Clefairy’s evolution is a bit of a trendsetter, being among the first to require an item instead of leveling up like most Pokémon in the Kanto Pokédex. When Red, Blue, and Green originally launched, many trainers didn’t know how to evolve Clefairy, but we’re on hand to ensure that new trainers never have that problem. So, let’s look at what item you need and where you can get it, then dive into the locations where you can catch Clefairy.
Before Game Freak released the gen 6 Pokémon games, X and Y, the Clefairy evolution line were all normal Pokémon, so if you’re playing generation five or earlier, it’s best to know what the normal Pokémon weakness is to make the most of them. However, since appearing in Kalos, Clefairy and co are now fairy Pokémon, and given the headaches they can cause, we encourage you to scrub up on your fairy Pokémon weakness knowledge.
Here’s everything you need to know about Clefairy’s evolution:
Where can I catch Cleffa?
Cleffa made its debut as a gen 2 Pokémon, melting hearts since its arrival in the Johto region. Cleffa is one of several creatures that Game Freak introduced to serve as the first stage of an existing line of Pokémon. While you don’t need a Cleffa to get a Clefairy and Clefable, it doesn’t hurt to fill out your Pokédex. It takes nothing more than a pokéball to catch one, just head to the following locations on Nintendo Switch:
- Sword and Shield – Rolling Fields and Hammerlocke Hills. If you have the Isle of Armor DLC, you can also find them in Fields of Honor, Insular Sea, Forest of Focus, and Soothing Wetlands
- Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – Mount Coronet and Trophy Garden
- Legends: Arceus – Cobalt Coastslands (through mass outbreaks) and Coronet Highlands (Fabled Spring)
- Scarlet and Violet – if you have the Indigo Disk DLC you can find Cleffa in Reveler’s Road, Oni Mountain, Infernal Pass, Kitakami Halls, and Crystal Pool
How do I evolve Cleffa?
Cleffa needs a high friendship to evolve into Clefairy. We recommend you give Cleffa the soothe bell to speed up your friendship, though battles are also a viable option. If the game you play has the feature, you can also make Cleffa some food and play with it for some extra points.
Where can I catch Clefairy?
Cleffa isn’t in the gen 1 Pokémon games, so you have no choice but to catch Clefairy. Here’s where you can find one in every Switch game it appears in:
- Let’s Go Eevee and Let’s Go Pikachu – Mt. Moon
- Sword and Shield – Giant’s Cap, Hammerlocke hills, Motostoke Riverbank, Rolling fields, Lake of Outrage, and Bridge Field. The Isle of Armor DLC also allows you to catch Clefairy in Soothing Wetlands, Fields of Honor, Forest of Focus, Snowslide Slop, and Frostpoint Field
- Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – Mt. Coronet and Trophy Garden
- Legends: Arceus – Cobalt Coastslands (through mass outbreaks) and Coronet Highlands (Fabled Spring)
- Scarlet and Violet – if you have the Indigo Disk DLC you can find Clefairy in Reveler’s Road, Oni’s Maw, Infernal Pass, Kitakami Halls, and Crystal Pool
How do I evolve Clefairy?
Clefairy needs a moon stone to evolve into Clefable. Luckily, moon stones aren’t as rare as they appear; you just need to know where to look for them. You can find moon stones in the following locations on Nintendo Switch:
- Let’s Go Eevee and Let’s Go Pikachu – a hidden recurring item in Mt. Moon and Saffron City
- Sword and Shield – Pokémon with the pickup ability might snag you one, the Digging Duo in Bridgefield, a Poké job reward for tiers V, VI, and IX, and wild Cleffa, Clefairy, Clefable, and Lunastone have a 5% chance of holding one
- Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – the Grand Underground and wild Cleffa, Clefairy, and Lunastone had a 5% chance of holding one
- Legends: Arceus – trading post, Ginkgo Guild cart, space-time distortions, and a chance for Ursaluna to dig one up
- Scarlet and Violet – Porto Marinada auction, sparkling overworld item in Asado Desert, Pokémon with the pickup ability might give you one
Where can I catch Clefable?
If you don’t care about completing your Pokédex, you can go straight after Clefable in select games, though you ought to bring some ultra balls with you if you hope to catch it. You can find Clefable in the following locations on Nintendo Switch:
- Let’s go Eevee and Let’s Go Pikachu – Mt. Moon
- Sword and Shield – Hammerlocke Hills, Lake of Outrage, Motostoke Riverbank, Bridge Field, Rolling Fields. The Isle of Armor DLC also allows you to find Clefable in Fields of Honor, Forest of Focus, Ballimere Lake, Frigid Sea, and Snowslide Slope
- Legends: Arceus – an alpha wanders the Coronet Highlands (Fabled Spring) at night
How do I evolve Clefairy in Pokémon Go?
You just have to give Clefairy 50 candies for it to evolve into Clefable. To evolve Cleffa into Clefairy, you need to give it 25 candies. That’s right, while a lot of evolutions that rely on a stone, such as Helioptile’s evolution, require you to get a stone in Pokémon Go, that rule doesn’t apply to Clefairy.
Now that you know about Clefairy’s evolution, allow us to teach you about Scyther’s evolution, Gloom’s evolution, and Cetoddle’s evolution. We can also tell you how to evolve Primeape if you need a powerful fighting and ghost Pokémon. Should you want to know how to get all of the Pokémon Go Eevee evolutions, we have a guide for that, too.