Every Way to Evolve Charjabug Into Vikavolt: Vast Poni Canyon, Blush Mountain, a Thunder Stone, or a Magnetic Lure Module

Grubbin’s evolution into Charjabug is a normal level-up, no different from thousands of other Pokemon. Then the line does something almost no other Pokemon does: the second evolution changes its trigger entirely depending on which game is in your hands. Level up in a specific cave in Sun and Moon, hand over a Thunder Stone in Sword and Shield, or stand near a lured PokeStop in GO — three unrelated mechanics for the exact same evolution, and picking the wrong one for your game wastes real playtime hunting for a location that doesn’t exist in that version.

Pokemon does this more often than players expect. Combee’s evolution is locked behind a gender check most players never see coming, and it catches new trainers off guard the same way Charjabug’s split mechanic does. Below is the exact method for every game Charjabug appears in, which one is fastest for your specific playthrough, and what you get once Vikavolt finally shows up.

Quick Answer: Match Your Game to Its Evolution Method

Find your game in the table below before reading further — the method that works in Sun and Moon does nothing in Sword and Shield, and vice versa.

Grubbin Becomes Charjabug at Level 20 — the Easy Part

Every version of this evolution starts the same way: catch or hatch a Grubbin, and it becomes Charjabug automatically at level 20, no item, no location, no condition attached [1][4]. That simplicity is exactly what makes the second half so jarring. Compare it to Axew’s plain level-48 evolution into Haxorus or Beedrill’s line finishing by level 10 — both lines evolve fully on autopilot, while Charjabug is the one that forces you to stop and check a guide. Once you’ve got a Charjabug in your party, the level-20 stage is done; everything from here depends entirely on which cartridge or app you’re playing.

Charjabug’s own ability, Battery, is a small clue that this isn’t a Pokemon designed to fight on its own yet: it boosts an ally’s Special Attack by 30% in double battles and raids, doing nothing at all for Charjabug’s own damage output in a solo fight [1][4]. It’s a support tool bolted onto a Pokemon that’s just biding time until it becomes something that attacks directly.

The Magnetic Field Method: Vast Poni Canyon and Blush Mountain

In Pokemon Sun and Moon, Charjabug evolves into Vikavolt only when it levels up while standing inside a “special magnetic field” — a mechanic Alola shares with two other lines, since the same magnetic fields also evolve Magneton into Magnezone and Nosepass into Probopass [1][2]. There’s only one such field in the original Sun and Moon: Vast Poni Canyon, deep on Poni Island, which is a late-game area you won’t reach until close to the postgame [2].

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon fixed the pacing problem by adding a second magnetic field at Blush Mountain on Ula’ula Island, an area you pass through several islands earlier than Vast Poni Canyon [2]. Either location works identically in USUM — walk in with a Charjabug that has room to level up, gain a level from a wild battle or an Exp. Candy, and it evolves on the spot. There’s no minimum level requirement beyond simply being a Charjabug already; the field triggers on the very next level-up, whatever level that happens to be.

The Thunder Stone Method: Sword/Shield and Scarlet Violet’s Teal Mask

Starting in Generation VIII, Game Freak added a Thunder Stone as an alternate trigger for every Pokemon that normally needs a special magnetic field, and by Sword and Shield it’s the only option left — Galar has no magnetic field location at all [1][2][6]. Buy a Thunder Stone from a Poke Mart once you’ve cleared enough gyms, or dig one up from the Digging Duo in the Wild Area for 500 Watts, then use it on Charjabug from the bag menu. It evolves immediately, no location, no level requirement [6]. If you’d rather skip the item entirely, a wild Vikavolt spawns at level 46 in the Giant’s Seat zone of the Wild Area under several weather conditions, though that’s a postgame-strength encounter, not an early option [6].

Scarlet and Violet’s base game doesn’t have Grubbin, Charjabug, or Vikavolt in the Paldea dex at all — the whole line was added with the Teal Mask DLC, where Grubbin and Charjabug both spawn around Kitakami’s Timeless Woods, Wistful Fields, and Fellhorn Gorge [7]. Evolution works exactly like Sword and Shield: a Thunder Stone, bought for 3,000 Poke Dollars at a Delibird Presents once the item is unlocked in your base-game playthrough, or found while exploring Kitakami itself [6][7]. No magnetic field exists in Paldea either, so there’s no alternate route here.

The Pokemon GO Method: Magnetic Lure Module + 100 Candy

Pokemon GO invented its own version of the mechanic instead of reusing either mainline method. Evolving Charjabug into Vikavolt costs 100 Grubbin Candy, same as most third-stage GO evolutions, but the candy alone does nothing without an active Magnetic Lure Module running on a PokeStop you’re standing near at the moment of evolution [8]. Regular Lure Modules and Glacial or Mossy variants don’t count — it has to be the Magnetic version specifically, since that’s the one tied to the Magneton/Nosepass/Vikavolt evolution family.

