The Emberpup family is the first record in the Aniilog, and it is also the first one that forces a real decision. The Fire pup grows into Flameruff, and then the line splits in two directions that do completely different jobs in a fight. One keeps hitting things with fire. The other trades raw damage for BREAK pressure and a second element.
Quick answer: Evolve Emberpup at Aniimo level 12 after clearing Sanctum: First Spark. Flameruff then branches at level 20 into either Scorchhowl or Inferlupa, each with its own unlock and its own stone.
Emberpup evolution requirements in full
Three gates apply to every step. The destination has to be unlocked by a Sanctum, a Journey or a world boss. The copy you are holding has to hit the listed Aniimo level. Then you pay the material cost. Clearing the unlock on its own does nothing to the creature in your team.
| Evolution | Level | Unlock | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emberpup → Flameruff | 12 | Clear Sanctum: First Spark | None listed |
| Flameruff → Scorchhowl | 20 | Defeat the Alpha Scorchhowl | Blaze Stone x1 |
| Flameruff → Inferlupa | 20 | Complete Journey: Warrior | Night Stone x1, Unbroken Flameruff Spirit x6 |
The Inferlupa branch carries one extra condition alongside the Journey, phrased in-game as witnessing how extinguished fighting spirit is reignited. The Journey: Warrior chain runs in Beast Fang Ridge, which is also where the special Flameruffs that hand over Unbroken Flameruff Spirit live.
Beating the Alpha Scorchhowl or finishing the Journey only makes the destination available. Your Flameruff still needs to be level 20 and you still need the stone in your bag.
Step 1: Get Emberpup to Flameruff
| Area | Emberpup | Flameruff |
|---|---|---|
| Nimbus Fields | 5–15 | 5–15 |
| The Argent Strait | 28–32 | 28–32 |
| Beast Fang Ridge | 30–35 | 30–35 |
| The Mistwoods | 35–37 | — |
| Echoback Landing | 36–40 | 36–40 |
Flameruff spawns in the wild too, so you can skip the first evolution entirely if you find one at the right level. Scorchhowl also appears wild in Beast Fang Ridge at levels 30 to 35, which is worth knowing if you only want the dex entry rather than a raised copy.
The stage-three split: both branches come from Flameruff
This is the part people get wrong. Inferlupa is not a fourth stage sitting behind Scorchhowl. It is a second, parallel branch out of Flameruff, and it is dex number 4 purely because of Aniilog ordering. Evolving into Scorchhowl does not put you one step closer to Inferlupa, and there is no path from one stage-three record to the other.
- Emberpup (Lumin) → Flameruff (Gamma)
- Flameruff → Scorchhowl (Nova, Fire, DPS)
- Flameruff → Inferlupa (Nova, Dark and Fire, BREAK)
- One Flameruff can only take one of those two exits
If you want both records, raise two Flameruffs. That is also the cheapest way to avoid regret, because the two branches are wildly different in how they play.
Scorchhowl: the Fire damage continuation
Scorchhowl keeps the family’s Fire element and DPS role and simply scales the numbers up. It stands 1.7m tall and weighs 25kg, and it adds three skills the earlier stages never had: Burn Breaker at power 84, Falling Star at power 170, and Lightning Kick, an Electric dodge attack with a 15-second cooldown that costs no EP and inflicts Paralysis on a successful dodge.
The unlock is a fight. Find and defeat the Alpha Scorchhowl in the open world, then spend Blaze Stone x1 on a level 20 Flameruff. Fire hits Grass and Ice for 1.6x damage and is resisted by Fire, Holy, Rock and Water, so this branch is a specialist rather than a universal answer.
