With the introduction of Nature Mints, it now is possible for any Pokemon to change their stats to benefit from any nature in the game, while retaining their current nature. For example: Lonely Snorlax uses a Adamant Nature Mint. Now, Snorlax still has the Lonely Nature, but for the purposes of stat calculation, it uses the Adamant Nature.
There is still one mechanic dependent on a Pokemon's original nature, however: the super Sitrus Berries (Figy / Iapapa / Wiki / Aguav / Mago). Because a Nature Mint does not change the Pokemon's original nature, a Pokemon can still become confused from eating a Berry that would have confused its original nature. For example, that same Snorlax with an original nature of Lonely, minted to Adamant, will not be confused by a Wiki Berry, but will be confused by an Iapapa Berry. As a result, it seems to me that Serious / Quirky / Hardy / Docile / Bashful natures are always the optimal nature choice, and then a player would mint to the nature that they really wanted for the purposes of stat calculation. This is because a Pokemon would never be confused as a result of Bug Bite, Trick, Pickup, or other methods of retrieving Berries if their original nature was a neutral nature.
As a result, I would like to propose an additional field to the Showdown teambuilder and import/export: Original Nature. "Original Nature" would indicate the nature of the Pokemon pre-Mint. "Nature" would indicate the nature of the Pokemon post-Mint (what we normally mean by nature). This would be necessary to account for certain event Pokemon like Eruption Heatran or Shiny Genesect in National Pokedex formats (I assume there's something legal in actual formats that would be relevant post-Home too). It'd go something like this:
An event mon using a Nature mint:
A typical Pokemon with an implied Original Nature of Serious:
Then, when Showdown checks during a battle for whether or not a Pokemon should be confused from eating a super Sitrus Berry, in Generation 8, it checks against the Original Nature. (Of course, pre-Generation 8, you'd still just check against Nature).
We implement a sort of convenience feature in this way with 0 Attack IVs on special Attackers, and I would argue it's even more objective that every Pokemon would prefer a Serious Nature minted to the nature they really want for purposes of stat calculation so they can dodge any chances of getting inflicted with confusion. I can't think of any detriment Serious, etc. natures would have. The only benefit of being confused is Tangled Feet, but in any case, I'm proposing this be a selectable option in the teambuilder, probably in the section with Gender/Shininess/Happiness etc. So if someone really wants to use a Pokemon with an original Nature of Timid and intentionally confuse themselves after eating a Figy Berry, they are free to do so.
There is still one mechanic dependent on a Pokemon's original nature, however: the super Sitrus Berries (Figy / Iapapa / Wiki / Aguav / Mago). Because a Nature Mint does not change the Pokemon's original nature, a Pokemon can still become confused from eating a Berry that would have confused its original nature. For example, that same Snorlax with an original nature of Lonely, minted to Adamant, will not be confused by a Wiki Berry, but will be confused by an Iapapa Berry. As a result, it seems to me that Serious / Quirky / Hardy / Docile / Bashful natures are always the optimal nature choice, and then a player would mint to the nature that they really wanted for the purposes of stat calculation. This is because a Pokemon would never be confused as a result of Bug Bite, Trick, Pickup, or other methods of retrieving Berries if their original nature was a neutral nature.
As a result, I would like to propose an additional field to the Showdown teambuilder and import/export: Original Nature. "Original Nature" would indicate the nature of the Pokemon pre-Mint. "Nature" would indicate the nature of the Pokemon post-Mint (what we normally mean by nature). This would be necessary to account for certain event Pokemon like Eruption Heatran or Shiny Genesect in National Pokedex formats (I assume there's something legal in actual formats that would be relevant post-Home too). It'd go something like this:
An event mon using a Nature mint:
Heatran (F) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Original Nature: Quiet
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect
A typical Pokemon with an implied Original Nature of Serious:
Landorus-Therian @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Protect
Then, when Showdown checks during a battle for whether or not a Pokemon should be confused from eating a super Sitrus Berry, in Generation 8, it checks against the Original Nature. (Of course, pre-Generation 8, you'd still just check against Nature).
We implement a sort of convenience feature in this way with 0 Attack IVs on special Attackers, and I would argue it's even more objective that every Pokemon would prefer a Serious Nature minted to the nature they really want for purposes of stat calculation so they can dodge any chances of getting inflicted with confusion. I can't think of any detriment Serious, etc. natures would have. The only benefit of being confused is Tangled Feet, but in any case, I'm proposing this be a selectable option in the teambuilder, probably in the section with Gender/Shininess/Happiness etc. So if someone really wants to use a Pokemon with an original Nature of Timid and intentionally confuse themselves after eating a Figy Berry, they are free to do so.