After two or three times, I beat a gym close to where I live which had a 2000 something cp Gyarados.
Considering my highest level Pokemon at the time was Cradily which has 1200 something cp that's pretty good.
I finally got enough Anorith candies so I was able to evolve my Anorith into a Armaldo. It's my strongest pokemon at cp 1751.
I think I might be level 20 for the rest of the week. Also I have a Porygon which has enough candies to evolve but I don't have the item it needs to evolve.
I'm hoping I'll get it once I reach a higher level.