Pokémon GO Appraisal Stars Explained: What Every Rating Means

Pokémon GO Appraisal stars show the overall IV quality of a Pokémon, using Attack, Defense and HP values to group each catch into ratings from zero stars up to a perfect four-star result.

What Pokémon GO Appraisal stars mean

Pokémon GO Appraisal stars summarize the combined Individual Values, or IVs, for Attack, Defense and HP. Each of those three IVs ranges from 0 to 15, giving a maximum total of 45. The higher the total, the higher the star rating shown by your Team Leader.

The Pokémon GO Appraisal stars screen also shows three orange stat bars. Each bar is split at 5 and 10, with a completely filled bar representing 15. Reading the bars lets you work out the exact Attack, Defense and HP IV spread without using a separate calculator.

Every appraisal rating

Search rating	Total IV points	Approx. IV percentage
0*	0–22	0–48.9%
1*	23–29	51.1–64.4%
2*	30–36	66.7–80%
3*	37–44	82.2–97.8%
4*	45	100%

A perfect Pokémon is commonly called a hundo. It has 15 Attack, 15 Defense and 15 HP, and its Pokémon GO Appraisal stars display uses the special red background associated with a perfect appraisal. Searching 4* in your storage instantly finds these Pokémon.

How to appraise a Pokémon

1. Open your Pokémon storage.
2. Choose the Pokémon you want to check.
3. Open the Pokémon menu.
4. Tap Appraise.
5. Read the star stamp and the three stat bars.

You can swipe left or right while the appraisal is open to move through nearby Pokémon quickly. This makes Pokémon GO Appraisal stars useful after Community Day, Spotlight Hour or any event where you have caught a large number of the same species.

Do three stars always mean a Pokémon is best?

No. Pokémon GO Appraisal stars measure IVs, not whether a Pokémon is automatically useful for every job. A three-star or perfect Pokémon is attractive for raids and collecting, but some PvP leagues prefer lower Attack with higher Defense and HP because of the way the CP limit works.

Species, moves, level and battle format usually matter more than a tiny IV difference. A perfect Pokémon with a poor moveset or weak species can still perform worse than a lower-rated Pokémon built for the correct role. Appraisal is one decision tool, not a complete ranking system.

Can powering up improve Appraisal stars?

Powering up and evolving do not improve Pokémon GO Appraisal stars. Those actions change level, CP or species, while normal IVs remain fixed. Purifying a Shadow Pokémon is an exception because purification increases each IV by two, up to the maximum of 15.

Hyper Training is another special system to check separately when available for an eligible Pokémon, but ordinary Stardust power-ups do not convert a two-star catch into a three-star catch. The appraisal you see is therefore a useful way to decide which duplicate to keep before spending resources.

Useful appraisal searches

The fastest way to manage Pokémon GO Appraisal stars across a large collection is with storage search terms. Use 0*, 1*, 2*, 3* or 4* to filter by overall appraisal tier. You can then combine those filters with species, type, shiny or other search terms before favouriting or transferring anything.

For collectors, Pokémon GO Appraisal stars are particularly useful for identifying hundos, near-perfect Pokémon and unusual low-IV catches. For competitive play, always check the individual stat bars as well as the stars, because the exact IV spread can matter more than the overall percentage.

Why some percentages never appear

The gaps between some Pokémon GO Appraisal stars percentage ranges are normal because IVs are whole numbers. A Pokémon has three stats from 0 to 15, so its total can only be one of 46 integer values from 0 to 45. That means not every percentage is mathematically possible. The star tiers are therefore best understood by total IV points rather than trying to memorise every decimal. If you want the exact spread, read the three appraisal bars; they tell you far more than the overall star stamp alone.

For current feature changes, event bonuses and game updates, check the official Pokémon GO website.