XL Candy in Pokémon GO is the resource used to power up a Pokémon past Level 40, all the way to Level 50. Regular Candy handles evolutions, second Charged Attacks, and power-ups up to Level 40. From that point on, the Power Up button asks for XL Candy instead.
Like regular Candy, it is species-specific: Bulbasaur XL Candy works on Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur, and nothing else. Maxing one Pokémon takes 296 XL Candy and 250,000 Stardust, which is enough of a commitment that the real question is not how to farm it but which Pokémon deserve it.
Confirmed Mechanics
These come from official announcements, the in-game interface, and the official Mega Evolution guide.
When XL Candy Unlocks
You start collecting XL Candy at Trainer Level 31. It was originally gated at Level 40 and lowered in 2022, so older guides still list the wrong number.
Collecting it and using it are two different things. A Pokémon can only be powered up to your Trainer level plus two, so reaching Level 50 on a Pokémon still requires Trainer Level 40. Between Levels 31 and 40, you are stockpiling.
One more point of confusion worth clearing up: the Trainer level cap rose from 50 to 80 on October 15, 2025, but the Pokémon level cap did not move. Pokémon still stop at Level 50, and the CP formula was not changed.
Where XL Candy Comes From
- Catching: the main source. A catch can award 0 to 3 XL Candy, and most catches award none.
- Guaranteed catch drops: evolved Pokémon always drop XL Candy, and the amount depends on how many evolutions deep the caught form is. One evolution deep (Ivysaur, Gyarados) guarantees at least 1. Two evolutions deep (Venusaur, Dragonite) guarantees at least 2. Any Legendary or Mythical catch guarantees 3. Unevolved forms like Bulbasaur and Magikarp have no guarantee and just take the 0-to-3 roll above.
- Transferring: a chance at 1 XL Candy per transfer. Mass transfers can award several at once, including across different species.
- Hatching Eggs: every hatch awards some XL Candy, scaling with Egg distance.
- Walking your Buddy: a chance at XL Candy alongside the normal Candy payout.
- Trading: a chance at 1 XL Candy, which can go to one or both Trainers. The official wording is that the chance increases with the distance between the two Pokémon’s catch locations.
- Converting: 100 regular Candy converts into 1 XL Candy on the Pokémon’s summary screen.
Note that Pinap Berries do not affect XL Candy. They double regular Candy only.
The Mega Evolution Bonus
A Mega-Evolved Pokémon at High, Max, or Super Max Mega Level gives an increased chance of XL Candy when you catch a Pokémon sharing its type. The bonus is officially confirmed, though the exact rate is not published, and it only fires on type matches, so the Mega you pick has to line up with what you are catching.
Mega Level rises each time you Mega Evolve that specific Pokémon, and re-evolving during the rest period at the reduced Mega Energy cost still counts toward it.
What It Costs
296 XL Candy and 250,000 Stardust take a Pokémon from Level 40 to Level 50. Each level is two power-ups, and the cost steps up as you climb:
| Target Level | XL Candy | Stardust |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | 20 | 20,000 |
| 42 | 20 | 22,000 |
| 43 | 24 | 22,000 |
| 44 | 24 | 24,000 |
| 45 | 30 | 24,000 |
| 46 | 30 | 26,000 |
| 47 | 34 | 26,000 |
| 48 | 34 | 28,000 |
| 49 | 40 | 28,000 |
| 50 | 40 | 30,000 |
| Total | 296 | 250,000 |
Shadow Pokémon cost more at 360 XL Candy, and Purified Pokémon cost less at 272.
Because 296 XL Candy is 29,600 regular Candy at the conversion rate, converting is worth it only when you have thousands of spare Candy sitting on a species you have already finished farming, such as after a Community Day.
Rare Candy XL
Rare Candy XL converts into XL Candy for any species you choose, which makes it the answer for Pokémon you cannot farm in the wild. It shows up in raid rewards (more often from higher tiers), GO Battle League rewards at higher ranks, and occasional research and event reward pools. It is not sold in the Shop.
Save it for Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. Spending Rare Candy XL on something you can catch fifty of on a Spotlight Hour is the one clear mistake with this item.
What the Community Has Measured
The developer confirms that XL Candy drops from these activities but does not publish drop rates. The numbers below come from player tracking (largely Silph Road research collected by community sites), so treat them as well-supported estimates rather than official values.
- Catch rate: roughly 15% to 25% of catches award XL Candy once you are eligible.
- Level drives everything: the higher a Pokémon’s level, the more likely it is to drop XL Candy, and the more likely it is to drop multiples. This is the finding that makes weather-boosted spawns (which arrive up to five levels higher) worth targeting.
- Egg averages: community tracking puts 2 km Eggs at about 1 XL Candy on average, 5 km and 7 km Eggs at about 3, and 10 km and 12 km Eggs at about 4. Individual hatches vary widely, and IV appears to have no effect.
- Transfers: somewhere in the range of 1 in 15 to 1 in 20 transfers award an XL Candy, with higher-level transfers doing better.
