From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.

Gender (Japanese: 性別 sex) is a characteristic of Pokémon and humans in the Pokémon world.

Starting in the Generation II games, most Pokémon have a gender: male (Japanese: オス male) or female (Japanese: メス female); however, some species of Pokémon have unknown gender (Japanese: 不明 unknown). The gender mechanic is fundamental to Pokémon breeding.

In the core series games, starting in Pokémon Crystal, the player can choose between a male (Japanese: 男性 male) or female (Japanese: 女性 female) player character. However, human men and women have appeared in all core series Pokémon games.

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.

In Generation II

In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender is determined based solely on its physical Attack 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 have no gender, the calculation based on the physical Attack IV is ignored.

Due to this calculation, it is impossible to obtain a female Pokémon with high physical Attack, unless the Pokémon is a member of an all-female species like Jynx or Chansey. Starter Pokémon and others with a gender ratio of seven males to one female suffer the most, with the maximum physical Attack IV for a female Pokémon of those species being 1.

Attack IV Nominal ratio

( ♂:♀ ) Frequency Male Female Male Female N/A N/A Genderless Genderless 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 Cyndaquil obtained from Professor Elm:

Pokémon Gender HP Attack Defense Speed Sp. Atk Sp. Def Cyndaquil A ♀ 20 10 9 12 11 10 13

( 1101 ) 1

( 0001 ) 3

( 0011 ) 10

( 1010 ) 9

( 1001 ) Cyndaquil B ♂ 19 11 10 12 11 10 6

( 0110 ) 14

( 1110 ) 7

( 0111 ) 11

( 1011 ) 2

( 0010 )

In Generations III to V

00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000



From Generation III to Generation V, 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 p gender .

In a Pokémon species' base stat structure, 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, p gender 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), p gender is compared to the gender threshold. If p gender 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, it is genderless species (such as Magnemite). If a species has a gender threshold of 254, it is a female-only species (such as Nidoran♀). If a species has a gender threshold of 0, it is a male-only species (such as Nidoran♂).

Gender threshold Nominal ratio

(♂:♀) Frequency Binary Decimal Male Female 11111111 255 Genderless Genderless 11111110 254 Female 0.00% 100.00% ‭‭11100001‬ 225 1:7 (No species) 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 Pokémon Emerald onwards, if a Pokémon with Cute Charm 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.

Generation VI onward

From Generation VI onward, the gender threshold is compared to a random number between 1 and 252 (inclusive) instead of p gender (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 Nominal ratio

(♂:♀) Frequency Binary Decimal Male Female 11111111 255 Genderless Genderless 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%

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 two Pokémon with gender differences that are not just aesthetic are Meowstic and Indeedee, who have different learnsets and sets of Abilities depending on its gender.

Meowstic

The male Meowstic has Prankster and the female Meowstic has Competitive 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 VI and VII, female Meowstic learned one gender-exclusive status move, Me First.

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 Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, while female Indeedee have higher Defense, Special Defense, and HP. While male Indeedee can learn the TM and TR moves Power Swap, Trick Room, Magic Room, Wonder Room, Tri Attack, and Encore, female Indeedee can learn Light Screen, Reflect, Safeguard, Guard Swap, and Baton Pass. The Egg Move Extrasensory is exclusive to male Indeedee while the Egg Moves Psycho Shift and Heal Pulse are exclusive to female Indeedee.

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♂.





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.

Female Illumise Bug Illuminate or

Swarm

Hidden : Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd 65 47 75 73 85 85 Latias Dragon Psychic Levitate

HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd 80 80 90 110 130 110 Latias

Mega Evolution Dragon Psychic Levitate

HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd 80 100 120 140 150 110





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.

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 Braviary and Mandibuzz.

Single-gender forms

Certain forms of Pokémon are exclusively one gender. These forms are often based on established Pokémon characters. None of the Pokémon with these forms can breed.

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:

Gen Move Category Contest Power Accuracy PP Target Description II Attract Status Cute 000 — 100 100 % 15 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 Cute 000 — 100 100 % 20 20 (max 32) All adjacent foes If any opposing Pokémon is the opposite gender of the user, it is charmed, which harshly lowers its Sp. Atk stat. VIII G-Max Cuddle Physical Varies Varies 000 — % 01 1 (max 1) Any adjacent Pokémon Deals damage and all opponents of the opposite gender of the user become infatuated. VIII G-Max Cuddle Special Varies Varies 000 — % 01 1 (max 1) Any adjacent Pokémon Deals damage and all opponents of the opposite gender of the user become infatuated. 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 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 Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂), 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 Attack 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, all Pokémon are genderless, Attract and Cute Charm are able to infatuate 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 and genderless Pokémon have 1.5x 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 (~1.03x) 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.

Humans

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.

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. And in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Bugsy uses all-female teams despite being a male himself.







In the side games

In Pokémon Stadium 2, the player character, usually represented by a nameless, faceless boy, who previously appeared in the the original English release. If the player is using a Pokémon Crystal Game Pak, however, the boy's portrait is exchanged for a girl's.

In Pokémon HOME

The player can select an avatar from the overworld sprites of eight of the core series protagonists. The gender of the avatar is stored with the Original Trainer with any gifts received.

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.

In the anime

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 other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 性別 Singbiht Mandarin 性別 / 性别 Xìngbié Danish Køn Dutch Geslacht Finnish Sukupuoli French Sexe German Geschlecht Greek Φύλο Fýlo Hebrew מין Min Indonesian Jenis Kelamin Italian Sesso Korean 성별 Seongbyeol Malaysian Jantina Norwegian Kjønn Polish Płeć Portuguese Sexo Russian Пол Pol Spanish Sexo

Género Swedish Kön Thai เพศ Phet Turkish Cinsiyet Vietnamese Giới tính

Male Language Title Chinese Cantonese 雄性 Hùhngsing Mandarin 雄性 Xióngxìng Danish Han Finnish Uros French Mâle German Männlich Hebrew זכר Zakhar Indonesian Jantan Italian Maschio Korean 수컷 Sukeot Malaysian Jantan Norwegian Hann *

Mannlig * Polish Samiec Portuguese Brazil Macho

Gênero Masculino (XY126) Portugal Macho Spanish Macho Swedish Manlig Thai ตัวผู้ Tua phu Turkish Erkek Vietnamese Đực

Female Language Title Chinese Cantonese 雌性 Chīsing Mandarin 雌性 Cīxìng / Cíxìng Danish Hun Finnish Naaras French Femelle German Weiblich Hebrew נקבה Nekeva Indonesian Betina Italian Femmina Korean 암컷 Amkeot Malaysian Betina Norwegian Hunn *

Kvinnelig * Polish Samiczka Portuguese Fêmea Spanish Hembra Swedish Kvinnlig Thai ตัวเมีย Tua mia Turkish Dişi Vietnamese Cái

Unknown Language Title Chinese Cantonese 不明 Bātmìhng Mandarin 不明 Bùmíng Danish Ukendt Dutch Onbekend Finnish Tuntematon French Inconnu German Unbekannt Hebrew לא ידוע Lo Yadu'a Italian Sconosciuto Korean 불명 Bulmyeong Norwegian Ukjent Portuguese Desconhecido Russian Неизвестно Neizvestno Spanish Desconocido Swedish Okänt Turkish Belirsiz Vietnamese Chưa xác định



See also

References

Sex on Wikipedia

Gender on Wikipedia





