IV Calculator methodology

Every Pokémon's CP in Pokémon GO is determined by four numbers: its species' base Attack, Defense, and Stamina, the three Individual Values (IVs) added on top, and the current level (which maps to a CP Multiplier or CPM).

These combine via the official CP formula published in Niantic's server data. Given the input numbers, the output CP is deterministic — no randomness, no rounding except a final floor.

CP = floor((Atk × √Def × √Sta × CPM²) / 10)
where Atk = base_Atk + IV_Atk
      Def = base_Def + IV_Def
      Sta = base_Sta + IV_Sta
      CPM = lookup(level)  // 0.094 at L1, 0.8653 at L50

Given a CP measurement, the calculator iterates every IV combination (0-15 for each of three stats = 4 096 combos) and computes the forward CP. Combos where the computed CP matches the input get added to the candidate list.

HP narrows the candidates further: HP = floor(Sta × CPM). Many CP-matching combos have different Stamina values → different HP → only one matches.

Stardust cost narrows level: the in-game Power Up button shows a specific dust cost per level band. Knowing the dust limits the IV search to 1-2 levels (e.g. dust 4000 = level 33-34).

For every catch, the calculator needs three values from the Pokémon's detail screen:

• ▸CP — the big number at top of the detail screen.
• ▸HP — shown above the HP bar (e.g. "162 / 162").
• ▸Stardust to Power Up — tap Power Up and note the cost, then back out without confirming.

Lucky mons have all power-up dust costs halved. So a Lucky Mewtwo at level 30 shows 2 000 dust instead of 4 000 — but the underlying level (and therefore the CPM) is the same.

Best Buddy adds +1 effective level when the buddy is set as your current Best Buddy. In CP terms, this is equivalent to powering up by 0.5 levels in game.

When you enable the Lucky / Best Buddy toggles in the calculator, the dust-to-level mapping is adjusted accordingly so the same dust cost maps to a different level.