Gender is a concept introduced in Generation II, though touched upon in Generation I. In Gold and Silver Versions, most species were assigned a gender (male or female), and then, in Pokémon Crystal, a choice of male or female player characters became available for the first time. This feature allowed for Pokémon breeding, as well as introducing the concept of a Pokémon Egg to the series. Gender makes no difference in the stats of a Pokémon after Generation II, unless the two Pokémon are a different species entirely, such as Nidoran.

Pokémon

Related species

Nidoran

The Nidoran family is a special case in terms of gender. Introduced in Generation I, before gender was known for all Pokémon, Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ are considered separate species of Pokémon and indeed have many differences, from appearance to moveset. However, Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ Eggs have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Nidoran♀ or Nidoran♂, confirming that they are related.

Male Female
 
Nidoran♂
 
Nidoran♀
 
Nidorino
 
Nidorina
 
Nidoking
 
Nidoqueen

Other

In a manner similar to Nidoran, Eggs produced by Illumise may hatch into Volbeat. While Latias and Latios are in the Undiscovered Group in the games, likely due to being legendary Pokémon, Latias have produced Eggs containing Latios in the anime, confirming that they are related. Mothim and Wormadam evolve from male- and female-gendered members of the same species.

Male Female
 
Volbeat
 
Illumise
 
Latios
 
Latias
 
Mothim
 
Wormadam

Unofficial counterparts

Gender also allowed for many Pokémon to have unofficial male and female counterparts, as demonstrated below.

Male Female
 
Tauros
 
Miltank
 
Gallade
 
Gardevoir*
 
Glalie*
 
Froslass
 
Rufflet
 
Vullaby
 
Braviary
 
Mandibuzz
*Can be either gender

Gender differences

Main article: List of Pokémon with gender differences

Generation IV premiered minimal differences in sprite between two Pokémon of the same species. For example, a male Raichu will have the full tail seen in previous games, while the female is missing the very tip of it.

Gender-based evolution

Some Pokémon evolutions can only be obtained if they are of a certain gender:

Single-gender Pokémon

Several Pokémon are also only of one gender, yet do not have an official or unofficial counterpart of the other, though Cresselia has a genderless counterpart.

Pokémon Gender Pokémon Gender Pokémon Gender Pokémon Gender
 
Happiny
 
Smoochum
 
Tyrogue
 
Sawk
 
Chansey
 
Jynx
 
Hitmonlee
 
Tornadus
 
Blissey
 
Vespiquen
 
Hitmonchan
 
Thundurus
 
Petilil
 
Kangaskhan
 
Hitmontop
 
Landorus
 
Lilligant
 
Cresselia
 
Throh

In battle

Moves

This is a list of moves that are dependent on gender:

Gen Move Category Contest Power Accuracy PP Target Description
II Attract Status Cute 100% 15 (max 24)
     
     
Any adjacent Pokémon
If it is the opposite gender of the user, the target becomes infatuated and less likely to attack.
IV Captivate Status Beauty 100% 20 (max 32)
     
     
Any adjacent Pokémon
If it is the opposite gender of the user, the target is charmed into harshly lowering its Sp. Atk stat.
All details are accurate to Generation VII games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual move's page. Target data assumes user is in the lower left.

Abilities

This is a list of Abilities that are dependent on gender:

Gen Ability Description
III Cute Charm Contact with the Pokémon may cause infatuation.
IV Rivalry Deals more damage to a Pokémon of same gender.
All details are accurate to Generation V games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual Ability's page.

Trainers

 
Choosing to play as male or female in Pokémon Black and White

Starting in Pokémon Crystal, players were given the option of choosing to play as a boy or girl Trainer at the start of the game. Since then, every game in the main series has included that choice.

Game Male Female
C  
Ethan
 
Kris
R  
Brendan
 
May
S
FR  
Red
 
Leaf
LG
E  
Brendan
 
May
D  
Lucas
 
Dawn
P
Pt  
Lucas
 
Dawn
HG  
Ethan
 
Lyra
SS
B  
Hilbert
 
Hilda
W
B2  
Nate
 
Rosa
W2
X  
Calem
 
Serena
Y

In side games

Many side games in the Pokémon franchise allow the player to choose between a male or female player character as well.

Game Male Female
Pokémon
Card GB2
 
Mark
 
Mint
Pokémon
Ranger
 
Lunick
 
Solana
Pokémon
Ranger:
Shadows of
Almia
 
Kellyn
 
Kate
Pokémon
Ranger:
Guardian
Signs
 
Ben
 
Summer
Pokémon
Conquest
 
Hero
 
Heroine

Trivia

 
Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ show genders twice in Generation II, but only once in Generation III onward
  • In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender was determined through its Attack IV. Due to this, unless a Pokémon was a member of an all-female species, such as Nidoran♀ and Smoochum, it could never have a maximized Attack stat, as female Pokémon were given the lower half of the IV range. This also caused the inability for a female Pokémon of a species with a gender ratio of seven males to one female—like the starter Pokémon and Eevee—to be Shiny, due to that also running partly off of the Attack IV. In Generation III this was addressed, with IVs no longer determining either of these, allowing for Pokémon species with two genders to have females with maximized Attack and simultaneously retain its chances of being Shiny.
  • Although its English and French names suggest that it is exclusively male, Mr. Mime may be of either gender. This is due to the fact that it was given its name prior to the introduction of gender to the series.
    • There are other Pokémon that have a similar scenario to Mr. Mime. For example, the names of Seaking, Kingler, and Slaking suggests that they are exclusively male due to the King in their name. However, they can be of either gender.
    • Similarly, Gardevoir and Glalie can be either gender, even though each has a single-gender counterpart
  • Since Azurill has a different gender ratio than Marill and Azumarill, one in three female Azurill will be male after evolving into Marill, dependent on the personality value of the Azurill in question.
  • In the international versions of Generation II, due to how the battlefield display is programmed, Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ have their gender icon shown twice, once in their name, and once after the level. This does not occur in the Japanese and Korean games, however, as the gender icon was present after all Pokémon's names due to the shorter character limit there. This was addressed in all later generations, which prevent the gender icon from showing up when an un-nicknamed Nidoran of either gender is on the field.




Pokémon individuality
LevelStatsFriendshipGenderAbility (Hidden Ability) • NatureCharacteristic
Effort valuesIndividual valuesGo PowerEffort level
ConditionPerformanceAffectionMemory


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