How we calculate Stardust costs

Each power-up consumes a fixed amount of Stardust and Candy. The cost is determined entirely by the current level and is published in PoGo's server data — there is no randomness, no per-species cost.

Costs grow in bands of 5 (L1-5: 200 dust, L5-10: 400 dust, L25-30: 3 500 dust, L40+: 10 000 dust per half-level). Our calculator sums every half-level transition between the current level and the target.

total_dust = Σ cost(level) for level from start to target

if lucky:        total_dust *= 0.5
if shadow:       total_dust *= 1.2     // 20% premium for Shadow power-ups
if best_buddy:   target_level += 1     // BB grants +1 effective L; cost grid unchanged

Two reasons we sometimes show a number 1-2% off from the in-game Power Up button:

First, the in-game button rounds the per-transition cost displayed to the nearest 100 dust at low levels. Our table uses exact integer costs. Over a multi-level power-up plan these round-up cents add up.

Second, when a Lucky Trade dust discount is active server-side but the trade isn't yet committed, the in-game button can briefly show the un-halved cost. Our calculator always applies the Lucky multiplier when the toggle is on.