M: Are there any cp value patterns in Pokemon go that could help determine which Pokémon has better stats in a situation where you have limited resources and are trying to get a perfect specimen? If so, is it a universal rule, or does it vary from species to species?

G: Yes, there are CP value patterns in Pokémon GO that can help determine which Pokémon has better stats (IVs) when you're working with limited resources. However, the relationship between CP and IVs is not always straightforward, as CP is influenced by a Pokémon's species, base stats, level, and IVs. Here’s what you need to know:

1. CP Floors and IV Distributions

2. CP and Appraisal System

3. Species-Specific Variations

4. Evolution CP Jumps

5. Weather Boosted and Wild Spawns

6. Universal Rule vs. Species-Specific

If you're looking for a perfect specimen with limited resources, use the appraisal system first and then compare CP among Pokémon of the same level. To be precise, external IV calculators can help confirm the best investment choice.

M: I meant during the capture stage. Say there’s one of those hours where nothing but wobbuffetts appear, and I’m caught off guard with only 20 balls total. Is there a rubric I could apply to each potential capture to at least improve the chances of capturing a perfect specimen?

G: Yes, there are a few heuristics you can use when evaluating Pokémon at the capture stage to maximize your chances of getting a perfect IV specimen, especially when resources are limited. While CP alone isn't a perfect indicator, certain patterns can improve your odds of prioritizing the best ones.

1. Look for CP Near the Max for Wild Catches

2. Favor Pokémon with Weather Boost

3. Compare CP Among Identical Species

4. Use the Pokémon’s Weight as a Secondary Indicator

5. Use a Catch-Then-Appraise Approach (If You Can Spare a Few Balls)

6. If CP is Similar, Prioritize Gender (For Some Pokémon)

TL;DR – Quick Decision Flow

  1. Prioritize the highest CP Pokémon among identical spawns.
  2. If weather-boosted, catch it—it has a minimum 10/10/10 IV floor.
  3. Compare CP to max known values for that species (e.g., ~690+ for Wobbuffet).
  4. If tied, check weight—larger may be better.
  5. Use the appraisal system after a few catches to refine your choices.

This approach won’t guarantee perfection but will significantly increase your chances of catching a strong IV Pokémon while using the fewest balls possible.

M: With dynamax Pokemon, which is the better early investment: raising their level, or in increasing their dynamax abilities

G: In early investment for Dynamax Pokémon, raising their level is generally the better choice over increasing their Dynamax Level. Here’s why:

1. Level Directly Increases Stats (Universal Benefit)

2. Dynamax Level Only Affects HP (Situational Benefit)

3. Early-Game Efficiency

Best Strategy for Early Investment

  1. Prioritize leveling up (via EXP Candy, battles, or Rare Candy).
  2. Raise Dynamax Level later, when your Pokémon is high level and worth investing in for max HP benefits in raid battles or tough fights.

So in the early game, leveling up > Dynamax Level, but once you have a strong high-level Pokémon, maxing Dynamax Level helps in prolonged Dynamax battles.

M: Sorry, I was talking about Pokémon GO. I think you were talking about the basic games

G: In Pokémon GO, the better early investment for a Dynamax-equivalent Pokémon (which I assume you mean as a powerful raid/gyms Pokémon) depends on whether you're prioritizing immediate usability or long-term strength.

1. Raising the Pokémon’s Level (Powering Up)

2. Increasing Dynamax Abilities (XL Candy Investment)

Best Early Investment Strategy

  1. If the Pokémon is under level 30-35: Prioritize regular powering up (using Stardust & normal Candy).
  2. If it's already at a high level (35-40) and you have XL Candy: Consider investing XL Candy only if it’s a top-tier meta Pokémon (like Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Metagross).
  3. Dynamax Mechanic in GO? If you’re talking about Mega Evolutions (since Dynamax isn’t in Pokémon GO), unlocking Mega Levels is more useful in the long run than over-leveling non-meta Pokémon.

TL;DR

Powering up to level 40 is the best early investment. Only push past 40 with XL Candy if it’s a meta-defining Pokémon and you have the resources. If you meant Mega Evolution instead, prioritize unlocking its Mega Level bonuses for long-term usefulness.

M: You should check your information. In the last year or so, they have introduced dynamax evolutions and battles. I can go looking for information online, I just was hoping for a quick summary.

G: Apologies for the earlier confusion, and thank you for your patience. You're correct: Pokémon GO introduced Dynamax and Gigantamax mechanics in September 2024, allowing players to engage in Max Battles and capture Dynamax Pokémon. citeturn0search0

Understanding Dynamax Pokémon in Pokémon GO:

Investment Priorities for Dynamax Pokémon:

  1. Leveling Up:

    • Benefits: Increasing a Dynamax Pokémon's level enhances its overall stats, including CP, Attack, Defense, and HP, making it more effective in battles.
    • Resources Required: Regular Candy and Stardust are needed for this process.

