Pokemon Go Glossary

Attack (Actual Attack)

• One of every Pokemon's 3 'real' stats. Actual Attack is the number that is used in real-time calculations to determine how much damage your Pokemon deals; a higher Attack stat results in a higher damage output. For more information on Pokemon stats, check here.

Base Stat

• A fixed, unchangeable value that is inherent to all members of a Pokemon species (with the exception of forms). Every Pokemon has 3 base stats: Attack, Defense, and HP. For more information on base stats, check here.

Battle Party

• A feature that allows you to pre-select a team of up to 6 Pokemon for battling. Battle Parties make it easier for you to use your best counters, which is a huge upgrade over just using Recommended.

Breakpoint

• A Level at which a Pokemon's Fast Move does 1 extra damage in a specific matchup. Breakpoints are dependent on your Pokemon's Attack IV and the species of the defending Pokemon. For more information on breakpoints, check here.

Bulk

• Bulk refers to a Pokemon's tankiness and survivability; ie. how long a Pokemon is able to stay alive. This is dependent on the Pokemon's HP and Defense, as well as its type matchup against the opposing Pokemon's moves.

Charge Move

• Every Pokemon has one Fast Move and (at least) one Charge Move. The Charge Move requires a specific amount of Energy to use, which is indicated by the number of 'bars' it has.

Counter

• A Pokemon that, with the combination of its base stats and moveset, is very effective at defeating a specific Raid Boss.
• eg. Mamoswine is a very effective counter against Rayquaza, thanks to its high base stats and access to Powder Snow/Avalanche, which exploits Rayquaza's 4x weakness to Ice.

CP (Combat Power)

• A very rough estimator of a Pokemon's battle strength. CP is calculated with a Pokemon's Base Stats, IVs, and Level. CP is not a very good measure of how strong a Pokemon actually is in battle:
• Pokemon with primarily defensive base stat spreads may have high CPs, but will not actually be very effective in battle due to having low offensive stats.
• CP also does not account for Movesets, which can make or break a Pokemon's viability in battle.
• Lugia has a max CP of 3703, but its base 193 Attack and poor offensive coverage holds it back from being a top-tier attacker.
• Conversely, Machamp only has a max CP of 3056, but it is widely considered to be one of the best attackers in the game thanks to its base 234 Attack and incredibly good Fighting-type moveset in Counter/Dynamic Punch.
• For more information on how CP is calculated, check here.

CPM (CP Multiplier)

• A hidden number that Niantic uses to scale your Pokemon's actual stats according to its Level. For more information on the CP Multiplier, check here.

Defense (Actual Defense)

• One of every Pokemon's 3 'real' stats. Actual Defense is the number that is used in real-time calculations to determine how much damage your Pokemon takes; a higher Defense stat results in less damage taken. For more information on Pokemon stats, check here.

Dodging

• An action you can perform while in battle that, if correctly timed, allows your Pokemon to take 75% reduced damage from opposing attacks. For more information on how to dodge, check out our dodging guide.

DPS (Damage per Second)

• The amount of damage that a Pokemon will do to a specific Raid Boss per 1 second. Since Raids are a race against the 300- or 180-second timer, Pokemon with high DPS should generally be prioritized.

Energy

• The resource required to use Charge Moves in a battle. Energy is gained by using Fast Moves and taking damage, and is expended by using Charge Moves.

EX Raid

• A Tier 5 Raid that takes place at a pre-set time and date, and requires an EX Raid Pass to join. EX Raids currently contain Deoxys-Speed.
• EX Raid Passes can be acquired by raiding at EX-eligible Gyms (shown in the top right corner). If you have received an EX Raid Pass, you can invite one Ultra or Best Friend to join you.

Fast Catching

• An exploit that allows you to skip the "shaking" animation and post-catch screen, which significantly speeds up the catching process. For more details, check out our Stardust grinding guide.

Fast Move

• Every Pokemon has one Fast Move and (at least) one Charge Move. Each use of the Fast Move will deal damage and build up a specific amount of Energy (depending on the Fast Move used).

Form

• A major aesthetic variation within a Pokemon species. Forms can be purely cosmetic, with no difference in base stats; they can also be functionally different, with different base stats depending on the form.
• Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix both have the same base stats: 96 Attack, 109 Defense, and 116 HP.
• Giratina-Altered has base stats of 187 Attack, 225 Defense, and 284 HP; Giratina-Origin (the floating one) has base stats of 225 Attack, 187 Defense, and 284 HP.

Glass Cannon

• A Pokemon that can output high amounts of damage (Cannon), but cannot take many hits in return before fainting (Glass).

Go Plus (Go+)

• An official Pokemon Go accessory that allows you to catch Pokemon and spin Pokestops without paying attention to your phone by pressing the button on the device.

Gotcha/Gotcha Ranger

• An unofficial Pokemon Go accessory that is an upgraded version of the Go Plus: it can catch Pokemon and spin Pokestops automatically, without requiring a button press.
• The Gotcha Ranger is an upgraded version of the Gotcha, with a significantly improved battery life.
• These accessories are very helpful for increasing the rate at which you acquire Stardust and items from Pokestops by allowing you to catch and spin when you normally wouldn't be able to play, such as when driving. For more, see our Stardust grinding guide.

HP (Actual HP)

• HP (short for Hit Points) is one of every Pokemon's 3 'real' stats. HP determines how much damage your Pokemon can take before it faints; the more HP your Pokemon has, the longer it will survive in battle. For more information on Pokemon stats, check here.

