokémon to find in the games, you can reach a Riolu early on by traveling to the South Province, mainly area four, where you can find it in the mountain or grass biome or the North province, but that might not be easy to reach because of leveling. Searching for a Riolu can be tedious, so you can always use the more efficient approach; make a sandwich. Make either a Ham Sandwich or a Greater Ham Sandwich for a better chance to spawn Riolu, and you will be able to get a Lucario early on.

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How to Get Lucario

You can find Lucario in the wild, but it might be challenging to encounter since it has a very rare spawn rate. It can be located in the South and North provinces in either the rocky or mountain biome. Still, you would have to be very lucky to encounter it. You would be better off catching a Riolu and evolving it.

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How to Evolve Riolu into Lucario

The only way to evolve Riolu into Lucario is by increasing the friendship stat to 220 and leveling up during day time. This might seem like a long task, but there are many ways to complete this process fairly quickly, you can always use the auto-battle feature and slowly grind your way to evolution, or you can use some tricks.

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While building a bond with your Pokémon is essential, and some might prefer it that way, ways like traveling with your Pokémon, washing them, and having picnics will help substantially. Still, the best method would be letting it hold the Soothe bell that boosts friendship increase. Don’t let your Riolu faint or give him bitter-tasting medicine; couple that with the tasks mentioned above, and you will be able to reach a 220 friendship stat in no time.

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You can always go to Cascararrafa City to find the friendship checker to check your friendship with your Pokémon if you’re curious. They are near the fountain in the middle of the city with a Marill.

While not necessary, it is recommended that you use the Soothe bell to speed up the process of obtaining a Lucario. You can buy a Soothe Bell from the Delibird Presents in Mesagoza City near the Artisan Bakery.

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Riolu and Lucario Stats Comparison

StatRioluLucario
HP4070
Attack70110
Defense4070
Special Attack35115
Special Defense4070
Speed6090
Sub-total285525

Final Thoughts

Now you have a cool, quick, and effective Aura Pokémon on your team. Lucario is a pacey addition to your team. Its strong Attack and Special Attack stats allow it to be used as a speedy attacker or a quick sweeper. Lucario is a fun Pokémon that is a joy to have as a partner, and getting it early on gives you a leg up in the game.

About the Author

Si Yan

Si Yan is an editor on Videogamer.com, researching interesting topics, working with a team for content creation and then editing onto site. Game wise Si Yan loves Pokémon and Super Mario.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

  • Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
  • Genre(s): RPG
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