Trainer Level and CP

The higher level you are, the greater CP Pokemon you will tend to find.

Two different concepts CP and CP cap:
- CP cap: the maximum CP your pokemon can reach when the semicircle is fully filled. The higher level you are, the more CP cap all your pokemon will have.
- CP: the current combat power of the pokemon. You can power up till it reaches the cap (usually you cannot afford it since it costs more and more stardust when the current CP gets closer to the cap).

Now let's say two trainers (trainer A at level 20, B at level 5) are at the same spot, the mechanism of the game is that they are very likely to encounter the "same" pokemon in terms of % of CP cap. However, A has higher level and thus higher CP cap all else being equal than B, which results in a higher CP.

What xmz919 said is mostly correct. What can be added though is that the player level decides how many times you can level up your pokemon aswell. Basically corresponding with 2 power ups per player level, with level 1 having 4 available upgrades. (https://gist.github.com/anonymous/077d6dea82d58b8febde54ae9729b1bf) This basically means that 50% one level is simply more power ups = higher cp. That doesnt change that some pokemons you find will have the same cp regardless of what lvl you are.

Also, Something I've noticed is. If I'm with multiple people we all get the same Pokemon show up from a lure. Everyone's CP Levels will be different except people the exact same level as you (Eg, lvl 10 will get CP 200, lvl 20 will get CP 450) and it seems random. Sure, higher level means you'll get a higher chance of a higer CP, but it's not always the case. Some of my friends that were 10 levels lower than me were getting higher CP Pokemon than me and a friend at the same level as me.

All the answers are saying generally the same thing. The higher your Trainer Level the higher CP Pokemon you are likely to find. It is not an exact science as XMZ is stating but more RNG. You have a higher possible range to get the Pokemon but someone with a lower Trainer Level can catch a higher CP Pokemon standing right next to you.

The next question is, if I catch a pidgey at trainer level 15, is its max cp a static number say 600, or does this Cao increase with my level?