Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set in the old times in the Pokemon world when it was rare to find harmony between people and Pokemon. Set in the land of the Hisui region, known as the Sinnoh region in modern times, you’ll join the Galaxy Expedition Team (Galaxy Team for short) as a member of the Survey Corps stationed in Jubilife Village. You will be tasked to meet every species of Pokémon from the Hisui region to complete the region’s first-ever Pokédex.
In the game, certain Pokemon have special requirements for them to evolve. One of these Pokemon is Riolu, and in this guide, you will learn how to evolve Riolu into a Lucario!
Riolu into Lucario
Lucario is a Fighting and Steel type Aura Pokemon that looks like a canine with black and blue fur, a spike on the back of each of its forepaws and its chest, a blue tail, and appendages hanging down at the back of its head. It has a long snout, long ears, red eyes, a torso with a cream color, and thighs that are colored blue, which make it look like it is wearing shorts. According to its Pokedex entry in the game, Lucario looks very gallant and that Lucario can emit energy waves called “aura,” which it can then control with precision and use these energy waves to sense beings from far away.
Lucario can be found in the Snowfall Hot Spring and south of Icebound Falls at the top of the frozen falls in the Alabaster Icelands. Lucario can be found in these locations at all times of the day but can only be found here during a blizzard. It is worth mentioning that the Lucario that can be found at the top of the frozen Icebound Falls in the Alabaster Icelands is a Level 70 Alpha Pokemon. Aside from that, Lucario may also be found in Massive Mass Outbreaks in the Cobalt Coastlands and the Alabaster Icelands.
An alternative for catching a Lucario is through evolution. To do that, the player must evolve into a Riolu with a High Friendship Level during the daytime. First, the player should know where to find a Riolu.
Riolu
The player can find a Riolu in the Snowfall Hot Spring and Icebound Falls in the Alabaster Icelands. Riolu can be found in these locations at all times of the day and in every weather condition. Aside from that, Riolu can be found in Massive Mass Outbreaks in the Cobalt Coastlands and the Alabaster Icelands.
If you plan on distracting it with food before catching it, it is worth mentioning that Riolu’s preferred foods are Springy Mushroom, Dazzling Honey, Hearty Grains, and Plump Beans.
Suppose you plan on battling a Riolu first before catching it. In that case, it is worth noting that Riolu is a Fighting type Pokemon which means it has a weakness to Fairy-type, Flying-type, and Psychic-type moves (super effective) and resistance to Bug-type, Dark-type, and Rock-type moves (not very effective).
High Friendship
Now that the player has caught a Riolu, all that is needed to evolve a Riolu into Lucario is for the player’s Riolu to have at least a High Friendship Level.
To increase a Pokemon’s Friendship Level, the player should keep the Pokemon in the player’s party, use the Pokemon in battles, not let the Pokemon faint in battle, and use the Pokemon to gather materials from trees and ores.
To check your Pokemon’s Friendship Level, head on to the Friendship Checker named Belamy which can be found a little bit south of the Pastures in the eastern part of Jubilife Village (Belamy is the man dressed in blue). However, it is important to note that the Friendship Checker is not available right at the start of the game. To unlock the Friendship Checker, the player must complete the “Measuring Your Compatibility” Request (request 28). After that, the player can now talk to Belamy and select the Pokemon you want to check for the Friendship Level. The following is the actual Friendship Level based on Belamy’s Description:
| Friendship Level | Belamy’s Description |
| Base Friendship | “[Your Pokemon] seems leery of you yet. New to the team, perhaps?” |
| Low | “I suppose [your Pokemon] ’s become a bit friendly toward you, but you’ve a ways to go…” |
| Mid | “[Your Pokemon] seems to get on well with you. But I’m sure it could get on better!” |
| High | “You and [your Pokemon] seem to be fast friends. You must be quite good companions!” |
| Highest | “What an excellent pair of friends you and [your Pokemon] make. You must mean a lot to each other!” |
As for Riolu, the player’s Riolu must be on the High or Highest Friendship Level to evolve into Lucario.
Finally, Lucario!
After catching a Riolu and raising its Friendship Level to High or Highest, the player can now evolve a Riolu into a Lucario!
To do that, this is what the player must do:
- First, make sure it is daytime. If not, the player can rest by interacting with the tent or the Galaxy Member in any of the Base Camps or by sleeping on the bed in the player’s quarters on the right side of the Ginkgo Guild Shop until morning, midday or evening.
- Then, if it is not already there, put the player’s Riolu in the player’s party by talking to the Galaxy Member near the tent on any of the Base Camps and selecting “I want to see my Pokemon” on the prompt or heading to the Pastures in the eastern part of Jubilife Village.
- Then, return to the game and press the up directional button to open the player’s Satchel.
- Select the player’s Riolu, which has a glowing Poke Ball beside its name, indicating that the Pokemon is ready to evolve. Select Evolve on the prompt, confirm on the next prompt to evolve Riolu, then, just like that, Riolu will evolve into a Lucario!
Now that the player has a Lucario, the player can try to use the Lucario to complete other requests, missions, or Arceus’ task for the player, which is to catch ’em all!
