Nature

Natures are the Pokémon analogue of personalities. They were introduced by the Generation III games and remain a game mechanic in Generation IV. Each Pokémon in these games has one of 25 natures, as listed and described in the table below. A Pokémon's nature usually affects the growth rate of two of its stats, ultimately increasing one of its stats by 10% and decreasing another of its stats by 10%. Five of the possible natures, however, have no effect on the Pokémon's stat growth. (Note that despite these relationships to a Pokémon's development, natures do not affect experience or DVs.) Natures also determine the Pokémon's favorite flavor of food and which flavor it dislikes. The exception is again the five previously mentioned "neutral" natures, which cause a Pokémon to not like or dislike any flavor. From Emerald onwards, a Ditto or a female Pokémon that holds an Everstone has a 50% chance of passing its nature to its offspring when at the Pokémon daycare. Natures also depend on the way the Pokémon battle by themselves at the Battle Palace, different natures make the Pokémon use different methods of attacks and change tactics when they're low on health. Also, the five non-increasing/decreasing natures have different battle styles at the Battle Palace.

The following table lists each nature and its effect on a Pokémon; it may be rearranged by clicking the boxes next to each column's heading.

#	Nature	Japanese	Increased stat	Decreased stat	Favorite flavor	Disliked flavor
0	Hardy	がんばりや	—	—	—	—
1	Lonely	さみしがり	Attack	Defense	Spicy	Sour
2	Brave	ゆうかん	Attack	Speed	Spicy	Sweet
3	Adamant	いじっぱり	Attack	Sp. Attack	Spicy	Dry
4	Naughty	やんちゃ	Attack	Sp. Defense	Spicy	Bitter
5	Bold	ずぶとい	Defense	Attack	Sour	Spicy
6	Docile	すなお	—	—	—	—
7	Relaxed	のんき	Defense	Speed	Sour	Sweet
8	Impish	わんぱく	Defense	Sp. Attack	Sour	Dry
9	Lax	のうてんき	Defense	Sp. Defense	Sour	Bitter
10	Timid	おくびょう	Speed	Attack	Sweet	Spicy
11	Hasty	せっかち	Speed	Defense	Sweet	Sour
12	Serious	まじめ	—	—	—	—
13	Jolly	ようき	Speed	Sp. Attack	Sweet	Dry
14	Naïve	むじゃき	Speed	Sp. Defense	Sweet	Bitter
15	Modest	ひかえめ	Sp. Attack	Attack	Dry	Spicy
16	Mild	おっとり	Sp. Attack	Defense	Dry	Sour
17	Quiet	れいせい	Sp. Attack	Speed	Dry	Sweet
18	Bashful	てれや	—	—	—	—
19	Rash	うっかりや	Sp. Attack	Sp. Defense	Dry	Bitter
20	Calm	おだやか	Sp. Defense	Attack	Bitter	Spicy
21	Gentle	おとなしい	Sp. Defense	Defense	Bitter	Sour
22	Sassy	なまいき	Sp. Defense	Speed	Bitter	Sweet
23	Careful	しんちょう	Sp. Defense	Sp. Attack	Bitter	Dry
24	Quirky	きまぐれ	—	—	—	—

Battle Style

Depending on a Pokémon's nature, its battle style changes in the Battle Palace or the Battle Tent of Verdanturf Town. Though this does not affect its battling outside of those areas. Explaining the symbols, the '+' means the Pokémon prefers to do the specified action, while the '-' means that the Pokémon dislikes to do the specified action. This means that the Pokémon would sometimes use the action if it shows a '='. A double symbol for something would mean it greatly likes or dislikes to attack, defend, or use a support move. For instance, a Pokémon with a Hardy Nature would greatly like to attack, strongly dislike to defend, and may use some support moves. Whereas a Pokémon with a Modest Nature would use some attack moves, but be more defensive. It would probably not use any support moves though. Changing is also a part of its battle style. If a Pokémon took a decent amount of damage, it would change its battle style in favor of the situation. For a Pokémon with a Quirky Nature, it wouldn't change though. But for a Pokémon with a Lonely Nature, it would change its attack style, most likely changing from (liking) support to (liking) attack moves.

The following table lists each nature and its effect on a Pokémon; it may be rearranged by clicking the boxes next to each column's heading.

#	Nature	Japanese	Attack	Defense	Support	Change
0	Hardy	がんばりや	+ +	- -	=	Attack
1	Lonely	さみしがり	-	=	+ +	Attack
2	Brave	ゆうかん	+ +	- -	- -	Defense
3	Adamant	いじっぱり	=	=	=	Attack
4	Naughty	やんちゃ	-	+ +	- -	Attack
5	Bold	ずぶとい	=	-	+ +	Defense
6	Docile	すなお	+ +	-	-	None
7	Relaxed	のんき	=	- -	+ +	Attack
8	Impish	わんぱく	+ +	- -	=	Defense
9	Lax	のうてんき	=	- -	+ +	Support
10	Timid	おくびょう	+ +	- -	=	Support
11	Hasty	せっかち	+ +	=	- -	Attack
12	Serious	まじめ	=	- -	+ +	None
13	Jolly	ようき	=	- -	+ +	Defense
14	Naïve	むじゃき	+ +	-	-	None
15	Modest	ひかえめ	=	+	-	Defense
16	Mild	おっとり	+	+ +	-	Support
17	Quiet	れいせい	+ +	-	-	None
18	Bashful	てれや	=	+ +	- -	None
19	Rash	うっかりや	=	- -	+ +	Support
20	Calm	おだやか	+	+ +	- -	Defense
21	Gentle	おとなしい	-	+ +	- -	Attack
22	Sassy	なまいき	+ +	- -	- -	Support
23	Careful	しんちょう	+	+ +	- -	Support
24	Quirky	きまぐれ	+ +	-	-	None