In Pokémon Go, you have to catch tons of the same Pokémon in order to get the candy and stardust to power up the Pokémon you want to battle with. But how do you know which Pokémon you should power up and which you should transfer to the professor for more candy? Finding a Pokémon's IVs used to be a lot more complicated, but now the appraisal feature makes it easy.
Appraisal and IVs in Pokémon Go
Appraisal is a function in Pokémon Go that lets you get an idea of how strong an individual Pokémon can become beyond just its "CP," or Combat Points. While Combat Points (which are effectively a Pokémon's "level") can tell you how strong a Pokémon is at the moment, they don't give the entire picture. You need to understand something called IVs or individual values to know how strong they can become over time. Appraisal lets you do that.
IVs are invisible stats that determine how much a Pokémon's HP, Attack, and Defense will rise each time they are Powered Up. Each Pokémon has a different IV for each of the three stats, with perfect Pokémon having 100% IVs. Since IVs cannot be changed, it's important to know which Pokémon have high IVs to prioritize for raids and other battles. Once you're finished appraising your Pokémon, make sure to check out our best Pokémon Go accessories so you're fully equipped for all the battles.
How to check for 100% IVs in Pokémon Go
It used to be pretty difficult to figure out a Pokémon's IVs. Players had to interpret a number of descriptions about a Pokémon, along with its current CP, HP, and Stardust/Candy cost, and even then, might only have a rough guess. Now, Appraisals are much simpler. You just ask your Team Leader to Appraise your Pokémon and they will give you a rating, along with three bars that display exactly where your Pokémon's IVs fall.
- Open Pokémon Go.
- Tap the Poké Ball icon on the bottom of the screen.
- Select "Pokémon".
- Select the Pokémon whose IVs you want to check.
- Tap the three bars "Menu" icon in the bottom right.
- Select "Appraisal".
- Your team leader will tell you your Pokémon's IVs. You'll see IVs represented as bars for HP, Attack, and Defense, as well as an overall "star" rating that tells you how good the Pokémon is in general.
- To understand the star rating and bars, you should know that one full bar represents 15 total points. Between the three stats, that's 45 potential IVs. The star rating for a Pokémon is broken down by the total percentage of a possible 45 IVs a Pokémon has as follows:
- 50% or less - 0 Stars
- 51% - 64.4% - 1 Star
- 66.7% - 80% - 2 Stars
- 82.2% - 98% - 3 Stars
- 100% - 3 Stars plus a red border
You can also scroll through Pokémon quickly by tapping the arrows to the left or right of a Pokémon, letting you search for Pokémon with high IVs quickly. Use this method to find the strongest Pokémon you can, power them up, and use them in Gyms and to battle in raids!
How to use Search Terms for IVs in Pokémon Go
While manually appraising each Pokémon gives you a breakdown of its three stats, when you're trying to go through a lot of Pokémon - say, on Community Day - Search Terms are a short cut you can use to narrow the field. Pokémon Go has a number of Search Terms you can use to sort through your collection of Pokémon, but when it comes to IVs, there are five: "0" for 50%, "1", "2", "3", and "4*". Each corresponds to the Appraisal ratings above and they can be combined using "&" with a Pokémon's species, as well, to narrow the field even more.
- Click on the Poké Ball icon to open your Main Menu.
- Select Pokémon.
- Click on the Maginifying Glass.
- Type in the Search Term.
- Voila! the specific Pokémon that fit your Search Term are the only ones displayed.
Questions about Appraisals and IVs in Pokémon Go?
Do you have any questions about how to use the Appraisal system in Pokémon Go? Want to show off some of your best IV Pokémon? Drop us a comment below and be sure to check out our other Pokémon Go Guides so you too can become a Pokémon Master!
