Game Mechanics

The Pokémon games contain all sorts of interesting (in my opinion, anyway) formulas and other inner workings hidden from ordinary players. These sections are devoted to explaining some of them as conclusively as possible.

Stat Mechanics

A breakdown of how your Pokémon's stats (Attack, Defense, etc.) are calculated outside of battle.

Stat Stages

An explanation and comprehensive guide to "stat stages", the most common kind of in-battle modifier to your Pokémon's stats.

Battling Basics

Explains most of the basic concepts of the Pokémon battle system, for beginners.

Battle Mechanics

Goes through the inner workings of turn order, accuracy checks, critical hits, damage calculation, and secondary effects.

Gen I Capture Mechanics

An in-depth analysis of R/B/Y's capture algorithm, with math. And a catch rate calculator that can find out how often the ball will wobble.

Gen II Capture Mechanics

Explains how Pokémon captures work in the second-generation games, the many delightfully wonky bugs with it, and allows you to calculate your chances.

Gen III/IV Capture Mechanics

The inner workings of Pokémon captures in the third- and fourth-generation games and a calculator to find out how many balls you are likely to waste catching a Pokémon.

Gen V Capture Mechanics

Capturing in the fifth generation, with math, a thorough explanation and a calculator.

R/B/Y Safari Zone Mechanics

An explanation of how the R/B/Y Safari Zone works, including an analysis of the surprising fact that bait and rocks are nearly always unhelpful and a calculator for your chances of capturing a Pokémon before it runs.

Status Ailments

The various status afflictions in Pokémon, both major and minor, what they do, what they have done and the various moves, abilities and items that relate to them.

Honey Trees

A combined practical guide and mechanical explanation of honey trees in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum.

Page last modified May 02 2013 at 04:37 GMT