Pokemon Legends Arceus is finally here. The long-awaited open-world Pokemon game that many have dreamed of for years is available for anyone to jump in and explore. While there are a lot of changes in this game, obviously catching, training, and evolving Pokemon is still a critical part of the gameplay. If you’re here, you’re probably wondering how to evolve Riolu into Lucario Pokemon Legends Arceus. Here’s how to evolve your Riolu into one of the most popular and powerful Pokemon in the series.

Evolving Riolu in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Riolu on its own isn’t that powerful. It’s a typical “baby” Pokemon that is pretty weak starting out. However, if you can stick with it until it evolves into Lucario, you’ll be rewarded with an extremely powerful ally. Lucario is a Fighting/Steel type and is very fast, powerful, and has a great move set. There’s a reason it’s been a staple of competitive Pokemon play since it was released in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

Riolu doesn’t just evolve on its own though; like some other Pokemon, you have to do something a bit unique to get it to evolve into Lucario.

Friendship Level and Daytime

To evolve Riolu into Lucario, you’ll need to do the same thing that you’ve done for generations now. If you don’t know, don’t worry, here we go. You first need to max out Riolu’s friendship level. You do that by keeping Riolu with you on your adventures by just leaving it in your party, completing quests, and giving it food that it likes.

Some of the food Riolu likes are:

Springy Mushroom
Dazzling Honey
Hearty Grains
Plump Beans

You can check your Friendship Level by speaking with Belamy near the Pokemon pastures. If he says this about you and your Riolu: “You must be quite good companions”, you should have enough friendship to evolve your Riolu.

Wait until daytime, and then Riolu will be ready to evolve.

How to Evolve Riolu in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Raise your friendship level to “You must be quite good companions.”
Wait until daytime.
Your Riolu will be ready to evolve until Lucario.

That’s all you need to know for how to evolve Riolu in Pokemon Legends Arceus. For more tips, tricks and FAQs answered, check out our guide wiki filled with lots of useful guides for you to peruse during your adventure in Pokemon Legends Arceus.