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There are a number of Pokemon with branching evolution trees, in which various factors can determine if a Pokemon evolves into one form or another. Gloom, for example, can either evolve into Vileplume via a Leaf Stone or Bellossom via a Sun Stone. Pokemon Sword and Shield introduce a new Pokemon with a branching evolution line, but uniquely, it evolves differently based on which version you’re playing.

That’s only sort of correct, though. Sword and Shield each have an exclusive evolutionary item, and each one can be used to get a different evolution of the grass/dragon Pokemon Applin. In Sword, you can get a Tart Apple to evolve Applin into Flapple, and in Shield, you can use a Sweet Apple to evolve it into Appletun. As the names would imply, this family is all apple-themed. All you have to do is use the Apple on an Applin like an evolutionary stone.

There’s a boy on the west side of Hammerlocke who will clue you in to how to evolve Applin, and he’ll even give you the respective Apple item. You can also find either a Tart or Sweet Apple under a tree on Axew’s Eye in the Wild Area, and they’re also one of the many sweets-related rewards for victory at the Battle Cafes in Motostoke, Hammerlocke, and Wyndon. While we haven’t been able to test it yet, we assume that you can give an Apple to any other Pokemon to trade with a friend and get the other version’s item in your game so you can evolve your Applin as you please. We’ll update this story when we can confirm if it works.

For more on Gen 8, check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield review. We also have guides on other strange evolutions of new Pokemon, including Milcery/Alcremie, Galarian Linoone/Obstagoon, and Sinistea/Polteageist.

Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Galar region is inspired by the United Kingdom, and in that spirit, the games introduce a ghost-type Pokemon that’s themed after tea. Sinistea, a teacup, evolves into a whole pot of tea called Polteageist. As far as Pokemon names go, they’re some of the best. But they’re also cool Pokemon, and it’s not too hard to get them if you know where to look and what to do.

Sinistea can be found in Glimwood Tangle, the cool mushroom forest between Stow-on-Side and Ballonlea. You’ll have to rustle through the tall grass to trigger an exclamation point to pop up, and Sinistea is among the Pokemon that can show up when the battle starts.

Once you catch a Sinistea, head back to Stow-on-Side and talk to the right-hand man running the marketplace stand. He sells a different “bargain” item every day, most of which are evolutionary items for various Pokemon. The item you’re looking for is the Cracked Pot–if he’s not selling it today, ask him for his next bargain to see if it’ll come tomorrow. One you get it, all you have to do is use it on Sinistea the way you would use an evolutionary stone to get Polteageist.

Polteageist’s signature move is Teatime, which forces all Pokemon on the field to eat their berries at once. This can be useful if you think your opponent’s Pokemon are holding berries that reduce the damage they’d take from a super-effective move, for example–that way, you can hit the Pokemon head-on for full damage right off the bat.

For more on Pokemon Sword and Shield, be sure to read our review! And we have other guides on how to evolve specific Pokemon in the game, including Milcery, Galarian Linoone, and Applin.

Like Sun and Moon, Pokemon Sword and Shield introduce new forms of old Pokemon to fit the games’ region. These Galarian forms are loosely British-inspired–there’s a Charlie Chaplin-like evolution for Mr. Mime called Mr. Rime, for instance. On the more Brit punk side of things, there’s Galarian Zigzagoon and Galarian Linoone, black-and-white versions of the more run-of-the-mill ones first introduced in Ruby and Sapphire. And with their Galar forms, they also get a third evolution: the Gene Simmons-looking Obstagoon.

Galarian Zigzagoon evolves into Linoone by leveling up as normal. To get Obstagoon, though, you have to put your Linoone to work. Linoone only evolves if it’s participated in lots of battles–while I don’t have an exact number, mine was in my team from nearly the beginning of the game, and it didn’t evolve until around level 55 or so. The Pokedex indicates that the Galarian forms of these Pokemon came about because they have harsh street-urchin lives, so it makes sense that getting into lots of scrapes would turn one into a monster that looks like it’s in Kiss.

You can also catch Obstagoon in the wild once you’ve collected enough badges. Depending on the weather conditions, it’ll show up in the Bridge Field region of the Wild Area, sort of near the Daycare. You can also find one past the lake next to Professor Magnolia’s house if you ride your bike all the way west (it’s technically Route 2). You’ll want at least one Obstagoon you’re willing to part with, because you can trade one to a Team Yell Grunt in Spikemuth for a Kantonian Mr. Mime.

Obstagoon learns an interesting version of Protect called Obstruct. Direct contact from an opponent will harshly lower that opponent’s Defense stat, which helps make Obstagoon’s attacks hit harder while also protecting it for a turn.

For more on Sword and Shield, be sure to read our review. There are other Gen 8 Pokemon that are tricky to evolve, but we have guides on them, too! See how to evolve Milcery into Alremie, Sinistea into Polteageist, and Applin into either Flapple or Appletun.

Every Pokemon game has those few Pokemon you just can’t figure out how to evolve. In Pokemon Sword and Shield, there’s one Pokemon in particular that doesn’t evolve through any existing means: Milcery, which evolves into the adorable Alcremie. Trading, evolutionary stones, and other evolution-related items don’t work on Milcery. Instead, it requires one of the strangest methods to evolve of any Pokemon to date.

First, you have to catch yourself a Milcery. They can be found on Route 4 outside Turffield, and you can only encounter them through the exclamation points that pop up as you walk through the tall grass–you won’t see one roaming the overworld. Once you have one, your next stop is one of the three Battle Cafes found throughout Galar. The Motostoke cafe is the easiest to beat, followed by the one in Hammerlocke and finally the one in Wyndon, but any of them will work.

