Sunday, January 23, 2022

On the Referencing of Stats in Pokémon Go

In all my time of dealing (again) with Pokémon Go since my return years ago, there's something I haven't discussed. It's about the stats of the Pokémon, which would be decidedly different than that of the more well-known main series games. In fact, their referencing - the way they are mentioned - would have to be different because of that fact as well, and this leads further to other novelties. It would seem to make for a good discussion, so I've decided to make just that.

Like the main series games in general, different Pokémon have different basic stats as well. They are Attack and Defense (which are the determinants of themselves as expected) as well as Stamina, which is the determinant of HP - all of which have certain numerical values for different species. Even so, these stats are not frequently referenced as they're essentially static and unchanging in most circumstances for a Pokémon species; it is only in combination with or as other, more dynamic stats that they do tell tales. Yet it may still be neat to know about them and at least know that they're present.

Those other dynamic stats are the IVs - Individual Values - for a specific instance of a Pokémon species. These are composed of Attack, Defense, and HP as the stats above, which range from 0-15 and are frequently referred in the above order as a triplet of numbers (for example 15/15/15 for one with the best stats, or 0/15/15 for certain ones most capable in PvP) as well as a percentage aggregate rounded to the nearest whole percent (100 and 67 in the above cases, for which the former leads to the terms "hundo" and thus "shundo"). In most cases, the reference for general use will refer to these IVs as the stats of concern.

Meanwhile, the most dynamic stat may be considered to be the CP (Combat Power) of a Pokémon, which is essentially an aggregate of the above together with the level of a Pokémon as a single numerical value, and is thus a quick reference to determine how powerful one Pokémon is against another. That certainly means that this stat is fully dependent on different species, their IV "builds", and of course their levels, so these need to be mentioned or referenced as well to make a full reference for whatever a Pokémon species is capable of.

Given the above, it is evident that there are many components to the stats of Pokémon in Pokémon Go, and the referencing of any one or a few of them will depend on the context of and necessity for the reference. Once they are known, however, it doesn't (or at least shouldn't) take much more to understand what is going on, especially with the kinds of dynamics that Pokémon Go has to offer.

Three years ago: Islands and Continents
Four years ago: Passing the Guard
Five years ago: Two Pokémon Pillows

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