Pokemon GO: Should You Evolve or Raise CP First?

When you catch Pokemon in Pokemon GO, you receive valuable Stardust and Candies. You may evolve your Pokemon with a bulk amount of candy specific to each particular Pokemon, or you may use your candy and some Stardust to power up your Pokemon’s CP (combat power). Both have their advantages, but which should you focus on first?

The short answer is to go straight for evolution. If the Pokemon can evolve, you should most definitely stockpile your candy until you’ve got enough to evolve them before powering them up at all. You’re just wasting your Stardust otherwise, as the amount their CP will raise is greater in higher-evolved forms, and you’ll get a significant CP boost anyway when you evolve. For example, powering up a Butterfree will net you a much higher CP bonus than powering up a Caterpie. Plus, evolving doesn’t take up any of your precious Stardust, which means more to spend on powering your team up once they’ve hit their final evolution. Lastly, evolved forms will have higher CP caps, and all around what you should be powering up whenever possible.

Of course if you’re talking about a non-evolving Pokemon like Electabuzz or Kangaskhan, go straight for the CP power-ups. There’s no reason not to, so have at it!

For more tips, tricks, and hints, check out our Ultimate Pokemon GO Guide!