Gender
The gender (Japanese: 性別 sex) of a Pokémon is a concept introduced in Generation II, though touched upon in Generation I. In Gold and Silver Versions, most species of Pokémon were assigned a gender, male (Japanese: オス male) or female (Japanese: メス female); however, the genders of some species of Pokémon were left unknown (Japanese: 不明 unknown). 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.
In Pokémon Crystal, a choice of between a male (Japanese: 男性 male) and female (Japanese: 女性 female) player character became available for the first time. However, both men and women have been featured in the Pokémon games since Generation I.
Pokémon
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. Generations V and VI would introduce Pokémon with more drastic differences in appearance.
The only Pokémon with gender differences that are not just aesthetic is Meowstic, which has different learnsets and Hidden Abilities depending on its gender. The male Meowstic has Prankster and the female Meowstic has Competitive as its Hidden Ability. Furthermore the male Meowstic learns mostly status moves, with all of its gender-exclusive moves being status moves, while at the same levels, the female Meowstic learns mostly special moves, with only one of its gender-exclusive moves, Me First, being a status move. Below are Meowstic's learnsets.
| Lv. |  Meowstic♂ Psychic |
 Meowstic♀ Psychic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quick Guard | Stored Power |
| Mean Look | Me First | |
| Helping Hand | Magical Leaf | |
| Scratch | ||
| Leer | ||
| Covet | ||
| Confusion | ||
| 5 | Covet | |
| 9 | Confusion | |
| 13 | Light Screen | |
| 17 | Psybeam | |
| 19 | Fake Out | |
| 22 | Disarming Voice | |
| 25 | Psyshock | |
| 28 | Charm | Charge Beam |
| 31 | Miracle Eye | Shadow Ball |
| 35 | Reflect | Extrasensory |
| 40 | Psychic | |
| 43 | Role Play | |
| 45 | Imprison | Signal Beam |
| 48 | Sucker Punch | |
| 50 | Misty Terrain | Future Sight |
| 55 | Quick Guard | Stored Power |
| Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage. | ||
Single-gender Pokémon
Related species
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 Eggs have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Nidoran♀ or Nidoran♂.
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
 Nidoran♂ |
 Nidoran♀ |
 Nidorino |
 Nidorina |
 Nidoking |
 Nidoqueen |
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 similarly related.
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
 Volbeat |
 Illumise |
  Latios |
  Latias |
Gender-based evolutions
Some Pokémon may have different ways of evolving depending on their gender. These Pokémon may therefore have one or more evolutions that can only be a single gender.
| Pre-evolution | → | Evolved |
|---|---|---|
 Kirlia |
Male only → Dawn Stone |
  Gallade |
| Either gender → Level 30+ |
  Gardevoir | |
 Snorunt |
Female only → Dawn Stone |
 Froslass |
| Either gender → Level 42+ |
  Glalie | |
 Burmy |
Male only → Level 20+ |
 Mothim |
| Female only → Level 20+ |
 Wormadam | |
 Combee |
Female only* → Level 21+ |
 Vespiquen |
 Salandit |
Female only* → Level 33+ |
 Salazzle |
The Eviolite will always work on Combee and Salandit, regardless of gender.
Other single-gender Pokémon
The following is a list of all Pokémon that are either 100% male or 100% female and have not been mentioned in an above section. In particular, these Pokémon have no explicit relation to a Pokémon of the opposite gender through evolution or breeding, although some of them may have a counterpart such as with Braviary and Mandibuzz.
In battle
The Love Ball is more effective when catching Pokémon that are of the sameGSC/oppositeHGSSSMUSUM gender of the player's Pokémon.
The following moves are dependent on gender:
| Gen | Move | Category | Contest | Power | Accuracy | PP | Target | Description | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| II | Attract | Status | Cute | — | 100% | 15 (max 24) |
|
If it is the opposite gender of the user, the target becomes infatuated and less likely to attack. | |||||||||
| IV | Captivate | Status | Cute | — | 100% | 20 (max 32) |
|
If any opposing Pokémon is the opposite gender of the user, it is charmed, which harshly lowers 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. | |||||||||||||||||
The following Abilities are dependent on gender:
| Gen | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| III | Cute Charm | Contact with the Pokémon may cause infatuation. |
| IV | Rivalry | Becomes competitive and deals more damage to Pokémon of the same gender, but deals less to Pokémon of the opposite gender. |
| All details are accurate to Generation VII games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual Ability's page. | ||
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, a male Pokémon has increased critical hit ratio. A female Pokémon has increased evasion.
Humans
- Main article: :Category:Characters by gender
In the games
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. Starting in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the opposite-gender player character can also be encountered in the game.
Some Trainer classes have male and female variants, such as Swimmers, while others appear to be counterparts, such as Campers and Picnickers. Others, such as Kimono Girls, have no opposite-gender counterpart.
Certain in-game events may differ depending on the player character's gender. For example, in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Curtis will be encountered if the player is female, and Yancy if the player is male. In Pokémon X and Y and Generation VII, availability of different clothing is gender-specific. Also, only the female player character has the option of changing their lip color using lipstick stored in a Makeup Bag in Generation VII.
| 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 | ||
| OR |  Brendan |
 May |
| AS | ||
| S |  Elio |
 Selene |
| M | ||
| US |  Elio |
 Selene |
| UM | ||
| P |  Chase |
 Elaine |
| E |
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 |
In the anime
In Kanto, O-Hina Town hosts a female-exclusive tournament during the annual Princess Festival. Porta Vista hosts a beauty pageant for women only, known as the Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest. In Kalos, Pokémon Performers are exclusively female, as only girls may participate in Pokémon Showcases.
Trivia
- In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender was determined through its Attack IV. Due to this, a female Pokémon could never have a maximized Attack stat (unless they were a member of an all-female species, such as Smoochum), because female Pokémon were given the lower portion of the IV range. This also prevented female Pokémon of a species with a gender ratio of seven males to one female, such as starter Pokémon or Eevee, from being Shiny, due to that also being based partly on the Attack IV. From Generation III onward, neither of these traits are determined by IVs, allowing for Pokémon species with two genders to have females with maximized Attack and simultaneously retain their 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.
- 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, though this no longer happens in Generation VI.
- 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.
- In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, the gender of a wild Pokémon in a dungeon is determined by the current number of floor the player stands on. If the number is odd, all wild Pokémon that can be male will be male; if it is even, all wild Pokémon that can be female will be female.
In other languages
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Male
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Female
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Unknown
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See also
External links
References
- ↑ On the Pokémon.com Pokédex
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |