Gender

Gender (Japanese: ) is a characteristic of and humans in the Pokémon world.
In Generation I , and were the only Pokémon shown to have a gender. Starting in the Generation II games, most Pokémon have a gender (including Pokémon transferred from Generation I games): male (Japanese: オス male) or female (Japanese: メス female). However, some species of Pokémon are gender unknown. The gender mechanic is fundamental to Pokémon breeding.
In the core series games, starting in , the player can choose between a male (Japanese: male) or female (Japanese: female) player character (prior games having only featured a male player character). However, male and female humans have appeared in all core series Pokémon games. Notably, some human characters, such as Ball Guy from , Blanche and Rhi from , and the unnamed player character in Pokémon: Magikarp Jump, do not have a specified gender.
==Pokémon==
===In the core series===
====Determining gender====
One factor that determines gender is each Pokémon species's gender ratio, which is approximately how likely a Pokémon is a specific gender instead of the other.
=====Generation I=====
Several Pokémon besides Nidoran were mentioned to have genders in the Generation I games prior to the introduction of the gender mechanic the following generation:
* A in asks "I wonder which is stronger, male or female ?"
* A character in S.S. Anne refers to a using a male pronoun: "My buddy, <sc>Machoke</sc>, is super strong! He has enough <sc>Strength</sc> to move big rocks!"
* In the French version, one of the Pokémon Mansion journals reads "<sc>Mew</sc> is now a dad (or a mom?). The newborn was named <sc>Mewtwo</sc>." (French: <sc>Mew</sc> est papa (ou maman?). Le petit fut baptisé <sc>Mewtwo</sc>.)
* Some early Pokédex entries specifically mention female Kangaskhan: "The female raises its offspring in a pouch on its belly.", from Japanese , as well as FireRed, and "The female raises its young in its belly pouch for around three years.", from , as well as Pokémon Stadium.
* 's Pokédex entry from mentions male Seaking. However, this game was released after the Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo, which already had Pokémon with genders.
=====Generation II=====
In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender is determined based solely on its physical IV when compared to its gender ratio. A Pokémon is female if its physical Attack IV is less than or equal to its species' gender ratio, otherwise it is male. For species that are exclusively one gender or gender unknown, the calculation based on the physical Attack IV is ignored.
Due to this calculation, a female Pokémon could never have a maximized Attack stat (unless they were a member of an , such as ), because female Pokémon were given the lower portion of the IV range. This also prevented female Pokémon of a , such as first partner Pokémon or , from being , due to that also being based partly on the Attack IV. Because of this, their is always a physical type. 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.
Pokémon from the Generation I games are assigned a gender using the same process when transferred to the Generation II games, used in Pokémon Stadium 2, or transferred from the Virtual Console games to Pokémon Bank. As a result, a Pokémon maintains its gender when transferred between the Generation I and II games (even though the gender is not shown in the Generation I games, aside from and ).
In the international versions of the Generation II games, 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 (except for and ), which prevent the gender icon from showing up when an un-nicknamed Nidoran of either gender is on the field.
Attack IV	Attack IV	Ratio(♂:♀) 	Frequency 	Frequency
Male 	Female 	Ratio(♂:♀) 	Male 	Female
N/A 	N/A 	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown
0-15 	N/A 	Male 	100.0% 	0.0%
2-15 	0-1 	7:1 	87.5% 	12.5%
4-15 	0-3 	3:1 	75.0% 	25.0%
8-15 	0-7 	1:1 	50.0% 	50.0%
12-15 	0-11 	1:3 	25.0% 	75.0%
N/A 	0-15 	Female 	0.0% 	100.0%
Example
For two obtained from Professor Elm:
Pokémon 	Gender	HP 	Attack 	Defense	Speed 	Sp. Atk	Sp. Def
Cyndaquil A	♀ 	20 	10 	9 	12 	11 	10
Cyndaquil A	♀ 	13(1101)	1(0001) 	3(0011)	10(1010)	9(1001)	9(1001)
Cyndaquil B	♂ 	19 	11 	10 	12 	11 	10
Cyndaquil B	♂ 	6(0110) 	14(1110)	7(0111)	11(1011)	2(0010)	2(0010)
=====Generations III to V=====
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
From Generation III to , a Pokémon's gender is determined by the personality value's lowest eight digits (the lowest byte, highlighted in red above) of p in binary form. Mathematically, this can be derived by calculating p % 256. Below, this value will be referred to as pgender.
