What is better to have? A pokemon with higher IV but lower CP or vice versa?

Me and my friends have encountered this situation many times. We need to decide which Pokemon to evolve.
Take the following scenario:

  • Growlithe A: 20% more CP than Growlithe B. (898 instead of 743).
  • Growlithe B: 26% more IV than Growlithe A. (87 instead of 69 in this case).

I didn't give more details about each Pokemon because I'd like a general answer that others can use.

Thank you kind folks!

P.S this is not a duplicate, since I understand what a higher IV interprets into.

Yes, a higher IV will define the MAX CP, but it's not the only thing to consider. A higher IV also means better chance of better moves for the evolved pokemon - and those are much more important than a high CP. Also consider that I have many Arcanines and I don't have the stardust to max them out (that is a different question).


Growlithe B is likely the one you want to evolve. IV remains fixed when you evolve and IV limits the potential of the Pokemon. As long as you continue to get stardust and Growlithe candy, B will ultimately have higher CP.

Note that moves are assigned randomly at evolution, so you shouldn't consider current moves.


It depends on the future of the Growlithe. If you expect to power it up somewhat, then Growlithe A is better than Growlithe B because it will take less candies and stardust. If you expect to power it us significantly and keep it for a long time, I suggest Growlithe B because the stardust and candy difference is negligible in the long run. However, the most important factor is moveset. A Growlithe with Bite and Flamethrower is far better than one with Ember and Flamethrower. Therefore, the Growlithe with the better moveset is probably much better.


CP are calculated from sum of (total Attack, Defense and Stamina of a pokemon times 1, 0.5 and 0.5 respectively) times a constant which differ depending what level tier your pokemon is at.

Bigger total stat brings more CP. You will mostly evolve your growlithe to arcanine because of the massive boost on each base stat. You will favor growlithe with more IV stat, because with the constant applied for each pokemon level up, it would lead to notable CP difference between both of your growlithe when they have same CP arc percentage (alias they are at same level)

Your ideal battle pokemon would be that one who has most base stat, most IV and a moveset that you are looking for.