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Add new fields to evolutions (version_group_id, is_default, and evolved_form_id)#1558

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Add new fields to evolutions (version_group_id, is_default, and evolved_form_id)#1558
jemarq04 wants to merge 5 commits into
PokeAPI:masterfrom
jemarq04:feat/update-evolutions

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@jemarq04

@jemarq04 jemarq04 commented Jun 17, 2026

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Change description

I've been brainstorming since my last PR with evolution schema changes on how to make things a bit clearer to the user. For example, retrieving the evolutions for Probopass gives an enormous list, but only one of them is the most relevant for newer games. Plus, getting evolutions for Sandshrew gives two different methods both to "Sandslash", since we mark the species as the endpoints.

This PR aims to solve some of the issues with clarity. I've added version_group_id and is_default to make it clearer which evolutions are considered the "main" one going forward to new generations (i.e. it is safe to assume that Squirtle evolves at level 16). The version group ID would describe the version group that introduced this evolution. For example, Cyndaquil evolves to Quilava at 17 in Hisui (version_group is legends-arceus and is_default is 0, since our assumption would be that in any other game it would evolve at level 14 as usual). The evolution from Quilava to Typhlosion and the one from Quilava to Hisuian Typhlosion while in Hisui are both default in this case. The Johto evolution is obvious, but I felt that the Hisuian one should also be default because any Quilava in Hisui will of course evolve to Hisuian Typhlosion and if we were to revisit this region, we should expect this behavior. A rule-of-thumb I think would be if you viewed the summary page for this pokemon on serebii (i.e. https://www.serebii.net/pokemon/quilava) if the evolution should be shown then it is a default evolution.

To additionally help with the clarity of regional evolutions, I've added the evolved_form_id to complement the region_id and base_form_id fields. Now an evolution like Meowth would have three default evolution chains:

  1. meowth to persian by level-up,
  2. meowth to persian with base_form of meowth-alola and evolved_form of persian-alola, and
  3. meowth to perrserker with base_form of meowth-galar.

Lastly, I added a couple evolutions I missed for Leafeon and Glaceon in Sun/Moon.

I know I tend to be a bit verbose in these descriptions, but I wanted to make the usage and motivation as clear as I can!

Closes #639, closes #666, closes #724, closes #729, closes #931, closes #1068, closes #1266. (There were a lot of requests to clarify regional evolutions and some for linking versions lol.)

Contributor check list

  • I have written a description of the contribution and explained its motivation.
  • I have written tests for my code changes (if applicable).
  • I have read and understood the AI Assisted Contribution guidelines.
  • I will own this change in production, and I am prepared to fix any bugs caused by my code change.

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