Combat Points

When you battle a Pokémon in the wild, you will notice a number by it listing its "CP", otherwise known as Combat Points. This is essentially the calculation of the strength of the Pokémon. Each Pokémon has got a base Combat Points level and their maximum varies depending on species, size and your own trainer level. As your trainer level gets higher, you will encounter more higher levelled Pokémon.

Combat Points are the power of the Pokémon and help determine how much damage your Pokémon does in battle when against a Gym. The higher the CP compared to the opponent, the more damage inflicted.

However, aside from all that, the CP is determined based on the power of your Pokémon. This is shown by a scale running in a semicircle at the top of the Pokémon status screen. This circle essentially shows what could be considered as the Pokémon's Level and can be increased. When a Pokémon evolves, the placement in the semi circle will remain the same, but the Pokémon's CP will likely increase based on the Pokémon's base stats.

When the trainer level increases, the Pokémon you already have will not have their CP increase but will gain access to more on the scale. For each level you're at as a trainer, you can Power Up your Pokémon twice.

Before After
Before After
Increasing Combat Points

Increasing CP is relatively simple. As you capture Pokémon, you will collect the special item called Stardust. Teamed with the Stardust and the candy for each of the Pokémon, you can power up the Pokémon. This is not done by training it at gyms but rather by using these items.

The amount of Stardust required is dependent solely on what part of the scale the Pokémon is currently on. There are still restrictions on how far up the scale the Pokémon can go based on the trainer level. The higher the level and the more you have to spend. This is done on a pseudo-level system. Each Pokémon has an individual level determined by the curve. If it starts out higher then the Stardust requirements to Power Up are larger. It will increase every few Power Ups until you hit the highest the Pokémon can be. You can't do this, however, until your Trainer Level allows it.

Power Up Stardust Required Candy Required
1-4 200 Stardust 1 Candy
5-8 400 Stardust 1 Candy
9-12 600 Stardust 1 Candy
13-16 800 Stardust 1 Candy
17-20 1000 Stardust 1 Candy
21-24 1300 Stardust 2 Candy
25-28 1600 Stardust 2 Candy
29-32 1900 Stardust 2 Candy
33-36 2200 Stardust 2 Candy
37-40 2500 Stardust 2 Candy
41-44 3000 Stardust 3 Candy
45-48 3500 Stardust 3 Candy
49-52 4000 Stardust 4 Candy
53-56 4500 Stardust 4 Candy
57-60 5000 Stardust 4 Candy
61-64 6000 Stardust 4 Candy
65-68 7000 Stardust 4 Candy
69-72 8000 Stardust 4 Candy
73-76 9000 Stardust 4 Candy
77-80 10000 Stardust 4 Candy
81-82 10000 Stardust 10 Candy XL
83-84 11000 Stardust 10 Candy XL
85-86 11000 Stardust 12 Candy XL
87-88 12000 Stardust 12 Candy XL
89-90 12000 Stardust 15 Candy XL
91-92 13000 Stardust 15 Candy XL
93-94 13000 Stardust 17 Candy XL
95-96 14000 Stardust 17 Candy XL
97-98 14000 Stardust 20 Candy XL
99-100 15000 Stardust 15 Candy XL

Once you reach the 60th power up, then the next power ups will yield smaller increases to Hit Points and to Combat Points.

In addition to this, Wild Pokémon typically cap at no more than the equivalent of 60 Power Ups, and hatched Pokémon are capped to the equivalent of 40 Power Ups, so you'll never catch or hatch Pokémon at higher levels of CP and will need to power them up.

Determining Combat Points

Combat Points are determined in a very simple way. Like the main games, Pokémon have got specific stats, this time Hit Points, Attack and Defense, with Attack and Defense being hidden stats. Using these, the Combat Points are determined, but there are more values involved.

Also like the main games, Pokémon in Pokémon GO have got Individual Values in their stats, these run from 0 to 15 with 15 being the best. This is also used in the calculation of Combat Points. There's also a special value for each Power Up level that is used in the calculation

The calculation is as follows

CP = floor((Base Attack + Attack IV) * (Base Defense + Defense IV)^0.5 * (Base HP + HP IV)^0.5 * (PowerUpValue^2) / 10 )

This will determine the Combat Points.