Base stats

If you were looking for the the base stats of an individual Pokémon, see effort values.

The subject of this article has no official name. The name currently in use is a fan designator; see below for more information.

Base stats, when referring to a Pokémon species as a whole, is a measure of that species's stats as compared to other species.

For example, Umbreon is mainly a defensive Pokémon, therefore all Umbreon will have low Attack and Special Attack scores compared to their higher Defense and Special Defense scores (regardless of the individual's Nature, individual values, or its own base stats).

A species's base stats range from 1 to 255, and are most often the prime representation a Pokémon species has in battle. For example, Blissey has the highest possible HP base stat (255), but also has one of the lowest Attack and Defense base stats (of just 10).

Commonly, related Pokémon species (especially Pokémon with a split evolutionary line) will have similar base stats but with different distribution: For example, while Gardevoir's base stats for Attack and Special Attack are 65 and 125, respectively, its counterpart Gallade's Attack and Special Attack stats are reversed (125 and 65, respectively). Pokémon of a higher evolutionary stage will also usually have higher base stats (both individually and in total) than their unevolved counterparts; the only exceptions are Shedinja (whose base stat total is lower than its pre-evolved form, Nincada, by 30), and Scizor (whose base stat total is the same as its pre-evolved form, Scyther). Coincidentally, Pokémon species that are exclusive to specific games, even when not related by evolution (such as Caterpie and Weedle), may also have base stats that are similar in total but with different distributions between each stat.

Pokémon with very high base stat totals are often banned from tournaments, as they are considered too powerful.

While these values generally do not change from one game generation to the next, the change from Generation I to Generation II saw the introduction of separate Special Attack and Special Defense scores (they were previously a single shared stat, Special), and Generation VI saw some Pokémon given a slight boost in stats, such as Pidgeot whose base Speed was increased from 91 to 101.

For a list of all Pokémon by their base stats, see List of Pokémon by base stats.

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.