Pokemon Gold and Silver - Statistics

The following information applies to generations 1 and 2.

Types of stats

Starting with the second generation, there are six different types of stats.

HP (Hit Points)

A Pokémon with high HP is expected to last longer during battle. When a Pokémon's HP reaches 0, it faints and can't fight until it is revived.

Attack

The Attack stat affects the damage inflicted by physical attacks. If Attack is greater than the opponent's Defense, the physical attack's power is boosted. In the first and second generation, physical attacks have the types Normal, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Bug, Rock, Ghost, and Steel.

Defense

The Defense stat affects the damage received from physical attacks. If Defense is greater than the attacker's Attack, the physical attack's power is reduced.

Speed

The Speed stat determines which Pokémon will strike first. In battle, most of the time, the Pokémon with the highest Speed attacks first in a particular round.

Special Attack

The Special Attack stat affects the damage inflicted by special attacks. If Special Attack is greater than the opponent's Special Defense, the special attack's power is boosted. In the first and second generation, special attacks have the types Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Psychic, Dragon, and Dark.

Special Defense

The Special Defense stat affects the damage received from special attacks. If Special Defense is greater than the attacker's Special Attack, the special attack's power is reduced.

The Special Attack and Special Defense stats both share the same DV (Deter Value), namely the Special DV; however, their base stats can be different.

The first-generation games have a stat called "Special", which represents both Special Attack and Special Defense in later versions: it affects the damage inflicted by and received from special attacks.

Base Stats

Base stats represent a Pokemon's stat potential. Base stats differ depending on the Pokemon's species. Each base stat has a value from 0 through 255. There is a Base Stat corresponding to HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense. Base stats are fixed for each Pokemon species.

Base Stats for each Pokemon are available.

Stat Formula

This is the universal formula for finding a Pokemon's stats.

Stat = int(((A+B)*2+C)*D/100)+E

• A = Pokémon's Base Stat.
• B = Pokémon's Deter Value (from 0 through 15)
• C = To find C, let X equal the Pokémon's stat experience. Take the square root of (X minus 1), or 0 if X is 0, add 1 to that value, divide the result by 4, and round down. The final result is C, which can be as high as 63. (This variable, C, is also known as "stat points.")
• D = Pokémon's level.
• E = Additive. When calculating a Pokémon's HP, use (Level + 10). For all other stats, use 5.

The Stat Calculator can apply the Stat Formula.

Deter Values

The Deter Values (or DVs, sometimes called "genes") are what make Pokémon of the same species unique from others. DVs are based on a 16-digit scale of 0-15. There are four different stats a Pokémon has DVs for--Attack DV, Defense DV, Speed DV, and Special DV. These four DVs are randomly generated when the player encounters a wild Pokémon or a Pokemon is created internally, such as from an in-game trade. There is a fifth kind of DV -- the HP DV -- which is determined by using all four of the other DVs. The DVs a Pokemon gets are permanent and cannot be changed.

Some people use Diversification Value, the Determination Value, the gene, the eigenvalue, and the Individual Value to refer to Deter Values. Of these other names, "Individual Value" is probably the most common.

In the second-generation versions, the Special DV determines the Special Attack and Special Defense stats.

Finding DVs

The formula below finds the DVs of a Level 100 Pokémon with a stat experience of 65,025 or more. (The formulas below are not used in the game, as a Pokemon's DVs are already available to it and hidden from view.)

Stat DV = 15 -((Max Stat - Actual Stat)/2)

Another way to find DVs (for low- and mid-level Pokemon) is to use Rare Candy to level a wild Pokemon to 50, and then use this formula. ("int(num)" means to round "num" down to an integer. "abs(num)" means to remove the negative sign if any.)

Stat DV = abs(Y-(int(((A+15)*2)*50/100)+E))

where:

• Y = Pokémon's Actual Stat
• A = Pokémon's Base Stat
• E = Additive. For a Pokémon's HP DV, use (Level + 10). For all other stats, use 5.

Finding the HP DV

The HP DV is not randomly determined: it is based on the Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special DVs.

HP DV = A + B + C + D

where:

• A=0. If Attack DV is odd, A=8.
• B=0. If Defense DV is odd, B=4.
• C=0. If Speed DV is odd, C=2.
• D=0. If Special DV is odd, D=1.

Shiny Pokémon

In the second-generation versions, shiny Pokémon are special colored Pokémon with Defense, Special, and Speed DVs of 10; and an Attack DV of either 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15. The DVs of the shiny red Gyarados in the Lake of Rage are (15/10/10/10). Because only the Attack DV is changing, shiny Pokémon always have an HP DV of either 0 or 8.

Stat Experience

Stat experience refers to a set of values that indicate a Pokemon's training. There are five stat experience values: HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special. Whenever an enemy Pokemon is defeated, the participants in defeating that Pokemon earn stat experience, similar to normal experience. (Each participant earns stat experience even if its level is 100.)

After a Pokemon is defeated, for each stat, an amount equal to the corresponding base stat of the defeated Pokemon is distributed among all participants in the battle against it. Stat experience is distributed in all cases as if it were normal experience. However, no additional stat experience bonus is given to Pokemon with Lucky Egg attached or to those whose ID differs from the player's ID.

A wild Pokemon or a Pokemon created internally (internal trades, hatching, and so on.) starts with zero stat experience points for all stats. A Pokémon can have up to 65,535 stat experience points per stat, after which it can't earn any more.

Stats for a Pokemon are recalculated when it gains a level, when it's placed in a Box or in the Daycare, when it evolves, or when a stat enhancer is given to it and takes effect.

Using a Rare Candy provides no stat experience: it simply raises a Pokémon's level.

Stat experience is also called the "Effort Value", and the latter term is often used in Ruby and Sapphire to describe a similar type of value for measuring a Pokemon's training. Stat experience is often shortened to "Stat Exp."

Stat Enhancers

Stat enhancers (HP Up, Protein, Iron, Carbos, Calcium) increase the stat experience for HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, or Special (respectively) by 2,560, even if it would increase to 25,600 or more. Each stat enhancer won't have any effect when a Pokémon's stat experience for the respective stat is 25,600 or greater. The stat enhancers also update all of a Pokemon's stats after increasing stat experience.

The Box Trick

When a Pokémon is placed in a PC storage box, the game saves, among other things, its experience (to calculate its level), its DVs, and the amount of stat experience it currently has for each stat. When the Pokemon is removed from the storage system, its stats are recalculated based on its stat experience, without actually gaining a level. This effect is called the "box trick."

Special Stat Experience in GS

In the second generation versions, a Pokemon's Special Attack and Special Defense are calculated using its Special DV and Special stat experience. A battle's participants gain Special stat experience according to the base Special Attack of the enemy when it is defeated.