Candy can be used to evolve or Power Up Pokémon. Each evolutionary family has their own kind of Candy, usually named after the lowest stage of each evolutionary family, which can only be used to evolve or strengthen members of that family. For example, Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur are all powered up by Bulbasaur Candy, and may not use any other kind of Candy. Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ evolutionary families have separate Candy. Each different kind of Candy has its own color scheme, based on the Pokémon it is named after.
Obtaining Candy
There are several ways to earn Candy:
Catching a Pokémon gives the player 3, 5, or 10 of that Pokémon's Candy depending on whether it has not evolved, has evolved once, or has evolved twice. (Prior to February 16, 2017, all Pokémon gave 3 Candy.) Pokémon that evolve from Baby Pokémon are not considered evolved, except Togetic.
Using a Pinap Berry doubles the amount of Candy the player receives.
Hatching a Pokémon from an Egg gives the player some of that Pokémon's Candy. The number of Candy obtained varies between 5 and 32.
The player can permanently transfer a Pokémon to Professor Willow in exchange for 1 piece of its Candy.
Evolving a Pokémon gives the player 1 of that Pokémon's Candy.
When player walks a certain distance (1, 3, 5 or 20km) with Buddy Pokémon, they are rewarded with 1 Candy of that Pokémon.
Feeding a Pokémon in a Gym can sometimes give 1 of that Pokémon's Candy.
Evolution
Typically, a three-stage evolutionary line requires 25 Candy for the first evolution and another 100 Candy for the second evolution, while a two-stage evolutionary line requires 50 Candy for their evolution. The Rattata, Pidgey, Caterpie, Weedle, Eevee, Sentret, Ledyba, Wurmple, and Whismur families all require less than this, while the Magikarp, Wailmer, Swablu, Feebas and Meltan families require more. Baby Pokémon, except Riolu, require 25 Candy to evolve, and their evolutions usually only require 50 Candy to evolve again.
Evolutions which require a Sun Stone or evolution-inducing held item in the core series games also require that same item in Pokémon GO. Pokémon which require an evolutionary stone or item introduced in Generation IV are exception to that, as they require Sinnoh Stone instead (all of these Pokémon also require 100 Candy to evolve). Other evolutionary stones are not required in Pokémon GO.
Powering Up Pokémon costs both Stardust and Candy. The cost varies with the Pokémon's Power Up level, which increases by 1 every time it is Powered Up, and newly caught or hatched Pokémon do not necessarily start with a Power Up level of 1.
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
The concept of Candy was reintroduced in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! as a way to increase a Pokémon's awakening values. Candies are given their own Item Pocket called the Candy Jar.
Effect
Candy can be considered counterparts to the main series's vitamins and wings, as they are used to increase a Pokémon's stat, but through AVs instead of EVs. There are two types of Candy: species-specific Candy (first introduced in Pokémon GO) and stat-specific Candy.
Stat-specific Candy can be used by any Pokémon, regardless of species, to raise the AV of a specific stat. They come in three sizes: regular, L and XL. They are more commonly found than species-specific Candy, as multiple of these Candy are often required to raise a single AV point. As a Pokémon's AV increases for a stat, it will require more and larger Candy to further increase the same stat.
All species-specific Candy, like in Pokémon GO, can only be used by Pokémon of a specific evolution line. Bulbasaur Candy, for example, can only be used by Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur. When one is used, it will increase all stats by one AV point, up until it hits the maximum 200 AVs. Unlike in Pokémon GO, species-specific Candy do not play a role in evolution.
A candy that is packed with energy. When given to certain Pokémon, it will increase all their stats at once.
Trivia
Evolution Shards
In pre-release screenshots, Evolution Shards (Japanese: 進化のカケラ Evolution Shards) take the role of Candy, being earned by catching multiple instances of the same Pokémon and being used to evolve Pokémon. They did not have unique names or designs for each evolutionary family.
