The appraisal tool within Pokemon Go is of vital importance. Using it gives an indication as to how strong a particular Pokemon is.
Pokemon Go appraisal explained
These indications, or aptly named appraisals, tell you how strong your Pokemon is and its strongest stat. While these appraisals don’t provide an exact reading, they do tell you the range the Pokemon lies in.
A Pokemon’s stats are broken down into three categories: attack, defense and stamina. Combining these three gives the Pokemon an overall IV, a score between 0 and 45, as each stat can range between 0 and 15.
The meaning of the appraisals differ between each team leader, however. This means there can be different appraisals for the exact same Pokemon when asking two different team leaders.
Appraisal chart
The meaning of each team leader’s appraisal for each of Instinct, Mystic and Valor are explained below.
| IV Range | Instinct | Mystic | Valor |
| 82% to 100% | Overall, your Pokemon looks like it can really battle with the best of them! | Overall, your Pokemon is a wonder! What a breathtaking Pokemon! | Overall, your Pokemon simply amazes me. It can accomplish anything! |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67% to 81% | Overall, your Pokemon is really strong! | Overall, your Pokemon has certainly caught my attention. | Overall, your Pokemon is a strong Pokemon. You should be proud! |
| 51% to 66% | Overall, your Pokemon is pretty decent. | Overall, your Pokemon is above average. | Overall, your Pokemon is a decent Pokemon. |
| 0% to 50% | Overall, your Pokemon has room for improvement as far as battling goes. | Overall, your Pokemon is not likely to make much headway in battle. | Overall, your Pokemon may not be great in battle, but I still like it! |
This table shows the overall the overall IV of your Pokemon. If your intention is to be competitive then Pokemon in the highest IV range are required.
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Highest IV appraisal
Appraisals also tell you the highest base stat of your Pokemon. For example, along with the overall IV range, the number of your highest stat from 0 to 15 will also be indicated.
| Highest IV value | Instinct | Mystic | Valor |
| 15 | Its stats are the best I’ve ever seen! No doubt about it! | Its stats exceed my calculations. It’s incredible! | I’m blown away by its stats. WOW! |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 to 14 | Its stats are really strong! Impressive. | I am certainly impressed by its stats, I must say. | It’s got excellent stats! How exciting! |
| 8 to 12 | It’s definitely got some good stats. Definitely! | Its stats are noticeably trending to the positive. | Its stats indicate that in battle, it’ll get the job done. |
| 0 to 7 | Its stats are all right, but kinda basic, as far as I can see. | Its stats are not out of the norm, in my opinion. | Its stats don’t point to greatness in battle. |
What’s my Pokemon’s exact IV?
The appraisal tool is incredibly useful. However, it only provides a range of IVs and doesn’t give you an accurate reading.
This is intentional on Niantic’s behalf who don’t want to provide the ability to get an exact reading. The reason for this open for debate.
- Read More: Managing field research tasks and breakthrough rewards to get the most out of them in Pokemon Go
With that said, there are additional apps out there that will calculate your Pokemon’s exact IV. These aren’t endorsed by Niantic and vary between iOS and Android.
Furthermore, it should be noted that these are third party apps which in some cases go against the terms and conditions of Pokemon Go. A screenshot based app, which calculates the IV based on a screenshot rather than the app itself, is probably the safest way to go should you want exact results.
