X/Y Hidden Power Guide

[Banned]

~X/Y Hidden Power Guide~

We've always had Hidden Power calculators such as https://www.psypokes.com/dex/hp.php to work out a particular Pokemon's Hidden Power type and power given its IVs. But what about the other way round? It's often the case that we want to find out which IVs we should breed into our Pokemon to give the type and power we want for Hidden Power. Sure, we have the table in the above link, but that table is outdated and doesn't give us the whole story.

In previous generations this reverse engineering was difficult to say the least, but with the advent of X and Y the Hidden Power mechanics were made a whole lot simpler with the removal of power as a variable, instead giving it a fixed power of 60. This has made calculating the required IVs for the desired Hidden Power much more manageable. So let me deal with the mathematics of it all, and you can enjoy the results: this guide!

First of all, let me give you an example of the calculations involved so that you can convince yourselves that what I'm doing is valid mathematics and not just "magic" (all calculations are based on https://www.serebii.net/games/hidden-power.shtml).

Example:

Spoiler:

In this example we will go through the calculations for an Ice-type Hidden Power.
You can see in the above link that if the formula outputs 13, then the Hidden Power type is Ice.
So we have to find all solutions of the equation
Floor(15 * (HP + 2Att + 4Def + 8Spe + 16SpA + 32SpD)/ 63) = 13
where HP takes values of 1 if the HP IV is odd and 0 if it is even, Att takes values of 1 if the Attack IV is odd and 0 if it is even, and so on.
The floor function takes the integer part of a number, so we can also write this as
13 < 15 * (HP + 2Att + 4Def + 8Spe + 16SpA + 32SpD)/ 63 < 14
Multiply by 63/3 = 21:
273 < 5HP + 10Att + 20Def + 40Spe + 80SpA + 160SpD < 294
Note that 5HP + 10Att + 20Def + 40Spe + 80SpA + 160SpD is a multiple of 5, so all solutions are of the form
5HP + 10Att + 20Def + 40Spe + 80SpA + 160SpD = 275 or 280 or 285 or 290
Or, dividing by 5:
HP + 2Att + 4Def + 8Spe + 16SpA + 32SpD = 55 or 56 or 57 or 58
Note that, because the required total is so high, the variable SpD MUST be 1. Therefore the Pokemon must have odd Special Defense IVs. So we can remove that part of the equation by subtracting 32:
HP + 2Att + 4Def + 8Spe + 16SpA = 23 or 24 or 25 or 26
Again, we can see that it is impossible to achieve such a high total unless SpA = 1. Therefore the Pokemon must have odd Special Attack IVs, and we remove that part of the equation:
HP + 2Att + 4Def + 8Spe = 7 or 8 or 9 or 10
Now we can see that it IS possible to have Spe = 0, but only if HP = Att = Def = 1. And if Spe = 1, then the possibilities are HP = 1, Att = 0, Def = 0 or HP = 0, Att = 1, Def = 0 or HP = 0, Att = 0, Def = 0.
We have therefore calculated all possibilities! Hooray! Let's summarise:

In order to achieve an Ice-type Hidden Power, the Pokemon's IVs must satisfy the following:

Either
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Of course, assuming you want the IVs in each stat to be as high as possible, just replace "odd" with "31" and "even" with "30".

Now, the required IVs for each type are as follows:

FIGHTING

Spoiler:

Either
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

FLYING

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

POISON

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

GROUND

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

ROCK

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

BUG

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

GHOST

Spoiler:

Either
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

STEEL

Spoiler:

Either
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense even
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

FIRE

Spoiler:

Either
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

WATER

Spoiler:

Either
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

GRASS

Spoiler:

Either
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speedodd

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

ELECTRIC

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack even
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

PSYCHIC

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

ICE

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed even

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

DRAGON

Spoiler:

Either
HP odd
Attack odd
Defense even
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP odd
Attack even
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

Or
HP even
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

DARK

Spoiler:

