Pokémon GO players talk in shorthand: someone asks whether your hundo is worth the XL Candy, or says their team struggles against bait-heavy leads. This glossary explains the terms you will meet most often, grouped by topic. Where a term depends on numbers the game's developer adjusts, we describe what it means rather than quoting figures. Every Trainer Hub guide is listed on the Trainer Hub homepage.
Stats and numbers
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| CP (Combat Power) | A single number summing up a Pokémon's strength, calculated from its species' base stats, its IVs and its level. League caps are set in CP. On the tournament circuit, CP can also mean Championship Points, a separate tournament points system. |
| Base stats | The Attack, Defense and HP (Stamina) values shared by every Pokémon of the same species and form (regional and Mega forms have their own). |
| IVs | Individual values: three hidden numbers from 0 to 15, one each for Attack, Defense and HP, that make two Pokémon of the same species slightly different. Your team leader's appraisal shows them as a star rating and three bars: a close estimate, not exact numbers. |
| Hundo | A Pokémon with perfect 15/15/15 IVs. A "shundo" is a shiny hundo; a "nundo" has 0/0/0. |
| Level | A Pokémon's level, set when you catch, hatch or receive it and raised by powering up with Stardust and Candy. The maximum has been raised before, so check the current cap in game. |
| XL Candy | A separate kind of Candy needed to power a Pokémon beyond level 40. |
| Stat product | Attack × Defense × HP once level is applied. PvP players use it to compare IV spreads under a CP cap. |
| Rank 1 | The IV spread with the highest stat product for a species under a given cap. In capped leagues, a low-Attack spread often outranks a hundo. |
| Lucky Pokémon | A Pokémon that became Lucky in a trade. It has raised minimum IVs and costs less Stardust to power up. |
| Shadow / Purified | A Shadow Pokémon, usually rescued from Team GO Rocket, deals more damage but also takes more. Purifying it removes that trade-off, raises each IV a little and replaces Frustration, if it knows it, with Return. |
Moves and damage
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Fast move | A quick attack that deals small damage and builds energy. |
| Charged move | A stronger attack paid for with energy. In Trainer Battles, the GO Battle League and Team GO Rocket battles it can be blocked by a shield. |
| Energy | Built mainly by fast moves (in raids and Gyms, taking damage adds some too) and spent on charged moves. In Trainer Battles and the GO Battle League, a Pokémon keeps its stored energy when it switches out. |
| STAB | Same-Type Attack Bonus: a move that matches one of the user's types deals extra damage (1.2× in GO). |
| Super effective / resisted | Type matchup multipliers; our type chart lists every one. |
| Weather boost | In boosted weather, wild Pokémon of matching types appear at higher levels and moves of those types hit harder in raids and Gyms. Weather has no effect on Trainer Battles or the GO Battle League. |
| Legacy move | A move a species can no longer learn from a regular TM, often from a past event or Community Day. An Elite TM can usually teach one, though some moves are exceptions. |
| Second charged move | An extra charged move slot unlocked with Stardust and Candy; valuable in PvP. |
PvP terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| PvP | Player versus player: Trainer Battles and the GO Battle League (GBL), the ranked ladder. |
| League | The three standard divisions, set by CP limit: Great League (1,500 CP maximum), Ultra League (2,500 CP maximum) and Master League (no limit). Some themed cups use other caps. See choosing Pokémon for each league. |
| Cup | A themed format layered on a league, restricting types, species or other traits. |
| Shield | A Protect Shield. Each player gets a limited number per battle, and each absorbs one charged move. |
| Bait | Throwing a cheaper charged move to tempt out a shield before your stronger one. |
| Farm down | Knocking out an opponent's Pokémon with fast moves only, so your Pokémon keeps its stored energy for the opponent's next Pokémon. |
| Breakpoint / bulkpoint | A breakpoint is the level or Attack stat at which a fast move deals one more damage to a given opponent. A bulkpoint is the defensive version: taking one less damage from the opponent's fast move. |
| Switch timer | After switching, you must wait before switching again, unless your Pokémon faints. |
| CMP | Charge Move Priority: when both players throw a charged move at the same moment, the Pokémon with the higher Attack stat goes first. |
| Lead, safe swap, closer | Team roles: the Pokémon that starts, the flexible one you switch to, and the one saved for the end. |
| Meta | The Pokémon and teams most used in a format. "Anti-meta" picks are chosen to beat them; "spice" is an unusual pick. |
Raid and PvE terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| PvE | Player versus environment: raids, Gyms, Team GO Rocket and other battles against the game. |
| DPS | Damage per second: how quickly a Pokémon deals damage. A key measure for raid attackers, usually weighed alongside TDO. |
| TDO | Total damage output: how much damage a Pokémon deals before fainting. Bulky Pokémon score well. |
| Glass cannon | High DPS but low bulk: hits hard, faints fast. |
| Mega Evolution | A temporary transformation paid for with Mega Energy. In raids it can also boost other trainers' attacks of matching types. |
| Max Battles | Battles at Power Spots, fought with Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon. |
Collecting and community
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Shiny | An alternate-colour version of a Pokémon. Odds are often improved for featured Pokémon during events. |
| Regional | A species normally found in the wild only in certain parts of the world. |
| Nest | An area where one species appears more often; the featured species changes periodically. |
| Trade evolution | Some species can evolve for no Candy after being traded. |
| Best Buddy | The top buddy level; a Best Buddy gets a small CP boost while it is your buddy. |
