Manipulating Natures on Gen I and Gen II Games

Introduction

The Generation 1 and Generation 2 games came out on Virtual Console, and people are having a grand time. They get to experience the former glory of these games in the palm of their hands. The best part is they can transfer these Pokémon to SM and USM, where unfortunately, this problem arises: the old games did not have natures specified, so if you don't know what you are doing, then you may think nature is by chance when the Pokémon are imported. However, that's not how natures work for these games. This article will give you the information needed to get the nature you desire for a guaranteed Hidden Ability Generation 1 or Generation 2 Pokémon.

How Natures Are Determined

How the natures are assigned is based on the current Exp. Points modulus 25 the Pokémon has when imported. Below is a chart that tabulates the Exp. Points that match with each nature.

Here are some ways to manipulate Exp. Points to obtain your desired nature:

Red, Blue, and Yellow

For RBY, the Day-Care Man can very easily allow you to manipulate your Pokémon's exact experience. Each step is 1 Exp. Point. If you do the math correctly and walk the steps needed, you can easily get the Exp. Points for the nature desired. The infinite Rare Candy trick from the Missingno glitch is also valuable for a reliable method to level up your Pokémon quickly. For example, Charizard imported at Level 50 is Timid nature without needing to battle.

Gold, Silver, and Crystal

For GSC, it's recommended to use the Old Rod. Magikarp gives 28 Exp. Points when using one Pokémon, which goes down 3 rows in the above table. You can make your steps towards your goal easier by using more Pokémon in the fight to halve (or 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6) the Exp. Points you gain. If you can map out how many Exp. Points a Pokémon will gain per the amount of Pokémon in the fight, you should be able to get your nature in 1-3 battles. This is not recommended for RBY, though, since Rare Candies and the daycare already offer simple solutions. It's also recommended to fight Nidoran on Routes 35 and 36 in Gold and Silver and within the National Park in Crystal. Male Nidoran grant 102 Exp. Points, and female Nidoran grant 101 Exp. Points, so you can easily calculate how many Exp. Points are needed to get the desired nature.

Exp. Points Table

There are also some convenient levels where Pokémon won't need adjustments via battling based on the Pokémon and the Exp. Points category it's from. For example, Pokémon in the Medium Slow category like Charizard will already be Timid if using a Rare Candy to level up to Level 50 or 100.

Below is a table that shows the minimum number of Exp. Points required for a Pokémon to be at that level and the amount of Exp. Points a Pokémon of that level will have when caught from the wild or when leveled up with a Rare Candy. The corresponding natures for each level are also provided.

Conclusion

Though it is a long process, it's definitely an easy way for getting a guaranteed Hidden Ability and guaranteed 3 perfect IV Pokémon with your desired nature from Generation 1 and Generation 2. The charts above should help with finding the Exp. Points needed for the nature. It's worth noting that traded Pokémon receive an Exp. Points boost of 1.5x. To make the math as simple as possible, it is recommended to avoid sharing Exp. Points via the Exp. All/Exp. Share. Go out there and get those rare Pokémon, and maybe throw on an exclusive TM only obtainable in the games.