Home Blog Pokémon Natures Guide

Complete Guide Updated March 2026 All 25 Natures Covered

Pokémon Natures Guide: All 25 Natures, Stat Effects, Mints & How to Get the Right One

22 min read All trainer levels Gen 3 → Scarlet & Violet

Last verified against Bulbapedia, Serebii, and community research: March 10, 2026

What Are Natures? How Natures Work All 25 Natures Chart Best Natures by Role Neutral Natures Natures & Flavors Nature Mints Breeding for Nature Synchronize Method Trick Room Natures Top Nature Picks Nature Mistakes FAQ Summary

What Are Pokémon Natures?

A Pokémon Nature is an intrinsic personality trait assigned to every individual Pokémon the moment it is generated — when caught in the wild, hatched from an Egg, or received from an NPC. Introduced in Generation III (Ruby and Sapphire), Natures are one of the most decisive hidden mechanics in the entire series, directly influencing how a Pokémon’s stats grow from level 1 to level 100.

There are 25 Natures in total. Twenty produce a meaningful change: a +10% bonus to one non-HP stat and a –10% penalty to another. The remaining five are neutral — they technically increase and decrease the same stat, so the effects cancel and the Pokémon grows with no bonus or penalty at all.

At Level 100, the difference between a beneficial Nature and a neutral one is typically 30–40 stat points on the affected stat — equivalent to several additional EV investments. In competitive play, that gap routinely decides whether you outspeed a threat, survive a hit, or secure a KO.

Use these free tools to optimize every aspect of your Pokémon around the right Nature — before spending a single resource:

IV Calculator CP Calculator Stardust Calculator Damage Calculator Type Chart Catch Rate Calculator

How Pokémon Natures Work: The Stat Formula

A Nature modifies exactly two of the five non-HP stats — Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. The game applies a flat multiplier at every level: ×1.1 (boosted stat) and ×0.9 (lowered stat). These multipliers compound over the full level curve, meaning the gap widens continuously from Level 1 to Level 100.

Real Stat Impact — Practical Example (Garchomp Lv 100)

Nature	Attack (252 EVs, 31 IV)	Sp. Attack	Speed
Adamant	+10% → 416	–10% → 166	333
Jolly	378	184	+10% → 366
Neutral (Hardy)	378	184	333

The multiplier is applied after base stat, IV, and EV calculations — meaning a Nature acts as a true percentage modifier on the final stat value. A Pokémon with 252 Attack EVs and 31 IVs benefits from every single one of those investments being amplified by 10%.

How to Read Your Pokémon’s Nature In-Game

Open the Summary screen — in Scarlet and Violet, press X → Pokémon → select → press A to open Summary.

Check stat color highlights — since HeartGold/SoulSilver, the boosted stat is shown in red and the lowered stat in blue. No mental arithmetic needed.

Find the Nature name on the profile page beside the OT and ID. Cross-reference with the full chart in Section 3 to confirm the stat effects and flavor preference.

Use the IV Calculator to verify your Pokémon’s current stats are consistent with the expected Nature multiplier before investing any resource.

Natures never affect HP. Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky are “neutral” because they boost and lower the same stat — the multipliers cancel. The HP stat is immune to all Nature modifiers across every generation.

All 25 Pokémon Natures — Complete Reference Chart

Every Pokémon Nature, its raised stat, its lowered stat, competitive tier, and associated flavor preference. Five neutral Natures are listed separately.

Attack-Boosting Natures

Nature	Raised (+10%)	Lowered (–10%)	Tier	Liked Flavor
Adamant	↑ Attack	↓ Sp. Attack	S-Tier	Spicy
Brave	↑ Attack	↓ Speed	A-Tier	Spicy
Lonely	↑ Attack	↓ Defense	B-Tier	Spicy
Naughty	↑ Attack	↓ Sp. Defense	B-Tier	Spicy

Special Attack-Boosting Natures

Nature	Raised (+10%)	Lowered (–10%)	Tier	Liked Flavor
Modest	↑ Sp. Attack	↓ Attack	S-Tier	Dry
Quiet	↑ Sp. Attack	↓ Speed	A-Tier	Dry
Mild	↑ Sp. Attack	↓ Defense	B-Tier	Dry
Rash	↑ Sp. Attack	↓ Sp. Defense	B-Tier	Dry

