Bulbapedia talk:Manual of style
For things both in the games and in the anime, do we want something like what I've done for Bill's page to be the standard? If so, should we incorporate that setup into the Manual of style?
~Evan
Individual Pokémon vs. Pokémon species?
That seems to be the best, if not most thorough, format.
I have another issue to bring up, though. Do you think it's important to define the difference between individual Pokémon and Pokémon species in the Manual of Style? For instance, EVs, IVs, and so on are characteristics of individual Pokémon, while base stats, types, and so on are characteristics of Pokémon species. If so, perhaps an article called "Pokémon specie" might be created, and links in articles referring to Pokémon species, not individual Pokémon, might lead to it. It could look like this:
A Pokémon specie is a "kind" of Pokémon, such as Bulbasaur or Zubat. Pokémon of certain species can change into some other species by evolving, such as a Bulbasaur evolving into an Ivysaur.
Oftentimes, a specie's name can refer to an individual Pokémon of that species instead. For instance, "Bulbasaur is a Grass-type" refers to the Bulbasaur specie, but "Bulbasaur uses Vine Whip" refers to a single Bulbasaur. In the National ID system, they are numbered from 1 to 151.
Initially when the Red, Green (in Japan only), Blue, and Yellow versions were released, there were 151 Pokémon species.
When the Gold, Silver, and Crystal versions were released, 100 more species were added, making a total of 251.
When the Advanced Generation games were released, 135 more species were added, making a total of 386.
Currently, two species from the fourth generation have been officially revealed to the public, Munchlax and Lucario (Japanese name).
It might also be useful to disambiguate this in the Pokémon article, talking about how the term "Pokémon" might refer to Pokémon species (Charmander is a Fire-type Pokémon), individual Pokémon (Pokémon which receive 4 Attack EVs have their Attack stat increase by 1), or the franchise (Pokémon was first conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri).
