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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Best Ways to Farm Exp. Points

Every Pokemon trainer needs as much experience as they can get. Here are the quickest ways to level up your Pokemon.

Exp. Points, you can never get enough of ’em. If you’re progressing through Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, an IV drip of Exp. Points is always a great help. That’s especially true if you’re hoping to complete the Pokedex, which involves leveling up hundreds of Pokemon to spark evolutions.

There are three key ways to farm Exp. Points in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The first is the Chansey method, which becomes available fairly early in the game. The second is a passive method that opens up later on in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: It allows you to earn Exp. Points even if you’re away from your Switch. And finally, there are Tera Raid battles. These are available throughout the game, but become invaluable for Exp. Point farming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s post-game, when five- and six-star Tera Raids open up.

Below is what you need to know about farming Exp. Points, which level up your Pokemon, in the new games. Note: The first two methods are greatly enhanced if your lead Pokemon is holding a Lucky Egg, which you get after beating your fifth Gym Leader. Lucky Eggs boost Exp. Points earned by 50%.

The Chansey method

This one is simple. Chansey yield huge amounts of Exp. Points when you defeat them, and appear throughout Paldea, the region in which Scarlet and Violet take place. The downside is that they’re rare: Though they can be found in many places, you probably won’t find them often unless you go out of your way to do so.

So it’s time to go out of your way.

The first part of Exp. Point farming via fighting Chansey Pokemon is crafting Ham Sandwiches. Go to an Artisan Bakery store — they’re in many Paldea towns, I went to the one in Levincia — and purchase ham, pickles, mustard and mayonnaise for the inside of the sandwich. The next step is to go to one of Chansey’s natural habitats. You can see said habitats below:

Chansey will appear at different levels depending on where you go. North and northeast are where they’re strongest; southwest and west are where they spawn at lower levels. The Pokemon I wanted to level up was level 40, so I went north, near Team Star’s Fairy Crew base.

Set up a picnic table and assemble your Ham Sandwich. As you can see below, that will offer a few perks. The one we care about is Encounter Power: Normal. It means normal-type Pokemon are more likely to appear. Since Chansey is the only Normal-type Pokemon in several of its habitats, that means eating a Ham Sandwich can kick off a Chansey Party.

You have two options. You can throw a Pokeball at Chansey to start a traditional battle, which will yield thousands of Exp. Points if you’re at a similar level. Or you can activate Let’s Go mode by pressing ZR, which will cause your lead Pokemon to run at all the Chansey. This is easier and more passive, and you’ll earn about 700 Exp. Points per Chansey downed.

Note that if you’re in the northern or northeast habitats, a Blissey may appear. These are Chansey’s evolved form and earn you much more Exp. Points. Initiate an old-school battle if you see a Blissey to savor all that sweet, sweet Exp.

Each Ham Sandwich buffs you for 30 minutes. That’s enough time to earn to earn tens of thousands of Exp. Points.

Passive Golduck Method

This opens up further into the story — or rather, is in an area most will encounter relatively late in the game. If you’ve cleared Team Star’s Fighting Crew base, this Exp. Point farming method is something you can take advantage of. All you need is a good crepe and a grass- or electric-type Pokemon.

Just like with the Chansey method, you want to eat something that boosts encounters with water-type Pokemon. There a few sandwiches that achieve this, but it’s much easier to just fly to Mesagoza and eat a Chocolate Banana Crepe. Next, go to the area shown on the map below. It’s southeast of North Province (Area One) and northwest of South Province (Area Two).

As the topography indicates, you’ll find a water-filled crater. It’s crawling with Golduck, and a few Dratini too. Unleash your Pokemon in Let’s Go mode, then get on your mount and jump to the ledges that circle the crater. From there, you can watch as your Pokemon demolish the Golduck. Or you can, like, go do your washing or something.

This is a passive method, but it works best if you can keep an eye on your Switch. You may need to heal your Pokemon, and sometimes it’ll withdraw to its Pokeball if it goes long enough without encountering another Pokemon. The Golduck are at around level 50, and will give you about 600 Exp. Points per Golduck defeated if your Pokemon is at a similar level. Over the course of 15 or 30 minutes, that ends up being a lot of Exp. Points.

Caution before the next section: There are mild post-game spoilers.

Tera Raids

This is the simplest method, but takes the longest time to unlock. If you’ve played Pokemon Scarlet and Violet for any period of time, you’ve surely encountered a Tera Raid. They’re initiated by approaching the chunks of crystal that glow into the sky like a searchlight. Upon entering the Raid, you’ll fight a Pokemon that’s Terastalized: superpowered and made of crystal.

