Base stats

Base stats are the general outline of statistics for a specific Pokémon species.

Base stats usually give a general idea of the strengths and weaknesses a specific Pokémon will have, for example, Umbreon is mainly a defensive Pokémon; its base stats in Special Attack and Attack are low compared to their corresponding defensive stats. Though training may slightly alter the distribution of stats, so they will not be in a direct ratio to the base stats at whatever level the Pokémon is at, Effort Values, Individual Values and Natures can only do so much to alter the stats.

Base stats range from 1 to 255 inclusive, and are most often the prime representation a Pokémon species has in battle. For example, one thing many note about Chansey and Blissey are that their HP is especially high; this, of course, is due to their base stats for HP being 250 and 255, respectively. However, due to this, both the Attack and Defense base stats are pitifully low for the two (both being 5 for Chansey and 10 for Blissey).

Commonly, related Pokémon will have similar base stats, though distributed differently. This is one main difference between the two or more branches of a split evolutionary line. For example, while Gardevoir's base stats for Attack and Special Attack are 65 and 125, respectively, its counterpart Gallade's Attack and Special Attack stats have inverted values.

Usually, the Pokémon with the highest total base stats are often banned from tournaments. This is because those who have the highest stats are always legendary Pokémon, with few exceptions (such as Slaking, whose base stat average is on par with Groudon and Kyogre). Pokémon of a higher evolutionary stage will also usually have higher base stats than those of a lower one, and always will have higher stats than those of their pre-evolved counterparts.

For a list of all Pokémon by their base stats, see List of Pokémon by base stats.