In a Pokémon species' , there is a value called the gender threshold, a byte with a value ranging from 0 to 255. With the exception of a few special cases, pgender is compared to the gender threshold to determine if the Pokémon is male or female.
If the gender threshold is not a special value (0, 254, or 255), pgender is compared to the gender threshold. If pgender is greater than or equal to the gender threshold, the Pokémon is male, otherwise it is female. Because the comparison to determine gender is greater than or equal, Pokémon are slightly more likely to be male than they would be according to the ideal ratios.
If a species has a gender threshold of 255, all Pokémon of that species are gender unknown (such as ). If a species has a gender threshold of 254, it is a female-only species (such as ). If a species has a gender threshold of 0, it is a male-only species (such as ).
Gender threshold	Gender threshold	Nominal ratio(♂:♀)	Frequency 	Frequency 	 	
Binary 	Decimal 	Nominal ratio(♂:♀)	Male 	Female 	 	
11111111 	255 	Gender unknown 	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown
11111110 	254 	Female 	0.00% 	100.00% 	 	
‭‭11100001‬ 	225 	1:7 	12.11% 	87.89% 	 	
10111111 	191 	1:3 	25.39% 	74.61% 	 	
01111111 	127 	1:1 	50.39% 	49.61% 	 	
00111111 	63 	3:1 	75.39% 	24.61% 	 	
00011111 	31 	7:1 	87.89% 	12.11% 	 	
00000000 	0 	Male 	100.00% 	0.00% 	 	
From onwards, if a Pokémon with is in the first place in the party (even if fainted), there is a 66.7% chance that the game will force an encountered Pokémon to be the opposite gender to the Pokémon with Cute Charm if it can be that gender. This does not affect a swarming Pokémon species or Pokémon found in Hidden Grottos.
=====Generations VI to VII=====
From Generation VI to , the gender threshold is compared to a random number between 1 and 252 (inclusive) instead of pgender (which is between 0 and 255); this causes Pokémon with a "1:1" gender ratio to actually be distributed according to the ideal ratio. All other Pokémon are more likely to be the more common gender than they would be according to their nominal ratio.
Gender threshold	Gender threshold	Nominal ratio(♂:♀)	Frequency 	Frequency 	 	
Binary 	Decimal 	Nominal ratio(♂:♀)	Male 	Female 	 	
11111111 	255 	Gender unknown 	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown
11111110 	254 	Female 	0.0% 	100.00% 	 	
‭‭11100001‬ 	225 	1:7 	11.11% 	88.89% 	 	
10111111 	191 	1:3 	24.60% 	75.40% 	 	
01111111 	127 	1:1 	50.00% 	50.00% 	 	
00111111 	63 	3:1 	75.40% 	24.60% 	 	
00011111 	31 	7:1 	88.10% 	11.90% 	 	
00000000 	0 	Male 	100.00% 	0.00% 	 	
=====Generation VIII=====
In Generation VIII, the gender threshold is compared to a random number between 1 to 253 (inclusive). This leads to slightly different ratios, with male Pokémon being slightly more common than before.https://twitter.com/SciresM/status/1197055570290700288
Gender threshold	Gender threshold	Nominal ratio(♂:♀)	Frequency 	Frequency 	 	
Binary 	Decimal 	Nominal ratio(♂:♀)	Male 	Female 	 	
11111111 	255 	Gender unknown 	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown	Gender unknown
11111110 	254 	Female 	0.0% 	100.00% 	 	
‭‭11100001‬ 	225 	1:7 	11.46% 	88.54% 	 	
10111111 	191 	1:3 	24.90% 	75.10% 	 	
01111111 	127 	1:1 	50.20% 	49.80% 	 	
00111111 	63 	3:1 	75.50% 	24.50% 	 	
00011111 	31 	7:1 	88.14% 	11.86% 	 	
00000000 	0 	Male 	100.00% 	0.00% 	 	
Additionally, due to a bug in , all overworld symbol encounters are forced to have a 1:1 gender ratio, excluding 100% male, 100% female, and gender unknown species.
=====Generation IX=====
====Gender differences====
Generation IV introduced visual differences between genders for certain Pokémon species. For example, a male will have the full tail seen in previous games, while the female is missing the very tip of it. Later generations would introduce several Pokémon with more drastic differences in appearance between genders.
The only four Pokémon with gender differences that are not just visual are , , , and , with Meowstic, Indeedee, and Oinkologne having different moves they can learn and between genders, and Indeedee, Basculegion, and Oinkologne having different base stats between genders.
=====Meowstic=====
The male Meowstic has and the female Meowstic has as its Hidden Ability. At certain levels, they learn different moves from one another: the male Meowstic learns status moves, while the female Meowstic learns special moves. In Generations and , female Meowstic learned one gender-exclusive status move, .
	
