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After a recent update, I've noticed that the "evolve" button sometimes shows a miniature image of the next evolution of the Pokémon instead of just a silhouette. I'd assumed this was based on whether I'd caught the next evolution of the Pokémon. However, that appears to be wrong, as several Pokémon that I already have still show up as only a silhouette on the "evolve" button.

When/why do some Pokémon show up in full color vs. a silhouette on the "evolve" button?

For example, in the screenshots below, I've caught/evolved multiple Ivysaur, but see the silhouette, while I've only caught one Bayleef, but it shows up in color.

Bulbasaur with Ivysaur silhouette Chikorita with Bayleef in color

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  • These images seem unnecessarily large (uploaded from mobile). Is there a way to format them to be smaller, maybe side-by-side?
    – yoozer8
    Apr 19, 2017 at 13:22
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    not side by side, but if you add "s", "m", or "l" to the end of the name of your uploaded images (e.g. "EQnSBl.png" as Wondercricket has done), you can make images small, medium, or large. This is super helpful when uploading from a phone, as those images tend to be absurdly large.
    – Vemonus
    Apr 19, 2017 at 13:27
  • @Vemonus they will go side by side if they're small enough to fit.
    – OrangeDog
    Apr 19, 2017 at 16:33
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    @OrangeDog ah, you're right. But then they're a bit on the small side, unfortunately...
    – Vemonus
    Apr 19, 2017 at 16:39
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    @grgarside The images are fine at the size they are, also it's his question.
    – Michael Frank
    Apr 19, 2017 at 21:14

2 Answers 2

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Based on the information provided in this thread, it appears that the silhouettes are due to the recent gender split in the Pokédex. If you don't have both genders of an evolved Pokémon, the evolution icon to that Pokémon will be a silhouette until you have gotten both.

In fact, looking through my own Pokédex, it even seems as though the silhouette is for any Pokémon you haven't caught/evolved since the update. For instance, I have 2 Sandslash, but both genders are shown as silhouettes:

male sandshrew

female sandshrew

sandslash entry

Update if the gender isn't registered in your Pokedex then it will show a silhouette. Example male Dragonair shows Dragonite, female shows the Silhouette.

If you are looking at a MALE and have evolved a MALE - then the silhouette is now a colour image of the Pokemon

If you are looking at a FEMALE and have not evolved a FEMALE - then the silhouette is still a silhouette

or vice versa

Luckily, I had the perfect group of Sandshrew to test with (2 males, 1 female, and exactly 50 Sandshrew candy), so I evolved one of the males to see how it affected silhouettes. It appears that until you evolve one after the update, the evolution icon will display a silhouette. Furthermore, the silhouette is, indeed, gender-based.

male sandshrew no silhouette

female sandshrew silhouette

sandslash with male bubble filled

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  • I currently have both male and female Bulbasaurs showing the silhouette, even though the Ivysaur I still have is male (not sure about previous ones traded for candy).
    – yoozer8
    Apr 19, 2017 at 13:26
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    @yoozer8 did you catch/evolve the ivysaur since the update that added these silhouettes? I'm about to evolve one of my male sandshrew to see if the other male sandshrew will no longer have the silhouette and I'll post what I find. Edit: yes, this appears to be exactly the case. I'll add new pictures.
    – Vemonus
    Apr 19, 2017 at 13:28
  • I don't think I have (not sure exactly which update added it an when). Makes sense, though, since at least on Ivysaur was very early on, and the Bayleef was pretty recent.
    – yoozer8
    Apr 19, 2017 at 13:49
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    @yoozer8 based on a very brief google search, it looks like the gender update covered all Pokémon at the same time (or earlier) than the gen 2 update. This would imply that you won't run into this "missing gender that's not actually missing" silhouette with any gen 2 Pokémon, since they weren't around prior to the update. The silhouette will only show up (incorrectly) for gen 1 Pokémon (hence why ivysaur has it, but not bayleef)
    – Vemonus
    Apr 19, 2017 at 14:07
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In addition to Vemonus's answer, the button (as of April 20th, 2017) doesn't show evolved Pokemon, even if you have evolved one of their gender, if you evolved it before the button image was introduced.

Here's an example from my Pokemon.

Gyrados evolved way before the button was introduced and a Magikarp of the same gender, now

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