Short answer: you collect Max Particles by tapping a Power Spot's details screen (100 MP per visit, +20 MP the first time) or by walking 2 km (300 MP), up to an 800-MP daily cap, and you can hold up to 1,500 at once. The daily cap is "soft" - a walking reward that pushes you past 800 still pays out in full. Particles are only spent if you win the Max Battle, and the entry cost scales up with the boss's tier.
Trainer school
How do you get and store Max Particles for Pokémon GO Max Battles?
Max Particles (MP) are the currency that unlocks Max Battles - the turn-based fights against Dynamax and Gigantamax bosses. Unlike a Raid Pass, there's no daily free allowance baked into your account; you have to go out and collect them.
How to collect Max Particles
- Power Spots: open a Power Spot on the map and tap the Max Particle bubbles in its details screen to collect 100 MP per visit. The first time you interact with a given Power Spot, you get a +20 MP bonus on top of that.
- Walking: every 2 km walked earns a 300 MP reward, claimed from the Power Spot tab on the Nearby screen. This also counts through Adventure Sync.
- Research tasks, redeemed codes, and purchased Max Particle Packs can also grant Max Particles, and - per Niantic's own help center - these don't count against your daily collection cap.
The daily cap is 800, but it's a soft one
Niantic's help center caps collecting Max Particles from Power Spots and walking at 800 per day. In practice this cap is soft rather than hard: if a walking reward completes while you're already close to 800, you still get the full 300 MP, putting you over the stated daily figure for that day. You just can't start a fresh collection once you've crossed it.
Storage cap: 1,500
Your Item Bag can hold a maximum of 1,500 Max Particles at a time, regardless of how you earned them. Spend some down before a big collecting day if you're sitting close to that ceiling, or the overflow has nowhere to go.
Spending them
- Max Particles are only deducted if you win the Max Battle - a loss doesn't cost you any MP.
- Entry cost scales with the boss's star tier: a 1-star Max Battle costs 250 MP, and higher tiers cost progressively more. Check the in-game Power Spot screen for the exact cost of the specific boss in front of you, since Niantic has adjusted tier pricing before.
- Particles are also spent training a Dynamax Pokémon's Max Moves (Attack, Guard and Spirit), separately from battle entry.
FAQ
Can I collect more than 800 Max Particles in one day? The stated collection cap is 800/day from Power Spots and walking, but it's enforced loosely - a walking reward that lands you over 800 still pays out in full. You just stop earning new ones after that.
What's the maximum I can carry? 1,500 Max Particles at once. That's a hard bag limit.
Do I lose Max Particles if I lose a Max Battle? No. They're only spent on a win.
Does a Remote Raid Pass replace the Max Particle cost? No - joining a Max Battle remotely needs both: a Remote Raid Pass and the local Max Particle entry cost.
Do research tasks or purchased packs count against the 800 daily cap? No - Niantic's help center specifically excludes research rewards, codes and purchased Max Particle Packs from the collection cap that applies to Power Spots and walking.
Need people to Max Battle with? Grab a fresh trainer code with one tap, or browse codes by country to build a raid circle across time zones. See also how Gigantamax and Dynamax battles differ for friends.