- Trades: around 1 in 10 trades award XL Candy overall, rising with catch-location distance. Many players report that trades over roughly 100 km reliably deliver one, though this has not been officially confirmed as a guarantee.
- Buddy walking: the rate appears tied to the Buddy Pokémon’s own level, not your Trainer level. A high-level Buddy pays out XL Candy noticeably more often than a low-level one.
Practical Application: Farming a Species Fast
XL Candy comes in slowly through passive play and quickly through concentrated catching, so the efficient approach is to pick a target species and wait for a window where you can catch a lot of it at high level.
A worked example. Say you want a Level 50 Gyarados for Master League. Rather than converting Candy at 100 to 1, you wait for a Magikarp Community Day or a Water-type event on a rainy day — Rainy weather boosts Water-types, stacking more spawns on top of the event — and you prepare:
- Mega Evolve a Water-type Mega you have already pushed to High Mega Level or above, so every Magikarp catch rolls the improved XL chance.
- Play through Rainy weather if you can. Weather-boosted Magikarp spawn up to Level 35 instead of Level 30, and higher level means better XL odds per catch.
- Catch everything rather than checking and fleeing. Every catch is another XL roll, and Pinap Berries do not help here, so throw Razz Berries if you need the catch rate.
- Trade a few with a friend before transferring the leftovers. A trade rolls for XL, then the transfer rolls again.
Three hours of that produces a meaningful dent in 296. The same afternoon spent on a normal day, with no Mega active and no weather boost, will not.
Which Pokémon Are Actually Worth 296 XL Candy
Going from Level 40 to Level 50 raises a Pokémon’s CP multiplier from 0.7903 to 0.8403, which is roughly a 6% increase in stats. That is a real gain, but it is a small one for the cost, and it explains where XL Candy is and is not worth spending.
For raids and gyms, 6% more damage rarely changes whether you win. A second, third, and fourth copy of a strong attacker at Level 40 will out-perform one maxed copy, so spread your resources before you max anything. The exception is Master League, where there is no CP cap and every point counts, which is why Legendary attackers are the standard Rare Candy XL target.
For Great, Ultra, and Little Cup, the decision is different and much sharper. Those leagues cap CP, so the question is simply whether a species can reach its cap at Level 40. Species with low base stats often cannot, and for them XL Candy is not a 6% upgrade but the difference between a usable pick and an underleveled one. Species that already exceed the cap well before Level 40 need no XL Candy at all.
Since the PvP meta rotates every season, check a current ranking for the league you play before committing 296 Candy to anything, rather than following a list from an old guide.
Keeping Track of What You’re Building Toward
The awkward part of XL Candy is that the decision happens per Pokémon, months before you finish farming. You have to know whether a specific Nidoran is worth keeping for Great League, whether the Gyarados you already invested in is the best one in your storage, and which of the forty Magikarp from last Saturday you are keeping. In-game storage shows you CP and an appraisal, but it will not tell you whether those IVs actually rank well at a league’s CP cap, which is the number that decides whether XL investment pays off.
That is the problem a tracker like GoDex is built for. You can scan a catch screenshot to pull its CP and IVs automatically, see how those IVs rank for the Great, Ultra, or Little Cup before you spend anything, and leave a note on the ones you are saving for later. Deciding what to keep is the part that saves you Candy, and it happens long before you tap Power Up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is XL Candy the same as Rare Candy? No. Standard Rare Candy converts into regular species Candy, which cannot power a Pokémon past Level 40. You need Rare Candy XL for that, and standard Rare Candy cannot be turned into it directly. You would have to convert to species Candy first, then pay the 100 to 1 rate, which is rarely worth doing.
Can I buy XL Candy in the Shop? No. It is earned through gameplay only.
Do I need Trainer Level 40 to collect it? No, collection unlocks at Level 31. But a Pokémon cannot exceed your Trainer level plus two, so Level 50 Pokémon require Trainer Level 40.
Does the Level 80 trainer cap mean Pokémon can go past 50? No. That update changed Trainer progression only. Pokémon still cap at Level 50.
Do Pinap Berries give extra XL Candy? No. They double regular Candy and have no effect on XL Candy.
Key Takeaways
- Collect at 31, spend at 40. XL Candy unlocks at Trainer Level 31, but Level 50 Pokémon require Trainer Level 40.
- Chase level, not volume. Higher-level catches drop XL Candy more often, so weather-boosted spawns and a matching High-or-better Mega are the two levers that matter most.
- Skip the conversion. 29,600 regular Candy per maxed Pokémon only makes sense on a species you have finished farming.
- Save Rare Candy XL for Legendaries. Anything you can farm in the wild is the wrong target.
- Check the league cap before you commit. In capped leagues, XL Candy decides whether a Pokémon is viable at all. In raids, it is a roughly 6% gain, so build a second attacker first.
We do our best to keep these guides accurate, but Pokémon GO mechanics change often. If you spot a mistake or something that's out of date, please send us feedback — we'll fix it.
About GoDex
A free companion app for tracking your collection, scanning IVs from screenshots, and checking PVP rankings. Available on iOS and Android.
