Gender (Japanese:性別(せいべつ)sex) is a characteristic ofPokémon andhumans in thePokémon world.

InGeneration Igames,Nidoran♀ andNidoran♂ were the only Pokémon shown to have a gender. Starting in theGeneration II games, most Pokémon have a gender (including Pokémontransferred from Generation I games):male (Japanese:オスmale) orfemale (Japanese:メスfemale). However, some species of Pokémon aregender unknown. The gender mechanic is fundamental toPokémon breeding.

In thecore series games, starting inPokémon Crystal, the player can choose between amale (Japanese:男性(だんせい)male) orfemale (Japanese:女性(じょせい)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 theBall Guy fromPokémon Sword and Shield,Blanche andRhi fromPokémon GO, and the unnamed player character inPokémon: Magikarp Jump, do not have a specified gender.

Pokémon

In the core series games

Determining gender

One factor that determines gender is each Pokémon species'sgender ratio, which is approximately how likely a Pokémon is a specific gender instead of the other.

Generation I

Several Pokémon besidesNidoran were mentioned to have genders in theGeneration I games prior to the introduction of the gender mechanic the following generation:

• ABeauty inRoute 13 asks "I wonder which is stronger, male or femalePokémon?"
• A character on theS.S. Anne refers to aMachoke using a male pronoun: "My buddy,Machoke, is super strong! He has enoughStrength to move big rocks!"
• In the French version, one of thePokémon Mansion journals reads "Mew is now a dad (or a mom?). The newborn was namedMewtwo." (French:Mew est papa (ou maman?). Le petit fut baptiséMewtwo.)
• Some early Pokédex entries specifically mention female Kangaskhan: "The female raises its offspring in a pouch on its belly.", from JapanesePokémon Red and Green, as well asFireRed, and "The female raises its young in its belly pouch for around three years.", fromJapanese Pokémon Stadium, as well asPokémon Stadium.
• Seaking'sPokédex entry fromPokémon Yellow mentions male Seaking. However, this game was released after thePokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo, which already had Pokémon with genders.

Generation II

InGeneration II, a Pokémon's gender is determined based solely on its physicalAttackIV 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 Attackstat (unless it is a member of anall-female species, such asSmoochum), because female Pokémon were given the lower portion of the IV range. This also prevented female Pokémon of aspecies with a gender ratio of seven males to one female, such asfirst partner Pokémon orEevee, from beingShiny, due to that also being based partly on the Attack IV. Because of this, theirHidden Power is always a physical type. FromGeneration 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 theGeneration I games are assigned a gender using the same process when transferred to the Generation II games, used inPokémon Stadium 2, or transferred from theVirtual Console games toPokémon 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 fromNidoran♀ andNidoran♂).

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 games (except forPokémon Sword and Shield andPokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl), which prevent the gender icon from appearing when an un-nicknamed Nidoran of either gender is on the field.

Example
For twoCyndaquil obtained fromProfessor Elm:

Generations III to V

00000000 00000000 0000000000000000

FromGeneration III toV, a Pokémon's gender is determined by thepersonality value's lowest eight digits (the lowest byte, highlighted inred above) ofp in binary form. Mathematically, this can be derived by calculating${\displaystyle pmod256}$. Below, this value will be referred to asp_gender.

In a Pokémon species'data structure, there is a value called thegender 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. Ifp_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, all Pokémon of that species are gender unknown (such asMagnemite). If a species has a gender threshold of 254, it is a female-only species (such asNidoran♀). If a species has a gender threshold of 0, it is a male-only species (such asNidoran♂).

FromPokémon Emerald onwards, if a Pokémon withCute Charm is in the first place in theparty (even iffainted), 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 aswarming Pokémon species or Pokémon found inHidden Grottoes.

Generations VI to VII

FromGeneration VI toVII, the gender threshold is compared to a random number between 1 and 252 (inclusive) instead ofp_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.

