Evolution
From cotton ball to cloud dragon
Swablu looks like the gentlest bird in Hoenn. Give it time and it becomes a Dragon type.
The evolution line
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Swablu
Normal / Flying. The Cotton Bird Pokémon, base stat total 310. This is where everyone starts.
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Altaria
Dragon / Flying. Swablu evolves at level 35, trading its Normal typing for Dragon and growing into the Humming Pokémon, known for its soprano singing voice.
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Mega Altaria
Dragon / Fairy. Introduced in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Holding Altarianite, Altaria Mega Evolves in battle and gains the Pixilate ability, which turns its Normal-type moves into Fairy-type ones.
Worth the wait
Why level 35 feels like forever
Swablu is in the Erratic experience group, and its stats are modest, so the stretch before evolution takes patience. The payoff is one of the bigger type changes in the series: a Normal/Flying bird that becomes a Dragon.
There were hints all along. Swablu sits in the Dragon egg group, and in recent games it picks up Dragon Breath well before it evolves.
In Pokémon GO
Swablu is famous among Pokémon GO players for a different reason: it costs 400 Candy to evolve into Altaria, the same steep price as Magikarp. A lot of walking and a lot of catches go into every Altaria.