The toughest part about Pokemon Go, and there are many tough parts to the game, is just figuring out what all the acronyms and systems are. Some of these are very important, if you wish to get far in the game. For example, do you know what transfers do? We Laid it out right here. Now it’s time for another one. What is CP in Pokemon Go?
CP stands for Combat Power, and it’s a stat unlike any other in Pokemon. The CP of a Pokemon is essentially it’s singular stat that indicates its power. Whereas a regular Pokemon game might have a level, attack power, defense power, and more, Pokemon Go skips all this and just gives you one single stat for the power and level of your Pokemon.
Once you learn this it’s easy to sort out the rest. Using this CP number and the Pokemon type you can figure out what the best matchup is when taking on gyms. You can also determine which Pokemon are important, making choices about which to catch and keep. CP sort of trumps all other considerations when determining which Pokemon are most important to you in Pokemon Go.
There’s still more to it though, with Pokemon having a maximum CP. This is determined by their species, their size, and their weight. The most important factor is the species though, and you’ll see this as you start to catch rarer and more powerful Pokemon. The half-circle above your Pokemon in the stat screen shows how much higher the CP can go. Powering them up will raise it toward this limit, but to raise the limit you’ll need to evolve them.
As far as what CP a Pokemon has when you first encounter it. This is pretty random. Your player’s level matters most, raising the limit for how high the CP will be on random Pokemon. Still, even at a high level you’ll encounter some CP 10 Pidgeys, and more.
And that’s about it as far as CP in Pokemon Go. It’s a very important number, and you really need to understand it to become better at the game. Hopefully this helped, but let us know in the comments if you have additional questions.
Published: Jul 10, 2016 11:49 am