Individual Values

Individual Values, or IVs for short, are numerical values that determine a Pokémon's stats. They are comparable to our genes and determine the stat range of a Pokémon and are responsible for a considerable variation in stats among untrained Pokémon of the same species.

Six stats make up a Pokémon's overall capabilities called Hit Points (HP), Attack (ATK), Defense (DEF), Special Attack (SPA or Sp. Atk), Special Defense (SPD or Sp. Def) and Speed (SPE). These stats all have an associated IV stat, alluded to by its characteristic's description and ranges from 0 to 31. Furthermore, these IVs, together with the Pokémon's base stats, its Nature and EVs (Effort Values), determine the actual in-game displayed stat number on the respective Pokémon's profile sheet.

Sadly, many of these numbers and a Pokémon's overall potential are not displayed in-game but rather alluded to by NPCs speaking about your Pokémon's potential, often referring to their IVs. These NPCs get commonly referred to as Stat Judges by the community.

Moreover, over the generations, many systems came and went. They were adjusted or reworked using IVs as their primary means to determine gender, power levels of individual moves, and even shininess.

Generation 3 saw a complete revamp of the IV system. Individual Values would now range from 0 to 31, instead of 0 to 15, with HP and Special Defense getting their independent IV stats.

It is to note that this change caused the inability of Generation 2 and 3 games to be able to trade with one another.

HP's IV = ((HP - Base stat - 10) * (100 / Base stat)) - 2 * Base stat - (EV / 4)

Other stats' IV = (((Stat / Nature) - 5) * (100 / Base stat)) - 2 * Base stat - (EV / 4)

From Generation 3 onward, Pokémon Emerald specifically, has always had a Stat Judge in every region's battle facility or inside the city the battle facility resides. These Stat Judges respond in cryptic descriptions evaluating your Pokémon's individual and summed up individual values. Those responses are listed down below in two different tables.

In Generation 6, Stat Judges got updated to note 0 IVs specifically.

In Generation 7, players can now directly evaluate a Pokémon's IVs through the use of the Judge function.

The following table showcases the stat judge's possible evaluation responses of a single individual value.

The following table showcases the stat judge'ss possible evaluation responses of the sum of all individual values.

Since Generation 4, a Pokémon receives a Characteristic based on its highest individual value. It gets chosen from a pool of 30 different descriptions displayed on the Pokémon's profile sheet to elude to its potential without telling the player outright.

HP = (((2 * Base stat + IV + (EV / 4)) * Level) / 100) + Level + 10

Other stats = ((((2 * Base stat + IV + (EV / 4)) * Level) / 100) + 5) * Nature

It is possible to manipulate your Pokémon's IVs through breeding. This stat manipulation gets accomplished by inheriting specific IVs selected from the Pokémon's parents through the following three checks:

1. A known IV (HP, ATK, DEF, SPA, SPD, SPE) is selected from either the mother or the father and passed down to the offspring. A known IV is likely based on either the father's or mother's Characteristics, as these imply the Pokémon's most notable IV.
2. A random IV (ATK, DEF, SPA, SPD, SPE) except for HP is selected from either the mother or the father and passed down to the offspring.
3. A random IV (ATK, SPA, SPD, SPE) except HP and DEF is selected from either the mother or the father and passed down to the offspring.

You can manipulate the IV inheritance further by letting a parent hold a Power item that boosts a specific stat guaranteeing the inheritance of the boosted IV stat on to the offspring.

The move Hidden Power bases its Power and Type on the IVs of the Pokémon in question. Its Power ranges from 30 to 70 and can be of every Type except Normal and Fairy.

In contrast to the newer generations, Generation 1 and 2 only had four IVs stored for each Pokémon: Attack, Defense, Special, and Speed ranging from 0 to 15. Each of these Individual Values determined their corresponding stat while their combined final binary digits made up the HP stat.

Besides, Generation 2 saw its Special stat broken up into two different stats called Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense while still sharing the same Special IV number.

Furthermore, several new or reworked mechanics were based on the IV system, too. Their influence determined a Pokémon's gender, shininess, and stats, Unown's letter appearance, as well as the power scaling of Hidden Power.

Pokémon genders were introduced in Generation 2 and had a peculiar quirk to them as they were solely determined by their Attack IV when compared against a gender ratio. A Pokémon is identified as female when its Attack IV is less than or equal to its species' gender ratio, or male if otherwise. If a species has no gender or is exclusively male or female, this gender ratio calculation is obsolete.

Shiny Pokémon are a fan favorite and are differently colored counterparts to their natural forms found rarely throughout any given playthrough. In Generation 2, the generation Shiny Pokémon got introduced in, whether an encountered or hatched Pokémon is determined to be Shiny, is based on particular IV combinations. The conditions are:

• Your Pokémon's Attack IV is equal to 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15.
• Your Pokémon's Defense, Special, and Speed IVs are all equal to 10.

Note that both criteria must be met to receive a Shiny. The chance of occurrence is 1/8192.

HP = ((((Base + IV) * 2 + (√EV / 4)) * Level) / 100) + Level + 10

Other stats = ((((Base + IV) * 2 + (√EV / 4)) * Level) / 100) + 5

The move Hidden Power bases its Power and Type on the IVs of the Pokémon in question. Its Power ranges from 31 to 70 and can be of every Type except Normal.