HP odd
Attack odd
Defense odd
Special Attack odd
Special Defense odd
Speed odd

~~~

Note: There is currently no Fairy-type Hidden Power.

Note: Assuming you want the IVs in each stat to be as high as possible, just replace "odd" with "31" and "even" with "30".

Comment below if you have any questions or feedback.

 

[Snoochey]

I have actually been wondering about doing some Hidden Power breeding. Thanks for the explanation! It will help a lot.

 

[Aeroblast]

Nice guide, will be useful for hidden power breeders.

 

[Cordelia]

Wow, this is really nice of you to post for us! Thank you for the wonderful guide <3

 

[Elements1]

Wow man, thanks a bunch!!! Will for sure save to my computer!

 

[RingoH]

Note: There is currently no Fairy-type Hidden Power.

Note: Assuming you want the IVs in each stat to be as high as possible, just replace "odd" with "31" and "even" with "30".

Comment below if you have any questions or feedback.

First, thanks for posting this in a helpful format.

Second, I wanted to point out for everyone...... As someone who has already been attempting to breed for Hidden Power in the new generation, it can be a bit daunting. As you pointed out if you want high stats then where you wrote "even" should ideally be "30". I have attempted to breed 4-6IV at 30 with NO 31's to be able to use as breeding parents. It's a bit of a slow process. I'm KIND OF looking forward to doing some new RNG projects in Gen V with 30IV stats just for decent breeding parents to transport to X/Y.

I am curious with the change in power to a set 60 is Hidden Power still going to be applicable to comepetive sets?(not so sound stupid... I do not battle much, I pretty much only breed...)

 

[Banned]

I am curious with the change in power to a set 60 is Hidden Power still going to be applicable to comepetive sets?(not so sound stupid... I do not battle much, I pretty much only breed...)

A base power of 60 is certainly noticeably lower than 70, but I don't think it's going to be any less popular in competitive use, simply because of its versatility. There are plenty of Pokemon that can access types through Hidden Power that they desperately need in their movesets but would otherwise have no means of using. Not to mention the fact that it's much easier to breed for the right Hidden Power when you don't have to worry about power.

 

[RingoH]

A base power of 60 is certainly noticeably lower than 70, but I don't think it's going to be any less popular in competitive use, simply because of its versatility. There are plenty of Pokemon that can access types through Hidden Power that they desperately need in their movesets but would otherwise have no means of using. Not to mention the fact that it's much easier to breed for the right Hidden Power when you don't have to worry about power.

I completely agree that it adds a HUGE layer of versatility, which is why it has always been so popular.

However, as for ease of breeding... certain ones yes.

Dark, Dragon, Electric, Steel, and Ice.

Those five can ALL be gotten through chance while aiming for a 5IV spread. Let's talk pure odds:

Let's say you have two 6IV parents int he daycare with Destiny Knot.

50% of the babies will come out as HP Dark.
25% will come out HP Dragon.
roughly 8.3 percent will come out HP Electric
roughly 8.3 percetn will come out HP Steel
roughly 8.3 percent will come out HP Ice.

Now, that is assuming that you do not care what the one random IV comes out as. If you are rolling the dice and hoping to land on a 30 or 31 your ability to hatch that perfect egg will take even more patience.

Finding the right combination of chain breeding to get those other Hidden Powers, such as say HP Fire(Which is what I am still working on for a Protean Froakie) will take some patience to achieve. Still a LOT easier than it was in previous generations, especially now that the power is no longer variable. But still not as easy as RNGing for a decent HP Spread.

One reason I asked about anyone's thoughts about the viability of breeding for HP's in the future is that everyone seems to be just clamouring all over 6IV Pokemon, or at least 5IV Pokemon. I do not see anyone bragging about their HP (Fill in Blank) anything. I think breeding for HP is just oh about Twenty-Percent Cooler than breeding for perfect, but that's just me, and my style.

 

[Banned]

I completely agree that it adds a HUGE layer of versatility, which is why it has always been so popular.

However, as for ease of breeding... certain ones yes.

Dark, Dragon, Electric, Steel, and Ice.

Those five can ALL be gotten through chance while aiming for a 5IV spread. Let's talk pure odds:

Let's say you have two 6IV parents int he daycare with Destiny Knot.

50% of the babies will come out as HP Dark.
25% will come out HP Dragon.
roughly 8.3 percent will come out HP Electric
roughly 8.3 percetn will come out HP Steel
roughly 8.3 percent will come out HP Ice.

Now, that is assuming that you do not care what the one random IV comes out as. If you are rolling the dice and hoping to land on a 30 or 31 your ability to hatch that perfect egg will take even more patience.

Finding the right combination of chain breeding to get those other Hidden Powers, such as say HP Fire(Which is what I am still working on for a Protean Froakie) will take some patience to achieve. Still a LOT easier than it was in previous generations, especially now that the power is no longer variable. But still not as easy as RNGing for a decent HP Spread.

One reason I asked about anyone's thoughts about the viability of breeding for HP's in the future is that everyone seems to be just clamouring all over 6IV Pokemon, or at least 5IV Pokemon. I do not see anyone bragging about their HP (Fill in Blank) anything. I think breeding for HP is just oh about Twenty-Percent Cooler than breeding for perfect, but that's just me, and my style.

Oh yes, it's still hard, and even though it seems to appear everywhere in the recommended movesets on Smogon, I don't think there are many people brave enough to breed for it. Plus, like you say, they would need to rid themselves of their fixation on perfect IVs to be able to get most of the types :P

I'm with you on the perfect IVs thing too; at the end of the day, each IV point is only worth one point in that stat at Lv.100, which is nothing. Getting the right Hidden Power is much more impressive AND more worthwhile. I would settle for 28 or even 26 instead of 30 if it meant getting the right Hidden Power type.

