Every Pokémon you catch while playing one of the primary games comes with a unique nature. A Pokémon’s nature will determine several background features associated with them and their stats. For those who want to optimize their Pokémon teams, it’s important to consider the nature you catch your Pokémon with and if you might want to catch a new one. Here’s what you need to know about how natures work in Pokémon.
How natures work in Pokémon
Every nature in Pokémon increases one stat and decreases another. This can be good or bad, depending on the Pokémon you catch and their overall strengths. For example, if you have a Pokémon that primarily will be using Special Attacks in combat, you want to make sure they have the Mild, Modest, Quiet, or Rash natures, as they all increase Special Attack and avoid Adamant, Careful, Impish, or Jolly natures, as they decrease Special Attack. The Bashful nature is one that increases and decreases Special Attack, which could be a good neutral choice.
Related: All weaknesses of the Fairy Type in the Pokémon series
Every Pokémon will have these natures while playing the game, so what they increase and decrease can be critical to winning battles.
Not only do natures influence stats, but they also detail what berries a Pokémon likes to eat. If a nature increases a stat, it will enjoy a particular berry, but if the nature decreases a stat, it will not enjoy eating that type of berry. For example, if your Pokémon has a nature that increases its Special Attack, it enjoys dry berries, but if its nature decreases its Special Attack, it doesn’t like to eat dry berries.
All natures and what they do in Pokémon
These are all of the nature types you can find in Pokémon, and what stats they increase and decrease.
| Nature | Increased Stat | Decreased Stat |
| Adamant | Attack | Special Attack |
| Bashful | Special Attack | Special Attack |
| Bold | Defense | Attack |
| Brave | Attack | Speed |
| Calm | Special Defense | Attack |
| Careful | Special Defense | Special Attack |
| Docile | Defense | Defense |
| Gentle | Special Defense | Defense |
| Hardy | Attack | Attack |
|
| ||
| Hasty | Speed | Defense |
| Impish | Defense | Special Attack |
| Jolly | Speed | Special Attack |
| Lax | Defense | Special Defense |
| Lonely | Attack | Defense |
| Mild | Special Attack | Defense |
| Modest | Special Attack | Attack |
| Naive | Speed | Special Defense |
| Naughty | Attack | Special Defense |
| Quiet | Special Attack | Speed |
| Quirky | Special Defense | Special Defense |
| Rash | Special Attack | Special Defense |
| Relaxed | Defense | Speed |
| Sassy | Special Defense | Speed |
| Serious | Speed | Speed |
| Timid | Speed | Attack |
