Gender: Difference between revisions

Gender (Japanese: 性別 sex) is a characteristic of Pokémon and humans in the Pokémon world.

Starting in the Generation II games, most Pokémon have a gender: male (Japanese: オス male) or female (Japanese: メス female); however, some species of Pokémon have unknown gender (Japanese: 不明 unknown). The gender mechanic is fundamental to Pokémon breeding.

In the core series games, starting in Pokémon Crystal, the player can choose between a male (Japanese: 男性 male) or female (Japanese: 女性 female) player character. However, human men and women have appeared in all core series Pokémon games.

Pokémon

In the core series

Determining gender

One factor that determines gender is each Pokémon species's gender ratio, which is approximately how likely a Pokémon is a specific gender instead of the other.

In Generation II

In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender is determined based solely on its physical Attack IV when compared to its gender ratio. A Pokémon is female if its physical Attack IV is less than or equal to its species' gender ratio, otherwise it is male. For species that are exclusively one gender or have no gender, the calculation based on the physical Attack IV is ignored.

Due to this calculation, it is impossible to obtain a female Pokémon with high physical 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 physical Attack IV for a female Pokémon of those species being 1.

Example
For two Cyndaquil obtained from Professor Elm:

In Generations III to V

00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

From Generation III to Generation V, Pokémon's gender is determined by the personality value's lowest eight digits (the lowest byte, highlighted in red above) of p in binary form. Mathematically, this can be derived by calculating p % 256. Below, this value will be referred to as p_gender.

In a Pokémon species' base stat structure, there is a value called the gender threshold, a byte with a value ranging from 0 to 255. With the exception of a few special cases, p_gender is compared to the gender threshold to determine if the Pokémon is male or female.

If the gender threshold is not a special value (0, 254, or 255), p_gender is compared to the gender threshold. If p_gender is greater than or equal to the gender threshold, the Pokémon is male, otherwise it is female. Because the comparison to determine gender is greater than or equal, Pokémon are slightly more likely to be male than they would be according to the ideal ratios.

If a species has a gender threshold of 255, it is genderless species (such as Magnemite). If a species has a gender threshold of 254, it is a female-only species (such as Nidoran♀). If a species has a gender threshold of 0, it is a male-only species (such as Nidoran♂).

From Pokémon Emerald onwards, if a Pokémon with Cute Charm is in the first place in the party (even if fainted), there is a 66.7% chance that the game will force an encountered Pokémon to be the opposite gender to the Pokémon with Cute Charm if it can be that gender. This does not affect a swarming Pokémon species or Pokémon found in Hidden Grottos.

Generation VI onward

From Generation VI onward, the gender threshold is compared to a random number between 1 and 252 (inclusive) instead of p_gender (which is between 0 and 255); this causes Pokémon with a "1:1" gender ratio to actually be distributed according to the ideal ratio. All other Pokémon are more likely to be the more common gender than they would be according to their nominal ratio.

Gender differences

Main article: List of Pokémon with gender differences

Generation IV premiered minimal differences in sprite between two Pokémon of the same species. For example, a male Raichu will have the full tail seen in previous games, while the female is missing the very tip of it. Generations V and VI would introduce Pokémon with more drastic differences in appearance.

The only two Pokémon with gender differences that are not just aesthetic are Meowstic and Indeedee, who have different learnsets and sets of Abilities depending on its gender.

Meowstic

The male Meowstic has Prankster and the female Meowstic has Competitive as its Hidden Ability. At certain levels, they learn different moves from one another: the male Meowstic learns status moves, while the female Meowstic learns special moves. In Generations VI and VII, female Meowstic learned one gender-exclusive status move, Me First.

Meowstic Male  Psychic  Keen Eye or Infiltrator Hidden: Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 74 48 76 83 81 104

Meowstic Female  Psychic  Keen Eye or Infiltrator Hidden: Competitive HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 74 48 76 83 81 104

Lv.	Meowstic♂  Psychic	Meowstic♀  Psychic
1	Mean Look	Magical Leaf
	Scratch
	Leer
	Fake Out
	Disarming Voice
9	Confusion
12	Helping Hand	Stored Power
15	Charm	Charge Beam
18	Covet
21	Psybeam
24	Sucker Punch
29	Role Play
34	Light Screen
	Reflect
39	Psyshock
44	Imprison	Extrasensory
49	Quick Guard	Shadow Ball
54	Psychic
59	Misty Terrain	Future Sight
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Indeedee

