If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Pokemon Let's Go has a built-in IV checker: how to unlock the Judge function

One feature Pokemon Let's Go borrows from Pokemon Go is a quick, easy, built-in way to check how good the stats and IVs of your Pokemon are - the Judge function. You'll need to unlock it first, however.

Over in Pokemon Go this feature is known as appraisal, a simple process where you ask the Pokemon Professors to pass judgement on your Pokemon. They take a peek into the hidden behind-the-scenes stats of the Pokemon in question and return a generic verdict on that Pokemon's battle suitability.

While you can get more absolutely accurate, granular readings on which Pokemon are best in battle by doing the calculations and reverse-engineering these numbers known as IVs (Individual Values) yourself, using this mechanic - 'Judge' in Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let's Go Eevee - is the quickest way to figure out which creatures to keep and which to transfer away to the professor for candy - just like in Pokemon Go. Think of it as a simple and easy-to-use IV checker.

As the screenshot above shows, the Judge System works in a pretty simple way. Once you've acquired it, all you need to do is open your Pokemon Box and open up the summary window of a Pokemon in question. Press Y or shake your Joy-Con or Poke Ball Plus to bring up the judgement. It appears in the top left and fits into one of three categories: 'OK' (one star), 'Good' (two stars) and 'Amazing' (three stars) - for the maximum utility in battle you're going to want to shoot for a team full of Pokemon with 'Amazing' stats, of course.

Unlocking the judge system is simple, and you'll be able to do it within your first couple of Gym Journeys in Pokemon Let's Go - and it's the same in both versions. Here's what you'll need to do:

  • Capture 30 unique species of Pokemon to fill 30 or more Pokedex entries in full
  • Head to Route 11, to the East of Vermillion City. On the rightmost area of Route 11 leading to the Snorlax-blocked entrance to Route 12 there's a building - enter it and head upstairs to find one of Professor Oak's assistants. If you'll got the 30 unique species as required, he'll update your Pokedex to unlock the judge function.

Once you've unlocked the judge feature it's mercifully very easy to use - and in a nice touch you only need to select judge on one Pokemon and you can then leaf through the Pokemon Box by hitting left and right. Remember you can organize the box quickly and easily with the filters, too, so you can group all of one species together in order to decide which to keep and which to either trade away to other trainers or send off to the professor for candy.

Cover image for YouTube video

Now, if you're after even more Pokemon - and who isn't? - here's how to get free Pokemon from NPCs in Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee.

Sign in and unlock a world of features

Get access to commenting, homepage personalisation, newsletters, and more!

In this article
Awaiting cover image
Related topics
About the Author
Alex Donaldson avatar

Alex Donaldson

Assistant Editor

Alex has been writing about video games for decades, but first got serious in 2006 when he founded genre-specific website RPG Site. He has a particular expertise in arcade & retro gaming, hardware and peripherals, fighters, and perhaps unsurprisingly, RPGs.

Comments