Speed-Boosting Natures

Nature	Raised (+10%)	Lowered (–10%)	Tier	Liked Flavor
Jolly	↑ Speed	↓ Sp. Attack	S-Tier	Sweet
Timid	↑ Speed	↓ Attack	S-Tier	Sweet
Hasty	↑ Speed	↓ Defense	A-Tier	Sweet
Naive	↑ Speed	↓ Sp. Defense	A-Tier	Sweet

Defense-Boosting Natures

Nature	Raised (+10%)	Lowered (–10%)	Tier	Liked Flavor
Bold	↑ Defense	↓ Attack	S-Tier	Sour
Impish	↑ Defense	↓ Sp. Attack	S-Tier	Sour
Relaxed	↑ Defense	↓ Speed	A-Tier	Sour
Lax	↑ Defense	↓ Sp. Defense	B-Tier	Sour

Special Defense-Boosting Natures

Nature	Raised (+10%)	Lowered (–10%)	Tier	Liked Flavor
Calm	↑ Sp. Defense	↓ Attack	S-Tier	Bitter
Careful	↑ Sp. Defense	↓ Sp. Attack	S-Tier	Bitter
Sassy	↑ Sp. Defense	↓ Speed	A-Tier	Bitter
Gentle	↑ Sp. Defense	↓ Defense	B-Tier	Bitter

Neutral Natures (No Stat Effect)

Nature	Raised	Lowered	Effect
Hardy	Attack	Attack	Neutral — no change
Docile	Defense	Defense	Neutral — no change
Serious	Speed	Speed	Neutral — no change
Bashful	Sp. Attack	Sp. Attack	Neutral — no change
Quirky	Sp. Defense	Sp. Defense	Neutral — no change

Best Pokémon Natures by Competitive Role

The single most important Nature decision rule: boost the stat your Pokémon uses most, and lower the stat it never uses. Use the Damage Calculator to model exactly how much each Nature shift matters for your specific matchup.

Physical Sweeper

Adamant / Jolly

Adamant for maximum damage. Jolly when hitting a critical Speed tier matters more. Examples: Garchomp, Dragonite, Kingambit.

Special Sweeper

Modest / Timid

Modest for raw special damage. Timid for fast special attackers. Examples: Iron Moth, Walking Wake, Gengar.

Physical Wall

Bold / Impish

Bold lowers Attack (pure support). Impish lowers Sp. Attack (physical wall using moves). Examples: Corviknight, Skarmory, Ferrothorn.

Special Wall

Calm / Careful

Calm lowers Attack (special-only walls). Careful lowers Sp. Attack (mixed defensive builds). Examples: Blissey, Chansey, Umbreon.

Trick Room Attacker

Brave / Quiet

Brave for physical TR attackers, Quiet for special. The slower under Trick Room, the earlier you move. Examples: Hatterene, Dondozo, Ursaluna.

Speed Control / Support

Timid / Jolly / Calm

Speed-boosting for Tailwind setters. Calm or Careful for hazard setters who never attack. Examples: Whimsicott, Grimmsnarl, Klefki.

Adamant vs. Jolly — When to Choose Which

Choose Adamant When…

Using priority moves (Extreme Speed, Bullet Punch)
Base Speed already outspeeds the tier
Running in a Trick Room team
Every extra damage point secures a key KO

Choose Jolly When…

Outspeeding a key benchmark is survival-critical
Speed ties are common and costly to lose
You use Swords Dance and need to set up safely
Meta threats have similar Speed stats to you

The Five Neutral Natures — When Are They Ever Useful?

Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky provide no free +10% bonus anywhere — a wasted opportunity in almost every scenario. The only genuine use case is an intentionally balanced mixed attacker that needs both Attack and Special Attack at full value. This scenario is uncommon in the modern metagame where most builds specialize in one attack category.

Casual play: A neutral Nature on your story-mode starter is fine — the stat gap at in-game difficulty is rarely game-breaking. For any competitive or post-game content, always target a beneficial Nature.

Natures, Flavors, and Berries — The Hidden Connection

Every Nature has a liked flavor (boosted stat) and a disliked flavor (lowered stat). This directly affects Poffins, Pokéblocks, and the five Pinch Berries used competitively.

