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How to evolve Primeape into Annihilape in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

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Out of all the new Pokémon, evolutions, and regional forms in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Annihilape is one of the most exciting, especially for longtime trainers.

Primeape, the fighting-type pig monkey Pokémon introduced way back in the first generation with Pokémon Red and Blue, finally has a more powerful evolution in the dual fighting-ghost-type Annhilape.

Here are some details from its Pokédex entry:

When its anger rose beyond a critical point, this Pokémon gained power that is unfettered by the limits of its physical body. It imbues its fists with the power of the rage that it kept hidden in its heart. Opponents struck by these imbued fists will be shattered to their core.

Sounds wild, right? Well, getting one is a little more complicated than just leveling up a Primeape. We'll show you how to get an Annhilape in just a few steps.

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Difficulty

Easy

Duration

10 minutes

What You Need

  • Primeape that knows Rage Fist

  • Ether or another PP-restoring item

Annihilape outside.

How to evolve Primeape into Annihilape

Evolving Primeape into Annihilape requires using a specific move again and again, and a little bit of planning on your part.

Step 1: Make sure the Primeape you want to evolve knows the ghost-type move Rage Fist. Primeape learns this move at level 35. If you have a higher-level Primeape that doesn't know Rage Fist, you can have it relearn the move through its Summary page.

Step 2: Now you need to go out into the wild and have Primape use the move Rage Fist 20 times.

There are two tricky pieces to this. You need to use Rage Fist 20 times without going to a Pokémon Center. Using a Pokémon Center to heal Primeape will reset the Rage Fist counter and you'll have to start again. To avoid Primeape getting knocked out in battle while attempting this, we recommend going to an early-game area where the wild Pokémon are extremely low-leveled.

The other caveat to this requirement is that the move Rage Fist only has 10 PP, meaning you can only use it 10 times. To hit the 20-mark in one go, you'll need to use an Ether on Primeape to restore PP to the move. Ether can be found on the ground quite often (you probably have quite a few sitting in your bag).

Primeape using Rage Fist in battle.
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Step 3: Once you've used Rage Fist 20 times, all you need to do is level up Primeape. If you've completed the previous steps properly, it will evolve immediately into Annihilape!

Annihilape evolution screen.

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Sam Hill
Sam Hill
Gaming Guides Editor
Sam Hill is a journalist and the gaming guides editor at Digital Trends. He's also written tech guides for Input and has…
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