How to Calculate the Strength of Your Pokémon in Pokemon GO

This Pokemon Go Strength guide will explain how to calculate the overall strength of your Pokémon in Pokémon GO. A Pokémon’s power is determined by a series of factors that are not directly available to the player. We’ll show you where to calculate the stats of your captured Pokémon to determine which Pokémon you should power up or evolve.

Check out our Pokémon GO guide hub for more guides and tips that'll help you level up faster, earn more Candy, get more Stardust, and lots more!

How to Find Out the Stats of Your Pokemon in Pokemon GO

In general, the CP number of a Pokémon determines its strength in Pokémon Go. However, each Pokémon has its own hidden individual stats that determine its overall strength and fighting capabilities.

Each species of Pokémon will have specific base stats that stay the same across the species, but each individual Pokémon will have varying Attack, Defense, and Stamina stats as well. The combination of these stats determines the Individual Values (IV’s) of a Pokémon, and are each rated on a scale of 0-15. The closer the three stats are to 15, the better that Pokémon will be. The ideal Pokémon would have a 15/15 Stamina rating, a 15/15 Attack rating, and a 15/15 Defense rating.

A Pokémon with a high CP may technically be a weaker fighter than a Pokémon of the same species with a lower CP. Since Pokémon IVs are hidden stats, you will have to use the in-game Appraise feature to learn how good they are.

Understanding Appraisals in Pokemon Go

When more and more people started using third party tools to calculate Pokémon IVs, Niantic decided it would be better to put this in-game instead. While the version found in Pokémon GO isn’t quite as comprehensive as some of the calculators you can find online, it does a good job of quickly and easily showing you if you have a Pokémon with good stats or not.

First, you’ll want to navigate to the Appraise option, which you can find by tapping the menu button in the bottom right when you’re looking at an individual Pokémon. What you’ll see next is a quick assessment from the leader of the team you’ve joined. Because the wording is a little different for each team, we’ve compiled every possible answer below:

Team Instinct

• Overall, your [Pokémon] looks like it can really battle with the best of them! 82.2% to 100%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] is really strong! 66.7% to 80%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] is pretty decent. 51.1% to 64.4%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] has room for improvement as far as battling goes. 0% to 48.9%

Team Mystic

• Overall, your [Pokémon] is a wonder! What a breathtaking Pokemon! 82.2% to 100%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] has certainly caught my attention. 66.7% to 80%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] is above average. 51.1% to 64.4%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] is not likely to make much headway in battle. 0% to 48.9%

Team Valor

• Overall, your [Pokémon] simply amazes me. It can accomplish anything! 82.2% to 100%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] is a strong Pokemon. You should be proud! 66.7% to 80%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] is a decent Pokemon. 51.1% to 64.4%
• Overall, your [Pokémon] may not be great in battle, but I still like it! 0% to 48.9%

While the answer you’ll receive does not tell you specifically what the IVs are, it does give you a general idea of how your Pokémon fares. If you’re going for a strong team for use in gyms, you won’t want to settle for anything besides the top response, which indicates an overall IV of 82% of its maximum or higher.

After this, your team leader will then mention what stat is your Pokémon’s highest. There could be a tie here, and in that situation the leaders will mention two stats for a two-way tie, and three stats for a three-way tie. This only indicates the highest IV though, as it’s the next phrase that will tell you how good your highest IV is:

Team Instinct

• Its stats are the best I’ve ever seen! No doubt about it! 15 IV
• Its stats are really strong! Impressive. 13/14 IV
• It’s definitely got some good stats. Definitely! 8 to 12 IV
• Its stats are all right, but kinda basic, as far as I can see. 0 to 7 IV

Team Mystic

• Its stats exceed my calculations. It’s incredible! 15 IV
• I am certainly impressed by its stats, I must say. 13/14 IV
• Its stats are noticeably trending to the positive. 8 to 12 IV
• Its stats are not out of the norm, in my opinion. 0 to 7 IV

Team Valor

• I’m blown away by its stats. WOW! 15 IV
• It’s got excellent stats! How exciting! 13/14 IV
• Its stats indicate that in battle, it’ll get the job done. 8 to 12 IV
• Its stats don’t point to greatness in battle. 0 to 7 IV

So, as an example, if your leader mentions that Attack is the best stat on your Pokémon, and the phrase mentioned afterwards matches the 15 IV line for your team, your Pokémon will have the highest Attack stat it can possibly have! However, because only the Attack stat was mentioned, it means the Defense and Stamina stats are lower than 15. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to determine just how much lower they are, but you should be able to get a general idea from the summary at the beginning of the appraisal.

So, if you get a Pokémon with perfect IVs, you’ll see your leader mention all three stats, followed by the 15 IV phrase that corresponds to your team. Happy hunting!

If you are happy with the stats of your particular Pokémon, you may want to invest some Stardust and Candy towards power ups or evolutions to improve its stats even further. Check out our guide on how to get more Candy and Stardust in Pokémon Go to stock up your supply. We've also got a guide to evolving Eevee in Pokemon Go.