Generation VIII

InGeneration 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.^[1]

Additionally, due to a quirk inPokémon Sword and Shield's code, all overworldsymbol encounters,hidden encounters, andfishing encounters are forced to have a 1:1 gender ratio, with the game ignoring the above table. Instead, the random number generator rolls a rand2 (effectively a 50/50 chance, akin to acoin flip) to determine gender. This excludes 100% male, 100% female, andgender unknown species, although the game still attempts to roll a rand2 for these species if encountered, to no effect.^[2]

Generation IX

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Any changes from Gen 8, new gender ratio table for Gen 9 if different

Gender differences

Main article:List of Pokémon with gender differences

Generation IV introduced visual differences between genders for certain Pokémon species. For example, a maleRaichu 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 areMeowstic,Indeedee,Basculegion, andOinkologne, with Meowstic, Indeedee, and Oinkologne having differentmoves they can learn andAbilities between genders, and Indeedee, Basculegion, and Oinkologne having differentbase stats between genders.

Meowstic

This section contains old or outdated information, or has not been updated in a while. Please check the content of this section and update it as required. Reason: Move info from Scarlet and Violet as of The Indigo Disk.

The male Meowstic hasPrankster and the female Meowstic hasCompetitive as its Hidden Ability. At certain levels, they learn different moves from one another: the male Meowstic learnsstatus moves, while the female Meowstic learnsspecial moves. In GenerationsVI andVII, female Meowstic learned one gender-exclusive status move,Me First.

Meowstic Male  Psychic  Keen Eye or Infiltrator Hidden:Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 74 48 76 83 81 104

Meowstic Female  Psychic  Keen Eye or Infiltrator Hidden:Competitive HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 74 48 76 83 81 104

Indeedee

Indeedee differs more drastically by gender than Meowstic, with male and female Indeedee having slightly differentbase stats as well as learnsets. Male Indeedee have higherAttack,Special Attack, andSpeed, while female Indeedee have higherDefense,Special Defense, andHP. While male Indeedee can learn theTM andTR movesLight Screen,Reflect,Safeguard,Guard Swap, andBaton Pass, female Indeedee can learnPower Swap,Trick Room,Magic Room,Wonder Room,Tri Attack, andEncore. TheEgg MoveExtrasensory is exclusive to male Indeedee while the Egg MovesPsycho Shift andHeal Pulse 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.^[3]

Indeedee Male  Psychic  Normal  Inner Focus or Synchronize Hidden:Psychic Surge HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 60 65 55 105 95 95

Indeedee Female  Psychic  Normal  Own Tempo or Synchronize Hidden:Psychic Surge HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 70 55 65 95 105 85

Basculegion

Male and female Basculegion have slightly differingbase stats; the male form has higherAttack while the female form has higherSpecial Attack.

Basculegion Male  Water  Ghost  Swift Swim or Adaptability Hidden:Mold Breaker HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 120 112 65 80 75 78

Basculegion Female  Water  Ghost  Swift Swim or Adaptability Hidden:Mold Breaker HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 120 92 65 100 75 78

Oinkologne

The male Oinkologne has access to the AbilityLingering Aroma, while the female has access toAroma Veil. Male Oinkologne have higherAttack andDefense, while female Oinkologne have higherHP and Special Defense.

Oinkologne Male  Normal  Lingering Aroma or Gluttony Hidden:Thick Fat HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 110 100 75 59 80 65

Oinkologne Female  Normal  Aroma Veil or Gluttony Hidden:Thick Fat HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 115 90 70 59 90 65

Single-gender Pokémon

Nidoran lines

The Nidoran family is a special case in terms of gender. Introduced inGeneration I, before gender was known for all Pokémon,Nidoran♀ andNidoran♂ 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♂,Nidorino, orNidoking 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 itspersonality value.^{[4][5][6][7][3]}

Female				Male
Nidoran♀  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden:Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 55 47 52 40 40 41	Nidorina  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden:Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 70 62 67 55 55 56	Nidoqueen  Poison  Ground  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden:Sheer Force HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 90 92 87 75 85 76		Nidoran♂  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden:Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 46 57 40 40 40 50	Nidorino  Poison  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden:Hustle HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 61 72 57 55 55 65	Nidoking  Poison  Ground  Poison Point or Rivalry Hidden:Sheer Force HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 81 102 77 85 75 85

Firefly Pokémon

In a manner similar to Nidoran, Eggs produced byIllumise have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Illumise orVolbeat. 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 itspersonality value.^[5][6][7][3]

Female Illumise  Bug  Oblivious or Tinted Lens Hidden:Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 65 47 75 73 85 85

Male Volbeat  Bug  Illuminate or Swarm Hidden:Prankster HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 65 73 75 47 85 85

Eon Pokémon

WhileLatias andLatios are in theNo Eggs Discovered Group in the games, likely due to beingLegendary Pokémon, it is implied in thefifth movie that Latias have produced Eggs containingLatios, suggesting that they are similarly related.

