Kadabra Still Needs a Trade to Become Alakazam in Every Mainline Game — Legends Z-A Just Removed the Only Workaround That Ever Existed

Kadabra has never evolved by leveling up, and it never will. Not at level 30, not at level 100, not with a rare candy stockpile. It’s a trade evolution, and outside of exactly two situations, that hasn’t changed in nearly 30 years of Pokemon games — including Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which just removed the one workaround that used to make this easier. Here’s every game where the trade is mandatory, the two where it isn’t, and the Everstone rule most players still get backwards.

Quick Start: How to Evolve Kadabra Right Now

• Confirm your Kadabra is actually a Kadabra, not still an Abra — check its level (evolves from Abra at level 16) or its moveset (Confusion means it’s already Kadabra).
• If you’re playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus: skip the trade entirely. Use a Linking Cord from your satchel instead.
• If you’re playing Pokemon GO: skip the trade too. 100 Abra Candy evolves it directly[1].
• Every other mainline game (Red/Blue through Legends: Z-A): you need a real trade, no exceptions.
• Have a second Switch/DS or a trading friend? Trade Kadabra over, then trade it straight back — it evolves the moment it lands on the other console.
• No trade partner? Use the Nintendo Switch Online Link Trade Code system with a stranger (see the section below) — you’ll get someone else’s Alakazam back, not your own Kadabra.
• Don’t bother removing a held Everstone first. In every game since Generation IV, it doesn’t matter (details below).

Why Leveling Up Alone Will Never Work

Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam were part of the original Generation I trade-evolution roster alongside the Machop, Geodude, and Gastly lines[4]. Game Freak flagged these species so the evolution only triggers on a successful trade — there’s no level threshold hiding somewhere in the code, no held item that substitutes for it, no move you can teach Kadabra to force the issue. The trade itself is the trigger, checked the instant the Pokemon arrives on the receiving cartridge or console. That’s also why level doesn’t matter at all: a level 5 Kadabra evolves into Alakazam on a trade just as reliably as a level 95 one[1].

The Everstone Myth: Why It Won’t Save Your Kadabra

Most players assume holding an Everstone blocks any evolution, including trade evolutions. For Kadabra, that assumption is only true for two generations out of nine.

Generation I (Red, Blue, Yellow) didn’t have held items at all — the Everstone doesn’t exist yet as a mechanic, so the question of whether it blocks a trade evolution doesn’t even apply[2]. Generation II and III (Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, FireRed/LeafGreen) are the only games where an Everstone genuinely stops Kadabra from evolving into Alakazam during a trade[2][3]. From Generation IV onward — Diamond and Pearl through Legends: Z-A — Game Freak added what Bulbapedia’s own changelog describes as an explicitly programmed exception: a traded Kadabra evolves into Alakazam even while holding an Everstone, overriding the item’s normal function on this one species specifically[2][3]. Karrablast and Shelmet get the opposite treatment — an Everstone held by either one during their trade-for-trade evolution blocks both of them[3] — so the “exception” isn’t a blanket rule, it’s a per-species flag Game Freak set individually.

That’s a genuinely strange design choice with no official explanation, and it’s easy to see why players who last played Emerald or FireRed still assume the old Gen II/III behavior holds. It doesn’t. If you’re wondering whether a similar held-item assumption might be tripping you up elsewhere, the Amulet Coin has its own commonly misunderstood rule about surviving battles that catches people the same way.

Every Game Where Kadabra Still Needs a Trade

Almost the entire series requires it. This is the complete generation-by-generation breakdown[1][4]:

The Only Two Real Exceptions

Pokemon GO sidesteps the whole problem with candy, which makes sense for a game with no reliable link-trading infrastructure for most of its life. Legends: Arceus is the more interesting case — it’s a full single-player RPG that still respects the trade-evolution flag internally, but instead of requiring an actual trade partner, it lets you burn a Linking Cord item on the Pokemon to satisfy that flag directly[4]. You still “trade” in a technical sense; you’re just trading with the game itself. It was, briefly, the cleanest fix Game Freak had ever shipped for this 30-year-old design decision.

Legends Z-A Killed the Workaround

Then Legends: Z-A launched without it. Gengar, Alakazam, Scizor, Steelix, and Slowking all require a genuine trade again in Z-A, with no Linking Cord anywhere in the item list[8]. Community reaction on release was blunt — players calling the removal “a stupid hindrance” and worse in Reddit threads picked up by gaming press[8]. Whether that’s an oversight, a deliberate push toward Z-A’s urban multiplayer trading features, or just Game Freak reverting to old habits, the practical result is the same: if you’re playing Z-A solo with no Nintendo Switch Online friends, you’re back to relying on strangers.

How to Trade Without a Friend

You don’t need a friend’s console next to yours, but you do need Nintendo Switch Online. Open Link Play, choose Link Trade, then select the option for connecting with faraway players using a Link Code instead of a nearby local connection. Two matching codes pair two players anywhere in the world for one trade.

The community has settled on an informal standard for this: enter a species’ National Dex number twice as the code. Kadabra is #63, so the widely used code is 0063-0063[9]. Anyone else evolving a Kadabra the same way is likely using that same code at the same time, and the trade completes automatically once two matching codes connect. The catch: you give up your specific Kadabra — with its specific IVs, nature, and moveset — and receive a stranger’s Alakazam instead[8][9]. For a casual playthrough that’s a fine trade. For a competitive team built around one specific Kadabra’s stats, it isn’t — use a private, non-public code with someone you actually know and arrange a trade-back instead[8].