Stat	Flavor	Pinch Berry	Effect at ≤25% HP
Attack	Spicy	Figy Berry	Restores HP — confuses Natures that dislike Spicy
Defense	Sour	Wiki Berry	Restores HP — confuses Natures that dislike Sour
Sp. Attack	Dry	Aguav Berry	Restores HP — confuses Natures that dislike Dry
Sp. Defense	Bitter	Iapapa Berry	Restores HP — confuses Natures that dislike Bitter
Speed	Sweet	Mago Berry	Restores HP — confuses Natures that dislike Sweet

Minted Pokémon follow their original Nature for berry confusion — not the Mint’s Nature. Match the Pinch Berry to the Pokémon’s real displayed Nature, never the minted one.

Nature Mints — How to Change a Nature’s Stat Effects

Nature Mints (introduced in Sword and Shield) change a Pokémon’s active stat modifiers to match a different Nature — but the Pokémon’s original Nature is never erased. The original Nature still governs breeding (Everstone), berry confusion, and Synchronize encounters.

Game	Where to Get Mints	Cost
Sword / Shield	Battle Tower (left shop)	50 BP each
BDSP	Battle Tower	50 BP each
Scarlet / Violet	Chansey Supply shops	20,000 Pokédollars each
Scarlet / Violet	Tera Raids (drops)	Free — varies by raid tier

When to Mint vs. Breed

Use a Mint For

Shiny Pokémon with wrong Nature — irreplaceable
Legendary / Mythical (cannot breed)
Paradox Pokémon (unbreedable in S/V)
High-IV catch you want to use immediately

Breed Instead For

Pokémon that will serve as future Everstone parents
Pinch Berry users (berry confusion risk with Mints)
When you have time and want a clean solution

Breeding for the Right Nature: Everstone Method

The Everstone guarantees a parent’s Nature passes to offspring. From Generation V onward this is 100% guaranteed. In Scarlet and Violet, breeding happens through Picnics — but the Everstone mechanic works identically.

Get a Pokémon with your target Nature. Use the Synchronize method (Section 9) to catch one, or obtain the real Nature through hunting. Remember: minted Natures do NOT pass via Everstone.

Give that Pokémon an Everstone. Purchase at Delibird Presents in Mesagoza (Scarlet/Violet) for 3,000 Pokédollars, or find one in the Wild Area (Sword/Shield).

Give the other parent a Destiny Knot — available at Delibird Presents for 30,000 Pokédollars. This ensures 5 of the 12 combined IVs pass to offspring, dramatically accelerating high-IV breeding.

Begin Picnics (S/V) or Daycare breeding. In Scarlet/Violet, bring only the two breeding parents. Walk to hatch Eggs — a Pokémon with Flame Body, Magma Armor, or Steam Engine in the party halves hatch steps.

Appraise every hatch immediately using the Judge function. Confirm Nature and IV spread before investing Exp. Candy, Vitamins, or Bottle Caps. Use the IV Calculator to verify.

Minted Natures do NOT pass via Everstone. Always use a Pokémon with the genuine desired Nature as your Everstone holder.

The Synchronize Method: Wild Pokémon with a Specific Nature

A Pokémon with the Synchronize ability in the first party slot gives a 50% chance of forcing any wild encounter to share that Nature. In ORAS and later, gift Pokémon are 100% guaranteed to have the Synchronize user’s Nature. Best Synchronize users: Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir, Kadabra/Alakazam, Umbreon, Espeon.

Game	Synchronize Effect	Applies To
Gen 3–7 (Emerald+)	Lead slot — 50% (even if fainted)	Wild encounters only
Gen 8+ (Sword/Shield)	Lead slot — 50%	Wild, Dens (some), wanderers
Scarlet / Violet	Lead slot — 50%	Wild and static encounters
Gift Pokémon (ORAS+)	100% guaranteed	Non-Mystery Gift gift Pokémon

Build a Nature toolkit. Breed or catch a Synchronize user for each commonly-needed Nature: Adamant, Jolly, Timid, Modest, Bold, Calm, Impish, Careful. Keep them boxed permanently.

