Technologies
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
Your Guide to Epic Universe, the New Universal Theme Park Open Now
An insider’s guide to everything you’ll find at Universal Resort’s brand new theme park, including Donkey Kong Country, dragon drones and robotics, the Ministry of Magic ride and the werewolf roller coaster.

Universal Resort Orlando’s brand new theme park Epic Universe is now open, and CNET has all the details on the park and its immersive entertainment that ties in with movies, games and technology. We’re here to provide you with an insider’s guide to Epic Universe, which has five lands: Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, Dark Universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic and Celestial Park.
Epic Universe is the fourth Universal Orlando theme park, after Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and water park Volcano Bay. Universal says it’s goal is to be «a weeklong vacation destination,» much like its Orlando theme park competitor Walt Disney World, which has six theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, along with water parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon).
Part of Universal’s expansion also includes three new hotels: Universal Helios Grand Hotel, Universal Stella Nova Resort and Universal Terra Luna Resort, bringing its total to 11 hotels. (Disney World has more than 20 hotels, for comparison.)
Check out CNET’s guide below for what you need to know about Epic Universe, including ticket prices, new rides, restaurants and experiences. And read here for more on Universal’s planned UK theme park.
Super Nintendo World (featuring Donkey Kong Country)
Universal Orlando is finally joining Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood in hosting a Mario-themed land. Much like in the Japan and Hollywood parks, the marquee ride is Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, where you hop inside a kart, collect coins and throw shells to try to win the cup.
There’s also Mine Cart Madness, a Donkey Kong-themed roller coaster, and Yoshi’s Adventure, where you board a Yoshi and go egg-spotting through the Mushroom Kingdom.
There are meet and greets with Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad, and the Toadstool Cafe for your dining needs.
Buy a Power-Up Band and you’ll be able to collect coins throughout the land and rides on the wearable wristband. It works throughout all three Super Nintendo World locations.
How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk
How to Train Your Dragon finally has some space in a Universal theme park, 15 years after the original movie (which still has 99% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes) was released in 2010.
The much-loved DreamWorks movie, which featured Hiccup the teenage Viking and his quest to befriend rather than kill a dragon he names Toothless, spawned two sequels (both with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes), as well as 10 seasons of two separate animated series and a live-action version of the first movie, which releases in June.
Now, you’ll be able to visit Berk (Florida’s version). It won’t be as cold, but it will be filled with Viking characters walking around the land, dragon robots you can greet on the ground and dragons flying over the colorful wooden buildings.
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is the main attraction, a roller coaster that simulates the experience of riding on a dragon. A second ride, Dragon Racer’s Rally, will see each rider strapped into an individual dragon-shaped seat attached to a pendulum arm, flipping upside down as the arm swings up and around.
There’s also a water ride called Fyre Drill, where you’ll board a Viking longboat and shoot water cannons at the dragon targets and other boats you sail past, while you in turn get soaked.
For the younger visitors, Viking Training Camp is an adventure playground where they can climb, run, slide and play with interactive elements.
Rounding out the land is a live show starring Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and Gobber, and Mead Hall, a dining option serving Scandinavian offerings like fish, meat, ale and mead.
Dark Universe, and Classic Universal monsters
This sinister-sounding land is dedicated to all the classic Universal monsters out there, with villains from Frankenstein’s monster to Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon roaming Darkmoor Village.
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is a ride inside a spooky Victorian manor, where you need to escape the experiments of Dr. Victoria Frankenstein. A second ride, Curse of the Werewolf, is a coaster that soars through the forest as you escape a pack of werewolves.
You can also experience the wonders of theatrical makeup and be transformed into a werewolf, vampire or mummy with the Monster Makeup Experience.
There are two dining locations in Dark Universe:
- Das Stakehaus, a vampire-themed restaurant.
- The Burning Blade Tavern, a more casual eatery inside a windmill that catches fire several times each hour.
Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic
This is the third Harry Potter location at Universal Orlando, after the Diagon Alley area in Universal Studios Florida and the Hogwarts/Hogsmeade area in Islands of Adventure.
It’ll span both the Fantastic Beasts movies and the original Harry Potter series, meaning most of the land is themed after Paris in the 1920s, from where you can travel by the Métro-Floo network to the British Ministry of Magic in the 1990s.
