Do natures matter in pokémon X and Y?

[Vancleef]

I've had the game for a while, but only recently found out that your pokémons nature affects their stats in different ways.

How important are natures, and will I hinder myself by leveling/using pokémon with natures - that i've heard - are sometimes considered sub-par? (Recently found a Gengar with Rash nature and Xerneas with Impish nature, for example).

I'm asking because I don't find breeding/catching the perfect pokémon to be very interesting.

 

[suntt123]

I've had the game for a while, but only recently found out that your pokémons nature affects their stats in different ways.

How important are natures, and will I hinder myself by leveling/using pokémon with natures - that i've heard - are sometimes considered sub-par? (Recently found a Gengar with Rash nature and Xerneas with Impish nature, for example).

I'm asking because I don't find breeding/catching the perfect pokémon to be very interesting.

No. Not for the story anyway because the AI is as brainless as it's ever been.
Natures, Effort Values, Movesets, Individual Values and to a lesser extent team synergies can all be safely ignored in the story part of the game. Competitively however, they are the difference between KO's or being KO'd.

EDIT:
If you want to do high level Battle Maison then you may want to consider it, otherwise there's no point in bothering.
For more in-depth information on natures, if you're interested, see:
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Natures

 

[Euryalus]

Natures affect the base stats a bit.

Some do nothing, but most increase one value slightly and decrease another value slightly.

For example Adamant (I think? I use internet xD), Increases attack and decreases special attack, which is great for a Fetaligatr, who's a physical attacker. It won't really need special attack if you build it as a physical attacker.

A shit nature for that kind of build would be the opposite, because it goes against the pokemon's natural strengths.

For non multiplayer? You really won't need to bother with it, but technically it'd make the game easier I guess.

 

[Evangel]

So you can have a more informative answer, natures in pokemon are a 10% stat modifier. They have a +10% and a -10% stat for each one with the exception of neutral ones. For example a commonly used one is adamant, which is +10% physical attack and -10% special attack. A pokemon with high physical will rarely ever want to use a special move. A google search of pokemon nature chart will let you know what everything is specifically. For the rest of the things the poster above mentioned

Effort values(EVs) are a stat experience value. When defeating a pokemon you'll gain EVs in a stat based on the defeated pokemon (example a pidgey gives 1 speed ev) EVs have a cap of 252 per stat (was 255 but its fixed now)and a 510 cap total and every 4 points gives 1 extra stat at level 100. 64 extra stat points total per stat.

Move sets is just what moves you have. Good coverage is nice later on. Popular ones are edgequake (ground and rock moves on same guy) and boltbeam (ice and thunder)

IVs are a hidden value that are like a pokemons pedigree. Everyone has a 0-31 rating in every stat and its as simple as up to 31 extra points in each stat at 100. You can breed for better ivs easily later in the game, don't worry much during a playthrough.

 

[Dragonbums]

For story? No.

For competitive play yes.

Remember, natures either boost or detract 5% stats in two fields. Which is a big deal for if you want to be a big hitter, be a good wall, or just survive that one move.

 

[FrozenLaughs]

The difference between your Stat (attack, defense, etc) can vary widely between a beneficial, neutral and detrimental nature. Usually it matches what stats the Pokemon have naturally, so high attackers may see a difference of upwards of 50pts between beneficial attack nature and a neutral, but only 20 or 30 for its defense, sp attack etc.

For example: Tyrantrum
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/697.shtml

At the bottom we see that with a Hindering Nature it's Attack caps at 306, but with a Beneficial Nature it's cap is 375, the difference of 69 points. In contrast, its Sp. Def caps at 195 and 238 respectively, a difference of only 43.

These numbers are of course at their peak, having a fully Attack EV trained Tyrantrum with High Attack IVs for the growth required to hit 375. It's purely for competitive players, and if it's not your thing then don't worry.

 

[Vancleef]

Thanks for the all the quick replies

I guess that answers my question. I do plan to play online at some point, but numbercrunching and theory in games has never really interested me. I just try to roll with something and hope it works, at least reasonably well. I don't enjoy being roflstomped, though.

So probably not on an extremely competetive level.

Again, thanks.

 

[Evangel]

It may make you a bit cookie cutter but if you want to be competitive without putting to much time or thought into it smogon.com is the top competitive site right now, giving you natures you want moves and abilities for every pokemon. They have a general power ranking system (1st- last is Uber-OU-UU-NU) and you can grab a handful of their sets and do reasonably well (again if not cookie cutter) and enjoy yourself without being completely out matched