Indeedee differs more drastically by gender than Meowstic, with male and female Indeedee having slightly different base stats as well as learnsets. Male Indeedee have higher Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, while female Indeedee have higher Defense, Special Defense, and HP. While male Indeedee can learn the TM and TR moves Power Swap, Trick Room, Magic Room, Wonder Room, Tri Attack, and Encore, female Indeedee can learn Light Screen, Reflect, Safeguard, Guard Swap, and Baton Pass. The Egg Move Extrasensory is exclusive to male Indeedee while the Egg Moves Psycho Shift and Heal Pulse are exclusive to female Indeedee.

Indeedee Male  Psychic  Normal  Inner Focus or Synchronize Hidden: Psychic Surge HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 60 65 55 105 95 95

Indeedee Female  Psychic  Normal  Own Tempo or Synchronize Hidden: Psychic Surge HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 70 55 65 95 105 85

Lv.	Indeedee♂  Psychic  Normal	Indeedee♀  Psychic  Normal
1	Stored Power
	Play Nice
5	Encore	Baton Pass
10	Disarming Voice
15	Psybeam
20	Helping Hand
25	After You	Follow Me
30	Aromatherapy
35	Psychic
40	Calm Mind
45	Power Split	Guard Split
50	Psychic Terrain
55	Last Resort	Healing Wish
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Single-gender Pokémon

Related species

The Nidoran family is a special case in terms of gender. Introduced in Generation I, before gender was known for all Pokémon, Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ are considered separate species of Pokémon and indeed have many differences, from appearance to moveset. However, Nidoran Eggs have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Nidoran♀ or Nidoran♂.

Female

Nidoran♀  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden: Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 55 47 52 40 40 41

Nidorina  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden: Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 70 62 67 55 55 56

Nidoqueen  Poison  Ground  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden: Sheer Force HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 90 92 87 75 85 76

Male

Nidoran♂  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden: Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 46 57 40 40 40 50

Nidorino  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden: Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 61 72 57 55 55 65

Nidoking  Poison  Ground  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden: Sheer Force HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 81 102 77 85 75 85

In a manner similar to Nidoran, Eggs produced by Illumise may hatch into Volbeat. While Latias and Latios are in the Undiscovered Group in the games, likely due to being Legendary Pokémon, Latias have produced Eggs containing Latios in the anime, confirming that they are similarly related.

Female

Illumise  Bug  Illuminate or Swarm Hidden: Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 65 47 75 73 85 85

Latias  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 80 90 110 130 110

Latias Mega Evolution  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 100 120 140 150 110

Male

Volbeat  Bug  Oblivious or Tinted Lens Hidden: Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 65 73 75 47 85 85

Latios  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 90 80 130 110 110

Latios Mega Evolution  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 130 100 160 120 110

Gender-based evolutions

Some Pokémon may have different ways of evolving depending on their gender. These Pokémon may therefore have one or more evolutions that can only be a single gender.

Pre-evolution	Method	Evolved
Kirlia	Male only → Dawn Stone	Gallade
	Either gender → Level 30+	Gardevoir
Snorunt	Female only → Dawn Stone	Froslass
	Either gender → Level 42+	Glalie
Burmy	Male only → Level 20+	Mothim
	Female only → Level 20+	Wormadam
Combee	Female only (Male Combee never evolve) → Level 21+	Vespiquen
Salandit	Female only (Male Salandit never evolve) → Level 33+	Salazzle

Eviolite will always work on Combee and Salandit, regardless of their gender and whether they are able to evolve.

Other single-gender Pokémon

The following is a list of all Pokémon that are either 100% male or 100% female and have not been mentioned in an above section. In particular, these Pokémon have no explicit relation to a Pokémon of the opposite gender through evolution or breeding, although some of them may have a counterpart such as with Braviary and Mandibuzz.

Male Tyrogue Hitmonlee Hitmonchan Hitmontop Tauros Throh Sawk Rufflet Braviary Tornadus Thundurus Landorus Impidimp Morgrem Grimmsnarl

Female Happiny Chansey Blissey Kangaskhan Smoochum Jynx Miltank Cresselia Petilil Lilligant Vullaby Mandibuzz Flabébé Floette Florges Bounsweet Steenee Tsareena Hatenna Hattrem Hatterene Milcery Alcremie

Single-gender forms

Certain forms of Pokémon are exclusively one gender. These forms are often based on established Pokémon characters. None of the Pokémon with these forms can breed.