Place the target-Nature Synchronize user in slot 1 before hunting. In generations that allow it, even a fainted Synchronize user in slot 1 activates the effect.

Save before Legendary encounters and soft-reset if the Nature or IVs are unsatisfactory. With 50% odds, you will get the target Nature roughly every two encounters on average.

Synchronize does NOT apply to roaming Pokémon in Gen 4, the Pokéwalker, or Entree Forest. In Emerald, it also does not apply to stationary Legendaries. Always verify for your specific game.

Trick Room Natures: Intentionally Lowering Speed

Trick Room reverses turn order — the slowest Pokémon moves first. This inverts conventional Nature logic: instead of boosting Speed, Trick Room teams select Natures that lower Speed as much as possible while maximizing the primary offensive stat.

Role	Best Nature	Stat Effect	Examples
Physical TR Attacker	Brave	↑ Atk ↓ Spd	Hatterene, Dondozo, Ursaluna
Special TR Attacker	Quiet	↑ Sp.Atk ↓ Spd	Porygon-Z, Goodra, Reuniclus
TR Setter (physical wall)	Relaxed	↑ Def ↓ Spd	Musharna, Bronzong
TR Setter (special wall)	Sassy	↑ Sp.Def ↓ Spd	Slowking, Aromatisse

Combine a Speed-lowering Nature with 0 Speed EVs and 0 Speed IVs (via Hyper Training) for the absolute minimum Speed stat — ensuring every team member moves before standard-speed threats during Trick Room’s five-turn window.

The 8 Most-Used Natures in Competitive Pokémon

Across VGC, Smogon OU, UU, and Battle Stadium — these eight Natures account for the overwhelming majority of all competitive builds.

Nature	Boosts	Lowers	Best For	Famous Users
Adamant	↑ Atk +10%	↓ Sp.Atk –10%	Physical sweepers, wall-breakers	Garchomp, Dragonite, Kingambit
Jolly	↑ Spd +10%	↓ Sp.Atk –10%	Physical sweepers needing Speed tier	Rillaboom, Iron Valiant, Scizor
Modest	↑ Sp.Atk +10%	↓ Atk –10%	Special sweepers, Choice Specs	Latios, Ninetales-A, Blacephalon
Timid	↑ Spd +10%	↓ Atk –10%	Fast special sweepers, speed control	Iron Moth, Walking Wake, Gengar
Bold	↑ Def +10%	↓ Atk –10%	Physical walls, pure support	Blissey, Clefable, Slowbro
Impish	↑ Def +10%	↓ Sp.Atk –10%	Physical walls using physical moves	Corviknight, Skarmory, Gliscor
Calm	↑ Sp.Def +10%	↓ Atk –10%	Special walls, pure SpDef tanks	Blissey, Chansey, Umbreon
Careful	↑ Sp.Def +10%	↓ Sp.Atk –10%	Mixed defensive tanks with physical moves	Tyranitar, Snorlax, Gliscor

Common Pokémon Nature Mistakes — and How to Fix Them

Picking a Nature that cuts your primary attack stat. Giving a Jolly Nature to a special sweeper penalizes Sp. Attack. Always identify physical vs. special first, then select a Nature that only lowers the stat it will never use.

Lowering Speed on a non-Trick Room sweeper. Brave and Quiet on a standard attacker makes it slower than almost everything. Unless you are explicitly on a Trick Room team, never run a Speed-lowering Nature on an offensive Pokémon.

Using a neutral Nature on any competitive build. Hardy, Serious, Docile, Bashful, and Quirky provide zero benefit. A free +10% is always better unless you run a true mixed attacker. Fix: always target one of the 20 beneficial Natures.

Powering up before checking Nature. Spending Exp. Candy, Vitamins, or Rare Candy on the wrong Nature multiplies the cost of your error across every EV invested. Fix: check the Summary screen and use the IV Calculator first, always.

Giving a Pinch Berry to a Pokémon that dislikes its flavor. The Pokémon will become confused when the berry activates at low HP — turning a defensive item into a liability. Always verify the Nature-flavor alignment using the table in Section 6.

Breeding from a Minted parent expecting the Mint’s Nature to pass. A Mint changes active stat modifiers but never the underlying Nature. Only the original pre-Mint Nature passes via Everstone. Always use a Pokémon whose actual Nature — not minted stats — matches your target.