The main attraction is the Battle at the Ministry ride, where you’ll help the trio fight Dolores Umbridge. It’s similar to the mechanics of the Hogwarts ride, except you’ll be in an elevator compartment at the Ministry of Magic, and it also features much-updated technology so it’s even more immersive.
There’s also Le Cirque Arcanus, a live show with performers, puppets and special effects, and is set in the Fantastic Beasts universe.
There’s plenty to explore in this new area, including a new wand store called Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magique, more interactive wand locations and a French restaurant called Café L’air De La Sirène.
It’s not connected to the Hogwarts Express train ride that goes between the other two Harry Potter lands in Orlando, however, due to the park’s distance from Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
Celestial Park
Celestial Park is themed as a cosmic getaway, where you can ride a rocket at speeds of up to 62mph on the dual-launch roller coaster Stardust Racers — or if something slower-paced is more your thing, you can ride the Constellation Carousel.
There are also two restaurants — Atlantic and The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant — as well as a shopping location called the Nintendo Super Star Store.
Celestial Park is the hub of the new theme park: you’ll enter Epic Universe into Celestial Park, and from there can take one of the four portals into the other lands.
How much do Epic Universe tickets cost?
Ticket pricing depends on how many days you want to spend at Universal Studios Florida, as well as which parks you want to go to, and whether you want to visit more than one park each day. Here are the options and starting prices. Keep in mind that pricing will change depending on what day of the week and time of year you visit, too.
For now, you can only purchase multiday park tickets to visit Epic Universe, unless you’re a Universal passholder. In future, Universal will allow you to buy a single-day ticket to visit the new park, but that option is not yet available.
3-day park tickets
- 3 day, 4-park hopper: $452/adult, $442/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other two days you can hop between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay).
- 3-day, 3-park hopper: $412/adult, $402/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other two days you can hop between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).
- 3-day, 3 parks, one park per day: $352/adult, $342/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, one day at Universal Studios and one day at Islands of Adventure).
4-day park tickets
- 4-day, 4-park hopper: $486/adult, $476/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other three days you can hop between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay).
- 4-day, 3-park hopper: $436/adult, $426/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other two days you can hop between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).
- 4-day, 4 parks, one park per day: $421/adult, $411/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, one day at Universal Studios, one day at Islands of Adventure and one day at Volcano Bay).
- 4-day, 3 parks, one park per day: $371/adult, $361/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, one day at Universal Studios and one day at Islands of Adventure).
5-day park tickets
- 5-day, 4-park hopper: $522/adult, $512/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other four days you can hop between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay).
- 5-day, 3-park hopper: $462/adult, $452/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other four days you can hop between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).
- 5-day, 4 parks, one park per day: $452/adult, $442/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, and then choose between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay for your other one-day tickets).
- 5-day, 3 parks, one park per day: $392/adult, $382/child (Note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, and then choose between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for your other one-day tickets).
Express Pass and VIP tours at Epic Universe
You can now also purchase a 1-day Express Pass for Epic Universe that’ll allow you to skip the lines at each attraction once. The cost is between $130 and $310 per person (on top of your regular ticket), depending on what date you go.
And if you want a truly luxe experience, you can fork over between $390 and $650 per person (also on top of your ticket) for a 4-hour VIP guided walking tour of the new park. With a VIP package, you’ll also get priority entrance to the rides, a discount on merchandise, complimentary valet parking and more.
Technologies
Who the Heck Is Gonna Pay $250 for Google AI Ultra?
Google’s pricey new AI subscription seems to be aimed at people who want to generate a ton of video or code.

Want Google’s biggest and best AI features? A new plan has them all, but with a steep price tag.
Read more: Everything We Learned at Google I/O. AI Mode in Chrome, Gemini Live, XR Glasses and Much More
Google rolled out AI Ultra Tuesday at its annual I/O developers conference, and the new top-tier model features the best models of its Gemini tool, early access to new video generation models, the highest usage limits in tools like NotebookLM, a prototype for managing AI agents and, as icing on the cake, a whopping 30 terabytes of storage.
For all of that, you’ll pay a pretty penny. Google AI Ultra costs $250 a month (although the company is offering half off the first three months). Not ready to drop $3,000 a year on AI? Google is rebranding its existing AI Premium plan as Google AI Pro, which also offers new features. It stays at a modest $20 per year.