  2. Enhancing Max Moves:

    • Benefits: Upgrading Max Moves can provide strategic advantages in Max Battles, as these moves have unique effects.
    • Resources Required: Max Particles and species-specific Candy are necessary for these enhancements. citeturn0search9

Recommendation:

Given that Dynamax Pokémon are primarily utilized in Max Battles, and considering the current limitations on their use in other battle formats, focusing on enhancing their Max Moves is advisable. This strategy will maximize their effectiveness in the specific scenarios where they can be deployed. Once you've optimized their Max Moves, you can then consider leveling them up to further boost their overall performance.

For a more detailed overview of how Dynamax works in Pokémon GO, you might find this video helpful:

videoHow Dynamax Works in Pokémon GO! Details Released!turn0search8

M: I was mostly looking for advice for initial investment. For example, I have a level 20 dynamax Darmanitan and 66 of his candy. So I’m trying to decide whether bringing him up to level 30 or so is the better investment, or if I should try and get another 50 or so candy and bring his dynamax attack to level two. The final goal is to do both – but which one would be likely to make general game progress easier in the process?

G: Apologies for any earlier confusion, and thank you for your patience.

In Pokémon GO, when deciding between powering up your level 20 Dynamax Darmanitan to level 30 or upgrading its Max Move to level 2, it's essential to consider the immediate benefits and resource costs associated with each option.

Option 1: Powering Up to Level 30

Option 2: Upgrading Max Move to Level 2

Recommendation:

Given your current resources—66 Darmanitan Candies and an unspecified amount of Stardust and Max Particles—powering up Darmanitan to level 30 is likely the more practical initial investment. This approach will enhance Darmanitan's overall performance across various battle formats, providing immediate benefits in both Max Battles and other combat scenarios.

Once Darmanitan is at level 30 and you've accumulated more Darmanitan Candies and Max Particles, you can then focus on upgrading its Max Move to level 2 to further bolster its capabilities in Max Battles.

This strategy ensures a balanced progression, optimizing Darmanitan's effectiveness in the short term while setting the stage for more specialized enhancements as you gather additional resources.

M: Assume that I dedicate all resources gathered towards improving this Darmanitan for dynamax battles. First, how much does going from level one to level two Dynamax attack add in terms of percentages? Then, About what level would it become advantageous to switch from leveling up to adding this extra attack power?

G: Apologies for any earlier confusion, and thank you for your patience.

In Pokémon GO, when focusing on optimizing your Dynamax Darmanitan for Max Battles, it's essential to understand the impact of both leveling up and upgrading its Max Move.

1. Upgrading Max Move from Level 1 to Level 2

2. Leveling Up Darmanitan

Comparative Analysis

Recommendation

Given the resource requirements and damage benefits:

This approach ensures that Darmanitan becomes a more formidable contender in Max Battles, with both its general stats and specific Max Move capabilities optimized.

M: OK, thank you, I think that has helped formulate a direct question. Disregard the cost of Stardust or particles. At what level would spending 110 candy to level up a Darmanitan give the final result on attack boost of less than 20%?

G: To determine the level at which spending 110 Darmanitan Candy would result in less than a 20% attack increase, we need to analyze how CP and Attack scale with levels in Pokémon GO.

Key Assumptions:

Approach:

  1. Calculate Attack at different levels.
  2. Determine how much Attack increases per 110 Candy spent.
  3. Identify the level threshold where the gain drops below 20%.

I'll run some calculations now.

G: The calculations indicate that at level 20, the attack gain from leveling up using 110 Candy already drops below 20%.**

This suggests that leveling up from 20 onward never provides a single jump that exceeds a 20% attack increase, meaning that upgrading the Dynamax Move at any time will provide a comparable or better immediate boost in Max Battles.

M: There’s a misapprehension in your calculation. I didn’t mean a single level. I meant that, for example, with a a level 20 Darmanitan, using a maximum of 110 candy and disregarding Stardust cost, I could raise the Darmanitan level to 33.5. According to what you said before, that would be over a 25% increase in attack power, compared to the flat increase of 20% from leveling up the dynamax attack. So my question was meant to be: at what point would spending 110 candy maximum to level up the Darmanitan as far as it can go, disregarding Stardust cost, result in an attack increase less than 20%?

G: The calculations show that at approximately level 47.5, spending 110 Candy to level up Darmanitan would result in an attack increase of less than 20% compared to its attack at level 20.

So, if your Darmanitan is below level 47.5, leveling up with 110 Candy is still a better immediate investment than upgrading its Dynamax Move to Level 2. However, once it reaches level 47.5, upgrading the Dynamax Move would provide a relatively better increase in Max Battles.

M: OK… What is the attack power boost of leveling up the Pokémon from level 20 to level 33.5?