Male Pikachu in a cap Battle Bond/Ash- Greninja

Female File:Spr 6o 025 C.png Cosplay Pikachu Spiky-eared Pichu

In battle

The Love Ball is more effective when catching Pokémon that are of the opposite (or same in Generation II, due to a programming error) gender of the player's Pokémon.

The following moves are dependent on gender:

The following Abilities are dependent on gender:

In side series games

Pokémon Stadium 2

Pokémon Stadium 2 may connect to Generation I or Generation II core series games via the Transfer Pak, and is compatible with Pokémon genders. While Generation I games don't identify Pokémon genders (other than Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂), the gender displayed in Pokémon Stadium 2 is the same as in the core series Generation II games, which is determined by the Pokémon's physical Attack IV when compared to its gender ratio.

For instance, a Pikachu from Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow is shown as either male or female in Pokémon Stadium 2.

In spin-off games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

Red and Blue Rescue Team

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, all Pokémon are genderless, Attract and Cute Charm are able to infatuate any opponent.

Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, male and genderless Pokémon have 1.5x bonus applied to move's base critical rate before other modifiers are applied, and at the same time all moves that target them have 263/256 (~1.03x) accuracy multiplier if no other accuracy or evasion modifiers are in effect. Barring those that are gender-locked, Pokémon encountered on odd dungeon floors will always be male, and Pokémon encountered on even floors will always be female.

Humans

Choosing to play as male or female in Pokémon Black and White

Main article: :Category:Characters by gender

In the games

Starting in Pokémon Crystal, players were given the option of choosing to play as a boy or girl Trainer at the start of the game. Since then, every game in the main series has included that choice. Starting in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the opposite-gender player character can also be encountered in the game.

Some Trainer classes have male and female variants, such as Swimmers, while others appear to be counterparts, such as Campers and Picnickers. Others, such as Kimono Girls, have no opposite-gender counterpart.

Certain in-game events may differ depending on the player character's gender. For example, in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Curtis will be encountered if the player is female, and Yancy if the player is male. In Pokémon X and Y and Generation VII, availability of different clothing is gender-specific. Also, only the female player character has the option of changing their lip color using lipstick stored in a Makeup Bag in Generation VII.

Outside of battle facilities, the gender of a non-playable character often determines the default gender of their Pokémon. If the Pokémon's species has an even 1:1 gender ratio, then its gender will match its Trainer's; if the gender ratio is skewed, then the more common gender of the species will be used. Prior to Generation VII, Trainer classes for Double Battles are treated as male, even if both Trainers are female.

For some Trainers, especially Gym Leaders and the Elite Four since Generation V, the default genders have been overridden to give their teams a more balanced gender distribution. Oddly, the Elite Four in FireRed and LeafGreen and Gym Leaders in Emerald all use male-dominant teams in rematches, even though the female Trainers use all-female teams in their initial battles. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Bugsy uses all-female teams despite being male.

Game	C	HGSS	RS	E	ORAS	FRLG	DP	Pt	BW	B2W2	XY	SM	USUM	PE	SwSh
Male
	Ethan		Brendan			Red	Lucas		Hilbert	Nate	Calem	Elio		Chase	Victor
Female
	Kris	Lyra	May			Leaf	Dawn		Hilda	Rosa	Serena	Selene		Elaine	Gloria

In the side games

In the Stadium series

In Pokémon Stadium 2, the player character, usually represented by a nameless, faceless boy, who previously appeared in the the original English release. If the player is using a Pokémon Crystal Game Pak, however, the boy's portrait is exchanged for a girl's.

Game	Stadium 2
Male
Female

In Pokémon HOME

The player can select an avatar from the overworld sprites of eight of the core series protagonists. The gender of the avatar is stored with the Original Trainer with any gifts received.

In spin-off games

Many side games in the Pokémon franchise allow the player to choose between a male or female player character as well.

Game	Card GB2	Ranger	Ranger SoA	Ranger GS	Conquest	GO	Masters EX
Male
	Mark	Lunick	Kellyn	Ben	Hero	N/A	Scottie
Female
	Mint	Solana	Kate	Summer	Heroine	N/A	Bettie