You’ve finally hatched that shiny Charmander. It’s perfect, right? You spend hours grinding for EVs, you pick the best moveset from a Smogon forum, and then you jump into a ranked battle only to realize you're getting outsped by things you should easily beat. Most players look at the stats or the moves first, but they forget the silent modifier that basically dictates whether a Pokemon is "good" or just "okay." I'm talking about all natures for pokemon.
It's one of those mechanics that Game Freak introduced back in Gen 3 (Ruby and Sapphire) and never looked back. Honestly, it changed everything. Before Natures, two Blazikens at the same level with the same training were virtually identical. Now? One could be a glass cannon while the other is a slow, bulky tank. If you aren't paying attention to that little word on the summary screen, you’re basically playing with a handicap.
What Are Natures Actually Doing?
Think of a Nature as a personality trait that manifests as a physical trade-off. In technical terms, a Nature increases one of your Pokemon's non-HP stats by 10% and decreases another by 10%. It’s a seesaw. If you want more speed, you’re usually giving up some defensive utility or a different type of attack power.
But here is the kicker: some natures do absolutely nothing.
Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky are what the community calls "Neutral Natures." They boost and hinder the exact same stat, which effectively cancels out. In a competitive setting, these are almost always useless. Why would you want a "Jack of all trades" when the game's mechanics reward specialization? You want your Sweepers to be fast and your Walls to be thick. Neutrality is just wasted potential.
The Color Coded Cheat Sheet
If you’re looking at your Pokemon’s summary screen in any game from HeartGold onwards, you don’t even need to memorize a chart. Look at the stats. The one highlighted in red is being boosted. The one in blue is being nerfed. It’s a quick visual shorthand that saves you from having to Google "What does Impish do?" for the thousandth time.
The Speed Tier Obsession
In the world of all natures for pokemon, Speed is king.
In a turn-based game, going first is often the difference between winning and a total wipe. This is why Natures like Timid (+Speed, -Attack) and Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack) are the gold standard for offensive builds. If you’re running a Gengar, you literally do not care if your Attack stat is lowered. You’re never going to use a physical move. By picking Timid, you get a "free" 10% boost to your most important stat.
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Conversely, look at a Pokemon like Snorlax. He’s never going to outrun anything. Putting a Speed-boosting nature on him is like putting a spoiler on a tractor. It’s pointless. Instead, you’d go for something like Brave (+Attack, -Speed) or Relaxed (+Defense, -Speed). You lean into the weakness to maximize the strength.
Physical vs. Special: Making the Choice
The most common mistake I see is players not aligning their Nature with their move pool. Take Lucario. He can be a physical attacker or a special attacker. If you give him an Adamant nature (+Attack, -Special Attack), you’ve committed to a physical build. If you then try to teach him Aura Sphere, you’re hitting 10% weaker than you should be.
It sounds small. 10% doesn't feel like a lot. But in high-level play, that’s the difference between a "One-Hit KO" and leaving the opponent with 2% health. And that 2% is all they need to click a move and delete you.
Defensive Natures and the "Bulk" Factor
We talk a lot about attacking, but defensive natures are where the real math gets interesting. Bold (+Defense, -Attack) is a staple for physical walls like Toxapex or Corviknight. Since these Pokemon mostly rely on status moves or Special Attacks (or just don't care about their own damage output), cutting the Attack stat is a non-issue.
Then you have Calm (+Special Defense, -Attack) and Careful (+Special Defense, -Special Attack). Choosing between these depends entirely on what kind of hits you expect to take. If you’re building a Blissey, you’re almost always looking to maximize that Special Defense to create an impenetrable wall against Special Attackers.
The Weird Ones: Brave, Quiet, and Trick Room
There’s a specific niche in the meta called "Trick Room." This move reverses the turn order, making the slowest Pokemon move first. In this specific scenario, all natures for pokemon that decrease speed become the most valuable assets in the game.
- Brave: +Attack, -Speed
- Quiet: +Special Attack, -Speed
- Sassy: +Special Defense, -Speed
- Relaxed: +Defense, -Speed
When you’re building a Trick Room team, you aren't just looking for a low speed stat. You're looking for a "0 Speed IV" combined with a Speed-reducing nature. This makes your Pokemon "fast" under the effects of Trick Room. It’s a counter-intuitive strategy that catches a lot of newcomers off guard.
