Best Ways To Level Up Pokemon Fast In Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Whether you’re just getting started in Pokemon Legends: Z-A or are in the post-game and looking to complete your Pokedex, EXP Candies can be a major help. That being said, because they are so helpful, they can also be relatively tedious to create a stock of.

If you don’t already know, EXP Candies are a consumable item that will increase your Pokemon’s experience, which directly increases their level. EXP Candies come in a few different sizes, ranging from XS to XL, with the amount of EXP earned directly correlating to the size of the candy used.

How Much Experience Do EXP Candies Provide

As mentioned, there are several different sizes of EXP Candies, which means you’ll earn varying amounts of experience from each. Obviously, the larger the candy, the more experience it will provide, but you’ll want to be careful. If you don’t want to risk becoming overleveled, then you should keep in mind how much each Candy is going to give you.

Generally, it’s better to save larger candies for higher-level Pokemon, as the required experience to reach the next level is typically much larger and can take a fair amount of time, so larger candies give you that jump you need if you’re hoping to speed things along or need to hit a specific level for evolution purposes.

Keep in mind when using EXP Candies that not every Pokemon has the same leveling rate. If your Pokemon are part of a faster experience group, then they will have lower experience requirements to reach each level. In contrast, Pokemon in a slower experience group will have a larger experience requirement to achieve the same levels.

Where To Get EXP Candies To Level Up Your Pokemon

There are a variety of ways to earn EXP Candies, but some farming methods are better than others. While progressing through the story, you’ll eventually gain access to Alpha Pokemon, Quasartico Inc., and Side Missions. Each of these features unlocks at different points, but all three are great ways to acquire EXP Candy.

Earn EXP Candies From Side Missions

If you’re trying to earn EXP rather than purchase it, Side Missions can be a relatively easy way to do so. Unfortunately, the only downside is that not every Side Mission offers EXP Candies as a reward, and if they do, it’s mostly XS, S, or M ones. Overall, there are 25 Side Missions that offer EXP Candies as a reward.

For a list of all Side Missions that offer EXP Candies as a reward, please see the table below:

Keep in mind that not all Side Missions become available at the same time. As you progress through the story, you will unlock more and more, which will all be indicated by a blue exclamation point icon on your map. Side Missions can be done in any order once unlocked, except for the ones that require other Side Missions to be completed before them.

Buy EXP Candies From Quasartico Inc.

In addition to earning EXP Candies through Side Missions, you can also purchase them from Quasartico Inc. Unfortunately, Quasartico Inc. is the only place you can purchase EXP Candies, and they don’t take traditional Pokemon Dollars, just Mega Shards. In some ways, that can be a benefit since Mega Shards are all over Lumiose, but it can be tedious to collect them.

Additionally, Mega Shards are used to purchase certain Mega Evolution Stones, so you may not want to blow all your Mega Shards on EXP Candy. Furthermore, only S EXP Candy will be available for purchase until you reach the post-game, at which point you’ll also gain access to M and L EXP Candy.

The exchange rate for EXP Candies at Quasartico Inc. are as follows:

• S EXP Candy – 8 Mega Shards Each
• M EXP Candy – 30 Mega Shards Each
• L EXP Candy – 100 Mega Shards Each

For an example of how much experience can be earned with the maximum number of Mega Shards you can hold in your inventory at one time, for each Candy type, please see the example below:

• 999 Mega Shards = 124 S EXP Candy = 99,200 EXP (with 7 remaining Mega Shards)
• 999 Mega Shards = 33 M EXP Candy + 1 S EXP Candy = 99,800 EXP (with 1 remaining Mega Shard)
• 999 Mega Shards = 9 L EXP Candy + 3 M EXP Candy + 1 S EXP Candy = 99,800 EXP (with 1 remaining Mega Shard)

Whether you purchase primarily S, M, or L Candy, you’ll end up with relatively the same total EXP due to the exchange rates. So, don’t fret if you haven’t reached the end of the game and unlocked M and L EXP Candies, as it doesn’t really make much of a difference.

Earn EXP By Defeating Alpha Pokemon

While the previously mentioned options are great ways to earn EXP Candies, the easiest and probably most efficient way to accrue EXP Candies is by battling Alpha Pokemon. You’ll unlock access to Alpha Pokemon relatively early in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, before you even gain access to Megas, which makes this a great way to earn a lot of EXP Candy, and battle EXP, before the end of the game.

Unfortunately, Alpha Pokemon are pretty lethal, so you may struggle to defeat them early on, but if you’ve got a Pokemon with a move that inflicts a status ailment, like Toxic, then you can just poison the Alpha Pokemon and wait it out. You’ll just need to put away your Pokemon and keep dodging hits until the Alpha faints, but don’t go too far out of its range, or it will reset.

The easiest way to find Alpha Pokemon is to catch everything in a Wild Zone. When you do this, any of the spawns in that Wild Zone have a chance to spawn as an Alpha, which often means multiples in one zone. There are permanent Alpha spawns across Lumiose, too, but these are more tedious to farm.

The amount of EXP Candy an Alpha will drop is random, but they generally drop several, with higher-level Alpha Pokemon dropping larger quantities. If you have access to Wild Zone 20, all Alpha Pokemon farming should be done there, as you’re likely to have two to three high-level Alphas spawn under the tower at one time.

Find EXP And Rare Candies Throughout Lumiose

In addition to the farming methods, you do have the chance to find EXP Candies, as well as Rare Candy, while exploring Lumiose. EXP Candies will appear as a gold sparkle on the ground and are randomized, but as for Rare Candy, there are only about 30, and they will appear as a red Poké Ball in the overworld.

There’s no trick to tracking these down other than picking up everything you come across. As for the Rare Candy, however, they are typically in hard-to-reach locations or tucked-away areas, just like the TMs that are scattered throughout Lumiose.

Unique Ways To Earn EXP Candies

In addition to the other methods, there are a couple of ways to earn EXP Candies that shouldn’t really be used as a farming method, but just something to keep in mind. The first is Mable’s Research. You can technically attempt to accrue all the points and max this out to earn some EXP Candies, but once you do so, that’s it. There are no more rewards to earn.

Additionally, finishing Mable’s Research is easily one of the most difficult tasks in the game, and EXP Candy is only a reward for certain levels. So, while this isn’t a recommended way to attempt to accrue EXP Candies, be sure to keep up with collecting your rewards.

Last but not least is Z-A Royale. While completing nightly Royale matches, you will earn EXP Candies, more so if you’ve beaten the game and maintain a streak in the Infinite Royale. That being said, this is generally time-consuming and, overall, a better way to earn money than anything else, so you’re better off with one of the other methods mentioned in this article if EXP Candies are your goal.