Individual values (Japanese: 個体値 individual values), abbreviated IVs, and sometimes referred to as determinant values (DVs) in the context of Generations I and II, are the Pok?mon equivalent of genes. They are instrumental in determining the stats of a Pok?mon, being responsible for the large variation in stats among untrained Pok?mon of the same species.
They have been officially known as 生まれつきの強さ innate strengths in Japanese since at least Pok?mon Gold and Silver; in English, recent media from The Pok?mon Company International has called them individual strengths. In the games, the term potential is often used to allude to IVs, such as by the stats judge. Shigeru Ohmori has stated that the reason EVs and IVs are hidden is because he prefers to think of Pok?mon as "real, living creatures".
Each of the six battle stats has an IV associated with it, with that IV coming into calculation alongside the Pok?mon's base stats and EVs to determine the actual stat number. A Pok?mon's IVs are determined when it is generated by the game: when it is obtained as an Egg from the Pok?mon Day Care, encountered in the wild, or given to the player by an NPC.
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also what gender is ninetales? XD