Inferlupa: the Dark BREAK branch
Inferlupa is a three-headed Dark and Fire wolf with the BREAK role, and its innate ATK switches from fire to darkness. Its trait, Full Energy, triggers after eight basic attacks in battle and makes the next skill count as basic attack damage. That state also upgrades the kit: Unbroken Flameruff Spirit ricochets seven times instead of five, Hunting Pack summons an extra clone, and Crossfire gains 45 percent Might.
| Skill | Element | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Unbroken Flameruff Spirit | Dark | 60 |
| Blazing Wolf Assault | Fire | 60 |
| Hunting Pack | Dark | 60 |
| Crossfire | Fire | 65 |
| Wolfpack Onslaught | Dark | 194 |
Unbroken Flameruff Spirit costs 20 EP, has a one-second cooldown, and stacks BREAK efficiency on everything it bounces off, up to three stacks. Wolfpack Onslaught is the free one, with no EP cost and an eight-second cooldown. Dark deals 1.6x damage to Electric, Grass and Holy targets and is resisted by Water and Wind.
The cost is the awkward part. Alongside Night Stone x1, you need Unbroken Flameruff Spirit x6, which shares its name with the skill and is farmed from the special Flameruffs tied to the Journey. Collect those before you commit the level 20 copy.
Which branch to pick, by the numbers
Both stage-three records share the same HP, so the split shows up everywhere else. Scorchhowl wins on attack, magic attack and defense. Inferlupa wins on BP attack, EP regen and magic defense, which is exactly the profile of a BREAK unit that needs to keep casting.
| Stat | Scorchhowl | Inferlupa |
|---|---|---|
| HP | 95 | 95 |
| Attack | 119 | 89 |
| Magic attack | 119 | 89 |
| BP attack | 52 | 108 |
| Defense | 80 | 70 |
| Magic defense | 75 | 80 |
| EP regen | 90 | 99 |
For reference, Emberpup starts at 67 HP with 90 attack and 90 magic attack, and Flameruff sits at 85 HP with 111 in both attack stats. The jump from the first stage to either endpoint is large enough that an unevolved Emberpup is not a long-term combat slot.
If your team already does plenty of damage but struggles to break enemy guards, the BREAK branch is the one that changes a fight. If you kept this family for straightforward Fire damage, the DPS branch is the cleaner upgrade.
Regional and special forms of the Emberpup line
The family has several alternate records, and they are not just new coats. The Highland versions add Rock to the element line and live in completely different regions, so hunting one means going to Russet Highlands or Zephyrus Landbridge rather than checking every Emberpup marker you have already found.
| Form | Elements | Listed habitat |
|---|---|---|
| Highland | Fire, Rock | Russet Highlands 45–50, Zephyrus Landbridge 47–57 |
| Mountain Woods | Fire | Beast Fang Ridge 30–35 |
| Thunderstorm (Scorchhowl) | Fire, Electric | Beast Fang Ridge 30–35 |
| Prismana (Scorchhowl) | Fire | Beast Fang Ridge 30–35 |
Forms do not change the stat lines, and Highland and Mountain Woods copies evolve on their own chains at the same levels: 12 for Flameruff, then 20 plus the Alpha Scorchhowl kill and Blaze Stone for Scorchhowl. Their only listed stage-three exit is Scorchhowl, so a form-specific Inferlupa is not part of the line.
The Thunderstorm Scorchhowl is Fire and Electric, and the Prismana version sits a tier above the rest on element level while staying pure Fire. Both are found in Beast Fang Ridge rather than evolved from a matching Flameruff.
How to confirm the evolution worked
Check the Aniilog. Flameruff fills in No. 002, Scorchhowl No. 003 and Inferlupa No. 004, and each new record brings its own portrait, height and weight. Flameruff grows to 1.2m and 18kg, and both stage-three forms reach 25kg, with Scorchhowl at 1.7m and Inferlupa a little shorter at 1.6m.
Then look at the creature’s own panel. A finished Scorchhowl shows the new skills, including Falling Star and Lightning Kick, on top of the Fire kit it inherited. A finished Inferlupa is unmistakable, because its role reads BREAK, its element line reads Fire and Dark, and its basic attack now deals darkness damage instead of fire. Completing an evolution also ticks the family’s research subject for evolutions, which is another quick way to verify it registered before you start raising the second Flameruff.
