Step counting

Step counting is a feature in the Pokémon games. There are several game mechanics that have certain effects based on step counting.

In the core series games

In the core series games, steps are counted when the player is walking, cycling, or traveling on water. The following game mechanics involve counting steps:

• The items Repel, Super Repel, Max Repel prevent wild Pokémon encounters.
• The items Lure, Super Lure, and Max Lure increase the encounter rate of wild Pokémon.
• Up to IV, all poisoned Pokémon in the player's party lose 1 HP every four steps the player takes, except this happens every five steps in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
• Raising the friendship of Pokémon in the party.
• Hatching Eggs in the party.
• Increasing experience of Pokémon in the Pokémon Day Care.
• The Pokétch's Pedometer's app.
• In some places, the player is required to leave after a certain number of steps:
  • In the Kanto Safari Zone, the player is limited to 500^RBY/600^FRLG steps.
  • In the Hoenn Safari Zone, the player is limited to 500 steps in the Generation III only.
  • In the Abyssal Ruins, the player is limited to 500 steps. Dull sounds of increasing intensity provide warnings to the player when their step count reaches 100, 300, or 450 steps.
• In the Amity Square, the walking Pokémon picks up an item after 200 steps taken by the player^DPPt or 400 steps taken by the Pokémon^BDSP.
• Evolving Pokémon with the Let's Go! feature.

No steps are counted when:

• The player is walking automatically as part of an in-game event. For instance, automatically following the non-player character from Route 3 to Pewter Gym, or being forced to step away from the Cinnabar Gym due to the lack of a Secret Key.
• The player is sent spinning somewhere as a result of stepping on a floor tile.
• The player is forced to surf in a certain direction because of the strong water currents.
• The player uses the move Waterfall to climb or descend a waterfall.

Generation I

In Generation I:

• Jumping over a ledge does not count as a step.
• No step is counted when the player uses Surf from the party menu (to go from land to water, or from water to land)
  • If the player walks directly from water to land, that counts as a step.
• No step is counted when the player goes through any game warp point (including a door, a cave entrance, stairs, hole on the ground, or teleport tile).
• If the player is currently indoors, walking on or walking away from the two-tile horizontal carpet adjacent to the exit of the current house, building, or elevator do not count as steps. In the case of the Pokémon Tower, no carpet is visible but the two exit tiles work the same way.
  • Walking inside or walking away from the healing zone on the fifth floor of the Pokémon Tower do not count as steps.
• The poison step counter is reset if the player saves and resumes the game, or uses Fly, Teleport, or Dig outside of battle.

In this generation, for the purposes of Repel, Super Repel, and Max Repel:

• Using any Repel item overrides the number of steps of a previously used Repel item.
• The Repel step counting is not included in the saved game. Therefore, a previously used Repel completely loses its effect when the player resumes from a saved game.
• The player character changing direction spends an additional step for Repel, reducing the duration of this item. For instance, if the player character walks 5 steps south and then 5 steps west, this counts as 11 steps. However, no step is counted if the player turns around while standing on a stairs tile or teleport tile.
  • Similarly, changing direction without walking (such as by trying to walk into a wall while changing direction) also counts as a step.
• No steps are counted for Repel when the player goes from an area to the other (as evidenced by the color palette and background music changing). For instance, no step is counted at the exact moment when the player leaves Viridian City and enters Route 2.
• No steps are counted for Repel in the vertical rectangular group of 6×2 tiles that includes the Super Nerd and the two Fossils inside Mt. Moon. (In this tile group, no wild Pokémon spawn.)

In Pokémon Yellow, walking with a poisoned Pokémon in the party does not cause it to lose any HP if the player is inside the Pewter City Pokémon Center or the Vermilion City Pokémon Fan Club.

Generation II

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Check if the detailed game mechanics mentioned in the Generation I section above still apply in later generations

From Generation II onwards, it is not possible to use a Repel, Super Repel, or Max Repel before a previously used one runs out of steps, and the current step count for these items is included in the saved game.

In Generation II only, this counts as a step:

• Entering a door or a cave.
• Walking through stairs that occupy a floor tile (such as in a Pokémon Center).

However, this does not count as a step:

• Exiting a door or a cave.
• Walking through stairs that occupy a wall tile (such as in the player's house).

Sliding on ice counts as one step per tile.

Generation IX

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, in order to evolve Pawmo into Pawmot, Bramblin into Brambleghast, or Rellor into Rabsca, the player is required to use the Let's Go! feature and walk with this Pokémon outside of their Pokémon for 1,000 steps. The Pokémon must then level up once whilst outside its Poké Ball to evolve.

How the step counter gets reset and bug where it becomes inactive

As of ver. 4.0.0 of the game, the step counter is reset to zero when using Let's Go mode with a Pokémon that does not evolve through the walking method, but it does not reset when putting the Pokémon inside its ball nor when saving and closing the game. However, there is a bug where the step counter becomes inactive if the Pokémon goes inside its Poké Ball. Walking for at least 1 step with the Pokémon outside its ball will make the step counter active again. The inactive counter bug can occur whether the Pokémon goes inside its ball directly (by recalling it with ZR) or indirectly (by battling a wild Pokémon or Trainer, or by flying to a different area). Closing the game with the Pokémon out does not count as the Pokémon going inside its ball, even though the Pokémon will be back inside its ball when the game is reloaded.

Transferring steps from one Pokémon to another

As of ver. 4.0.0 of the game, the step counter is still shared between Pokémon that evolve via walking. For example, by walking 1,000 steps with Rellor and levelling it up to evolve it and then swapping the first Pokémon to a newly caught Bramblin, the player can take 1 step with it to make the counter active, and then level it up once to evolve it into Brambleghast without having to walk another 1,000 steps. The key is that once Rellor evolves into Rabsca, taking any steps with Rabsca in Let's Go mode will reset the steps to zero.

In the side series games

Pedometer devices

Pokémon Pikachu, Pokémon Pikachu 2, and Pokéwalker are pedometer devices. The player can earn watts by walking.

In the Pokéwalker, the daily step count influences which wild Pokémon and items will appear.

In the spin-off games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, walking a step takes one turn. It is also possible to spend turns by using the regular attack, a move, or an item. Several move effects or status conditions last for a certain amount of turns.

The player's rescue team can only stay on the same floor for only a limited amount of turns, after which strong winds blow as a warning. This can happen up to three times. Once the turn limit is reached, the team is defeated and kicked out of the dungeon, with no option of being rescued.

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.