Stat modifier
When a stat is used in a calculation in battle, a number of stat modifiers may be applied during the calculation. During a battle, a Pokémon's effective stats may be raised or lowered by certain moves, Abilities, and held items. Some attacks may only have a chance of raising or lowering stats, while certain Abilities and held items may require a triggering event to activate any stat modifications. Stat modifiers always reset when the affected Pokémon exits the battlefield.
Stages
The modifiers conferred by most moves operate on a sliding scale of stages (also known as stat ranks in Pokémon Masters EX). When a given stat is raised or lowered, its current stage is increased or decreased by the amount dictated by the move, up to a maximum of +6 or a minimum of -6. A given stage corresponds to a given multiplier that will modify the stat when it is used in battle calculations. The exact multipliers for stages are detailed in a later section below. Note that prior to Generation III, no stat can fall below 1 or rise above 999; any further modifiers will be treated as if the stat was capped regardless of whether the stat is at -6 or +6 or not.
HP is the only stat that has no stages. Dynamax is the only mechanic that can directly change a Pokémon's maximum HP without changing the variables in the HP-determining formula.
In the Generation I and II core series games, when an in-game opponent outside of the Battle Tower uses a status move that would decrease one of the target's stats, that move has a 25% chance to fail in addition to its normal chance to miss.[1][2]
The stages of all of a Pokémon's stats are reset to zero when the Pokémon is withdrawn or affected by the moves Haze or Clear Smog. When a move lands a critical hit in Generations I and II, it ignores all changes to stat stages. From Generation III onward, critical hits ignore the attacker's negative stat stages and the defender's positive stat stages. If a Pokémon is under the effect of Mist, Clear Body, White Smoke, or Full Metal Body, its stat stages can only be lowered through self-inflicted methods such as Superpower. Chip Away, Sacred Sword, and Darkest Lariat ignore changes to the target's physical Defense and Evasion stat stages. Foresight, Odor Sleuth, and Miracle Eye can cause subsequent moves to ignore the target's Evasion stat stages. From Generation V onward, if a Pokémon's Ability is Simple, then any changes to stages are doubled. If a Pokémon's Ability is Contrary, then any changes to stages are reversed. Topsy-Turvy reverses the stages of all of the target's stats.
While some moves, Abilities, and held items may also modify the stages of a Pokémon's stats, others may apply unique multipliers that are separate from—and thus can stack with—stages. Examples include the move Tailwind, which multiplies Speed by 2 times, the Ability Slow Start, which temporarily halves Attack and Speed, and the held item Choice Band, which multiplies Attack by 1.5 times.
From Generation V onward, the Speed stat has boundaries put in place that don't apply to any other stat. After taking stat stages and all other modifiers into account, if the resulting Speed stat is above 10000, it is reduced to 10000. The Speed stat is then subtracted from 10000 if and only if Trick Room is in effect, and finally if the Speed stat is greater than or equal to 8192, it is reduced by 8192 to produce the final figure used in speed comparisons. As a result, a Pokémon that runs into the limit of 10000 Speed is further reduced to an effective 1808.
In-battle modification
In the table below, anything in italics is capable of modifying one stat out of two or more and may not always affect the same one.
Stage modification quotes
The "Pokémon" identifier in the quotes below includes a prefix that varies depending on the situation; most wild Pokémon (but not all) and opposing Pokémon have one. If a move would raise a stat that is too high or lower a stat that is too low as a secondary effect, a quote will not be shown. From Generation V onwards, the game will take into account the effective change (for example, not +2 for a stat at +5); additionally moves that list multiple quotes will always state each stat separately, even if they're all capped.
In Generation II, if Curse still has a stat to raise, it will not display any text for the capped stats. In Generation III, Curse will instead fail if all stats are capped. In Generation III and IV, it will always list each stat separately when it does so.
