Full Guide
Want to dominate raids, crush Gym defenders, and build a roster that actually wins battles? Then you need to understand how CP works — and more importantly, how to raise it as efficiently as possible.
This guide covers every method to increase your Pokémon’s CP quickly, from basic Stardust farming all the way to Best Buddy bonuses and the Shadow vs. Purified power-up debate. Before you start powering up, make sure you’re using our Pokémon CP Calculator to check whether a Pokémon is even worth the Stardust investment.
Combat Power (CP) is the single number above your Pokémon that summarizes its battle strength. It’s calculated from three hidden stats — Attack, Defense, and Stamina — multiplied by a CP Multiplier (CPM) that scales with your Pokémon’s level. The higher the level, the higher the CPM, and the higher the CP.
The catch: not all Pokémon with the same species and level end up with the same CP. That’s because of IVs (Individual Values) — hidden stats from 0–15 that push the final number up or down. Use our IV Calculator to find out exactly how good your Pokémon’s IVs are before committing thousands of Stardust to it.
Every time you power up a Pokémon, you spend Stardust. It doesn’t matter which method you use — Stardust is always the bottleneck. Farm it aggressively and constantly.
Best Stardust sources:
Pro tip: Always pop a Star Piece during Community Days, Spotlight Hours, and any event with boosted spawns. A single 30-minute Community Day with a Star Piece can net 50,000–80,000 Stardust if you’re actively catching.
In standard play, Pokémon cap out at Level 40. But if you want to push beyond that — all the way to Level 50 — you need XL Candy. This is the slowest grind in the game, but the payoff in CP is significant.
How to get XL Candy:
Each level from 41 to 50 requires an increasing amount of XL Candy: 10 at Level 41, rising to 25 per level by the time you’re pushing toward 50. In total, taking a Pokémon from Level 40 to 50 costs 296 XL Candy and a large amount of Stardust.
The CP jump between Level 40 and Level 50 is meaningful — typically 10–15% more CP — so it’s worth prioritizing for your top meta picks and best IVs.
One of the most underused CP-boosting strategies is the Lucky Trade. When two Pokémon are traded and the result is a Lucky Pokémon, those Pokémon receive a 50% Stardust discount on all future power-ups — permanently.
How to get Lucky Pokémon:
A 50% Stardust discount might not sound dramatic, but it adds up fast. Powering a Pokémon from Level 20 to 40 typically costs around 180,000–220,000 Stardust. With a Lucky Pokémon, that same grind costs only 90,000–110,000. That’s Stardust you can redirect toward your next project.
The strategy many experienced players use: save your oldest Pokémon specifically for Lucky Trades with a close friend, then power up the result. You get good IVs (Lucky Pokémon are guaranteed 12/12/12 IVs minimum), plus the cost discount.
(A dedicated Stardust Cost Calculator is coming soon — bookmark this page to check it out when it launches.)
Every Pokémon in the game has a Buddy system, and reaching the top tier — Best Buddy — unlocks a permanent +1 level bonus to CP when that Pokémon is set as your active buddy.
That means a Pokémon at Level 40 effectively performs at Level 41 CP when it’s your Best Buddy and it’s active. It’s not a huge boost, but it’s completely free.
How to reach Best Buddy faster:
You can earn up to 10 Buddy Hearts per day through these activities. Best Buddy status requires 300 Hearts total, so it’s a ~30-day process even if you’re consistent. Prioritize your most-used raid and PvP Pokémon.
This is a common question, and the answer depends on what you want to do.
Shadow Pokémon:
Purified Pokémon:
For raw power in raids, keep Pokémon as Shadow — the Attack multiplier more than compensates for the power-up cost. But if you’re on a Stardust budget and don’t care about the Shadow bonus, Purifying saves you resources.
If you’re unsure whether your Shadow Pokémon has good enough IVs to be worth the investment either way, run it through the Pokémon CP Calculator on our homepage first.
| Method | CP Impact | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Power-up (Stardust + Candy) | High | Stardust + Candy |
| XL Candy (Level 40→50) | Medium–High | XL Candy + heavy Stardust |
| Lucky Trade (50% discount) | Indirect | Friendship + tradeable Pokémon |
| Best Buddy bonus | Low (+1 level) | Time (Hearts) |
| Purify Shadow (discount) | Indirect | Candy cost to Purify |
The fastest players aren’t necessarily grinding the hardest — they’re spending their resources on the right Pokémon. Use the tools on this site to make smarter decisions before you power up.