"Should I power up/evolve this Pokemon?? [THE ANSWER]"

#PokemonGO: The short answer is often - No, you probably shouldn't. But if that answer doesn't satisfy you, here's a protocol I feel we should follow (and don't worry, I often don't myself haha).First and foremost, powering up Pokemon only matters if you want to participate in Gyms. That means, as a trainer, your first priority is to be able to attack, train, and stack into Gyms. Since you likely can't stack into Gyms without being able to attack Gyms, I'll start with that first.Is this Pokemon a Gym Attacker?If you're not even sure yourself, here's the Gamepress Tier List and my recommendations. My list is a bit more lax than Gamepress because the difference between some movesets is so minor, I feel it's not worth worrying about. If you're curious, you can check the differences between movesets yourself on www.PokeBattler.com . Also reading u/dondon151's article Besting the “Big 7” could also prove worthwhile in your deliberations.If you plan on using the Pokemon in question for Gym offense, here are some tips:Do you need this Pokemon as an attacker? If you have a solid answer to all of the "Big 7" Gym defenders, but have been using a Magneton instead of a Jolteon for example, it may be reasonable to power up a good Jolteon to replace Magneton with. If you are completely without a solid Grass Type like Exeggutor, Tangela, or Venasaur, then that may take more of a priority. If you recently obtained a Dragonite or Tyranitar, those may also take a higher “power up” priority since they’re able to handle so many situations, reducing your need for a variety of attackers. Once you get to the point that you have 3 Dragon Breath/Dragon Tail Dragonites, a solid Counter Machamp, a solid Jolteon, and a solid Exeggutor, you really don’t need other attackers for the most part.Moveset trumps CP and IV If your Pokemon doesn’t have the recommended attacking moveset, don’t bother with it. For example, a volt-switch Jolteon is not a good attacker. A struggle bug Tangela is not a good attacker. It doesn’t matter how high its IV or CP is, you are going to want the Pokemon with the right moveset.CP often trumps IV This may get a bit complicated to understand, but from my research, I’ve found that IV’s have no real significant impact on a Pokemons performance until they drop below 9-7. Up until that point, species of similar CP with the same moveset, perform almost identically. Knowing this, this you can save stardust and candy by holding out to evolve or get a Pokemon that has good enough IV’s and high CP. How long should you hold out? That’s entirely up to you and what your standards are. As far as what’s “good enough” I’d say an attack IV above 10 is a good place to start.You often don’t have to max out attackers By all means, if you want to, go for it, but I feel it’s often not necessary. Through some light research I’ve done on performance plateaus, most attackers appear to reach a sort of “capped potential” around levels 31-33 that they don’t overcome until level 38-40. Often, their “38-40” iteration doesn’t even have that significant of a power gain. Given that there is far more to this than just level and attack IVs, I recommend running numerous simulations on www.Pokebattler.com if you really want to know where your individual Pokemons performance plateaus are against specific Pokemon, because they do vary depending on your Pokemons stats, the defenders stats, your moveset, and the defenders moveset. The “31-33” thing is a generalization.Is this Pokemon a Gym Defender?If you’re not even sure yourself, here’s the Gamepress Tier List, u/QuantumOverlord’s Performance Rankings, Pokebattlers Defensive Rankings, and an article by u/dondond151 that’s more in depth about defender performance. I’m not including my personal Tier List because I came to similar conclusions as Gamepress. Some may say they even use my model.If you plan on using the Pokemon in question as a Gym Defender, here’s some tips:Make sure you’ll be able to even stack onto your target Gyms!! Gyming is very regional based. Pay attention to the relative CP of most Pokemon in the Gyms you’re interested in. If the bottom 4 are usually above 3000 CP, maxing out a Vaporeon won’t help you as much as it would elsewhere.If you have less than 10 Gyms, focus on Pokemon with high CP caps! Typically this is the "Big 7.” More than other Gym Defenders, Pokemon with high CP caps will serve you better in your quest to regularly be on 10 gyms.IVs are only as important as they need to be. In general, you want high IVs because that translates into you stacking