Magnetic Lure Modules cost 200 PokeCoins in the shop, show up as free rewards in some Special Research tasks, or can be bought with PokeCoins earned by defending Gyms rather than real money [8]. Each Lure only needs to be active once per evolution — if you’re evolving several Charjabug in a session, one active Magnetic Lure covers all of them for its full duration, so batch your candy farming before you activate the module rather than after.

The Games Where You Simply Can’t Get One

Grubbin’s entire line is absent from Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and Legends Arceus — it isn’t in any of those regional Pokedexes, and no event or trade has added it since [1]. The pattern makes sense once you look at what each of those three games was built around: Let’s Go recreates Kanto’s original 151, BDSP is a Sinnoh remake, and Legends Arceus is built entirely around the Hisui region’s own species list, so an Alola-native line like Grubbin simply never had a slot to fill. If you’re chasing a specific Dex entry in one of those three games, the only route is transferring an already-evolved Vikavolt in from a compatible game through Pokemon Home; there’s no in-game workaround, and Home’s transfer itself doesn’t require anything beyond a free-tier account and open box space on both ends.

Which Method Fits How You Play

The right approach depends less on which game you own and more on how you actually play it.

Was Vikavolt Worth the Wait?

Vikavolt’s payoff for all that method-hunting is a genuine glass cannon built around one number: 145 Special Attack, the highest stat anywhere on its line by a wide margin [3][9]. The rest of the stat spread explains why it plays like a turret instead of a sweeper — 90 Defense and 75 Special Defense give it just enough bulk to survive a hit, while 43 Speed means it’s outrun by almost everything else in the tier, so it isn’t chasing kills so much as sitting still and firing [3][9].

Its ability, Levitate, is what makes the slow stat line workable rather than a liability: full immunity to Ground-type moves means the single type combination most teams would otherwise use to punish a Bug/Electric Pokemon simply doesn’t land [3][5][9]. Between the immunity and the raw Special Attack number, Vikavolt reads less like a bug that eventually gets wings and more like a stationary electric cannon that just happens to have a face — a niche pick, but one that earns its stat total once it’s actually on the field.

That combination is also why Vikavolt shows up more often on Trick Room teams than in standard play: a format that flips turn order to reward low Speed turns Vikavolt’s worst stat into an advantage, letting a 145-Special-Attack hit fire off before faster threats get to move. Outside Trick Room, its Speed stays a genuine weakness that no amount of investment fully fixes.

FAQ

Can I skip Vast Poni Canyon entirely in the original Sun and Moon?
No. Unlike Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the original release only put one magnetic field in the whole region, and it’s tied to Poni Island’s story progression — there’s no earlier alternate location, no item substitute, and no known NPC trade that hands over a finished Vikavolt in that specific version [2].

Is buying a Thunder Stone actually faster than catching a wild Vikavolt in Sword/Shield?
Almost always yes. The wild Vikavolt spawn in the Wild Area’s Giant’s Seat is a level-46 encounter gated behind specific weather and a fairly demanding zone, while the Thunder Stone is purchasable right after a handful of gym badges for a flat price — it’s simply available earlier in a normal playthrough than the wild encounter is worth attempting [6].

Why did Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon add a second magnetic field location?
Blush Mountain sits on Ula’ula Island, which players reach several islands before Poni Island’s Vast Poni Canyon. The original Sun/Moon design effectively locked this evolution behind the endgame; adding an earlier location in the Ultra versions reads as a direct fix to that pacing complaint rather than a coincidental addition [2].

Does evolving Charjabug immediately cost me any moves?
No mechanical moves are lost on evolution in any Pokemon game — whatever Charjabug already knows carries over. Since Vikavolt’s strongest competitive options come from TMs and TRs rather than a late Charjabug-exclusive level-up move, there’s no strategic reason to hold off once you have the Thunder Stone or magnetic field access in hand.

Can I substitute a regular Lure Module for the Magnetic one in Pokemon GO?
No. GO ties each evolution family’s special-condition mechanic to a specific Lure flavor, and Charjabug only recognizes the Magnetic variant — the same one used for Magneton and Nosepass. A standard, Glacial, Mossy, or Rainy Lure active on the same PokeStop won’t trigger the evolution no matter how much candy is spent [8].

Verified Against

Evolution methods confirmed against Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Teal Mask DLC, current Sword/Shield mechanics, and the active Pokemon GO Magnetic Lure Module system as of July 2026. These are core mechanics Game Freak and Niantic rarely alter after release, but double-check patch notes if a detail here ever looks out of date.

Sources

• Bulbapedia — Charjabug (Pokemon)
• Bulbapedia — Special magnetic field
• Bulbapedia — Vikavolt (Pokemon)
• Serebii.net — Charjabug Pokedex (#737)
• Serebii.net — Vikavolt Pokedex (#738)
• GameRevolution — How to evolve Charjabug in Pokemon Sword and Shield
• Gamepur — How to Find and Evolve Charjabug in The Teal Mask
• Gamepur — How to evolve Charjabug into Vikavolt in Pokemon GO
• Pokemon Database (pokemondb.net) — Vikavolt Pokedex

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.