Before you get your pitchforks out, just give me a chance to explain myself, please. The best part of Pokemon is a different thing to every player. For some, it’s breeding perfect IV ‘mons with competitive natures and egg moves that can be used in tournaments. These people are called ‘nerds’. For others, it’s shiny hunting, or completing the national dex. These people are called ‘dorks’ Me? I just like to use a diverse team and keep mixing things up. And caring about this is neither nerdy nor dorky and in fact, very cool. The XP candies in Sword & Shield make this easier than ever before.
In the Pokemon anime, where levels barely seem to exist, Ash would regularly take a ‘mon out of his PC to use it for the first time in important battles. Remember that time he sent his virgin Krabby into a Pokemon League match? Talk about chucking it straight into the deep end. Admittedly, this is stupid, but I still envied the fact he didn’t have to grind for a few hours first. Out the box and into the ring with you, there’s a good lad.
This isn’t possible in the games, where your level 13 Yamper would get obliterated by a level 43 Gyrados, actually. So, you have to grind. Grinding is the worst part of Pokemon – hell, it’s the worst part of most RPGs. Even great gameplay loops become mundane by hour 50. Even the best Nuzlocker in the world hacks in Rare Candies to mitigate the hours of dull battles.
In previous generations, catching a late-game Pokemon before the eighth Gym or the Elite Four was a double-edged sword. Sure, you’d get a cool new ‘mon like Tyranitar or Metagross to use, but the thought of having to grind it up to level 50+ still makes me sigh in despair.
This chore was made only slightly more bearable by the full party XP share. At least with that you could train a few ‘mons simultaneously. With Pokemon Sword & Shield’s XP candies though, I can pump a freshly caught beastie full of steroids and get it on the team toot-suite. It’s an absolute game-changer and by far the best new feature added in Gen 8 – second only to the sick techno in the gyms.
You get XP candies as rewards for doing max raid battles. As this is the fancy new gimmick in Gen 8, I did a lot of these battles. When I first saw an XP candy I thought it was just a worse Rare Candy. Oh, how wrong I was. These range from 100 to 30,000 XP, meaning you can blast a new or overlooked Pokemon to level 40 quicker than you can say type-2 diabetes.
During my playthrough of Pokemon Sword, I didn’t connect with any of the ‘mons I’d thought I would. Sobble’s evolution line was dire, and I hate football, so I went with Grookey, but its mid-stage evolution is an affront to God, so I binned him off sharpish. But when I got that little Toxel egg I was in love. I fed my precious little baby some sweets and brought it straight onto the team as my new lead Pokemon.
Later, while travelling through the amazing Glimwood Tangle, I stumbled upon an Impidimp. Again, I felt an instant connection with this little prankster, so I stuffed him full of XP and welcomed him aboard. I was also able to get a Flygon and a Noivern on my team thanks to the handy XP boost provided by the candies. Dragon-types all take an age to train, so being able to skip that was a blessing.
Rather than going through the game with my eyes glazed over because I didn’t like my team, or having to spend hours training up new ‘mons – which would have worn down their appeal rather quickly – the XP candies allowed me to introduce new members that I actually gave a damn about. I wouldn’t have finished the game if not for the teeth rotting additions. A lot of you will probably call me lazy. A filthy casual. Not a true gamer. But I need games to respect my time. I’m a (very cool) adult with shit to do, and spending six hours playing catch up isn’t high on my list of priorities. I hope XP candies or an equivalent make a return in Legends Arceus, that way I can experiment to my heart’s content.
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