We’re not saying Niantic made a mistake with Pokémon GO, but we might as well face it – the game’s immense popularity is very reminiscent of passing trends such as the Macarena or Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Pop culture references aside, the Pokemon Group has released a new game called Pokémon: Magikarp Jump, and while we’re not sure yet whether this game will have more staying power than Niantic’s aforementioned 2016 mega-hit, we do believe that the game may have more appeal with the casual gaming crowd, and may find it to have more replay value. As any Pokémon fan may know, Magikarp’s weakness and incompetence are its main defining qualities, and since its movements are limited to flopping around and splashing, this game is all about making your Magikarp keep jumping for as long as possible, while feeding it and breeding new generations of Magikarp as you go along.
Pokémon fans may also be aware that Magikarp can evolve into the much more powerful Gyarados, though if you played Pokémon GO, you would know that this could take a while. Likewise, it may also seem difficult to get Gyarados in this new game, or to get its relative, the Red Gyarados. But it might not be as hard as you think, as our Pokémon: Magikarp Jump strategy guide for today shall tell you exactly how to get these two variants from your evolutions.
How To Evolve Magikarp To Gyarados
Step 1 – Go To The Item Menu
The first thing you should do would be to tap on the item menu. You might not notice anything special, even if you’ve been playing for some time, but you should see the Everstone somewhere in there. That’s not a good thing, as the Everstone’s presence means you can’t evolve your Magikarp just yet.
Step 2 – If The Everstone Is There, Get Rid Of It
With the first step in mind, what you’ll want to do is to get that pesky Everstone out of there. And while you might not be familiar as to how you can do this, it’s surprisingly simple. Go to the pond where you’re currently feeding your Magikarp. Keep on tapping on Magikarp – repeat the process for as long as needed, and be prepared to do some hardcore tapping. The key here is patience! If you tap on Magikarp long enough, the Everstone will break at random. Unfortunately, there’s no hard, fast rules as to how many taps are required to break the stone.
Step 3 – Make Sure You’re At The Right Trainer Rank
With the Everstone out of the way, your Magikarp would be able to move forward and evolve into a new form. But there are some requirements, such as having the right trainer rank – you have to be at rank 10 in order to proceed on to the next part of this step. Being at rank 10 would allow your Magikarp to have a maximum level of 20. That’s when you could finally transform your Magikarp into a Gyarados – sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, theres is a catch that we shall be explaining below.
Step 4 – Wait For Gyarados Events?
The catch is that at the moment, you cannot play Magikarp Jump with Gyarados as your active character. Once the Mayor sees that you have a Gyarados, he’ll take it away from you, and that’s going to leave you with a new Magikarp, with no other choice but to start from scratch. As such, you’ve got no choice but to wait for the Pokémon Group that will allow you to use Gyarados in competition. We’re not even sure if or when that’s going to happen, so it is sadly quite pointless at the moment to evolve your Magikarp into a Gyarados. But if it’s any consolation, it could give you something to do if you’re bored with the usual mechanics of the game.
How To Evolve Magikarp Into Red Gyarados
Evolving your Magikarp into a Red Gyarados follows most of the same steps that we detailed above. But the difference is that you’ll need to catch a Shiny Gold Magikarp first. Take note that this particular variant is extremely rare, especially if you’re using the old rod. There are, fortunately, some ways to increase your chances of getting a Shiny Gold Magikarp, but that’s another topic for another time, and one that we’ll be covering soon in an upcoming Pokémon: Magikarp Jump strategy guide.
Now, if you want to read our prevous Pokémon Magikarp strategy guides, you can do so by clicking here.