Male 	 	 	 	Female	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Notes	Notes	Notes	Notes	Notes 	Notes	Notes	Notes
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.	
* Despite not being exclusive, some moves are learned by one gender naturally, and the other depends on external method.
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
=====Indeedee=====
Indeedee differs more drastically by gender than Meowstic, with male and female Indeedee having slightly different base stats as well as learnsets. Male Indeedee have higher , , and , while female Indeedee have higher , , and . While male Indeedee can learn the TM and TR moves , , , , and , female Indeedee can learn , , , , , and . The Egg Move is exclusive to male Indeedee while the Egg Moves and are exclusive to female Indeedee.
Indeedee Eggs have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either a male or female Indeedee. This chance is determined using a separate random number from the one compared to the gender threshold.RNGWriteups/Gen 8/Egg Generation.md · Admiral-Fish/RNGWriteups
	
Male			Female		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
 			 		
=====Basculegion=====
Male and female Basculegion have slightly differing base stats; the male form has higher while the female form has higher .
	
=====Oinkologne=====
The male Oinkologne has access to the Ability , while the female has access to . Male Oinkologne have higher and , while female Oinkologne have higher and .
	
====Single-gender Pokémon====
=====Nidoran lines=====
The Nidoran family is a special case in terms of gender. Introduced in Generation I, before gender was known for all Pokémon, and 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♂. From Generation II to IV, Eggs produced by Nidoran♂, , or when paired with Ditto always hatch into Nidoran♂; starting in Generation V, they also have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Nidoran♀ or Nidoran♂. This chance is determined using a separate random number from the one compared to the gender threshold; in Generations III and IV, this is determined by the highest bit of the lower half of its personality value.pokecrystal/engine/events/daycare.asm · pret/pokecrystalpokeemerald/src/daycare.c · pret/pokeemeraldpokeheartgold/src/get_egg.c · pret/pokeheartgoldPokeFinder/Source/Core/Gen5/Generators/EggGenerator5.cpp · Admiral-Fish/PokeFinder
Female	Female	Female		Male	Male	Male
 	 	 		 	 	
=====Firefly Pokémon=====
In a manner similar to Nidoran, Eggs produced by have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Illumise or . From Generation III to IV, Eggs produced by Volbeat when paired with Ditto always hatch into Volbeat; starting in Generation V, they also have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Illumise or Volbeat. This chance is determined using a separate random number from the one compared to the gender threshold; in Generations III and IV, this is determined by the highest bit of the lower half of its personality value.
Female	Male
=====Eon Pokémon=====
While and are in the in the games, likely due to being Legendary Pokémon, it is implied in the fifth movie that Latias have produced Eggs containing , suggesting that they are similarly related.
Female	Male
 	
