All Pokémon have six stats, they are: HP, Attack,
Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.
- HP (Health Points): Is simply how much damage a Pokémon can take before being defeated.
- Attack affects how much damage a Pokémon can inflict with physical attacks.
- Defense reduces how much damage a Pokémon takes from physical attacks.
- Special Attack affects how much damage a Pokémon can inflict with special attacks.
- Special Defense reduces how much damage a Pokémon takes from special attacks.
- Speed determines which Pokémon will move first in battle.
Each stat has a value and generally the higher the
stat the better the Pokémon. To get a perfect Pokémon we are going to want to optimize all of these stats (or at
least the ones that matter) that way our Pokémon will be the best that it can
be. So how do we do that? Well the value of each stat is determined by the
following four factors:
- Base Stats: This is the only one of the four we cannot control. Base Stats are determined by the species of Pokémon, for example Pikachu has a base speed stat of 90 while Charizard has a base speed stat of 100. If both of these Pokémon are trained in an identical manner then the Charizard will always be faster because its base speed is higher.
- Individual Values (Usually referred to as IVs): This is the trickiest one of the bunch. Individual Values exist so that theoretically all Pokémon will be unique. They are values that range from 0-31 that a Pokémon gets for each one of its stats as soon as it is generated. At level 100 the IVs translate directly into points If you go catch two wild Pikachu odds are you will notice they have different stats even though their base stats are the same, this is the work of IVs. When we talk about a perfect Pokémon we mean a Pokémon that has the IVs we want in all of its stats (Usually we want 31s but there are exceptions). IVs are why we breed Pokémon; breeding is the only way to have any control over a Pokémon’s IVs. Once the IVs of a Pokémon are set they can never be changed.
- Effort Values (Usually referred to as EVs): Unlike IVs EVs are not generated at birth and for that reason they are much more easily manipulated. A Pokémon gains EVs every time it gains experience from battling a Pokémon. Each species of Pokémon gives some base amount of EVs upon being defeated, for example when defeated a Pikachu gives 2 speed EVs. By defeating many Pikachu your Pokémon will gain many speed EVs which will result in a higher speed stat. There are limitations however, a Pokémon can only accumulate a total of 510 EVs and only up to 252 in a single stat. At level 100 a Pokémon will gain one point in a stat for every four EVs put into it. It is possible to remove EVs from a Pokémon allowing you to redo them if you mess up, but that can be a pain so it is best to just do it right the first time.
- Natures: Last but not least is natures; every Pokémon is born with one of 25 possible natures. Each nature raises one stat (except HP) by 10% and lowers another stat by 10%, with five natures being neutral. Almost always you will want a nature that boosts the stat you most care about and lowers the one you least care about. Natures like IVs cannot be changed once they are determined but they are easily manipulated through breeding.
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