One of the many rewards you can get from winning the daily battle at a cafe is a Sweet of some sort. So far, we’ve found a Berry Sweet, Strawberry Sweet, Love Sweet, and Flower Sweet–we’ll update this article if we find more. Each of these Sweets will have a description indicating that Milcery loves holding them, so give one to your Milcery and get ready for the weird part.

Simply giving a Sweet to a Milcery isn’t enough to evolve it. Rather, you have to spin the left analog stick in circles until your character does a fancy twirl followed by a pose–then Milcery will evolve into Alcremie. It seems the thinking here is that you have to stir heavy cream a bunch in order to make whipped cream… but regardless, you’ll get a form of Alcremie corresponding to the kind of Sweet you had it hold. As far as we can tell, it’s purely aesthetic, but the Pokedex will track and display each different form for you.

Alcremie has the potential to be a great support Pokemon in doubles matches, so it’s definitely worth the hassle; its signature move, Decorate, increases the Attack and Special Attack of another Pokemon on the field, which can be a boon in a number of situations. For more on Gen 8, be sure to read our Pokemon Sword and Shield review. For other weird evolutions, check out our guides on evolving Applin, Galarian Linoone, and Sinistea.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are finally out on Nintendo Switch, and you’ll spend much of your time in the games exploring the Wild Area–a vast open-world expanse that stretches across the Galar region. The Wild Area is home to a variety of different Pokemon, including some that will be a much higher level than you, making it a good place to catch and train monsters.

Unlike previous games, however, Sword and Shield won’t just let you capture any Pokemon you encounter during your journey–at least, not right away. While attempting to capture certain monsters, you’ll likely notice a message that says the Pokemon “won’t drop its guard.” So what does this mean, and how do you catch these Pokemon?

The short answer is you can’t. In a departure from previous games, Sword and Shield restrict the level of the wild Pokemon you can catch depending on how many badges you have. For example, if you have one badge, you can only catch wild Pokemon that are up to level 25. That means any time you attempt to capture a monster that’s above that level, you’ll see a message that the Pokemon won’t drop its guard.

Of course, just because you can’t catch these Pokemon doesn’t mean there isn’t an incentive to challenge them. If you’re confident in your battle skills, taking on these strong monsters will be a good source of experience points, and because Exp. Share is always enabled, every Pokemon in your party will reap some benefit from the encounter, even if it doesn’t directly participate in the battle. However, the disparity in levels can be pretty severe; you can encounter a wild Pokemon in the 50s while your party is still in the 20s, so exercise caution when challenging a strong-looking monster.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are available exclusively for Switch. If you’re not sure which version is right for you, we’ve broken down all the version-exclusive Pokemon and differences to help you decide. For our full thoughts on the games, be sure to read our Pokemon Sword and Shield review.

The Epic Games Store is offering another free game through its store. This time it’s The Messenger, the retro throwback that takes inspiration from the early Ninja Gaiden games as well as exploration games like Metroid. It will be available through November 21.

The Messenger is notable for its humorous writing and a time-travel mechanic that plays into the exploration challenges. You’re accompanied by a demon companion who cracks wise and revives you after death. The Messenger usually costs $20, but if you add it to your Epic Games library during the free window it will be yours forever. Developer Sabotage Studio also has released the game’s first free DLC, Picnic Panic, which will be included with the copy.

“The Messenger takes the best parts of the action-platformers it takes influence from and reinterprets them well,” Alexander Pan said in GameSpot’s review. “With clever writing, well-designed levels, and balanced difficulty curve, the game continuously hooks you with enticing skill-based challenges and satisfying payoffs. Your character might have an immediate imperative to delivering a world-saving scroll, but the journey there is definitely one to savor.”

The next free game on the Epic Games Store will be Bad North. For more ways to save money on your gaming habit, check out our Black Friday coverage below.

Since Red Dead Redemption 2‘s release on PC a few weeks ago, Rockstar has been working diligently to improve upon the game’s performance and stability, especially when it comes to a stuttering issue affecting certain Nvidia GPUs and four- and six-core CPUs. Those who have managed to get it running smoothly have noticed another problem, however: the passage of time is seemingly tied to your framerate.

Those who played Dark Souls 2 on PC may be familiar with this specific bug. From Software’s PC port ran at 60fps compared to the console version’s 30fps, which caused weapon durability to degrade twice as fast. Red Dead Redemption 2 stumbles into a similar problem if you’re running the PC version at a higher framerate than the console version allowed.

Reddit user Jimmyoneshot discovered the link, and other players have expressed how the passage of time appears to differ depending on your framerate. Some players have noticed that the day/night cycle progresses much faster on PC, with the time of day changing multiple times on long journeys. Others have also noted how weather conditions like rain and lightning will come and go in the blink of an eye.

This becomes a significant issue when you factor in Arthur Morgan’s cores. Red Dead Redemption 2 keeps track of its protagonist’s health and fitness as represented by the three cores of health, stamina, and Dead Eye. Eating too much without exercise will make Arthur gain weight and increase his stamina consumption, whereas he’ll become gaunt if you don’t eat enough, which negatively affects his health regeneration. Players started to notice that each core seems to drain much faster on PC, so Jimmyoneshot decided to perform a few tests.

They created two saves at the beginning of chapter two, locking the framerate to 30fps in one save and leaving the other with their usual 100-130fps settings. They then played a full in-game day, completing the same story missions while eating four steaks at the same point during the day on both. When playing at a higher framerate, Arthur lost 0.75 of his weight by the next day, compared to the 1.5 he gained when locked at 30fps.

Losing weight four times as fast as usual isn’t an ideal situation, but the bug’s recent exposure should hopefully lead to an imminent fix on Rockstar’s part.