Change | Generation I | Generation II | Generation III | Generation IV | Generation V | Generation VI | Generation VII | Generation VIII | Generation IX | |
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too high | Nothing happened! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> won't rise anymore! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> won't go higher! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> won't go any higher! | ||||||
multiple too high | <Pokémon>'s Ability won't rise anymore! | <Pokémon>'s stats won't go any higher! | ||||||||
+1 | <Pokémon>'s <stat> rose! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> went up! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> rose! | |||||||
+2 | <Pokémon>'s <stat> greatly rose! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> went way up! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> sharply rose! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> rose sharply! | ||||||
+3 or higher | <Pokémon>'s <stat> rose drastically! | |||||||||
multiple too low | <Pokémon>'s stats won't go any lower! | |||||||||
too low | Nothing happened! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> won't drop anymore! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> won't go lower! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> won't go any lower! | ||||||
-1 | <Pokémon>'s <stat> fell! | |||||||||
-2 | <Pokémon>'s <stat> greatly fell! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> sharply fell! | <Pokémon>'s <stat> harshly fell! | |||||||
-3 or lower | <Pokémon>'s <stat> severely fell! |
Stage multipliers
When a move is used that increases or decreases a stat of a Pokémon in battle, it will be multiplied according to the following fractions, depending on the generation:
- For Attack, Defense, Special, Sp. Attack, Sp. Defense, and Speed
Stage | -6 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 |
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Gen I-II | 25/100 | 28/100 | 33/100 | 40/100 | 50/100 | 66/100 | 100/100 | 150/100 | 200/100 | 250/100 | 300/100 | 350/100 | 400/100 |
Gen III+ | 2/8 | 2/7 | 2/6 | 2/5 | 2/4 | 2/3 | 2/2 | 3/2 | 4/2 | 5/2 | 6/2 | 7/2 | 8/2 |
- For accuracy and evasion
Stage (accuracy) | -6 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 |
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Stage (evasion) | +6 | +5 | +4 | +3 | +2 | +1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -3 | -4 | -5 | -6 |
Gen I handheld games | 25/100 | 28/100 | 33/100 | 40/100 | 50/100 | 66/100 | 100/100 | 150/100 | 200/100 | 250/100 | 300/100 | 350/100 | 400/100 |
Pokémon Stadium | 1/3 | 36/100 | 43/100 | 50/100 | 66/100 | 75/100 | 100/100 | 133/100 | 166/100 | 200/100 | 233/100 | 266/100 | 300/100 |
Gen II | 33/100 | 36/100 | 43/100 | 50/100 | 60/100 | 75/100 | 100/100 | 133/100 | 166/100 | 200/100 | 233/100 | 266/100 | 300/100 |
Gen III-IV | 33/100 | 36/100 | 43/100 | 50/100 | 60/100 | 75/100 | 100/100 | 133/100 | 166/100 | 200/100 | 250/100 | 266/100 | 300/100 |
Gen V+ | 3/9 | 3/8 | 3/7 | 3/6 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 3/3 | 4/3 | 5/3 | 6/3 | 7/3 | 8/3 | 9/3 |
In Generations I and II, accuracy and evasion stages are resolved separately and both multipliers are applied to the move's accuracy to determine the final chance of a move hitting or missing. For example, a Pokémon with -1 accuracy using a move that has 100% accuracy on a target with +1 evasion would have a chance of hitting in Generation I, or a chance of hitting in Generation II. In Generation III, this was changed so that the stages of the accuracy and evasion stats are now combined before determining the multiplier, with the evasion stage subtracted from the accuracy stage. Therefore, in the above situation, the attacking Pokémon would have a chance of hitting.[3]
Additionally, the combined stages are capped at -6 and +6 from Generation III onward (extra stages are surplus), meaning that a Pokémon with minimum accuracy attacking a target with maximum evasion will have no lower than a chance to hit. (For comparison, in Generation II, the attacker would only have a chance of hitting.)
In Generation IV, if a Pokémon's Ability is Simple, then its stats will be multiplied as if the stat change was doubled. For example, a stat raised by one stage will be multiplied as if it were raised by two stages.
List of Abilities, moves, and items affected by stat changes
Abilities
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. |
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Moves
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Items
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In Pokémon Legends: Arceus
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, stat modifiers work much differently that they do in other core series games:
- Stat modifiers expire after the affected Pokémon has executed a certain number of turns or switches out
- Stat modifiers for Attack also affect Sp. Atk equally, and vice versa
- Stat modifiers for Defense also affect Sp. Def equally, and vice versa
- Stat modifiers each only have one stage multiplier: a ×1.5 boost or a ×2/3 drop.
- If a stat modifier is applied to a Pokémon that already has that same modifier, then it will simply overwrite its number of turns remaining
- If a stat modifier is applied to a Pokémon with the opposite modifier, then it will cancel it out
Modifier | In-game description | Details | Causes |
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Power Boost | The Pokémon's offensive stats are raised, boosting its Attack and Sp. Atk stats. | Power Boost indicates that a Pokémon's offensive stats are raised, increasing the damage it deals with its moves by 50%. If the Pokémon is already affected by Power Drop, it will cancel it out instead. It is usually caused by moves that can raise Attack or Sp. Atk in other core series games. |
Bulk Up • Calm Mind • Victory Dance
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Power Drop | The Pokémon's offensive stats are lowered, reducing its Attack and Sp. Atk stats. | Power Drop indicates that a Pokémon's offensive stats are lowered, decreasing the damage it deals by a third. If the Pokémon is already affected by Power Boost, it will cancel it out instead. It is usually caused by moves that can lower Attack or Sp. Atk in other core series games. |
Draco Meteor* • Leaf Storm*
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Guard Boost | The Pokémon's defensive stats are raised, boosting its Defense and Sp. Def stats. | Guard Boost indicates that a Pokémon's defensive stats are raised, decreasing the damage it takes from attacks by a third. If the Pokémon is already affected by Guard Drop, it will cancel it out instead. It is usually caused by moves that can raise Defense or Sp. Def in other core series games. |
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Guard Drop | The Pokémon's defensive stats are lowered, reducing its Defense and Sp. Def stats. | Guard Drop indicates that a Pokémon's defensive stats are lowered, increasing the damage it takes from attacks by 50%. If the Pokémon is already affected by Guard Boost, it will cancel it out instead. It is usually caused by moves that can lower Defense or Sp. Def in other core series games. |
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References
This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |