How to Evolve Primeape into Annihilape: Step-by-Step Guide

Evolve your Primeape with these tips and tricks

Co-authored by Ishrak and Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: February 8, 2025 References

Mankey and its evolution Primeape have been in the Pokémon series from the very beginning, but this angry monkey Pokémon finally has a third evolution. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet introduced Annihilape, a Ghost/Fighting-type Pokémon that evolves from Primeape. But how exactly do you evolve Primeape? It's not as straightforward as simply leveling your Pokémon, but thankfully it's still pretty simple. In this article we'll teach you how to evolve Primeape using the move Rage Fist, as well as give tips on how to quickly evolve your Primeape.

Things You Should Know

You can get a Primeape by evolving Mankey or catching one in the wild.
Primeape must be at least level 35 to learn Rage Fist, which is necessary to evolve it into Annihilape.
Use Rage Fist 20 times in battle to evolve Primeape to Annihilape.

Steps

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1
Obtain a Primeape. You can catch Primeape outright, or you can evolve a Mankey. Either option works for getting an Annihilape.
- Mankey can be caught in South Province Area One and Area Five, as well as West Province Area One.^{[1]
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  Research source} It evolves into Primeape at level 28.^{[2]
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- Primeape can be found in South Province Area Four, West Province Area One and Area Three, North Province Area One, and Glaseado Mountain.^{[3]
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Primeape learns Rage Fist at level 35, so if you evolved your Mankey into a Primeape you must level it up to level 35. If you caught a Primeape that is a higher level than 35, you'll need to change your Primeape's moves to include Rage Fist.^{[4]
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3
Get some Ethers. To save time, bring along some Ethers or Max Ethers to help replenish Rage Fist's PP. A regular Ether restores 10 PP to a move, and Max Ethers restore all of a move's PP. You can find Ethers and Max Ethers all over the world in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.^{[5]
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Research source}^{[6]
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Research source} You can also get Ethers and Max Ethers by having a Pokémon with Pickup in your party.
- You can also use Elixirs and Max Elixirs. These items heal your Pokémon as well as replenish PP.
- You can also heal your Pokémon at a Pokémon Center to replenish PP, but some users have anecdotally reported this resets your evolution progress.
4
Use Rage Fist 20 times. Your Primeape must use the move Rage Fist 20 times to level up into Annihilape. After using Rage Fist 20 times in battle, your Primeape will evolve into Annihilape.
- Rage Fist has 10 PP, so you will need to use a minimum of one Ether before Primeape can evolve into Annihilape.
- Rage Fist doesn't have to land a hit to count, but it won't count if your Primeape is paralyzed, confused, or infatuated. It also won't work if the enemy Pokémon makes your Primeape flinch or if it uses Disable.^{[7]
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- To quickly level your Primeape into Annihilape, find a low-level Normal-type Pokémon (such as Lechonk, Yungoos, or Skwovet). Rage Fist is a Ghost-type move, which is ineffective against Normal-type Pokémon.^{[8]
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  Research source} You can use Rage Fist 20 times in one battle, and as long as the Normal-type Pokémon is a low level it won't be able to hurt your Primeape enough to knock it out.