Female Latias  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 80 90 110 130 110	Male Latios  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 90 80 130 110 110
Latias Mega Evolution  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 100 120 140 150 110	Latios Mega Evolution  Dragon  Psychic  Levitate HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spe 80 130 100 160 120 110

Gender-based Evolutions

Main article:Gender-based Evolution

Some Pokémon may have different ways ofevolving depending on their gender. These Pokémon may therefore have one or more Evolutions that can only be a single gender.

Pre-Evolution	Method	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 (Male Combee never evolve) → Level 21+	Vespiquen
Salandit	Female only (Male Salandit never evolve) → Level 33+	Salazzle

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 withGrimmsnarl andHatterene.

Male Tyrogue Hitmonlee Hitmonchan Hitmontop Tauros Throh Sawk Rufflet Braviary Tornadus Thundurus Landorus Impidimp Morgrem Grimmsnarl Okidogi Munkidori Fezandipiti

Female Happiny Chansey Blissey Kangaskhan Smoochum Jynx Miltank Cresselia Petilil Lilligant Vullaby Mandibuzz Flabébé Floette Florges Bounsweet Steenee Tsareena Hatenna Hattrem Hatterene Milcery Alcremie Enamorus Tinkatink Tinkatuff Tinkaton Ogerpon

Single-gender forms

Certainforms of Pokémon are exclusively one gender. These forms are often based on established Pokémon characters. Aside fromBloodmoonUrsaluna, none of the Pokémon with these forms can breed.

Male Pikachu in a cap Battle Bond/Ash- Greninja Bloodmoon Ursaluna

Female Cosplay Pikachu Spiky-eared Pichu

Exclusive by availability

Terapagos, despite being programmed as a Pokémon with aequal chance of being male or female, is fixed to be male when the player catches it inThe Indigo Disk. No other Terapagos have been made available since, making female Terapagos currently unobtainable.

Male
Terapagos

In battle

TheLove Ball is more effective when catching Pokémon that are of the opposite (or same inGeneration 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:

In the side series games

Pokémon Stadium 2

Pokémon Stadium 2 may connect toGeneration I orGeneration IIcore series games via theTransfer Pak, and is compatible with Pokémon genders. While Generation I games don't identify Pokémon genders (other thanNidoran♀ andNidoran♂), 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 physicalAttackIV when compared to its gender ratio.

For instance, a Pikachu fromPokémon Red, Blue, orYellow is shown as either male or female in Pokémon Stadium 2.

In the spin-off games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

Red and Blue Rescue Team

InPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, there is no gender displayed for any Pokémon other thanNidoran♀ andNidoran♂. There are no gender-based game mechanics in battle, thereforeAttract andCute Charm are able toinfatuate any opponent.

Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky

InPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness andPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, male Pokémon, as well as gender-unknown Pokémon (such asMagnemite), 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 forHey 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 theplayer'sMom 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,Meowth from theTeam Rocket trio is male, whileMeowzie is female. The English dub tends to avoid ascribing gender pronouns to Pokémon, instead using "it".

In the manga

Pokémon Newspaper Strip

InStrip 148, Brock mentions that there is no difference between male and female Pikachu. This was published during theGeneration I, predating the introduction of gender differences for Pikachu inGeneration IV games.

Humans

Main article:Category:Characters by gender

In the core series games

Starting inPokémon Crystal,players are given the option of choosing to play as a boy or girl Trainer at thestart of every core series game. Starting inPokémon Sun and Moon, 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 inPokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the opposite-gender player character may also be encountered in some games as an NPC.

Some Trainer classes have male and female variants, such asSwimmers, while others appear to be counterparts, such asCampers andPicnickers. Others, such asKimono Girls, have no opposite-gender counterpart.

Certain in-game events may differ depending on the player character's gender. For example, inPokémon Black 2 and White 2,Curtis will be encountered if the player is female, andYancy if the player is male. InPokémon X and Y andGeneration VII, availability of differentclothing is gender-specific. Also, only the female player character has the option of changing their lip color using lipstick stored in aMakeup Bag in Generation VII.

