Raising Pokemon
Pokemon, short for Pocket Monsters, are the various creatures you can find and capture in the Pokemon game franchise. Pokemon Trainers challenge other Pokemon Trainers to a battle, where Pokemon face each other one on one. Additionally, your Pokemon can be left to defend a Pokemon Gym that is held by your Team.
In Pokemon GO, the objective is to capture as many Pokemon and hatch as many Pokemon Eggs as possible. After successfully capturing a Pokemon, view its stats by clicking the appraise option in the mini menu. More info on stats below.
If the Pokemon doesn’t have good stats, Transfer the Pokemon to your Team Leader unless it’s very rare and another cannot be captured easily. The Transfer option can be found in the same mini menu at the bottom-right corner of the screen when viewing a Pokemon’s summary screen. Transferring a Pokemon will free up a slot in your storage, and you will receive a Pokemon Candy in return.
Pokemon Stats and CP
A Pokemon’s power can be seen at a glance by the CP (Combat Points) at the top of its summary screen. The higher the Pokemon’s CP, the stronger the Pokemon will be. However, Combat Points aren’t the only thing to look for when capturing Pokemon. Appraise the Pokemon to see its true stats and its overall potential. Click Appraise to see the Pokemon’s stats rated from 0-3 stars with bars showing the progress to a maxed out stat. If all three stats are maxed out, it is considered a 4 star Pokemon. 1*, 2*, 3*, and 4* can all be used in the Pokemon storage search to find Pokemon with those particular stats.
Pokemon have three basic stats in Pokemon GO: Attack, Defense, and HP (Hit Points). The overall rating of a Pokemon will be shown by three bars and three stars. It’s possible, though rare, to capture a Pokemon with maxed out stats. Pokemon hatched from high KM Eggs, Pokemon captured from Raids, and Pokemon captured from Field Challenges are more likely to be rated three stars or even four stars.
Let’s say you capture two Charmander. One Charmander has 500 CP but only a 1 star rating, and the other Charmander has 30 CP but a 3 star rating. The Charmander with 500 CP will be stronger in battle, but the Charmander with a 3 star rating can be powered up using Charmander candies and Stardust to increase its CP higher than the 1 star Charmander.
A half-circle, white line will be shown above the Pokemon on their summary page. This indicates how much more you can power up a Pokemon using Candies and Stardust. The CP limit will increase as your Trainer level rises. Once you reach Level 40, you will be able to obtain Candy XL, which will be needed to power up Pokemon beyond their original max level.
Evolving Pokemon will give an instant boost to a Pokemon’s CP. Becoming best buddies with your Pokemon will also give a boost to their CP, but becoming best buddies requires a lot of work and care.
Keep the Combat Points level in mind when creating your Pokemon team. There are three Pokemon Battle leagues in Pokemon GO with CP limits:
| League | Max CP |
|---|---|
| Little League Cup (Event) | 500 CP Normal, Grass, Electric, Poison, Ground, Flying, Bug, and Dark types only |
| Great League | 1,500 CP |
| Ultra League | 2,500 CP |
| Master League | No limit |
Pokemon Attacks
Each Pokemon has two attacks that are used in Gym battles, Raid battles, and Trainer battles. These moves can be found when looking at the Pokemon’s summary screen below the Power Up option. The power of the attacks are different between Gyms & Raids and Trainer Battles. Click the headers to see the differences between attacks for a Pokemon in their summary screen.
A Pokemon’s first move is the fast attack. This is performed when tapping the screen during battle. Fast attacks are weak, but using type match ups with cause more damage. Use a fast attack multiple times to charge up the second move.
The second move is the more powerful charged attack. The charged attack will only become available after using enough fast attacks on an opponent in battle. The stronger the charged attack, the longer it will take to charge up before becoming available. Use a super effect fast attack to charge up this second move quicker than normal.
A second charged attack can be unlocked using a specific amount of Pokemon Candy and Stardust on the Pokemon’s summary screen. Both attacks will simultaneously charge while fast attacks are being used, but only one charged attack can be performed before both attacks reset.
Fast attacks and charged attacks can be overwritten using Fast TMs or Charged TMs. These are rare items that can be obtained from challenges and Raids. If the Pokemon has two charged attacks, the Charged TM will allow you to choose which charged attack to forget.
Both fast attacks and charged attacks will change when a Pokemon evolves, unless the attack is Frustration or Return from a Shadow or Purified Pokemon respectively. Those charged attacks do not change unless a Charged TM is used.
Although all damage from charged attacks can be blocked with a shield during battle, stat modifications will not be blocked. Make use of attack and defense modifications when battling to gain the upper hand. Some attacks will cause damage and increase the user’s attack or reduce the opponent’s defense at the same time!
Types
Credit to Reddit user Alpha Nation.
Remember, all Pokemon are made-up of one or two types, and all attacks are made-up of one type. Pokemon GO has slightly different type advantages and disadvantages that should be remembered when battling.
- A type that is super effective against another type will cause double damage (2x). An example is a water attack on a fire-type Pokemon.
- A type that is not very effective against another type will cause half damage (0.5x). An example is a grass-type attack on a fire-type Pokemon.
- A type that was historically immune to other types will now cause half damage (0.5x), even if the Pokemon has a second type that is weak and would normally cause double damage. An example is an electric-type attack on a ground/water-type Pokemon.
Attacks will receive an additional boost in power depending on the type and the weather. Refer to the table below:
| Weather | Boosted Types |
|---|---|
| Sunny/Clear | Fire, Grass, Ground |
| Partly Cloudy | Normal, Rock |
| Cloudy | Fairy, Fighting, Poison |
| Rain | Water, Electric, Bug |
| Snow | Ice, Steel |
| Fog | Dark, Ghost |
| Windy | Flying, Dragon, Psychic |