The difference between the two plans centers mainly on the usage limits for AI tools and access to bleeding-edge technology. Google AI Ultra has much higher limits, meaning if you’re making a ton of videos or using Gemini a ton, you might need the pricier option. «It’s for the trailblazers, the pioneers, those of you who want cutting-edge AI from Google,» Josh Woodward, the company’s vice president for Google Labs and Gemini, said during Tuesday’s announcement.
Here’s what’s included in the new Google AI plans.
What’s in the Google AI Ultra plan?
The biggest component of Google AI Ultra is a maxed-out version of the company’s Gemini app. It has the highest usage limits for the Deep Research function, along with the Veo 2 video generation model and early access to Veo 3. The subscription also includes the company’s newest reasoning model, Deep Think in Gemini 2.5 pro. You’ll also get immediate early access to Gemini in Chrome, which allows you to use Gemini to understand information based on the context of the current page you’re on.
AI Ultra features access to Flow, Google’s new AI filmmaking tool that also debuted at I/O. This tool allows you to create clips, scenes and movies with text and image prompts. AI Ultra gets you the highest limits for Flow. (The AI Pro plan also includes access to Flow, just with a limit of 100 generations per month.) It also includes the highest limits for Whisk, an AI image generator that allows you to turn photos into mashups, including Whisk Animate, which creates vivid eight-second videos.
Other features included in AI Ultra aren’t necessarily AI-specific: You’ll get access to YouTube Premium, including YouTube Music ad-free. It also includes 30TB worth of cloud storage. It’s only available in the US for now.
While AI Ultra’s $250 monthly price tag is high, compare it to the top-tier subscription plans from competing AI companies. OpenAI’s Pro plan gives you the best of ChatGPT for $200 per month. Anthropic’s Max plan starts at $100 per month for top Claude features.
What’s in Google AI Pro?
The company’s current AI Premium plan is being renamed AI Pro. The price remains $20 per month, but the new features include Flow’s filmmaking capabilities and early access to Gemini in Chrome. These additions are also coming to the US first.
Google said it is also expanding free access to AI Pro for university students in Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. It’s already available free for students in the US.
Who is Google AI Ultra for?
You don’t need to drop $250 a month on AI if you’re just dabbling around with chatbots or making an image or two occasionally. Google’s AI Pro plan likely has everything you’ll need at a much better price.
What about the bundlers who want a lot of storage space? The non-AI features of AI Ultra are pretty cool, but are they worth $250 a month? First there’s YouTube Premium, which only costs $14 a month on its own. You can pair that with Google AI pro for just $34 a month. (And if you want to use a different AI service, even a top-level plan from OpenAI or Anthropic would keep your total below $250.) As for the 30TB of storage, that’s harder to replace. Apple’s iCloud offers 12TB for $60 a month while Dropbox offers 15TB starting at $24 per month.
The distinction really is the usage limits and the cutting-edge features. Google representatives told me that AI Ultra is best for people like filmmakers, developers and creatives who are going to generate a lot of content using AI. If you want to use generative AI to produce a lot of video content or longform video content, you’ll need the highest usage limits you can get. And with all of those files, you might actually need that 30TB of storage.
Even if you’re not using AI to produce a ton of content, you may be interested in AI Ultra if you absolutely must have access to the new features as soon as they roll out. AI Ultra will get early access to things like Google’s Project Mariner agentic research tool and the new Deep Think feature in Gemini.
But if the price tag for the biggest and best subscription plan is giving you sticker shock, don’t worry. AI Pro still comes with plenty of features.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, May 22
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 22.

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.
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword is fairly easy, especially if you know recent trends in baby names. It also helps to have a slight knowledge of The Lord of the Rings, or at a minimum, be good at riddles. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. 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: Part of a fleet
Answer: SHIP
5A clue: Answer to Gollum’s riddle in «The Hobbit,» which starts «This thing all things devours — birds, beasts, trees, flowers»
Answer: TIME
6A clue: «See ya!»
Answer: LATER
7A clue: Second-most popular girl’s name of the 2020s, after Olivia
Answer: EMMA
8A clue: Not keeping secrets
Answer: OPEN
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Sticker on an envelope
Answer: STAMP
2D clue: «I’d like another card,» in blackjack
Answer: HITME
3D clue: «Uhh, that is to say …»
Answer: IMEAN
4D clue: The «p» of m.p.h.
Answer: PER
6D clue: Name taken by the new pope
Answer: LEO
How to play more Mini Crosswords
The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.
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