Pocket Monster Quality
Every pocket monster rolls a Quality tier — from Unstable to Absolute — shifting its performance by about 10%.
Alongside IVs, every pocket monster you obtain — starter or catch — rolls a permanent Quality from 0% to 100%. Quality scales ALL of its effective stats (HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and even its movement Speed in the farm arena): an Unstable specimen performs about 10% below the species baseline, while an Absolute one performs about 10% above it. Between the two extremes of the same species lies roughly a 20% power gap.
The roll is uniform, so mid tiers are common and the top ones are treasures. The six tiers:
Unstable (0–15%): their energy is wild and chaotic; their physical form might flicker or look slightly faded. Hard to train.
Diluted (16–40%): average, everyday specimen. Their magical lineage is a bit watered down, resulting in standard stats.
Refined (41–65%): a healthy, well-balanced monster. Their elemental energy is clear and stable.
Potent (66–85%): bubbling with vibrant energy. Their colors might be slightly more saturated, and they learn skills faster.
Pristine (86–95%): a flawless physical specimen. Immaculate fur, scales or feathers, perfect symmetry, and exceptionally high base stats.
Absolute (96–100%): a legendary ideal of their species. They radiate a soft elemental aura and possess maximum possible stat growth — only about 1 in 20 pocket monsters reach this tier.
You can see a pocket monster's Quality tier on its card and in its detail view (hover the tier badge for its description). Quality never changes — not by leveling, and not by evolving — so a Pristine Charmander becomes a Pristine Charizard. When hunting for a keeper, weigh Quality together with IVs: Quality sets the overall multiplier, IVs shape the individual stats.