higher on gyms but beyond that, IVs are as relevant for defenders as they are for attackers.If you have more than 10 Gyms, focus on Pokemon with even higher CP caps!! Just some good future proofing. Power Creep is rampant in Pogo and while your 2900 Vaporeon serves now, the day may come when you need at least 3000 to stack above the bottom. I mean hey, level 40 maxed out Dragonites have been winding on the bottoms of some gyms even.If you’re comfortable with your Gym amount, focus on quality. Personally, I feel you should get to the point where you can actually hold gyms before you worry about your Gyarados having Bite or Dragon Tail. Once you reach that point, dedicate as many resources as you like to whichever defenders you deem fit.Note on good defenders with low CP caps: Their value is dependent on how hostile Power Creep and Gym Shaving is in your area. Power Creep isn’t so bad in my town, so I like to put maxed Steelix and Slowdudes on Gyms so weaker players have a little buffer to hold gyms longer, but that’s just me.Note on Blissey. Blissey is the greatest defender in the game by far. Unless your region is absolutely ravaged by Power Creep, Blissey should take priority every time.Tips on Stardust ManagementIf you’re comfortable with your defenders and attackers but would like more of one species or another or some more variety, I advise holding out for a high CP high IV wild catch. If you’re not in any rush, why waste 100-200 thousand stardust and 100-200 candy powering up a freshly hatched high IV Pokemon? Honestly, like any mobile game, Pokemon Go is now and will continue to be ravaged by Power Creep. Each update, there’ll be new Pokemon to get or new movesets that trump old ones and you’re going to want stardust for them.But Ryan, Charizard is my FAVE!!Whatever you decided to do beyond my above cold-calculations is up to you. Some people want their all 100 IV maxed out menagerie. Other people want their maxed out favorite with the best moveset. The best thing I can say to all this is the same as stardust, try to hold out for the high IV high CP catch.Note on PrestigersI initially left this section out, since I don't feel there is a simple way to rep a prestiger, but u/Zyxwgh convinced me to update. If you're curious which Pokemon are good prestigers, well, there are very few simple explanations that I'm aware of and I suggest using Pokebattler's Prestige Tool. Personally, I'm a fan of using Electabuzz, Parasect, Tangela, Golduck, Forrestress, Sneasel, Wigglytuff, and Radicate for the bulk of my prestiging needs. My picks are by no means optimized, just stuff that I've found works for me along my journey. Here are some general tips:Don't waste Candy/Dust on Prestigers. You'll naturally acquire a good amount of prestigers as you make your journey at various CP ranges. There are certain, complicated instances where burning Dust on a prestiger could be in your favor, such as trying to achieve 1000 prestige vs Blissey or powering up a low CP Pound+Hyper Beam Chansey/Blissey to prestiging range (1000-1500 CP).Moveset is far more important than IV. Species of similar CP with the same moveset typically have the same performance unless they have very low IVs. Prestigers are all about having the right CP range for the job. Since a Pokemons performance in battle is closely related to their moveset, for prestigers moveset is far more of a priority than IV.Save most Radicate and Wigglytuff. I havn't really researched prestigers so I don't have any hard numbers to back this up with, but whenever I'm in doubt I whip out my literal army of Bite/Quick Attack+Hyper Beam Radicates who are backed up by my few prestige ranged Pound+Hyper Beam/Play Rough Wigglytuff. I find they can handle most ambiguous situations. In that same vein, friends of mine have prestige ranged Chansey and Blissey they use for this job with what sounds to be great success!TL;DRFor attackers, IV’s matter less than CP and Moveset. Hold out for the high CP good enough IV capture. Only power up the ones with a “good moveset.” Dragonite is better than most things almost always.For defenders, invest in high CP cap Pokemon until you’re able to actually hold gyms, then focus on quality. Blissey is literally better than every single Pokemon in the game but Power Creep tho.You’ll likely always be rewarded for holding out for the high IV high CP capture rather than splurging all your stardust and candy early. Stay frugal, travelers.I hope this helps players out. And as always, you're welcome to post this on your Blog u/celandro. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2p5q3Y8