Do Attack and Defence drops/boost cancel each other out?

Question

Imagine this hypothetical situation.

It's Starly versus Ponyta. Current stats:

Starly = +0 Atk, +0 Def
Ponyta = +0 Atk, +0 Def

Starly uses Growl and Ponyta uses Tail Whip. Current stats:

Starly = +0 Atk, -1 Def
Ponyta = -1 Atk, =0 Def

Ponyta uses Tackle on Starly.

---

If Ponyta is at -1 Attack, and Starly is at -1 Defence, will her Tackle deal the same amount of damage as if they were at +0 Attack and +0 Defence, respectively?

Comments

Yes. [filler]

---

I think there might be a tiny difference due to rounding errors based on a Pokemon's stat, but it's basically negligible.

Answer 1

Basically yes. The difference is so small it's not worth considering. In this example, the difference is only 1 HP.

>-1 0 Atk Ponyta Tackle vs. -1 0 HP / 0 Def Starly: 77-91 (34.8 - 41.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

>0 Atk Ponyta Tackle vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starly: 78-92 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

If Ponyta's Attack was +1 and Starly's Defence +1, you'd get the same result as the second calculation. Maximum 41.6%.

Damage calculator