Outside ofbattle facilities, the gender of anon-playable character often determines the default gender of their Pokémon. If the Pokémon's species has an even1:1 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 toGeneration VII, Trainer classes forDouble Battles are treated as male, even if both Trainers are female.

For some Trainers, especiallyGym Leaders and theElite Four sinceGeneration V, the default genders have been overridden to give their teams a more balanced gender distribution. Oddly, theElite Four inFireRed and LeafGreen andGym Leaders inEmerald all use male-dominant teams in rematches, even though the female Trainers use all-female teams in their initial battles. InHeartGold and SoulSilver,Bugsy andWill* use all-female teams despite being male.

InPokémon Sword and Shield,Ball Guy's gender, along with their true identity and age, is unknown.

In the side series games

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: PBR and Champions

Pokémon Stadium series

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

Game	Stadium 2
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 theOriginal Trainer with any gifts received.

In the spin-off games

Manyside games in the Pokémon franchise allow the player to choose between a male or femaleplayer character as well.

The English localization ofPokémon GO and its associated social media accounts avoid using gendered language or pronouns when referring toBlanche, the leader of Team Mystic.^[8] The German localization similarly stopped using gendered language to refer to them since 2020.^[9] Likewise,Rhi has only been referred to using either their name or neutral third-person pronouns.^[10]

The player character inPokémon: Magikarp Jump is noted to be gender unknown.^[11]

Game	Card GB2	Ranger	Ranger SoA	Ranger GS	Battle Revolution	Conquest	GO	Masters EX
Male
	Mark	Lunick	Kellyn	Ben	Nate	Hero	N/A	Scottie
Female
	Mint	Solana	Kate	Summer	Cyndy	Heroine	N/A	Bettie

In animation

InKanto,O-Hina Town hosts a female-exclusive tournament during the annualPrincess Festival. Porta Vista also hosts a beauty pageant for women only, known as theBeach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest. InKalos,Pokémon Performers are exclusively female, as only girls may participate inPokémon Showcases.

Trivia

• In thePokémon 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 andFrench names suggest that it is exclusively male,Mr. Mime may be of either gender; however, its name predates the introduction of gender to the series.
  • Its Galarian Evolution,Mr. Rime, also shares these traits, despite being introduced after the introduction of gender to the series.
• If the Generation I games used the same rules as Generation II for determining a Pokémon's gender, this would result in some oddities:
  • In the case of Pokémon owned bynon-player characters, due to the fact that they all share the Attack IV 9, there would be a single available gender for each Pokémon species. Namely, if the chance for a certain species to be male were 50% or more, then it would be male 100% of the time when owned by any NPC. If the chance to be female were any higher than 50%, then it would be female 100% of the time when owned by any NPC.
  • Thestarting Pikachu in Pokémon Yellow would be likely to change its gender after it was caught by Professor Oak, due to the fact that its stats are randomly generated when it appears as a wild Pokémon and then generated again when it is delivered to the player.
  • Theghost Marowak would be equally likely to be male or female, and it would be able to change its gender if battled multiple times, since her stats are randomly generated in each battle like those of any wild Pokémon.
• SinceAzurill has a different gender ratio thanMarill andAzumarill, one in three female Azurill used to become male after evolving into Marill, dependent on thepersonality value of the Azurill in question, though this no longer happens sinceGeneration VI.
• Anon-player character,Beauty Nova inPokémon X and Y, is implied to betransgender. She says that she was reborn as a Beauty after originally being aBlack Belt (a male-onlyTrainer class); in the Japanese versions, she credits this transformation to medical science.^[12] In the German and Korean versions, this implication is removed, with her instead having been a femalePokémon Breeder or aTaekwondo Girl (Korean: 태권도 소녀Taekwondo Sonyeo), a gender-swapped version of the Korean name for the Black Belt Trainer class, respectively.^[13]

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,Solgaleo andLunala are said to be the male and female final forms ofCosmog, respectively.
  • Similarly,Zacian's Pokédex entry inPokémon Shield mentions it possibly being the older sister ofZamazenta, implying Zacian to be female, despite it being gender unknown.

In other languages

References

External links

• Sex on Wikipedia
• Gender on Wikipedia

Related articles

• List of Pokémon by gender ratio

This game mechanic article is part ofProject Games, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on thePokémon games.

• Articles needing more information
• Outdated articles
• Game mechanics
• Pokémon world