=====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	Method 	Evolved
 	Male only→ 	
 	Eithergender→Level 30+ 	
 	Female only→ 	
 	Eithergender→Level 42+ 	
 	Male only→Level 20+ 	
 	Female only→Level 20+ 	
 	Female only(Male Combee never evolve)→Level 21+ 	
 	Female only(Male Salandit never evolve)→Level 33+	
Eviolite will always work on Combee and Salandit, regardless of their gender and whether they are able to evolve.
=====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 and .
{| class="roundy" style="background:#; margin:auto; border:5px solid #"	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male	Male
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
====Single-gender forms====
Certain forms of Pokémon are exclusively one gender. These forms are often based on established Pokémon characters. Aside from , none of the Pokémon with these forms can breed.
{| class="roundy" style="background:#; margin:auto; border:5px solid #" width=400px	Male 	Male	Male
in a cap	/Ash-	 	
====Exclusive by availabilty====
, despite being programmed as a Pokémon with a equal chance of being male or female, is fixed to be male when the player catches it in The Indigo Disk. No other Terapagos have been made available since, making female Terapagos currently unobtainable.
Male	Male	Male
 	 	
====In battle====
The Love Ball is more effective when catching Pokémon that are of the opposite (or same in Generation II, due to a programming error) gender of the player's Pokémon.
The following moves are dependent on gender:
The following Abilities are dependent on gender:
Gen 	Ability 	Description
III 	 	Contact with the Pokémon may cause infatuation.
IV 	 	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.	All details are accurate to Generation VII games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual Ability's page.	All details are accurate to Generation VII games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual Ability's page.
===In side series games===
====Pokémon Stadium 2====
Pokémon Stadium 2 may connect to Generation I or Generation II core series games via the Transfer Pak, and is compatible with Pokémon genders. While Generation I games don't identify Pokémon genders (other than and ), the gender displayed in Pokémon Stadium 2 is the same as in the core series Generation II games, which is determined by the Pokémon's physical IV when compared to its gender ratio.
For instance, a Pikachu from Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow is shown as either male or female in Pokémon Stadium 2.
===In spin-off games===
====Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series====
=====Red and Blue Rescue Team=====
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, there is no gender displayed for any Pokémon other than and . There are no gender-based game mechanics in battle, therefore and are able to any opponent.
=====Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky=====
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, male Pokémon, as well as gender-unknown Pokémon (such as ), have a 1.5× bonus applied to move's base critical rate before other modifiers are applied, and at the same time all moves that target them have 263/256 (~1.03×) accuracy multiplier if no other accuracy or evasion modifiers are in effect. Barring those that are gender-locked, Pokémon encountered on odd dungeon floors will always be male, and Pokémon encountered on even floors will always be female.
====Hey You, Pikachu!====
In an American trailer for Hey You, Pikachu!, Pikachu's gender is discussed. When a young boy refers to Pikachu using the pronoun "he", the boy's sister retorts with "How do you know he's a he? Maybe Pikachu is a she."
In the game dialogue, Professor Oak and the 's refer to Pikachu using the pronoun "it".
===In animation===
Prior to the introduction of the gender mechanic in the games, some Pokémon were already shown to be male or female. For instance, from the Team Rocket trio is male, while Meowzie is female.
===In the manga===
====Pokémon Newspaper Strip====
In , Brock mentions that there is no difference between male and female Pikachu. This was published during the Generation I, predating the introduction of gender differences for Pikachu in Generation IV games.
==Humans==
===In the games===
Starting in , s are given the option of choosing to play as a boy or girl Trainer at the start of every core series game. Starting in , the game will ask what the player looks like, rather than specifying gender. The character picked will still determine certain outfit choices and pronouns. Starting in , the opposite-gender player character may also be encountered in some games as an NPC.
Game 	 		 								
Male 	 		 								
Male 	 		 								
Female	N/A		N/A								
Female	N/A		N/A								
 	 		 								