Tera Raids are graded on a star scale of difficulty. Once you beat the Elite Four, you’ll unlock five-star Tera Raids. After you beat the Elite Four, you’re given a mission to beat Paldea’s Gym Leaders again. Once you do that and go through more battles at your school, you’ll get access to six-star Tera Raids.

Completing these Tera Raids can be tough — make sure you equip your Pokemon of choice with damage-boosting items, like Choice Specs — but they yield huge amounts of Exp. Points. When you complete a five- or six-star raid, you’ll get an assortment of Exp. Candy, including XL Exp. Candy. Every XL Exp Candy, when used on a Pokemon, gives them 30,000 Exp. Points. That’s on top of the L Exp. Candy and M Exp. Candy you earn, which are worth 10,000 and 3,000 Exp. Points each.

It’s not a fancy trick, but doing circuits of five- and six-star Tera Raids ends up being the quickest way to get a Pokemon from level 1 to 100.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Jan. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.


Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not too tough, but 8-Across stumped me, so I had to pass on that and fill in the Down answers to solve it. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Abruptly stop texting
Answer: GHOST

6A clue: Shaving kit item
Answer: RAZOR

7A clue: 2024 film role for which Mikey Madison won Best Actress
Answer: ANORA

8A clue: The ancient Chinese used compressed blocks of tea leaves as this
Answer: MONEY

9A clue: Shape of a round chart
Answer: PIE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Dad’s dad, informally
Answer: GRAMP

2D clue: Capital of Vietnam
Answer: HANOI

3D clue: ___ layer, part of Earth’s atmosphere
Answer: OZONE

4D clue: How you might wake up after sleeping funny
Answer: SORE

5D clue: Cafeteria food carrier
Answer: TRAY


Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.


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Technologies

Google Could Revive Last Year’s Bright Pink Color for the Pixel 10a

Google’s upcoming Pixel 10a is expected to launch in February with some new colors, including one popular ask.

The Google Pixel 9a is one of Google’s most affordable Pixel phones, and it includes one of the most frequently requested colors — bright pink. With the Google Pixel 10a rumored to launch in February, we’re already getting a hint at the colors the new model will come in. 

According to Roland Quandt, a regular mobile leaker on Bluesky, the Google Pixel is expected to be offered in obsidian (black), berry (pink), fog (light gray), and lavender colors. However, it’s the berry hue that is intriguing customers.

A representative for Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.


«I always love to see phones come in vibrant colors, and it’s especially welcome in more budget-friendly options,» said Abrar Al-Heeti, senior technology reporter at CNET. «Yes, we tend to slap a case on our phones anyway, but just knowing your phone touts a bold color can make it feel like more of a statement piece, rather than a bland piece of tech.»

Pink is one of the most requested color options for the Pixel phones. CNET sister site Mashable loved the color when it debuted on the Pixel 9. Phone rivals like Apple and Samsung are usually expected to offer a pink color option in their flagship and midrange phone lineups, so it’s not surprising to see the berry color on the Pixel 10a.  

«I’ll say that Google loves having Pixel phones in pink,» said Patrick Holland, CNET managing editor. «The Pixel 9 and 9a come in peony (a bright, bold pink) and the 9 Pro in rose quartz (a more muted pink). The Pixel 10 series lacks any pinkish hues.» 

Quandt also says that the Pixel 10a will have 128GB and 256GB storage models, and will launch in mid-February. That’s earlier than expected compared with the Pixel 9a, which was revealed in mid-March 2025 for a launch on April 10. In terms of specifications, we expect the Pixel 10a to be a modest upgrade compared with previous generations. According to leaks, the Pixel 10 is unlikely to feature a newer Tensor G5 chip, and it’s likely to retain the same overall design as the Pixel 9a. 

One leaker, Mystic Leaks on Telegram, expressed disappointment and revealed additional specs, including the absence of a telephoto lens, UFS 3.1 storage, a Tensor G4 chip, a 2,000-nit display and no Magic Cue, which is Google’s AI feature for the Pixel 10.  

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.

Green group hint: End user or customer.

Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.

Purple group hint: Not noisy.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Fixed.

Green group: Receiver of goods or services.

Blue group: Starting with weather conditions.

Purple group: Silent ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is fixed. The four answers are fast, firm, secure and tight.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is receiver of goods or services. The four answers are account, client, consumer and user.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is starting with weather conditions. The four answers are frosty (frost), mistletoe (mist), rainmaker (rain) and snowman (snow).

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is silent ____. The four answers are auction, movie, partner and treatment.


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