G: Leveling up Darmanitan from level 20 to level 33.5 results in an attack power increase of approximately 33.75%.

Since this is greater than the 20% boost from upgrading the Dynamax Move to Level 2, leveling up to 33.5 is the better investment for maximizing attack power at this stage.

M: Looking at my best characters, it actually seems like my best statistics tend to happen with lower level creatures; certainly not on the higher side, at any rate. Is this normal or do I just have bad luck?

G: That’s actually a known phenomenon in Pokémon GO—it’s not just bad luck. Here’s why you might be seeing better stats on lower-level Pokémon:

  1. IV Distribution is Random but CP Scaling is Nonlinear

    • A lower-level Pokémon with high IVs (Individual Values) can sometimes outperform a higher-level one with mediocre IVs when fully powered up.
    • CP is influenced by a formula that includes square roots of Defense and Stamina, meaning CP doesn’t scale linearly with level.

  2. Wild Pokémon vs. Raid and Research Rewards

    • Wild Pokémon have random IVs, but lower-level Pokémon tend to have more variability.
    • Pokémon from raids, research, or egg hatches usually have a higher IV floor, making them better on average.

  3. Stardust and Candy Efficiency

    • A low-level Pokémon with perfect IVs is more efficient to power up than a high-level one with bad IVs.
    • Investing in a higher-level Pokémon with poor IVs could lead to wasted Stardust in the long run.

What This Means for You

If you want, I can help you figure out a quick way to check IVs without using external apps.

M: I will likely be moving in a few months to a year to a newly built subdivision. I am a level 41 player in Pokémon GO. How would I go about petitioning/requesting to add new stops in the area? I usually end up taking a walk daily And part of the motivation is to regularly hit a route; so it’s a little bit important to me, simply in terms of making sure I get enough exercise. I’m sending this through voice to text, and don’t have the ability right now to double check everything that was interpreted, so if anything in that doesn’t make sense it’s likely because of faulty translation. Sorry.

G: Your voice-to-text came through just fine. Since you're level 41, you qualify to nominate new PokéStops through Niantic Wayfarer. Here's how you can request new stops:

Steps to Submit a PokéStop Request:

  1. Open Pokémon GO and go to Settings > New PokéStop Nominations.
  2. Find a suitable location in your new neighborhood. Good candidates include:
    • Public parks or trails
    • Community centers or clubhouses
    • Unique landmarks (sculptures, signs, fountains, etc.)
    • Historical markers
    • Public artwork
  3. Take clear photos (one of the object, one of the surroundings).
  4. Write a strong title and description explaining why it’s a good PokéStop.
  5. Submit and wait for approval (can take weeks or months).

Tips to Increase Approval Chances:

You can also use Niantic Wayfarer to review existing submissions, which slightly speeds up your own requests.

Would you like help brainstorming good locations in your new area?

M: Is there a search string in the PoGo system that will let me see only red burmys

G: In Pokémon GO, you can use the in-game search bar with advanced filters, but unfortunately, you can't directly filter for a red Burmy (i.e. the Trash Cloak form) using color or visual traits.

However, you can use a workaround:

Search String to Try:

burmy&!evolved

This will show all unevolved Burmys. Then, manually scroll to see which ones are red (Trash Cloak).

If you want only Pokémon from a specific form, unfortunately, Burmy forms (Plant, Sandy, Trash) aren’t filterable by name or tag—so you'd need to tag red Burmys yourself (e.g., with “trash” or “red”) after catching them for easier future filtering:

tag:trash

Would you like a breakdown of how the different Burmy forms appear and where they spawn to make future hunting easier?

M: What about a search for all Pokémon who have already been mega transformed?

G: Yes, you can search for Pokémon that have already been Mega Evolved using this search string:

megaevolved

This will show all Pokémon in your storage that have ever undergone a Mega Evolution, even if they're not currently in Mega form.

If you want to tag or prioritize them, you can combine it with other filters like:

megaevolved&!tag:mega

(to find ones you've Mega Evolved but haven't tagged yet)

Or:

megaevolved&4*

(to find only 100% IV Mega-Evolved Pokémon)

Let me know if you want custom search strings for specific types (e.g., Mega Dragons, Fire types, etc.).

M: Do the skill circles in Pogo – the ones that say nice, great, or excellent – did they vary in size percentage from species to species? Or is that just an optical illusion? Because it seems like often the criteria for “excellent“ is much smallerfor some creatures than others.

G: You're absolutely right — it's not an illusion. The Nice / Great / Excellent throw circles do vary in size between species in Pokémon GO, and it's due to how each Pokémon's catch circle is scaled relative to its 3D model.

Here's how it works:

Why this matters:

Some players even memorize or track “easy Excellent” Pokémon for events that require precision throws.

Want a list of some of the best (or worst) Pokémon for reliable Excellent throws?