"CP is Determined at the START of a Raid Battle"

#PokemonGO: As the title suggests, the CP of a pokemon caught after a raid is determined—for each trainer—at the start of the actual raid battle. Here’s why:First, some background information is needed. When the game crashes on the catch screen following a raid, upon reloading the app and re-entering the catch screen, often times the pokemon you’re trying to catch will have a different CP than it did prior to the crash. This is a visual glitch (it does not affect the ACTUAL CP of the pokemon), and is documented here: http://ift.tt/2x5vzA4, this glitch is NOT random. In every single raid, there is exactly one CP value that is “privileged.” So, for example (and this has been tested – this is not merely hypothetical):Suppose two trainers fight a Croconaw. Trainer 1 gets a CP of 908. Trainer 2 gets a CP of 874.Both trainers then experience an app crash on the catch screen, and both reload the app. Upon re-entering the catch screen, two things are guaranteed to happen. First, the CP on both screens will be identical. Second, in this case, both trainers’ CP will be either 908 or 874, depending on which number was the privileged value. So both trainers will see 908 or both trainers will see 874. Those are the only possibilities.In light of this information, if you solo a raid, receive a CP of 908, crash on the catch screen, and then reload the app, your pokemon will still have a CP of 908. That’s because your number is the only one available to be selected as the privileged value. So the visual glitch does not apply to solo raids (and now we know why, given that a privileged value is selected in every raid).But imagine that 20 people participate in a raid and all 20 get different CP values. Imagine all 20 crash on the catch screen and reload the app. If all 20 re-enter the catch screen, all 20 will see the same CP value. So 19 players will observe a change in their pokemon’s CP, whereas 1 player will observe the CP to stay the same. This lone player will have been the “privileged” trainer – his or her CP value is the privileged value.At this time, we don’t know why one trainer’s CP value is chosen or privileged in this way. All we know is that it happens every time. This also suggests that the CP values of trainers is connected in at least SOME way (even if this connection is only related to a visual glitch).Now, here’s how this glitch helps to prove that CP values are determined at the start of the raid battle.Imagine that two trainers fight a machamp raid, but Trainer 2 quits the battle (and the group) in the middle of the battle. Trainer 1 finishes the raid and receives a CP of 1598. Trainer 1 then crashes on the catch screen and reloads. Upon re-entering, she sees that the CP has changed (visually, at least) to 1604. This means that the CP that was assigned to Trainer 2 was 1604. If Trainer 2 had finished the battle, he would have gotten a CP of 1604.Again, we know this because the visual glitch being referenced is not random – it selects one CP value as “privileged,” and, in this case, we know that Trainer 1’s CP was 1598. So the 1604 MUST have come from Trainer 2. If CP were calculated at the end of the battle, there would only be one value to choose from: 1598. And that would mean the visual glitch would NOT work. But since Trainer 1 DID see a change in the CP (that is, the visual glitch worked), the 1604 had to come from somewhere (and it has to be the CP assigned to Trainer 2 – there is no other place it can come from).In this particular case, after quitting the original group, Trainer 2 joined a different (solo) group, and defeated the machamp. He received a CP of 1612. This means that while he WOULD have received a CP of 1604 had he finished the original battle, by dropping out of the group and restarting the battle, he re-rolled the CP. So, CP is not determined the moment you use a raid pass, since, if it were, Trainer 2 would have received a 1604 upon completing the solo raid.This leaves two times at which CP can be determined: in the raid lobby or during the raid battle. And if it is determined during the battle, it must not be at the end of the battle (as we’ve already shown). But the only other non-arbitrary time in the battle is the start. So if CP is determined during a raid battle, it must be determined at the start.Now, lastly, CP is not determined in the lobby. This is because of the following type of case. Suppose multiple players join a raid lobby. Next, all trainers but one back out before the battle begins. The remaining player solos the raid, crashes on the catch screen and then reloads. In every case where we’ve done this, the CP has not changed. (More testing is invited, of course.) What this suggests is that, in circumstances like the ones described here, the numbers in the pool of CP values from which to select the “privileged” value is one. Of all the CP values to choose from, only one is available. That explains why there is never a change on the catch screen in these cases. If only one player is present in the raid at the start of the battle, the raid is no different than a solo attempt, regardless of how many trainers were in the lobby at some point prior to the start of the battle. Changes in the lobby like that do not affect CP calculation. So quitting/joining different lobbies doesn’t affect CP either.In sum, the pool of CP values, and thus, all CP values (one for each trainer) are determined once the raid battle begins. Not before, not after.EDIT: People have requested screenshots. Those testing this literally just ran and did a raid in between responding to comments, so check out the results: http://ift.tt/2wt3sY4 are 3 pictures: one with initial CP values which are all different, one after all phones were crashed (all CP values match, 1892, which is the privileged number), and finally, the privileged Raikou (CP 1892), which belonged to the guy taking the first two photos. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2wdrpr7