I'm liking this post for the 20% cooler reference alone :P

 

[RingoH]

I'm liking this post for the 20% cooler reference alone :P

Glad you like the reference. Haha.

I'm working on a probability chart for breeding in X/Y now that we only have to worry about even vs odd. It's a re-working of the Smogon charts on breeding for Hidden Power from Gen IV, but without the whole explanation of chain breeding. When I am done I will share it with you, and if you want you can incorporate it into your guide.

Basically, the most important IV's when aiming for HP are SA/SD/Speed. Special Defense alone rules out half of the posible HPs! Think about that. If Special Defense is Odd you can get an HP of: Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Pyschic, Ice, Dragon, Dark. If it is Even it can be: Steel, Ghost, Bug, Rock, Ground, Poison, Flying, and Fighting. Only Steel can be either Odd or Even.

 

[Shrew]

Thanks so much for posting this guide Berlyda. :D I've only bred one pokemon with hidden power (without carrying for the values of the evens), although the fact that I had been wonder traded a father with HP Ice helped the evens trickle down to where I needed them.

 

[RingoH]

Thanks so much for posting this guide Berlyda. :D I've only bred one pokemon with hidden power (without carrying for the values of the evens), although the fact that I had been wonder traded a father with HP Ice helped the evens trickle down to where I needed them.

Congrats Shrew!

I am guessing that you did Ice one of the hard ways.... Although if you have a father that will already have the chance of passing down evens you have it easier. The "easy way" only requires an even in Speed, but the rest to be odd. If you run two test parents in the day care until you find an egg that will give you the random stat as an even Speed you can do it.

If you have one of the following two scenarios you have a 1/12 chance of an egg being HP Ice: 1) Two 6IV flawless parents 2) both parents being 5IV flawless with the missing stat being in Speed.

 

[Shrew]

Congrats Shrew!

I am guessing that you did Ice one of the hard ways.... Although if you have a father that will already have the chance of passing down evens you have it easier. The "easy way" only requires an even in Speed, but the rest to be odd. If you run two test parents in the day care until you find an egg that will give you the random stat as an even Speed you can do it.

If you have one of the following two scenarios you have a 1/12 chance of an egg being HP Ice: 1) Two 6IV flawless parents 2) both parents being 5IV flawless with the missing stat being in Speed.

Yeah, I really wanted perfect speed, so I chose the route with even Attack/Defense...

I came back to this guide to look up how to breed HP Rock, although it seems I won't be able to get away with 31 speed. :(

 

[RingoH]

Yeah, I really wanted perfect speed, so I chose the route with even Attack/Defense...

I came back to this guide to look up how to breed HP Rock, although it seems I won't be able to get away with 31 speed. :(

You are right, although if you find a breeding parent that has a 30 in speed you can have pretty darn close to it. The trick is to use the characteristic and the stats judge to find a Pokemon that does NOT have ANY 31s at all (as the stat judge will only care about those) and has the characteristic "Likes to Run"(for speed in particular).

Once you KNOW you have a 30 in Speed you need to be careful with test parents in the daycare using the egg trick and ONLY ever accept an egg that you know for sure speed is being passed down. It's tedious sounding, but if you care about Speed and you want a hidden Power that HAS to have an even speed aiming for 30 is the only way to go.

When I started working on HP breeding I went through all my boxes looking for Pokemon with 30s but without 31s. It did not take long. You could easily have something already on hand, and if it's not from the right egg group to breed with whatever you are looking to breed you may need to chain breed(that's what I had to do). It's a few extra steps but in the end you'll likely be very happy with the result.

EDIT: New Information follows here(Trying to not create a double post)

I am about half way through writing a guide (that is already double the length I thought it would be) on how to acctually achieve each Hidden Power. While Berylda provided the important piece which is what spreads hit each hidden power.... for a breeder it looks more daunting than it really is.

I will post my full guide to breeding those spreads in a few days, but here is the readers digest version. The guide is geared towards people who have been breeding for 5IV or Flawless, and assumes that all ODD stats will be 31, but that you will leave the Even spots open as "any even number." Although some advice will be given in chain breeding for a few 30s.

From easiest to hardest:
--Dark is going to be your easiest spread to hit, as the only spread is all stats must be odd. (50% of all 5IV spreads will be this. So breed for 5IV or for Flawless)
--Dragon is next easiest as 25% of all 5IV spreads will be Dragon. Aim for 5IV spreads, and keep checking.
--Ice, Electic, Steel -- All three make up the remaining 25% of all 5IV spreads (roughly 8.33% each). When aiming for one of these note that 1/12 eggs will be the one you are looking for

Next on the list:
Pyschic, Grass, Water, Ghost, Bug, Ground
All of those have spreads that require 4IV's to be 31 and the other two must be even. Pick the right 5IV parents and 1/12 eggs will be your desired Hidden Power.
(Note: You need to either use your own logic or wait until I finish typing up my guide, my full guide will give you details on how to plan that one out).

Next:
Poison, Fire, Rock, and Flying.
Each of these are awkward but not the end of the world. These three will be your most difficult(should be). You will need to have either 3IVs ODD / 3Even. Or 2Odd and the rest Even. The easy(although time consuming) way will be to first chain breed parents with 5 or more 30s. If you have two parents with 5IV 30 you can treat these like the reverse of the above spreads that have 4IVs. In which case you'll have a 1/12 chance of your chosen spread.

Fighting comes last.
You want to just chain breed for 30s. Plain and simple. Aim for 5IVs(or 6ivs if you are the have to be flawless type) at 30 and eventually you'll chain breed one of these. A whopping 75% of all 5IV's at 30 will be Fighting.