Individual values

**Individual strengths**, abbreviated **IVs** from its more commonly known fan term, **individual values**, are the Pokémon equivalent of genes. They are instrumental in determining the stats of a Pokémon, being responsible for the large variation in stats among untrained Pokémon of the same species.

Each of the six stats has an IV associated with it that ranges from 0-31, with that IV coming into calculation alongside the Pokémon's base stats, Nature, and EVs to determine the actual stat number. A Pokémon's IVs are fixed when it is generated by the game (i.e. when it is encountered in the wild or given to the player by an NPC), and cannot be changed.

The term **potential** is often used to allude to IVs, such as by the stats judge.

## Usage

### Determination of stats

A Pokémon's stats are determined according to the following formulas.

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{\displaystyle HP = \Bigl\lfloor {(2 \times Base + IV + \lfloor \tfrac{EV}{4} \rfloor) \times Level \over 100} \Bigr\rfloor + Level + 10}

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{\displaystyle OtherStat = \Biggl\lfloor \biggl( \Bigl\lfloor {(2 \times Base + IV + \lfloor \tfrac{EV}{4} \rfloor) \times Level \over 100} \Bigr\rfloor + 5 \biggr) \times Nature \Biggr\rfloor}

**Example**

For two Ho-Oh caught on Route 1:

### Hidden Power

*Main article: Hidden Power (move)/Calculation*

The calculated Type and Power of the move Hidden Power is based on the IVs of the Pokémon. Hidden Power can be of any type aside from Normal and Fairy.

The least significant bit of each IV determines the move's Type, and the second-least significant bit of each determines the move's Power.

## Evaluation

### Stats judge

*Main article: Stats judge*

There are four stats judge in the game who will give qualitative evaluations of the Pokémon's IVs:

* In Johto, he is in a house on the east side of Goldenrod City.
* In Hoenn, he is in a house on the north-east part of Lilycove City.
* In Sinnoh, he is in the Pokémon Fan Club, right from Hearthome City's Poké Mart.
* In Unova, he is in a house north from Castelia City's Poké Ball Factory.

The stats judge will also specifically note 0 IVs.

### Characteristic

*Main article: Characteristic*

Each Pokémon has a characteristic, a small blurb that indicates which of the Pokémon's IVs is the highest in a roundabout way. Rather than explicitly stating it, one of 30 of these short sentences is chosen, depending on which of the six stats the highest IV is in and how much more than a multiple of five it is.

**Example**

## Breeding

*Main article: Pokémon breeding → Inheriting stats*

A parent holding a Power item will pass the IV corresponding to the same stat to its children.

If either of a Pokémon's parents were holding a Destiny Knot, the child will inherit 5 of its 6 IVs from its parents.

## Storage

IVs are all stored together as a single 32-bit value. Since IVs require 30 bits to be stored, the two most significant bits of this value are used to store other data.

The most significant bit specifies whether or not the Pokémon is nicknamed.

The remaining 30 bits are the IVs, five bits apiece, in the order Sp. Def, Sp. Atk, Speed, Defense, Attack, and HP.