Riolu and Lucario were added to the Pokémon roster in Generation IV. The critter immediately became a fan favorite, and Game Freak wasted no time in exploiting this fact. In the years that followed, it gained a Mega Evolution (one heck of a Mega Evolution it was too), a spot in the cast of Pokkén Tournament and Super Smash Bros. and many other perks.
As well as some may know this evolution line, there’s still so much more to learn. Here’s how to evolve Riolu, as well as some interesting and obscure trivia about the Pokémon.
10 Its Evolution Is Tied To Friendship, Not Levelling Up
As we’ll see, Riolu is incredibly attuned to emotions felt by others around it. As a result, it makes sense that merely leveling up isn’t enough to trigger its evolution into Lucario. Instead, it needs to have formed a strong bond with its Trainer.
Like several other Pokémon, Riolu evolves with high friendship. In this case, when leveled up with high friendship during the day. Luckily, building this hidden ‘stat’ is quite easy and isn’t as time-consuming as you might think.
9 It’s The only Baby Pokémon That Can Mega Evolve (Eventually)
Well, this isn’t to say that a Mega Riolu exists (though that would be a heck of an adorable/terrifying sight). Instead, Lucario is the only Pokémon with a baby pre-evolution that can Mega Evolve.
Surprising as it is that Mega Pikachu never hit our 3DS screens (though Gigantamax Pikachu gives us a good idea of how that might’ve looked), this is another interesting little distinction that sets the Riolu line apart.
8 It Has A Great Selection Of Abilities
Between Riolu, Lucario, and Mega Lucario, the line has access to some of the best Abilities in the series. Firstly, Riolu has a choice of Steadfast, Inner Focus, or Prankster (its Hidden Ability). While the former two don’t offer it very much utility (giving it a Speed boost when it flinches or preventing it from flinching entirely, respectively), Inner Focus can be nice to prevent Fake Out shenanigans in doubles play.
Prankster, meanwhile, can be invaluable, and it’s a shame that Lucario misses out on it on evolution (not that it really wants to be using many status moves). It’s replaced by Justified, which increases its Attack when it’s hit by a Dark-type move. Again, in doubles matches, the classic Beat Up combo can make this thing a monster in seconds. Most importantly of all, Mega Lucario’s Ability was Adaptability, which increased the STAB bonus and was the key to its offensive success.
7 Its Stats Are Actually Very Sub-Par
There was a lot of pre- and post-release hype for Riolu and its evolved form, and it remains a huge fan favorite. Even so, the fact remains that without its neat design, they wouldn’t have caught on nearly so much. Stats-wise, Riolu really isn’t up to much.
Yes, it’s a baby Pokémon, but it’s still very weak. With woeful base 40 defenses, it narrowly missed out on appearing in our list of critters with the lowest base Defense ever. 70 Attack is the best stat it can muster, with its base Special Attack being its worst (only 35). This fact is often forgotten in the wake of Riolu’s popularity.
6 It Has A Super Interesting Movepool
As you’re surely starting to appreciate, Riolu is a very interesting little Pokémon. From a gameplay standpoint, it’s very versatile, boasting a movepool unlike anything its fellow Fighting- or Steel-types bring to the table.
Despite its access to Prankster, it can’t do a great deal with status moves, though it does learn Copycat, Counter, Quick Guard, Helping Hand, and the like. None of these are remotely practical to use with the Ability most of the time (if you haven’t evolved Riolu for some curious reason), but it also gets priority, a variety of mixed attacking moves, some of the best-boosting moves, and even weather moves!
5 Lucario’s Aura Is Very, Very Strong In Super Smash Bros.
As we’ve already mentioned, Lucario is one of the select Pokémon chosen to be playable in later entries of the Super Smash Bros. series. While it may seem that it was simply shoehorned in because it’s a popular critter, the fact is that it fits very well with the style of the game.
Lucario’s Smash style revolves around the aura mechanic: it’s rather weak at the start of a match, but gains strength and launching power as it sustains damage. The frightening thing is that this stacks with rage, a comeback mechanic in the series that has this same effect already. While Lucario’s aura has been toned down, a Lucario at high damage percentage is still one of the most fragile yet super dangerous opponents in the series.
4 Only Select Riolu Are Disciplined Enough To Master Their Aura
Following on from that last point, by the time Riolu has evolved, it’s very skilled with the power of Aura. Enough so, in the Smash series, to blast out huge beams that even Goku of Dragon Ball fame would be envious of.
We’ve established that, but it’s also important to remember that Riolu hasn’t yet mastered its powers. It cannot use advanced techniques like Aura Sphere and isn’t able to learn the move in the games. One very special exception is the Aura Sphere Riolu, which lives in the anime’s Lucario Kingdom and was carefully trained to learn the move in order to defend its home. The exceptional little critter bonded with Ash, after the young trainer rescued it from kidnappers in “Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu! (Part 2),” and was seen proudly using the move to defend him.
3 Lucario Is A Very Rare Fighting-Type Special Attacker
Generally speaking, Fighting-types aren’t the most complex Pokémon around. Their gameplan is generally this: use that sky-high Attack stat to pummel the opposing team into sad, defeated hunks of salty failure.
This physical focus means that few Fighting Pokémon have a worthy Special Attack stat (or Fighting-type special STAB beyond the risky Focus Blast). Lucario is one of the rare exceptions to this rule, boasting similar assets to Infernape: solid mixed offenses and access to Vacuum Wave, the only special priority move in the series to date. You can never quite predict what these Pokémon are going to be running, which is the key to their success most of the time.
2 It Evolves Into An Incredibly Versatile Battler
Following on from that last entry, it’s surprising just how versatile Lucario can be. Its defenses are very lackluster, and its Speed often falls short, but if you can support it and play to its strengths, it’ll leave the opponent reeling.
Physical attacker, special attacker or a mix of both? You won’t know. Nasty Plot booster, Swords Dance booster, or neither? You won’t know until the carnage begins. Is it about to Dynamax? Granted, that’s a guessing game we have to play with most Pokémon, but it’s a great asset for Lucario too. It might have priority, it might not. Maybe it’ll take a more supporting role (harder to pull off, but certainly possible). This Pokémon is a tough customer to predict.
1 Lucario Was Voted The Most Popular Generation IV Pokémon (And Second Overall)
As we’ve mentioned, Lucario is definitely a fan favorite Pokémon. Just how beloved is this particular critter? Well, in Google’s 2020 Pokémon of The Year poll, held back in February, it was determined to be the most popular Generation IV Pokémon of all.
That’s not all, though. As we reported at the time, it almost won the entire poll outright. It came in second place overall, out-voted only by Greninja. That’s an incredible performance, especially considering how beloved Kanto’s original 151 Pokémon are in particular.
NEXT: Pokémon: The Best Steel-Type Pokémon From Every Generation, Ranked