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How to Get the Nature You Want
Back in the day, getting the right Nature was a nightmare of endless resets. You’d sit in front of a Legendary Pokemon, catch it, check the stats, and restart the game if it wasn't right. It was soul-crushing.
Thankfully, the modern games have introduced Mints.
Mints are a godsend. If you have a Pikachu with a Modest nature but you really want it to be Timid, you just feed it a Timid Mint. The summary screen will still say "Modest," but the stat highlights will shift, and the math will update to reflect the Timid modifiers. It’s basically plastic surgery for Pokemon stats.
However, if you're a purist or a breeder, you'll want to use the Everstone method. If the Pokemon holding an Everstone stays in the Daycare (or the Picnic in Scarlet/Violet), all offspring will inherit that parent's Nature 100% of the time. This is how people mass-produce "perfect" competitive mons.
Synchronize: The Explorer’s Secret Weapon
If you’re hunting in the wild, bring a Pokemon with the Synchronize ability (like Abra, Ralts, or Espeon). Since Generation 6, if your lead Pokemon has Synchronize, there is a massive chance (100% in recent titles like Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet) that the wild Pokemon you encounter will have the exact same Nature.
It’s the most efficient way to catch Legendaries without burning through your supply of Mints, which can be expensive or hard to find depending on which game you're playing.
The Subtle Psychology of Natures
Beyond the math, Natures add a layer of flavor that makes the world feel more alive. Seeing a "Lonely" Gyarados or a "Jolly" Tyranitar is a bit of a laugh, but it reminds us that these are supposed to be creatures with personalities.
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But let’s be real: we’re here for the wins.
When you start looking at all natures for pokemon, you start seeing the game through a different lens. You stop seeing a level 50 Dragonite and start seeing a "Multiscale Dragonite with an Adamant nature and Extreme Speed." That’s when you’ve truly crossed over from a casual fan to a trainer who knows what they’re doing.
The Real World Impact of a 10% Shift
Let's look at a specific example to hammer this home. Consider a Garchomp. At level 100 with maxed out Speed EVs, a "Neutral" nature gives it a speed of 303. A Jolly nature (+Speed) bumps that up to 333.
There are dozens of Pokemon that sit in the 310-330 speed range. If your Garchomp is neutral, it gets hit first and probably dies to an Ice Beam. If it's Jolly, it moves first, uses Earthquake, and wins the match. That 30-point difference is the entire game.
Summary Table of Key Natures
| Goal | Best Natures | Stat Up | Stat Down |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Sweeper | Adamant / Jolly | Atk / Spe | SpA / SpA |
| Special Sweeper | Modest / Timid | SpA / Spe | Atk / Atk |
| Physical Tank | Impish / Bold | Def / Def | SpA / Atk |
| Special Tank | Careful / Calm | SpD / SpD | SpA / Atk |
| Trick Room Attacker | Brave / Quiet | Atk / SpA | Spe / Spe |
Getting Started With Optimization
If you're ready to stop losing battles because of bad math, your first step is auditing your current team. Open up your boxes and look for those red and blue highlights. If your primary attacker has a blue highlight on its main attacking stat, you've got work to do.
- Identify the Role: Is this Pokemon meant to hit hard, hit fast, or take hits?
- Check the Movepool: Does it use Physical moves (Contact) or Special moves (Beams/Energy)?
- Use a Mint: If you're playing Scarlet/Violet, head to a Chansey Supply shop and buy the Mint that matches your desired role.
- Breed for Consistency: If you're starting a new team from scratch, find a Ditto with a variety of Natures, slap an Everstone on it, and pass those traits down to your heavy hitters.
Natures aren't just some background flavor text. They are the foundation of every winning strategy in the history of the franchise. Once you master the "seesaw" of stats, you’ll find that even the toughest gym leaders and online opponents become a lot more manageable. Don't let a "Modest" Machamp ruin your day—fix your natures and start hitting like you mean it.