Pokemon natures are another key feature of the games, introduced in Generation III (Ruby/Sapphire). Each Pokemon has one nature, randomly selected from a total of 25.
Rather than just being a superficial personality
, Natures actually affect the growth of a Pokemon. Each nature increases one of its stats by 10% and decreases one by 10% (by the time it reaches level 100). Five natures increase and decrease the same stat and therefore have no effect.
In most cases it is preferable to have a nature that decreases either Attack or Special Attack for Pokemon whose strengths are the opposite type of attack. Espeon, for example, favours Special moves, so it's best to use a nature that decreases its Attack since it won't be used.
The 25 natures are shown in the grid below. Find where the modifiers intersect for the corresponding natures - for example, a Timid nature (bottom left) will reduce a Pokemon's Attack but increase its Speed. The alphabetical tab will help you quickly look up a nature by name.
| - Attack | - Defense | - Sp. Atk | - Sp. Def | - Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + Attack | Hardy | Lonely | Adamant | Naughty | Brave |
| + Defense | Bold | Docile | Impish | Lax | Relaxed |
| + Sp. Atk | Modest | Mild | Bashful | Rash | Quiet |
| + Sp. Def | Calm | Gentle | Careful | Quirky | Sassy |
| + Speed | Timid | Hasty | Jolly | Naive | Serious |
| Nature | Increases | Decreases |
|---|---|---|
| Adamant | Attack | Sp. Atk |
| Bashful | Sp. Atk | Sp. Atk |
| Bold | Defense | Attack |
| Brave | Attack | Speed |
| Calm | Sp. Def | Attack |
| Careful | Sp. Def | Sp. Atk |
| Docile | Defense | Defense |
| Gentle | Sp. Def | Defense |
| Hardy | Attack | Attack |
| Hasty | Speed | Defense |
| Impish | Defense | Sp. Atk |
| Jolly | Speed | Sp. Atk |
| Lax | Defense | Sp. Def |
| Lonely | Attack | Defense |
| Mild | Sp. Atk | Defense |
| Modest | Sp. Atk | Attack |
| Naive | Speed | Sp. Def |
| Naughty | Attack | Sp. Def |
| Quiet | Sp. Atk | Speed |
| Quirky | Sp. Def | Sp. Def |
| Rash | Sp. Atk | Sp. Def |
| Relaxed | Defense | Speed |
| Sassy | Sp. Def | Speed |
| Serious | Speed | Speed |
| Timid | Speed | Attack |