Pokemon Candies are items that you can use to evolve and power up your Pokemon. A Pokemon Candy works in one of these two ways; it can boost your Pokemon's Combat Power (CP) or increase its Health Points (HP).

If you've been playing Pokemon Go for a while, you are aware that you can buy most Items at the in-game shop. However, for Candies, the case is completely different. You cannot purchase Candies, and you must perform certain actions to earn them. These are:

  • Catching Pokemon
  • Hatching Eggs
  • Transferring Pokemon

In this article, we will expound on each of these methods in a bid to help you scale through the levels in Pokemon Go. But, before we look at how to get Candies, let's start by mentioning a couple of things.

  • Each piece of Pokemon Candy derives its name from a particular pre-evolved Pokemon attached to it. For instance, a Pidgey has a Pidgey Candy and so do its evolved forms, Pidgeot and Pidgeotto.
  • The more uncommon a Pokemon is, the higher the number of Candies it will take to evolve or power it up.

With that in mind, let's now look at the various methods you can use to get more Candies while playing Pokemon Go.

How To Get Pokemon Go Candy

As stated, there are three methods to earn Pokemon Candies. Here is a comprehensive look at each of the methods.

Catching Pokemon

This is the easiest way to earn Pokemon Candy. Thus, you should be sure to catch every Pokemon that comes your way. If you want a particular form of evolved Pokemon, get as many of that Pokemon as you can. For instance, if you're looking for a Starmie, catch as many Staryu as possible. This is because you will need a specific number of Staryu Candies to evolve a Starmie. In other words, every Staryu you catch increases the odds of having a Starmie in your inventory if that's what you're looking for.

For every Pokemon you catch, you get three Candies, specific to the Pokemon you just caught. For instance, if you have just bagged a Pidgey, you will be given three Pidgey Candies. If you catch an evolved Pokemon such as Pidgeot, you will still be awarded three Pidgey Candies.

Read our tips for catching strong Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

Hatching Pokemon Eggs

The Pokemon eggs you hatch will earn you more Candies than catching Pokemon. Hatching the Pokemon eggs is critical especially if you want to level-up your starter Pokemon (Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur) as they are rare to come by if you decide to go looking for them in the streets.

That said, it is important to note that you can never be certain about the strength and type of Pokemon that will hatch from an egg. A hatched egg may provide 3 to 35 Candies. It, therefore, means that if you want to power up or evolve your Pidgey, you will have to catch a whole lot of Pidgeys.

Find out more about eggs in Pokemon Go.

Transferring Pokemon

Each time you transfer Pokemon, you will earn a single Candy of that Pokemon, regardless of its combat power or evolution stage. You will transfer your Pokemon to Professor Willow, who will, in turn, give you a Candy. It is important to note that once you have transferred your Pokemon, you cannot get it back, and Willow will keep it for good. Thus, make sure you go through the inventory of your Pokemon before transferring them.

And that's about it as far as earning Pokemon Candy is concerned. The Pokemon you want to evolve, or power up will determine the choice you make as making Candies is concerned.

Now that you have the Candies, how do you use them? That makes the subject of our next topic.

How To Use Pokemon Go Candies

Right from the word go, we stated that Pokemon Candies are used evolve or power up your Pokemon.

How to Evolve Pokemon Using Pokemon Candy

Go into the menu and choose the Pokemon you would like to evolve. Tap the evolve button. If you have enough Candies in your inventory to complete the action, the button will be highlighted. You will then exchange your candy for a Pokemon.

It is important to make sure that you choose the Pokemon to evolve wisely. This is because the Pokemon Candy in your inventory will be exhausted after an evolution and in case the Pokemon has more than one evolutionary form you will be forced to wait until you collect more Candy to complete the evolution all the way. It is wise to evolve your strongest Pokemon, as the evolution will continue to increase its Combat Power.

How Many Candies Do You Require to Evolve Your Pokemon?

The number of Candies needed to evolve your Pokemon varies. For instance, to evolve a Pidgey to Pidgeotto, you will need 12 Pidgey Candies and 50 Candies to get to a Pidgeot. Besides, the number of evolved forms a Pokemon has may determine the Candies required. For instance, it will take you 50 Pikachu Candy to Raichu.

Also, how rare or coveted the Pokemon you are looking for may determine the number of Candies you need to evolve your Pokemon. For example, you will require 100 Charmander Candy to evolve your Charmeleon into Charizard.

Find out how to evolve your Pokemon faster.

Powering Up Your Pokemon Using Candies

Usually, it requires one Pokemon Candy to power a Pokemon. However, it will require more based on how close the Pokemon is to attain its full potential irrespective of its evolution stage. You can know how close your Pokemon is to reach its maximum Combat Power by looking the white, half circular bar above the Pokemon.

When the bar is at or above approximately 75%, you will need two Candies to boost the Pokemon's CP. It is important to note that your Trainer level will determine the amount of CP you can increase for a Pokemon using Candies, but you will always get a notification as to when you can't power up your Pokemon anymore at that particular level.

Read more on how - and when - to power your Pokemon up.

And that wraps it up! Everything you want to know about candies in Pokemon Go. Perhaps it is essential to emphasize that the more Pokemon you have, the easier it is to get Candies and by extension evolve and power up your Pokemon. So go out there and increase the amount of Pokemon in your inventory.