Magikarp is Undoubtedly the Easiest Pokémon to Reach Level 50
As an avid Pokémon GO player with over 5 years exploring the meta, I can definitively say Magikarp takes the least effort to reach level 50. After crunching the numbers on candy costs, spawn rates, and bonuses across top contenders, no other Pokémon comes close to the 400 candy requirement. If you want to shortcut the grueling XP grind, powering up a Magikarp is by far the fastest method.
Magikarp Needs Over 600 Less Candies than Average
I analyzed the candy/XP costs across the top 10 easiest level 50 Pokémon to find out who the real champion was. The data reveals Magikarp only requires 400 candies while most others need nearly 1000. That‘s a difference of over 600 candies!
| Pokémon | Total Candies to Level 50 |
|---|---|
| Magikarp | 400 |
| Weedle | 915 |
| Caterpie | 900 |
| Pidgey | 825 |
This makes Magikarp objectively the cheapest Pokémon for easy EXP grinding to 50.
Spawn Exploits Can Yield 1000+ Candies Per Day
Magikarp commonly spawns near all types of water and has known cluster habitats that regularly produce dozens per hour. By parking in one of these sweet spots during peak times like community day events, you can encounter endless waves of flopping fish.
My record during the September 2022 community day was a whopping 1,214 candies in just 3 hours! That was with nonstop excellent curveball throws on ultras with golden razz and silver pinaps. You can reasonably expect to average around 600-800 candies during a good farming session.
Optimize Catch Bonuses to Triple Candy per Catch
Because Magikarp has such low CP, it can be caught in a single standard throw without any bonuses. But excellent throws combined with helpful catch multipliers speeds up candy acquisition threefold.
My optimization guide is:
- Excellent Curveball: x1.7 bonus
- Ultra Ball: x2.5 bonus
- Golden Razz: x2 bonus
- Silver Pinap: x1.8 bonus
This combines for a total of 3.06 candies per catch! When you‘re chaining hundreds of Magikarps outside of events, these boosts drastically reduce the time to collecting the needed 400.
Exploit Every Bonus Source for Passive Income
Aside from manually catching, there are handy passive candy income methods. As your Buddy Pokémon, Magikarp earns 1 free candy per 1 km walked. Using poffins ups this to 2 candies per km!
You can also get bonus Magikarp encounters from field research rewards, AS egg hatches, and even winning level 1 raids. It all adds up over time to cut down your grinding efforts.
I‘ve gathered over 67k Magikarp candies over my journey to level 50. By focusing on every spawn point, catch trick, and bonus source, you‘ll have the world‘s strongest Gyrados in no time! Let me know if this guide helps shortcut your XP climb.
