Power-up planner
Pick your current level. We show stardust, regular candy and XL candy needed to reach 40, 41, 45 and 50. Numbers are community-approximated cumulative totals — exact numbers vary by ~5 % from in-game depending on the publisher's rounding.
Level 40 is the soft-cap before XL candy is required, and L41+ also gates on trainer level. 41-50 each consume rapidly more XL candy; level 50 demands ~750 XL alone, plus 1k+ regular candy. For most non-PvP mons, parking at L40 gives you ~95 % of the stat product for a fraction of the dust cost.
Power-up costs explained in-game
Powering up a mons climbs its level — and CP / HP scale with level via a fixed multiplier (the CPM). The cost curve is steep: stardust + candy + XL candy. This planner shows the exact totals from any starting level to L40 / 45 / 50, with Lucky and Best Buddy discounts applied.
The cost cliff at level 40
Levels 1-40 use regular candy. Levels 40-50 require XL candy — a rarer drop only from raids, trades, or walking Best Buddies. Most casual players cap at L40 because XL grinding is significantly slower than regular candy.
Lucky and Best Buddy stacking
Lucky cuts dust by 50% at every level. Best Buddy adds +1 effective level (~10% CP rendered) without dust cost. A Lucky Best Buddy hundo is the cheapest path to the highest rendered CP — premium PvP / Master League material. See lucky-trade math for whether to chase a Lucky on a specific candidate.
Where to spend
Raid attackers: L40-45 is usually enough; L50 is overkill for non-Master roles. PvP: L40 minimum for Master, exact rank-1 level for Great + Ultra (see functional hundos). Use the stardust planner to see your dust runway across power-ups, trades, and second-move unlocks. Before committing dust to a pre-evolution mons, run it through the evolution calculator to confirm the evolved form's CP at that level.
FAQ
How much stardust to power up to level 50 in-game?
Roughly 296,000 dust + 296 candy + 296 XL candy from level 1 to 50. Most operators climb 30→40 in chunks (50k dust each) before hitting the L40+ XL cliff. Lucky mons cost half dust. Best Buddy at full friendship adds +1 effective level on top.
What is Best Buddy CP boost?
When a mons is your active Best Buddy (top heart, 300km walked), it gains +1 effective level in battle — roughly 10% CP boost. Doesn't change underlying IVs, just rendered stats. Only one mons can be Best Buddy at a time.
Should I power up a hundo or a 96% IV?
For raids: usually doesn't matter — the 2% IV gap is invisible compared to typing + moveset. Power up the one with the right charged-move pair. For PvP: critical — wrong attack IVs in Great League can hurt rank-1 stat product. See /functional-hundos for league-specific picks.
When does Lucky discount cap?
Always 50% off every dust cost — power-up, charged-move unlock, second move, trade. No tier cap. A Lucky hundo Mewtwo costs 148k dust to L50 vs 296k for a regular hundo. Compounds heavily.