My kids have recently discovered Pokémon Go, and I’m trying to get my head around it so I can show them how it works!
So, I have some questions…
Why would I want to transfer Pokémon? Is it just to get rid of doubles? Do I get anything in exchange?
Why does the same Pokémon have different CPs when collected at different times? Is it just random?
When I’m evolving a Pokémon, is there any advantage in evolving one with high CP? Does that give the evolved one higher CP?
Thanks!
Hi there, welcome to the forum!
To answer your questions:
1). It is indeed mostly used to get rid of doubles. Pokémon GO uses an inventory system, only letting you own an X amount of Pokémon. You start with 350 Pokémon max I believe, but you can buy Storage upgrades in the shop for 200 PokéCoins (can be earned by defending Gyms) giving you 50 extra slots each time you purchase an upgrade (there is a maximum for this too, it’s 7500 or so, meaning once you hit that number of total inventory slots you can no longer buy upgrades. However, Niantic is known to increase the maximum over the time.
A second reason to transfer Pokémon is to gain Candy. Each time you transfer a Pokémon, you will be rewarded with one Candy for the corresponding species. These Candies are needed to evolve Pokémon or to Power them up, both to make them stronger.
And finally, transferring Pokémon is really helpful to clean up your inventory and make it a lot easier to sort and find a specific Pokémon.
2). CP is based on a Pokémon’s level and IVs (the latter you can see by using ‘Appraisal’, the more the bars are filled the better a Pokémon’s ‘IV’ is). There is no clear indication of its level but you can calculate it if you know the max level a Pokémon can be powered up to and the amount of Power ups remaining until the max level is hit. It’s not really useful information to know what its level is, though.
Their levels (and IVs too) are indeed randomized, however they are determined per spawn (yet still each spawn will have a random level). This would indeed mean that two Spearows appearing next to each other can indeed have totally different CP values. However, if a Pokémon randomly turns into another (due to an event starting, this may happen) the level and IVs are kept. That said, CP is also dependent on the Pokémon species so it may still receive a different CP value after the change.
3). Higher CP usually means it’s a higher level Pokémon and then it is indeed typically stronger. That said, two Pokémon of the same level can also have different CP if their IVs are different (again, it’s the appraisal stats). The one with better IV’s (bars are more filled) will always have a higher CP and is in this case always better than the one with lower CP. However, if their levels are different, the higher CP one isn’t necessarily the best, since it may have lower IVs. This means that if you were to Power the other one up to the same level, it will have a higher CP.
This however doesn’t necessarily mean you always evolve the ones with best IVs, as you can easily evolve the higher CP (higher level) one of you don’t plan to Power it up anyway. It will also cost a lot less to Power it up to its max level if it already has a higher level.
Shadow Pokémon are usually the strongest, even if they have lower IVs. This is because Shadow Pokémon gain a significant attack boost. If you compare two similar Shadow Pokémon, the rules above will work again though.
Hope this helps!
Apparently missed this question, but yes, with the exception of certain Bug-type Pokémon evolving to the middle stage, like Weedle and Wurmple, and Trapinch, of which I just figured is not a Bug-type apparently. Their final stages will be much stronger again.
Thank you, that’s good to know!
Hi, I have a couple of further questions…
What’s special about event pokemon (except that they have party hats)? When I try to transfer one, I get a warning, but I can’t see anything about them that’s special, compared to non-event equivalents.
Why are there some Pokémon where one version has no “Evolve” option but another does? For example, I have 2 Pikachus; one has the “Evolve” button and one doesn’t. Why is this?
Thank you!
The mayority of all Event Pokémon cannot be evolved, only some can do this.
For example, I have 55 Event Pikachu, but only 13 Event Raichu.
The last of my Pikachus evolvable was Christmas 2023, where I have as well the Raichu with this Santa Hat.
I see, thanks! So what’s the point of event Pokemon? The ones I have seem to have lower CP than their non-event versions.
Their only point is they are limited to an event and are different from a collection point. They have no other value than that.
Their limited access to get puts them in the special category by the game makers.