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Arlo was the more practical choice if you could not count on completing a Pokémon trade: Candela’s route requires one, while Arlo’s offers a Rocket Radar and a Scizor encounter. Candela suited players who preferred its buddy-focused tasks and rewards and had access to a trading partner. The Beloved Buddies Timed Research ran in February 2025, so this is a retrospective comparison, not a choice players can make now.
What both paths started with
Beloved Buddies was free, branching Timed Research. Before choosing a Team GO Rocket leader, players had a shared step: catch 15 Pokémon, spin five PokéStops or Gyms, and explore 2 km. Listed encounters for that step included Remoraid and Mantine. The task and reward lists are documented by Leek Duck and Pokémon GO Hub.
What Candela’s path required and rewarded
Step two: buddy and friendship tasks
Candela’s second step asked players to earn 10 hearts with their buddy, earn a candy by exploring with their buddy, and make a new friend. Listed rewards included 500 Stardust, a Luvdisc encounter, two Poffins, Dunsparce, and 2,000 XP.
Step three: gifts and a trade
The third step required playing with a buddy five times, sending three gifts, and trading a Pokémon. Its listed rewards were 10 Ultra Balls, 500 Stardust, Shellder, Rapidash, 3,000 XP, and 2,000 Stardust. The trade requirement is the key practical drawback for anyone without a nearby trading partner.
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What Arlo’s path required and rewarded
Step two: catching and Rocket battles
Arlo’s second step asked players to catch 15 Pokémon, transfer five Pokémon, and defeat three Team GO Rocket Grunts. Listed rewards included 500 Stardust, a Cubone encounter, a Rocket Radar, Shadow Diglett, and 2,000 XP.
Step three: catch more and battle Arlo
The third step required catching 25 Pokémon, transferring 15 Pokémon, and defeating Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo. Rewards listed were 10 Ultra Balls, 500 Stardust, a Slowpoke encounter, Scizor, 3,000 XP, and 2,000 Stardust.
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Both routes had an extra reward step
After their route tasks, both paths included an additional reward-claim step. Leek Duck and Pokémon GO Hub list 2,500 XP and 2,500 Stardust for it.
Which route made more sense?
- Choose Arlo if trading was uncertain. Its listed tasks involve catching and transferring Pokémon and battling Team GO Rocket, rather than arranging a trade with another player.
- Choose Candela if buddy tasks and Poffins appealed more. The route emphasizes buddy interactions, friendship, and gifts, but it also requires a trade.
- Weigh the rewards you personally wanted. Candela’s path included two Poffins and its listed encounters; Arlo’s included a Rocket Radar and Scizor. The published reward lists do not establish that one set is objectively better for every account.
That recommendation is a practical comparison of the task and reward lists, not an official developer ranking. How manageable each route felt depended on a player’s access to friends, trading, and Rocket battles.
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What Redditors said about Candela and Arlo
Comments in the Reddit discussions were mixed, not a representative poll. Some commenters favored Arlo for solo players because Candela’s route required a trade; others preferred Candela’s rewards or chose according to personal preference. In a later discussion, one commenter said, “Candela is probably easier but requires a trade.” Another recommended Arlo for “Easier tasks, and higher hundo chance.” Those are individual player opinions, not verified measurements or evidence of a community-wide consensus. See the discussions on Reddit and The Silph Road subreddit.
The later thread also discussed an event availability issue and players receiving research with some tasks already completed after it returned. That was a reported episode, not evidence that every player encountered the same problem.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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