Candyfloss% FAQ

I'm normally not into making FAQ's for games and categories, but since a lot of people have been asking a lot, here's the FAQ for Candyfloss% in Pokémon Sword:

Q: What is Candyfloss?
A: Candyfloss is an in-game traded Cottonee you can get as soon as you enter Hulbury. It's traded for a Minccino, which can be caught in the same grass as Vulpix, but in different (normal) weather, and also available on route 5. Candyfloss is always female, level 23, Modest nature, has 15 IVs in all stats and has Prankster(which isn't useful). The Cottonee is then evolved with a Sun Stone and is taught Moonblast, Energy Ball, Giga Drain and Hurricane.

Q: What makes Candyfloss good?
A: It has really good typing for many fights (counters water, fighting, rock, dark, dragon and ground), so it's super effective against 5 out of the remaining 7 gyms after defeating Milo and also Team Yell. It also doesn't get outsped by anything, with the exception of something move- or ability-related (Scary Face, Swift Swim, Tailwind, etc.), and possibly Eternatus. It's also pretty bulky, so it can take some hits quite well.

Q: Why are you doing this over Any%? Is it faster?
A: It's not, and I don't think it'll ever compete with Any% WR. I'm doing this because it's fun and a different experience, finishes runs way more consistently and isn't reset heavy at all, besides probably getting a -Special Attack and -Speed Vulpix and having Minccino take too long to show up.

Q: What makes it unable to compete with Any%?
A: It takes just under 1 extra second to land on the battlefield since it has to float all the way down... That becomes pretty slow with 60+ fights. #Gravity
Other than that, it almost takes 3:30 minutes to set up completely, with the trading, evolving, getting the Sun Stone, teaching moves, etc.

Q: Why are you using a Ninetales?
A: Because Ninetales is the best option for the early game (up to Milo and Hop 3), and it also handles the fights that Candyfloss can't handle. Opal, many of the Cosmos fights and Rose in particular, since there's absolutely no way Candyfloss can beat Rose without support or an extra move like Shadow Ball.

Q: Why not use Scorbunny instead of Ninetales?
A: Because Scorbunny doesn't learn a good physical fire type move until level 17 (as Scorbunny, level 19 as Raboot) and therefore will struggle for a lot of stuff until you switch to Candyfloss. Since Ninetales is also needed later in the run, you would need to keep Scorbunny in your party, and in comparison to Ninetales, Scorbunny evolves twice and also learns a lot of moves, whereas Ninetales doesn't. Ninetales also benefits from the move relearner with broken moves.

Q: Why choose Scorbunny over Grookey (for the Miracle Seed)?
A: Having the Charcoal for Ninetales saves more time than having the Miracle Seed for Candyfloss. The Rose Incense also compensates for the Miracle Seed, as it has the exact same effect.

Q: Do the Scorbunny stats matter for the run?
A: Only if you get bad Attack, Special Attack or Speed - but this is only the case if they're the negative stat.

Q: Why is the date/time set to (what you're setting it to)?
A: It's set for April 15th because there will be Intense Sun on April 16th, and the clock needs to roll over midnight in order to manipulate Quick Balls from the seller. When Vulpix is caught, the date gets changed to April 15th again to get Normal Weather for Minccino to spawn. This does not mess with the sellers selling Quick Balls.

Q: Why catch Minccino at a random chance in the grass in the Wild Area instead of Route 5 right before Hulbury?
A: It's 15% to show up there (compared to 35% in the Wild Area grass) and can be between level 19-21. Ninetales will always be level 19 here without extra experience, so Minccino has a chance of trolling if it's level 20/21 and won't get caught as easily (speaking from experience here).
Catching Minccino in the Wild Area also gives Vulpix a bit more experience, so it might level up at times where it's useful in the beginning of the run.

Q: Any reason you're playing Sword over Shield?
A: The most simple, shortest answer would be Melony, because she's annoying to set up on, but it's mainly that a Fighting- and a Rock type gym in Sword is good for Candyfloss' Fairy/Grass typing. With Shield, you would probably use Arcanine on Allister, Opal and Melony, but at a lower level than the Shield Any% route.

Q: What makes Candyfloss% a safer run?
A: I've routed it so there are not too many dangerous ranges. It's also really bulky, and needs little to no healing outside of battles since it also rocks Giga Drain. The most dangerous fights are probably Gordie if you get too much experience and Shuckle uses Power Split, or the 4/16 range and burn dying chance on Raihan 2, but it's only 2/16 + the 30 burn chance.

Q: Why do you recommend this run?
A: I recommend this run to new runners of the game, people who don't have the additional time to reset for good stats on Sobble/Arcanine/Excadrill or people who are looking to practice. This is a good way to do runs, learn the mechanics, movement-route, general patterns, etc., without having to reset for hours in case you get bad stats.

Q: Do you have a public guide?
A: Link is down below. If you want to try it out, feel free, just don't get mad if something happens to be wrong. You can instead let me know if anything doesn't add up:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RCUiKJMN_KUEyvUq1ZxP16e9U5w-HugJA2_j_A_aKp0/edit?usp=sharing

Q: I still have a question not answered here, what do I do?
A: Send me a message when I'm streaming, on Discord or on Twitter - I'm more than happy to answer!