Male 	 		 								
Male 	 		 								
Female	 		 								
Female	 		 								
Some Trainer classes have male and female variants, such as s, while others appear to be counterparts, such as s and s. 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 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.
Outside of battle facilities, the gender of a non-playable character often determines the default gender of their Pokémon. If the Pokémon's species has an even 1:1 gender ratio, then its gender will match its Trainer's; if the gender ratio is skewed, then the more common gender of the species will be used. Prior to Generation VII, Trainer classes for Double Battles are treated as male, even if both Trainers are female.
For some Trainers, especially Gym Leaders and the Elite Four since Generation V, the default genders have been overridden to give their teams a more balanced gender distribution. Oddly, the Elite Four in FireRed and LeafGreen and Gym Leaders in Emerald all use male-dominant teams in rematches, even though the female Trainers use all-female teams in their initial battles. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Bugsy and Will use all-female teams despite being male.
In , Ball Guy's gender, along with their true identity and age, is unknown.
====In the side games====
=====Pokémon Stadium series=====
In Pokémon Stadium 2, the player character is usually represented by a nameless, faceless boy, who previously appeared in the original English release. If the player is using a Game Pak, however, the boy's portrait is exchanged for a girl's.
Game 	
Male 	
Female	
=====Pokémon HOME=====
The player can select an avatar from the overworld sprites of twelve of the core series protagonists. The gender of the avatar is stored with the Original Trainer with any gifts received.
Game 	
Male 	
Female	
====In spin-off games====
Many side games in the Pokémon franchise allow the player to choose between a male or female player character as well.
The English localization of and its associated social media accounts avoid using gendered language or pronouns when referring to Blanche, the leader of Team Mystic."Blanche became visibly upset, which tends to happen when things don't go to their carefully curated plans." - Willow Report: Looming in the Shadows — Pokémon GO The German localization similarly stopped using gendered language to refer to them since 2020.German Website for Season of Heritage Likewise, Rhi has only been referred to using either their name or neutral third-person pronouns.Professor Willow: "Rhi says [Team GO Rocket] may be taking an interest in our otherworldly visitors, huh? I’m inclined to think they’re right. Good thing you’re here to save the day!" (, Special Research "Ultra Beast Protection Efforts")
The player character in Pokémon: Magikarp Jump is noted to be gender unknown."Hey, you! Um...boy? Girl? You're working hard raising that Magikarp of yours, aren't you?" —Man of Mystery, Pokémon: Magikarp Jump
Game 							 	
Male 							 	
Male 							N/A	
Female							 	
Female							N/A	
===In animation===
In Kanto, O-Hina Town hosts a female-exclusive tournament during the annual Princess Festival. Porta Vista also 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 the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, several Pokémon that are gender unknown in the core series games are referred to as male or female by in-game characters.
* Although its English and French names suggest that it is exclusively male, may be of either gender; however, its name predates the introduction of gender to the series. 
** Its Galarian evolution, , also shares these traits, despite being introduced after the introduction of gender to the series.
* Since has a different gender ratio than and , one in three female Azurill used to become male after evolving into Marill, dependent on the personality value of the Azurill in question, though this no longer happens since Generation VI.
* A non-player character, Nova in , is implied to be . She says that she was reborn as a Beauty after originally being a (a male-only ); in the Japanese versions, she credits this transformation to medical science.Q&A: Is This Character in Pokémon X/Y Transgender? « Legends of Localization In the German and Korean versions, this implication is removed, with her instead having been a female or a Girl (Korean: 태권도 소녀 Taekwondo Sonyeo), a gender-swapped version of the Korean name for the Black Belt Trainer class, respectively.New and Forgotten Pokemon X & Y Facts Ft. @jarvis (retrieved April 30th, 2024)
:: Before battle: "I've recently remade my life completely! I've been reborn as a Beauty at last!"
:: After winning: "If you want to make your dreams reality, then you have to be completely dedicated!"
:: After losing: "Yes, a mere half year ago I was a Black Belt! Quite the transformation, wouldn't you say?"
* Although they are gender unknown Pokémon, and are said to be the male and female final forms of , respectively.
** Similarly, 's Pokédex entry in mentions it possibly being the older sister of , implying Zacian to be female, despite it being gender unknown.
==In other languages==
Male
Female
==References==
==External links==
* on Wikipedia
* on Wikipedia
==Related articles==
* List of Pokémon by gender ratio
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