When you evolve a Pokemon, its CP circle stays as full as it did before.
As a result, it really doesn't matter in which order you boost a Pokemon. However, you should keep a few points in mind:
- Powerups cost more Candies the more CP a Pokemon has (based on a Pokemon's level).
- Powerups cost more Stardust the more CP a Pokemon has (again, based on level).
Cost will increase every second powerup.
Therefore, it makes sense to power up a Pokemon until it is near the upper end of your CP ring. As the ring stays in the same place, it will give you a rather decent CP per Candy ratio.
For example, if a Pokemon's max CP was 515 and it is currently at 425, it would make sense to power it up to 500 or more. At that point, you should evolve it, provided you have the candies.
Overall, you'll still be using fewer candies because you're doing most of your evolution on the lower side of the scale, and using the Evolution mechanic to sharply spike the Pokemon's CP.
Like Samthere said, you can delay indefinitely, however id recommend keeping one Pokemon high to take gyms with. Don't power it up more than you have to but keep it high enough to get at least a few gyms. The extra star dust and coins you get should be worth the candies and stardust you spend to keep just one Pokemon high. I usually get rid of anything with a CP meter under 90%. It's probably good to set a goal like level 25, otherwise you probably will delay it indefinitely. Lastly, go ahead and evolve any Ratatas and Spearows (or other really common ones in your area) you can for the experience. Their evolved forms max out pretty low so they aren't really viable later, otherwise leveling will get really slow unless you are hatching eggs left and right.
Best Answer
Yes, it is possible to receive candy when feeding berries to Pokémon you do not own. This is commonly referred to as “ghost candy” by users on reddit.
As seen in this reddit thread, a user details how they received candy for Snorlax despite never owning one. After they finally caught their first Snorlax, they had a total of 4 candy (3 non-pinap catch + 1 ghost candy)