10 Best Pokémon Natures (RANKED)

Initially just video game characters, the individual Pokémon creatures have been adapted to be as lifelike as possible in their fictional existence. One of the additions, first introduced in Generation III of the core video games, was the Nature of a Pokémon, which described the creature’s personality, as well as how it would grow and evolve.

In this article, we bring you a list of the 10 best Pokémon Natures, based on several factors. The Natures are going to be listed from 10^th to 1^st, with a short explanation as to why we have ordered like that. Afterward, we are going to give you some additional information on the Natures themselves so you know how they function in-game.

Best Pokémon Natures

Natures are a game mechanic that influences how a Pokémon’s stats grow throughout the series. They were first introduced in Generation III. A Pokémon’s Nature is displayed on the Pokémon’s summary screen and can be seen at any time during the game.

Since Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver onward, the stats affected by a Pokémon’s Nature are highlighted on their summary screens: the increased stat is notated in red text and the decreased stat is notated in blue text.

This is our list of the best Pokémon Natures:

10. Timid

Timid is the Nature we decided to start with. Being timid is not a trait one usually boasts about, but it can be useful in the world of Pokémon if you fancy a more defensive approach to your journey. This is quite a useful Nature to have if you know how to utilize it well.

Namely, Timid Nature increases a Pokémon’s Speed while decreasing its Attack stats. If you have a more defensive approach, you could easily utilize this to deal some damage and weaken your opponent, while you prepare your stronger Pokémon for an attack. You just have to balance it out with other Pokémon on your team.

9. Hasty

Hasty is the Nature you’ll want to go with if you want a fast Pokémon that you don’t need for defensive purposes. Sure, being hasty is never a good thing, really, but it’s useful in the games if you have a specific tactical approach based on Speed.

Hasty Nature increases a Pokémon’s Speed while also decreasing its Defense, which is not good, but it can be utilized properly for offensive purposes. Now, this Pokémon will probably not be able to win against several strong Pokémon in a row, but it can give you the necessary advantage in a battle.

8. Impish

Impish sounds quite fun, doesn’t it? These Pokémon might be a tad playful and you’ll need to watch over them more frequently, but they are, in fact, great defenders, which can give you a great angle in battles. Namely, Impish Nature will see a Pokémon’s Defense increased and its Special Attack decreased.

Truth be told, these Pokémon are obviously not there to attack, but they can be useful on a team if you have a defensive approach and know how to balance this Nature out with other Pokémon on your team.

7. Mild

Mild Nature is quite handy, as its name suggests and it can be more than useful if you know how to utilize it on your journey. A Pokémon with a Mild Nature will have its Special Attack increased and its Defense decreased.

Now, this might not sound like the ideal combination for you, but if you want a strong attacker, then Mild Nature is something that will certainly be of use to you. The only thing you have to do is balance it all out with the other Pokémon on your team, which is essential if you want to make proper use of this Nature.

6. Rash

Rash is seldom a positive character trait, but when Pokémon Natures are concerned it can be useful, if not really ideal, frankly. Rash Nature will increase your Pokémon’s Special Attack while decreasing its Special Defense.

Now, this might not sound like a great thing, but do remember that you have five other Pokémon on your team and that you can balance out the low Defense stats for this Pokémon. The upside of this Nature is that it gives you a great attacker that could easily win battles for you, but you have to balance it out in order to fully take advantage of it.

5. Lonely

Lonely is not a very practical Nature, but it tends to be useful if you have a specific tactical approach to the battles and whatnot. Namely, Lonley Nature increases your Pokémon’s Attack while decreasing its Defense, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, as it’s not balanced out.

Still, if you want a Pokémon that is powerful when the offense is concerned, you should definitely aim for this Nature, as it might give you some of the best attackers out there and you could balance the low Defense with other Pokémon on your team.

4. Sassy

Sassy is always sassy, which means that this Nature is quite sassy as well, and we all love sassy things, don’t we? Similar to the third Nature on this list, this Nature is great if you want to have a great defender, as the Sassy Nature of a Pokémon increases its Special Defense, while decreasing its Speed.

Speed isn’t really an issue as it can be increased through items and attacks, which makes Sassy a very useful Nature for your Pokémon to have. You just have to utilize it properly.