IVs (Individual Values)

• A set of 3 hidden numbers, ranging from 0-15, that varies between every individual Pokemon. A Pokemon's IVs are added directly onto their base stats, and the sum is multiplied by the Pokemon's CPM (corresponding to its Level).
• IVs are often referred to in terms of percentages: a Rayquaza with IVs of 10/10/10 would have 30 of the possible 45 IVs, and would be referred to as a "67%" Rayquaza. This does NOT mean that a 67% Rayquaza performs 67% as well as a 100% Rayquaza.
• IVs are a very, very minimal increase to stats. Every other avenue of upgrading your Pokemon (Species, Movesets, and Levels) will be more impactful than IVs. For a more detailed explanation on IVs, check out this link.

Legacy Move

• A move that is no longer available on a Pokemon. Legacy moves introduced by Community Days and Raid Days cannot be TM'd to, even if you TM during the event period.

Level

• A hidden value that is assigned to each individual Pokemon. The higher a Pokemon's Level, the higher its stats (Attack, Defense, HP) are, and the better it will perform in battle.
• Every time you Power Up your Pokemon, its Level increases by 0.5. The max Level a Pokemon can be is either your Trainer Level + 2 or Level 40. For a more detailed explanation on Pokemon Levels, check here.

Meta/Meta-Relevance

• Meta is an acronym for Most Efficient Tactic Available; if something is 'meta-relevant', it is the most or among the most efficient options for accomplishing a specific goal.
• eg. Rayquaza is meta-relevant because it is the best overall counter to Dragon-types, and Dragon-types are very common in Tier 5 Raids.

Raid

• An in-game event where you can team up with other players to defeat a Raid Boss Pokemon. If you defeat the Raid Boss, you will get a chance to capture it.
• A list of current Raid Bosses can be found here.
• Despite the game recommending 20 players for Tier 5 Raids, all Tier 5 Raids can be defeated with 4 or fewer people, if everyone knows what they're doing. For more information, check our Tier 5 Raid Guides.

Rare Candy

• An item acquired primarily from Raids that can be converted 1:1 to Candy for any Pokemon species.

Research Stacking

• An exploit that allows you to 'store' Field Research encounters, up to a maximum of 100. After the 100th, stacked Pokemon are deleted from oldest to newest.
• Research Stacking is a great way to rack up Stardust during bonus Stardust events. For more information, check out our Stardust grinding guide.

Recommended

• The team that the game automatically generates whenever you enter a Raid or Gym lobby.
• Recommended teams are notoriously bad. If you care about pulling your own weight in a Raid, don't use Recommended; take the 20 seconds to make your own Battle Parties beforehand.

Regional

• A Pokemon that can only be caught in specific regions of the world.

Shiny

• A rare alternate variant of a Pokemon that is a different color than the normal variant. Shinies are purely cosmetic, and do not affect stats or battle performance whatsoever.
• The default Shiny rate is approximately 1/450. Shiny rates may be boosted for Community Days (~1/20), Raid Days (~1/10), Tier 5 Raids (~1/20), or event spawns (~1/75 or ~1/150).

Shortmanning (Lowmanning)

• Battling and successfully defeating a Raid with the minimum number of trainers. Despite the game's recommendation of 20 people for a Tier 5 Raid, all Tier 5 Raids can be defeated with 4 people or fewer.

STAB

• STAB is an acronym for Same Type Attack Bonus. If a Pokemon uses a move that matches one of its types, that move will do 20% increased damage.

Stardust

• A resource that is acquired primarily through catching Pokemon. Used to power up your Pokemon, as well as add second Charge Moves.
• Stardust is a very scarce resource if you actually use it to make your Pokemon stronger instead of hoarding it. For tips on how to maximize Stardust gain, check out our Stardust grinding guide.

TDO (Total Damage Output)

• The total amount of damage that a Pokemon will deal to a specific Raid Boss before it (your Pokemon) faints. Pokemon with higher bulk will have a higher TDO.
• Since Raids are a race against the 300- or 180-second timer, Pokemon with low DPS and high TDO are considered deadweight: your Blissey will survive a long time, true, but it will also very little damage. Unless the other players are strong enough to carry your weight in addition to theirs, you will run out of time and fail the Raid.

TM (Technical Machine)

• An item acquired primarily from Raids that allows you to change your Pokemon's Fast or Charge Move randomly to another move that can currently be learned by that species.

TTW (Time to Win)

• A Pokebattler term that describes how many seconds it would take for 6 identical clones of any given Pokemon species to defeat a Raid Boss.
• Eg. If Rayquaza's TTW against Latios is 594 seconds, it will take a team of 6 identical Rayquazas 594 seconds to defeat a Latios Raid Boss.
• Obviously, Raids have a time limit of 300 seconds. A TTW of 594 seconds means that 2 people using 6 identical Rayquazas each would be able to defeat the Latios, since 300 seconds x 2 is 600 seconds, and 594 is less than 600 seconds.

Type

• Every Pokemon has 1 or 2 types; every Move has 1 type. Types are attributes that define type effectiveness in battle.

Type Effectiveness

• The interaction between a Pokemon's Move Type and the defending Pokemon's Type. Moves can either be Neutral, Super Effective, or Not very Effective.
• For a more detailed explanation on type effectiveness,

Weather Boost (Battle)

• Moves whose type matches one of the types boosted by the current Weather do 20% increased damage.

Weather Boost (Catch)

• Pokemon whose type(s) match the type(s) boosted by the current Weather are encountered 5 Levels higher than normal (Level 6-35), reward 25% extra Stardust when caught, and have a raised IV floor of 4/4/4.

XP

• A number that determines your in-game Experience Points, and by extension your Trainer Level.
• XP is largely meaningless after Level 38, since you can power up your Pokemon to the max Level (40) at Level 38.