The XL Candies in Pokémon GO are a resource in the game. We will show you what they can do, how expensive it is to level up Pokémon with them, and what else you need to know about them.
What are XL Candies anyway? Niantic announced these new candies at the same time as the major winter update for Pokémon GO. The maximum level in the game is Level 50. To achieve this, you also need to use XL Candies.
From Level 1 to 40, you will continue to use Stardust and regular candies for leveling up your Pokémon. After Level 40, you must switch to Stardust and XL Candies.
To ensure you do this correctly and are well prepared, we show you everything you need to know about XL Candy in this guide.
How to find XL Candies?
This level you must reach: Your trainer must be at least Level 40 to even obtain XL Candies.
XL Candies as a reward: Various activities in Pokémon GO grant you the coveted XL Candies. We list the ones that are already known here for you. However, keep in mind that for most activities, there is no guarantee for the candies. The table shows the possibility of where the candies can be rewarded.
| Activity | Possible XL Candies |
| Catching a Pokémon | 0 to 3 XL Candies |
| Catching a Raid Boss | 1 XL Candy |
| Winning a Dyna Battle | 1 XL Candy (2 if you double the rewards for 200 coins) |
| Trading a Pokémon | 1 XL Candy for one or both trainers (The chances are about 10 % and increase with the trading distance) |
| Hatching a Pokémon (As of December 2020) | Average candies: 2 km Egg: 1 5 km Egg: 3 7 km Egg: 3 10 km Egg: 4 12 km Egg: 4 |
| Sending a Pokémon | 1 XL Candy per transfer |
| Converting regular Pokémon Candies | 100 regular candies yield 1 XL Candy |
| Walking with Buddy Pokémon | 1 XL Candy (The higher the level of the Buddy Pokémon, the higher the chance of getting an XL Candy) |
| Evolving a Pokémon | 1 XL Candy |
| Giving a Berry to Pokémon in Arenas | 1 XL Candy |
What about Pinap Berries? So far, Pinap Berries have had no effect on the quantity of XL Candies. They did not appear more frequently because of them. The amount of XL Candies was not increased by Pinap Berries.
Exchanging Candies: Anyone who wants can convert their candies into XL Candies. This works at a ratio of 100 to 1. So, 100 regular candies become one XL Candy if you want that. This is especially worthwhile after events like a Community Day when you could collect many hundreds of candies for a species.
Sending Pokémon: A trainer analyzed how sending Pokémon works for obtaining XL Candies. It was found that the level of the Pokémon has significant effects on the chances of XL Candies. What you need to consider when sending Pokémon for XL Candies.
What do Level-Ups cost with XL Candies?
You have to expect this: The costs for level-ups are quite high. Since you need to utilize two level-ups for each Pokémon level, a large sum quickly adds up. As the data miners from PokeMiners (via Twitter) show in a graphic, it costs you 250,000 Stardust and 296 XL Candies to bring a Pokémon from Level 40 to Level 50.
In the following table, you can see the Stardust and XL Candy costs from Level 41 onwards.
If you level up a redeemed Pokémon, the costs are slightly reduced. In contrast, the costs for Crypto Pokémon are somewhat increased.
| Level | Stardust | XL Candies |
| 41 | 10.000 | 10 |
| 41,5 | 10.000 | 10 |
| 42 | 11.000 | 10 |
| 42,5 | 11.000 | 10 |
| 43 | 11.000 | 12 |
| 43,5 | 11.000 | 12 |
| 44 | 12.000 | 12 |
| 44,5 | 12.000 | 12 |
| 45 | 12.000 | 15 |
| 45,5 | 12.000 | 15 |
| 46 | 13.000 | 15 |
| 46,5 | 13.000 | 15 |
| 47 | 13.000 | 17 |
| 47,5 | 13.000 | 17 |
| 48 | 14.000 | 17 |
| 48,5 | 14.000 | 17 |
| 49 | 14.000 | 20 |
| 49,5 | 14.000 | 20 |
| 50 | 15.000 | 20 |
| 50,5 | 15.000 | 20 |
Since the level update in Pokémon GO, it is no longer capped at level 50. Now you can go up to level 80. In addition to a lot of experience points, you also need to complete some tasks for the last levels. What these are, you can find out in our overview for levels 71 to 80 in Pokémon GO.
