How to Evolve Larvesta into Volcarona in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

I’m a sucker for bugs. The fatter and fluffier, the better. In the pursuit of cultivating the most Squishmallow-bug-fluff team available, I immediately added Snom and Larvesta to my team. Snom evolved quickly (because I treat my Pokemon right) and happily floats through the air on beautiful, snowy wings, but Larvesta remained stubbornly on the ground.

What gives?

How to Evolve Larvesta into Volcarona in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

If you managed to snag one of these fluffy Torch Pokemon in the Asado Desert, good job! Larvesta is a rare spawn, with an encounter rate of only 10%. But if you’ve been grinding out levels, you might be sad to see that it remains stubbornly in its adorable, but small, caterpillar form.

You wouldn’t be amiss in thinking that there was a special trick to evolving Larvesta. After all, its icy counterpart, Snom, needs both high affection and to level up at night to evolve.

Related: How to Get a Foreign Ditto in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

But Larvesta is fairly straightforward, if not a bit of a grind. You need to level up Larvesta all the way to Level 59 for it to evolve. Yes! Level 59. This is the highest level requirement for any Pokemon without a third stage. Technically, Dragapult and Hydreigon have higher Level requirements (60 and 64 respectively), but that’s to reach a third stage.

It can be quite the grind, and at first glance, Larvesta doesn’t seem worth it. Its overall stats are okay, but not anything special. But Volcarona is a powerhouse, and even if you complete the story without it evolving, Volcarona will still serve you well in the postgame.

It might be because of how good (and difficult) Volcarona is to get that you can actually catch it in postgame, if you’re impatient. So that’s always an option if you don’t feel like Leveling up the little bugger yourself.