Level 16: The Abra-to-Kadabra Teleport Problem

Before any of this matters, you have to catch an Abra in the first place, and Abra is built to make that hard. Its base Speed is 90 — high for an unevolved Pokemon — and until it evolves at level 16, Teleport is the only move it knows[5]. In a wild encounter, that move ends the battle outright when Abra uses it, and it moves first almost every time because of that Speed stat[6].

Here’s the mechanism, and it’s changed more than most guides mention. Through Generation VII, trapping moves and abilities — Mean Look, Spider Web, Arena Trap, Shadow Tag — stopped Abra from fleeing, buying you time to weaken and catch it with a status condition in hand[6]. Starting in Generation VIII, that trick stopped working: Bulbapedia’s own changelog states Teleport now “succeeds regardless of whether the user is trapped,” meaning trapping abilities can no longer prevent a wild Pokemon from Teleport-fleeing at all[6]. If you’re playing anything from Sword/Shield onward, Mean Look won’t save your Abra encounter — it’ll just fail.

The one relic worth knowing: in the original Generation I games specifically, Teleport can fail outright if your active Pokemon’s level is higher than the wild Abra’s[6]. Overleveling isn’t usually a catching strategy, but for a first-generation Abra encounter, walking in with a Pokemon several levels above it genuinely improves your odds the move just doesn’t go off. In every generation from Gen VIII onward, though, your only real option is landing the catch on the very first ball — a Quick Ball gets a 5x catch-rate multiplier, but only if you use it before Abra’s first turn, since it drops to a flat 1x after that[7]. Abra’s catch rate is a moderate 200 (36.6%), so a fresh Quick Ball on turn one connects more often than not[5].

Player-Type Verdict: Is Chasing Alakazam Worth It?

Alakazam’s stat jump over Kadabra is real and significant — Sp. Atk climbs from 120 to 135, Speed from 105 to 120, and the base stat total goes from 400 to 500[1][10]. That’s not a marginal upgrade, and it’s the reason people keep dealing with this 30-year-old trade requirement instead of just running a Kadabra. Whether it’s worth the hassle depends on who’s asking:

Decision Tree: Get Your Alakazam

Do you own Pokemon Legends: Arceus? If yes, evolve it there with a Linking Cord and you’re done — this is the fastest, cleanest path if the option is available to you at all. If no: do you have a second Switch or DS, or a friend willing to trade? If yes, trade Kadabra over and immediately trade it back. If no: open Link Trade, use the public 0063-0063 code, and accept that you’re receiving a stranger’s Alakazam rather than your own Kadabra evolved.

FAQ

Can Kadabra evolve into Alakazam without ever being traded?

In exactly two situations, yes — Pokemon GO with 100 candy, and Legends: Arceus with a Linking Cord[1][4]. Every numbered mainline game, including the brand-new Legends: Z-A, still requires an actual trade. If a guide tells you otherwise for a mainline title, it’s describing an outdated game or is simply wrong.

Does holding an Everstone stop Kadabra from evolving during a trade?

Not since Generation IV. Game Freak specifically coded Kadabra as an exception so it evolves into Alakazam regardless of what it’s holding[2][3]. It’s one of the few Pokemon where the item designed to prevent evolution deliberately fails on purpose — Karrablast and Shelmet get the reverse treatment in the same trade-evolution system[3].

Why does my Abra keep escaping before I can even attack it?

It’s not about Abra being rare — its catch rate is a moderate 200 (36.6%)[5]. It’s that Teleport ends the battle the instant Abra uses it, and since Generation VIII, no trapping move or ability can stop that anymore[6]. The fix isn’t a better strategy mid-battle, it’s connecting on the first ball you throw, ideally a Quick Ball for its one-turn catch-rate bonus[7].

Is chasing Alakazam even worth the hassle over just using Kadabra?

If you’re building a serious team, yes — a 100-point base stat total jump and a 15-point Speed increase[1][10] is enough to change matchups, and Mega Alakazam adds another 40 Sp. Atk on top of that for anyone who eventually gets there[10]. If you’re playing casually and don’t have Nintendo Switch Online or a trade partner handy, Kadabra’s 120 Sp. Atk is still respectable enough that it’s not worth stressing over a fully solo playthrough.

If Kadabra isn’t the only oddball evolution rule that’s caught you off guard, you’re in good company — Combee’s gender-locked evolution wastes far more time for players who don’t check first, and if you’re chasing rarer prestige Pokemon after this one, our full pseudo-legendary ranking covers the other end of that spectrum.

Verified against Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s current release build and Bulbapedia’s mechanics pages as of this writing. Trade evolution flags and Everstone interactions are consistent across game versions within each generation listed above, but always double-check patch notes if a future update changes Z-A’s item list.

Sources

1. Kadabra (Pokemon) — Bulbapedia
2. Everstone — Bulbapedia
3. Evolution prevention — Bulbapedia
4. Trade Evolution — Bulbapedia
5. Abra (Pokemon) — Bulbapedia
6. Teleport (move) — Bulbapedia
7. Quick Ball — Bulbapedia
8. Pokemon Legends: Z-A Fans Want Trade Evolutions Gone And The Linking Cord Back — TheGamer
9. All Pokemon Legends Z-A Trade Codes — Destructoid
10. Alakazam (Pokemon) — Pokemon Database

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.