Is my Pokémon good?

How do you know you have a good Pokémon when you catch it? At first glance, a trainer can see the Pokémon’s CP, which is listed above it before and after catching it. You may think that the higher the CP (which stands for Combat Power) the better the catch, right? Well, Pokémon also have stats called IVs (or Individual Values) that really determine how “good” a Pokémon is in battle. 

Perfect Pokémon 

Combat Power does have a role in how strong a Pokémon is; for example, a 1400 CP Dragonite is much less powerful than a 5400 CP Dragonite. It will deal far more damage, as well as have more health. To achieve a higher CP, a Trainer must level up their Pokémon by using Stardust and Candy. When you catch Pokémon, you are given Stardust and the Candy associated with that Pokémon. Stardust collected can be used on any Pokémon, but the Candy can only be used for the Pokémon specified. Evolved Pokémon will receive candy for their beginning evolution. For example, if you were to catch a Dragonite or Dragonair, you would receive Dratini candy. Catching a Dratini would also result in the collection of Dratini candy. Pokémon have a level cap of 1 and a half times your Trainer level. 

Individual Values are shown by assessing your Pokémon. To do this, select one of your Pokémon from your collection. Then, in the bottom right corner, there will be a green circle with 3 lines. Tapping on this will bring up a menu of things that you can do, including “Appraise”. Tapping on this will give you a rating out of 3 stars. There are three columns; attack, defense, and HP (health points) and each of them is on a scale out of 15. If all three bars are filled and the star rating has a red background, it is a 100% IV or perfect Pokémon! On the other hand, all 3 bars being completely empty will be a 0%. The star ratings are based on these percentages. A 0 star Pokémon will be below 50%, a 1 star between 51% and 63%, 2 stars between 67% and 80%, and 3 stars between 82% and 98%. A 100% Pokémon is often referred to as a 4 star Pokémon, even though 4 stars is not an official Pokémon rating in the game.