3. Relaxed

Relaxed seems to be very easy to take care of and if you want a good defensive approach, this is the Nature you’ll want to go with. Relaxed Nature raises your Pokémon’s Defense, while decreasing its Speed.

Speed is a category that you can easily increase through items or attacks, which makes this specific Nature great for defensive purposes. These Pokémon also tend to be quite easy to deal with due to the inherent trait of their Nature.

2. Quiet

Quiet is a Nature that seems quite solemn and easy to deal with. This Nature is also excellent because it gives your Pokémon an Sp. Attack boost while it evolves, while decreasing its Speed.

The good thing about Speed is that it can be increased via different Items and that there are also attacks that always go first. This is a great Nature to have as it allows you to develop a powerhouse Pokémon with relative ease.

1. Brave

Brave, as the name suggests, is a very useful and practical Nature to have in a Pokémon. These Pokémon get an increase in Attack as they grow and evolve, while losing Speed, but since Speed can be elevated artificially and through different attacks, we’re of the opinion that this Nature carries with itself the lowest risk among all, which is why we have put it on top.

How do Pokémon Natures work?

The Nature of a Pokémon usually affects the value of two of its stats and ultimately increases one of its non-HP stats (Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, or Speed) by 10% and decreases another by 10%.

Starting with the Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver games, the stats increased or decreased due to the nature of a Pokémon are highlighted in red or blue (respectively) on a Pokémon’s summary screen.

Nature also determines the Pokémon’s favorite taste and unpopular taste: each value is associated with a taste, and each Pokémon’s favorite taste is the one associated with the value increased by its nature, while it dislikes the taste associated with the reduced value.

For example, since Bold Nature increases the Defense Rating of a Pokémon (which is associated with the Sour flavor) and decreases its Attack value (which is associated with the Spicy flavor), a Pokémon with the Bold Nature has Sour as a favorite taste and does not like Spicy flavors.

Each Nature represents one of 25 unique combinations of stat increase and stat decrease; thus, there are five natures that have no impact on the Pokémon’s stat growth as they technically raise and lower the same stat (Docile, Bashful, Hardy, Quirky, and Serious).

Mints were introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield. When used on a Pokémon, these items change the effect of a Pokémon’s Nature on its stats to that of the Nature that corresponds to the Mint used.

However, other naturally determined properties, such as a Pokémon’s taste preferences, remain unchanged. Mints also do not change what nature is passed on with an Everstone.

How do you determine a Pokémon’s Nature?

The Nature of a Pokémon is determined when it is automatically generated by the game: when it is found in the wild, when it is obtained as an egg, or when it is given to the player by a non-player character.

In Generation III games (except Pokémon Emerald) and Generation V games, the Nature of a Pokémon is determined when the player receives the Egg from the Day-Care Man; in the Pokémon Emerald and Generation IV games, the nature of a Pokémon is determined when the Day-Care Man receives the egg.

The Nature of a Pokémon cannot be changed once it has been generated.

In Generation III and IV, the Nature is determined by the value of the Pokémon’s personality. From Generation V onwards, it is stored in an independent variable.

A Pokémon that is transported to the Pokémon Bank from a main series Virtual Console game has its Nature when transported.

Its Nature is a Nature with the index number that corresponds to the overall experience of the Pokémon in Generation I and II modulo 25 (the experience of the Pokémon is then reset to the minimum experience required for its current level).

Since Pokémon Emerald, a Ditto or female Pokémon wearing an Everstone has a 50% chance of passing its nature on to its offspring. Since Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, male Pokémon can also convey their natures if they’re holding an Everstone. From Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, a Pokémon that wears an Everstone will always pass its nature on to its offspring.

In Generation IV, the Everstone only uses this effect if both Pokémon have the same language of origin. If not, the Masuda Method is used instead to try and make the Pokemon Shiny, thereby negating its pre-established nature. From generation V, Nature is independent of personality value, so the Everstone and Masuda methods can be used at the same time.

In games where each parent can pass on their nature, each parent has an equal chance to pass on their nature to their offspring if both Pokémon have an Everstone. In the desert Hoenn Safari Zone, Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald have Pokéblock feeders all over the Safari Zone.

When a Pokémon is placed in a feeder, any wild Pokémon found in tall grass and water fields up to five steps from the feeder are of such a Nature that the Pokémon would be delighted if an identical Pokémon were found (i.e. his favorite taste dominates his unpopular taste in the Pokéblock).

