Pokemon Natures Explained

What a Nature Actually Does

Every Pokemon has one of 25 natures. Twenty of them boost one stat by 10% and cut another by 10%. The other five are neutral and change nothing. HP is never affected by natures, only Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. The boost is applied after base stats, IVs, and EVs are calculated, so a nature multiplies everything you have already invested. That is why a nature is often worth more raw stat than dozens of EVs: a fully invested attacking stat gains far more from a 10% multiplier than from the same effort spread elsewhere.

The Complete 25 Nature Chart

Each nature is defined by which stat it raises and which it lowers. Neutral natures raise and lower the same stat, so the effect cancels out.

How to Choose a Nature by Role

The standard approach: boost the stat your set depends on, and lower the attacking stat you never use. That way the penalty costs you nothing.

Physical attackers want Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack) for maximum damage, or Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack) when outspeeding key threats matters more. A Pokemon like Garchomp runs Jolly in most competitive sets to win Speed ties and outpace mid-Speed attackers.

Special attackers mirror this with Modest (+Special Attack, -Attack) for power or Timid (+Speed, -Attack) for Speed. If you are unsure whether the extra power or the extra Speed wins a specific matchup, run both spreads through the damage calculator and check what actually changes your key rolls.

Defensive Pokemon and walls pick based on which side of the field they handle. Bold (+Defense, -Attack) and Impish (+Defense, -Special Attack) build physical walls. Calm (+Special Defense, -Attack) and Careful (+Special Defense, -Special Attack) build special walls. Again, drop the attacking stat you do not use: a physically attacking wall wants Impish or Careful, a special attacking one wants Bold or Calm.

Trick Room attackers are the main exception. Brave, Quiet, Relaxed, and Sassy lower Speed on purpose, because under Trick Room slower Pokemon move first. These natures are common in VGC, where Trick Room is a mainstream archetype.

Mints in Gen 9: Fixing a Bad Nature

Since Generation 8, mints let you change a Pokemon's effective nature. Feeding a Pokemon an Adamant Mint, for example, makes its stats calculate as if it were Adamant, even though the listed nature on its summary stays the same. In Scarlet and Violet you can buy mints at Chansey Supply shops, so a badly natured catch is never wasted. This matters for breeding and raid catches: catch first, fix the nature later. Note that the original nature still controls flavor preferences (which affects moves like confusion from certain berries), but for stat purposes the mint is what counts. There is a mint for all 20 stat-altering natures plus a Serious Mint for a neutral spread.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Do not run a neutral nature on a trained Pokemon. Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky give up a free 10% boost for nothing. Do not boost a stat your set never uses, like +Attack on a fully special set. And do not lower a defensive stat unless you have a specific reason: natures like Lonely, Naive, and Rash make you noticeably easier to knock out, and mixed attackers are the only sets that usually justify them. When in doubt, lower the unused attacking stat.

Put It Together in the Team Builder

Natures work best when planned alongside EVs, items, and your team's overall shape. Open the team builder, set a nature and EV spread for each slot, and check your type coverage as you go. If you are new to team construction, start with how to build a Pokemon team, then read the EV training guide to pair your nature with the right spread. Once a set is finished, you can move it straight to battle simulators with the Showdown import and export guide.