Pokémon Natures FAQ

There are exactly 25 Pokémon Natures in total, introduced in Generation III (Ruby and Sapphire) and unchanged through every subsequent generation. Of the 25, twenty are beneficial Natures that raise one stat and lower a different one by 10%. The remaining five — Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky — are neutral, raising and lowering the same stat so the effects cancel with no net change.

There is no single best Nature — the ideal choice depends entirely on the Pokémon’s role and moveset. For physical attackers: Adamant or Jolly. For special attackers: Modest or Timid. For physical walls: Bold or Impish. For special walls: Calm or Careful. For Trick Room: Brave (physical) or Quiet (special). The correct answer always begins with identifying your Pokémon’s role, then choosing the Nature that maximizes its primary stat while cutting the one least relevant to its job.

You cannot change a Pokémon’s actual Nature — once assigned, it is permanent. However, in Generation VIII onward (Sword and Shield, BDSP, Scarlet and Violet), you can use a Nature Mint to change the active stat modifiers to match a different Nature. The Pokémon’s original Nature remains unchanged for all mechanics that depend on it — breeding, berry confusion, and Synchronize encounters. In earlier games, the only way to get the right Nature was through Everstone breeding or Synchronize when catching.

No. Nature modifiers apply only to the five non-HP stats: Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. The HP stat is entirely immune to Nature effects across every generation. This has never changed since Natures were introduced in Generation III. To maximize HP, invest in HP IVs and HP EVs — Nature cannot help or hinder it.

When held by a parent during breeding, the Everstone passes that parent’s Nature to the offspring. From Generation V (Black 2 and White 2) onward, this is 100% guaranteed. A Pokémon whose Nature was altered with a Mint will still pass its original pre-Mint Nature via Everstone — the Mint only affects active stat modifiers, not the underlying Nature value used in breeding.

At Level 100 with 252 EVs and 31 IVs, the gap is typically 30–40 stat points on the affected stat — translating to approximately 10% more damage per hit vs. a neutral Nature, and roughly 10% less damage if the Nature penalizes the attacking stat. In competitive play, this gap commonly decides whether a Pokémon achieves a specific KO, outspeeds a key threat, or survives a hit. For casual story-mode play, the difference is manageable but still noticeable over long battles.

No. Pokémon GO does not use the Nature system. In GO, stat optimization is driven by Individual Values (IVs) on a 0–15 scale and CP — no Nature modifier is applied. When Pokémon are transferred via Pokémon HOME to a main series game, they are assigned a random Nature at that point. Use the IV Calculator to optimize your GO builds, and this Natures guide for all main series game builds.

A Pokémon with Synchronize in the first party slot gives a 50% chance that any wild encounter will share its Nature. From ORAS onward, gift Pokémon (excluding Mystery Gift) are 100% guaranteed the Synchronize user’s Nature. Synchronize does not apply to roaming Pokémon in Gen 4, the Pokéwalker, or Entree Forest. In Emerald, it also does not apply to stationary Legendaries. This is the best tool for hunting Legendaries with a specific Nature without spending Mints.

The Pokémon Natures Mastery Framework

Natures are not luck — they are a system with clear rules. Apply this decision framework to every Pokémon you build for competitive or post-game content:

Identify the role first — Physical sweeper, Special sweeper, Physical wall, Special wall, or Trick Room attacker determines your Nature category before anything else

Pick from the top 8 — Adamant, Jolly, Modest, Timid, Bold, Impish, Calm, or Careful covers the vast majority of all competitive builds

Never use neutral Natures competitively — Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky waste the free +10% every beneficial Nature provides

Use Mints for Legendaries and Shinies — remember the real Nature still governs berry confusion and Everstone breeding

Breed with Everstone for everything else — target-Nature parent holds Everstone, high-IV parent holds Destiny Knot, hatch in Picnics (S/V)

Validate with free tools: IV Calc · CP Calc · Damage Calc · Type Chart — all at pokemoncalculator.online

Information accurate as of March 2026. Verified against Bulbapedia, Serebii.net, and community research through Generation IX (Scarlet and Violet). Always verify game-specific behavior for older titles as mechanics vary by generation.