The feeder has no effect if there is no such Nature. A single Pokéblock can occupy a feeder, and the effect of the feeder wears off after 100 steps.

Starting with Pokémon Emerald, if a Pokémon with Synchronize is in the first place of the group (even if it passes out) when encountering a Wild Pokémon, there is a 50% chance that the game will force it to be of the same Nature as the Pokémon is in the first slot. (Otherwise, the Nature is determined at random, so the Pokémon always has a 1 in 25 chance of having the same nature as the main Pokémon.)

This does not apply to roaming Pokémon, Pokémon in the Pokéwalker, or Pokémon found in the Entree Forest. In Emerald, this also doesn’t apply to stationary Pokémon (like Regirock or Rayquaza).

From Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, if a Pokémon with Synchronize is leading the party, Gift Pokémon (except Pokémon obtained through Mystery Gifts and Eggs) that are in the group of undiscovered eggs always have the same Nature as the Pokémon with this ability.

From Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, if a Pokémon with Synchronize is leading the party, Gift Pokémon (with the exception of Pokémon obtained through Mystery Gift and Eggs) always have the same Nature as Pokémon with this ability, regardless of the Egg group, which is an update in comparison to Generation VI.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, if a Pokémon with Synchronize is leading the party, the wild Pokémon are guaranteed to be of the same Nature as the main Pokémon.

In Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, the player can pay Madam Celadon 10,000 coins in the Pokémon Center in Celadon to make all Pokémon encountered in the wild (including in the GO Park complex and Pokémon the player win against in a battle), or received as a gift (including resurrected fossils, but not in-game trades or Mystery Gifts) to have a specific Nature until midnight.

Madam Celadon allows the player to choose two flowers whose colors each represent a value: Red for Attack, Yellow for Defense, Blue for Special Attack, Green for Special Defense, and Pink for Speed.

The first flower the player chooses determines the stat the Nature increases, and the second flower determines the stat it decreases. While the effect does last for the rest of the day, the player can change the Nature at any time by paying Madam Celadon again.

Due to the lack of breeding and Abilities, this is the only way to influence Natures in these games.

What effects do Pokémon Natures have?

As we have determined, there is a total of 25 official Natures in the franchise. This is a full list of them and how they affect each individual Pokémon:

#	Nature	Japanese	Increased stat	Decreased stat	Favorite flavor	Disliked flavor
0	Hardy	がんばりや	—	—	—	—
1	Lonely	さみしがり	Attack	Defense	Spicy	Sour
2	Brave	ゆうかん	Attack	Speed	Spicy	Sweet
3	Adamant	いじっぱり	Attack	Sp. Attack	Spicy	Dry
4	Naughty	やんちゃ	Attack	Sp. Defense	Spicy	Bitter
5	Bold	ずぶとい	Defense	Attack	Sour	Spicy
6	Docile	すなお	—	—	—	—
7	Relaxed	のんき	Defense	Speed	Sour	Sweet
8	Impish	わんぱく	Defense	Sp. Attack	Sour	Dry
9	Lax	のうてんき	Defense	Sp. Defense	Sour	Bitter
10	Timid	おくびょう	Speed	Attack	Sweet	Spicy
11	Hasty	せっかち	Speed	Defense	Sweet	Sour
12	Serious	まじめ	—	—	—	—
13	Jolly	ようき	Speed	Sp. Attack	Sweet	Dry
14	Naive	むじゃき	Speed	Sp. Defense	Sweet	Bitter
15	Modest	ひかえめ	Sp. Attack	Attack	Dry	Spicy
16	Mild	おっとり	Sp. Attack	Defense	Dry	Sour
17	Quiet	れいせい	Sp. Attack	Speed	Dry	Sweet
18	Bashful	てれや	—	—	—	—
19	Rash	うっかりや	Sp. Attack	Sp. Defense	Dry	Bitter
20	Calm	おだやか	Sp. Defense	Attack	Bitter	Spicy
21	Gentle	おとなしい	Sp. Defense	Defense	Bitter	Sour
22	Sassy	なまいき	Sp. Defense	Speed	Bitter	Sweet
23	Careful	しんちょう	Sp. Defense	Sp. Attack	Bitter	Dry
24	Quirky	きまぐれ	—	—	—	—