Serious mathematics

[Lycanthropy]

Pokémon has many mathematical formulas build in. Think in the direction of catch rate (above), dealt damage or the chances of meeting a shiny Pokémon. I'm curious, how much do you care about the mathematics involved?

 

[esperance]

I think the mathematics of Pokémon are really quite amazing. It's crazy to see the formulas Game Freak has come up with to make it feel like things are random. When it comes down to it, though, I don't really need to know how the formulas work, just that they do. If I know what to expect, I can prepare for it. I don't really need to know exactly what will happen.

It is always amazing that a lot of people in competitive battling can determine exactly how much damage certain moves will do in certain situations, but I don't really feel like those details are as important when you play the actual game.

 

[Lycanthropy]

It is always amazing that a lot of people in competitive battling can determine exactly how much damage certain moves will do in certain situations, but I don't really feel like those details are as important when you play the actual game.

In competitive play it's constantly the same Pokémon that are used with same EV spreads, so I think that's just experience gained from playing often and remembering which Pokémon have have which effect.

 

[esperance]

In competitive play it's constantly the same Pokémon that are used with same EV spreads, so I think that's just experience gained from playing often and remembering which Pokémon have have which effect.

I guess experience would be a part of it, but they still seem to use the formulas to calculate how much damage to expect with a given move on a common Pokémon setup.

 

[fenyx4]

The mathematics of Pokemon are interesting from a personal cursory perusal, although I don't really delve into it - the Experience article on Bulbapedia is crazy.. - https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Experience

I think the mathematics of Pokémon are really quite amazing. It's crazy to see the formulas Game Freak has come up with to make it feel like things are random. When it comes down to it, though, I don't really need to know how the formulas work, just that they do. If I know what to expect, I can prepare for it. I don't really need to know exactly what will happen.

It is always amazing that a lot of people in competitive battling can determine exactly how much damage certain moves will do in certain situations, but I don't really feel like those details are as important when you play the actual game.

As Lost Heart said, it's neat regarding what formulas and numbers are used to make superficially "random" values for Pokemon's many battle scenarios, and how these values change across Pokemon generations.

It's nice seeing how different multipliers and modifiers stack up for Moves, stats, and Abilities, though. Aside from certain numbers/values/scenarios that I have managed to commit to memory (Kanto Pokedex is 150+1 Pokemon (+2 if you count Missingno.!) and the other regions' numbers for the "National Pokedex total"; 1/8192 = pre-Generation 6 shiny Pokemon encounter rate; Same-Type-Attack-Bonus multiplies a Move's Power by 1.5; the "variance" in how many Hit Points are deducted when a Pokemon attacks, breeding with a "Flame Body/Magma Armor" = total hatch steps needed divided by 2; 0 to 31 IVs per stat, 0 to 252 potential EVs per stat), I'm good with just knowing I can one-shot the opposing Pokemon (as in, "IMMA EARTHQUAKE ALL YOU [POKEMON]!" {XD}). Some people do seem to pull Pokemon damage formulas at a snap of a finger, though!

At the very least, props to Pokemon for helping me maintain my simple math skills (especially regarding Same-Type-Attack-Bonus and a given Move's Power), even as I begrudge math in non-math settings! (although a huge chunk of Pokemon is actually just math, as it stands..)

 

[Wicked3DS]

I usually build my teams using math. For example, take Earthquake. With STAB, you get 150 power. In that case, I don't use any other moves that don't go above that number when Super Effective. The exception is Rock Slide (Stone Edge now, this was mostly for Gen III), which has 75 power, but covers Flying-types.

 

[Poké Bean]

I think the mathematical formulas are amazing but I never bare them in mind because it hurts my brain! I just play and what happens happens!

 

[Hikamaru]

I can never remember all these complex mathematics but man they are something, it's very cool how they get utilized in the game, such as catch rates, personality value and so on.