Individual values: Difference between revisions

IV redirects here. For the fourth generation of Pokémon games, see Generation IV.

Individual values, IVs for short, sometimes also known as determinant values, DVs for short, are the Pokémon equivalent of genes. They are instrumental in determining the stats of a Pokémon, being responsible for the large variation in stats among untrained Pokémon of the same species.

Overview

Each of the six battle stats has an IV associated with it, with that IV coming into calculation alongside the Pokémon's base stats and EVs to determine the actual stat number. A Pokémon's IVs are determined when it is generated by the game; when it is obtained as an egg from the Pokémon Day Care, encountered in the wild, or given to the player by an NPC.

Generation I

In Generation I, there were only four IVs stored for each individual Pokémon: Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special. Each of these covered the respective stat, with the HP IV determined from the IVs stored for the other four. IVs had a range from 0-15, in binary 0000-1111, with the HP IV taking the final binary digit of the Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special IVs and placing it, in that order, for its own IV. As such, a Pokémon with an odd-number Attack IV had 8 added to its HP IV, Defense had 4 added, Speed had 2 added, and Special had 1 added.

The IVs' determination of stats follow the below formulas:

• HP = floor((Level × (Base + IV + (EV/2048) + 50)/50) + 10)
• Others = floor((Level × (Base + IV + (EV/2048))/50) + 5)

For two Mewtwo caught in Cerulean Cave:

Generation II

To maintain backwards compatibility with the Generation I games, IVs remained unchanged, though now the four stored IVs covered for six stats. Whereas the HP IV's matter of determination went unchanged from the original games, the Special IV now covered for both Special Attack and Special Defense, being used in the calculations for both of them.

Several things aside from stats came to be based on the randomly-generated IVs, however, in Generation II. While most of these would, in Generation III and later games, go on to be determined instead by the personality value of the Pokémon, the type and power of the move Hidden Power remains to the present based on a Pokémon's IV set.

Gender

A Pokémon's gender, was determined based solely on its Attack IV when compared to a specific value native to each Pokémon species. If the Attack IV was less than the gender code associated with the Pokémon's species, it would be female, whereas in all other instances, the Pokémon would be male. For species of only one gender, or those with no gender, the calculation based on the Attack IV is ignored.

Due to this calculation, it is impossible to obtain a female Pokémon with high Attack, unless the Pokémon is a member of an all-female species like Jynx or Chansey. Starter Pokémon and others with a gender ratio of seven males to one female suffer the most, with the maximum Attack IV for a female Pokémon of those species being 1.

For two Cyndaquil obtained from Professor Elm:

Shininess

Whether or not a Pokémon is Template:Shiny2 or not is also determined by IVs, though in a much more specific manner than its gender is. A shiny Pokémon, in Generation II only, must have IVs of 10 in Defense, Speed, and Special, as well as an IV of 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15 in Attack. Such a lineup only has a 1/8192 chance of occurring, the standard rarity of a shiny Pokémon to this day.

Due to the lineup excluding Pokémon with a 0 or 1 IV, female Pokémon of species with a seven male to one female ratio can never be shiny in Generation II.

For two Sandshrew caught in Union Cave:

Hidden Power

Main article: Hidden Power calculation

The calculated type and power of the move Hidden Power is based on the IVs of the Pokémon. Hidden Power can be of any type aside from Normal, as well as have a power between 30 and 70.

Generation III

In Generation III, the IV system was completely overhauled. Now, rather than having a range of 0-15, IVs would have a range of 0-31, with HP and Special Defense getting their own individually-determined IVs. The formula for calculation of stats by IVs was also changed, as with the IV system the EV system was also modified, and Natures, newly-introduced, now modified certain stats either by raising or lowering them by 10%. The personality value handles a Pokémon's gender, shiny status, and several other aspects.

The Generation III-on determination of stats follows the following two formulas:

• HP: floor(((IV + 2 * Base + (EV/4)) * Level/100) + 10 + Level)
• Others: floor((((IV + 2 * Base + (EV/4)) * Level/100) + 5) * Nature)

The IVs are now all stored together as a single 32-bit integer, separate from the equally-large personality value, which is used to determine other aspects of a Pokémon. This integer's highest bits, single numbers, determine which of two abilities a Pokémon has (if it has potential to have more than one) and whether or not the Pokémon is an unhatched egg or not. The remaining 30 bits are the IVs, five bits apiece, in the order of Sp. Def, Sp. Atk, Speed, Defense, Attack, and HP.

For two Marill caught on Route 120:

If the Pokémon's species can have only one ability in Generation III, the ability bit is forced to 0 by the game, as being 1 in this instance would cause the Pokémon in question to have "No ability" listed as their ability. This number is rechecked against the personality value upon evolution in Generation IV, allowing for a Zigzagoon with Pickup to retain the ability if it is sent through Pal Park regardless of its personality value, but changing its ability to Gluttony upon evolution into Linoone if the personality value does not match what the ability should be.

In Pokémon Emerald, an elderly man in the house north of the Battle Frontier's Pokémon Center will inspect a Pokémon in the player's party and give information about its IVs, revealing which of them is the highest in a vague manner.

Generation IV

In Generation IV, much like in Generation II, the IV system was, for the most part, retained from the previous incarnation. Slight alteration was made to the meaning of the highest bit, which now, rather than indicating the ability of the Pokémon, indicated whether or not it was nicknamed, and thus, made certain that a Pokémon traded to a foreign game without this bit set would evolve and change its name to that language's species name. For example, a Caterpie caught in a Japanese game and named キャタピー, when traded to an English game and evolved into a Metapod, would be named METAPOD, rather than keeping the name キャタピー, as happens in Generation III games when trading between languages. This bit's restriction can be circumvented, however, if a Pokémon is nicknamed the species name of its evolved form.

Additionally, a small blurb was added to Pokémon status screens that indicates the highest IV in a roundabout way. Rather than explicitly stating it, one of 30 of these short sentences is chosen, depending on which of the six stats the highest IV is in and how much more than a multiple of five it is.

A man who will check a Pokémon's IVs again appears in the games, this time in the Battle Tower or Battle Frontier. Much like his Generation III counterpart, he will state the Pokémon's IVs in only a roundabout way.

See also

• EVs
• Pokémon data structure:
  • in Generation I games
  • in Generation II games
  • in Generation III games
  • in Generation IV games

External links

• Veekun's IV calculator