Pokérus: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:16, 15 June 2026

Pokérus (a portmanteau of "Pokémon" and "virus") is a rare, beneficial status that a Pixelmon can carry. It has no harmful effects: while a Pixelmon is infected, the effort values (EVs) it earns from battle are doubled, which makes Pokérus highly valuable for training. An infection lasts a limited time before the Pixelmon is marked as cured, and it can spread to other party members after a battle.

Effect

While a Pixelmon has an active Pokérus infection, every EV it gains from a battle is doubled. This roughly halves the time required to fully EV-train a Pixelmon and is the main reason the status is sought after.

The bonus stacks with EV-boosting held items. The bonus from a Macho Brace or a power item (such as the Power Weight) is calculated first, and the resulting EV yield is then doubled by Pokérus. Pokérus affects nothing other than EV gain and never harms the Pixelmon.

Strains

When a Pixelmon becomes infected it is assigned one strain at random. The strain only determines how long the infection stays active — overall, an infection lasts between 1 and 4 days — and has no other effect.

Strain	Infection length
`A`	1 day
`B`	2 days
`C`	3 days
`D`	4 days

A Pixelmon that has never been infected uses the internal UNINFECTED marker. The infected and cured states reuse the same strain name.

Acquisition

From wild Pixelmon

Newly spawned wild Pixelmon have a small chance to already carry Pokérus. The global chance is 1 in 12,288 (0.0081%) per spawn, so finding an infected Pixelmon by chance is very uncommon.

Individual spawns and spawn sets can also define their own Pokérus rates that override the global chance, though none currently do so in the loaded spawn data.

Spreading after battle

Spreading is the most reliable way to obtain Pokérus, since it lets an existing infection move through a whole team. After a player wins a battle, an infected Pixelmon in the party can pass Pokérus to the Pixelmon in the adjacent party slots, and an attacker can also catch it from a target it strikes that already has the status.

A Pixelmon is skipped if it has fainted or already carries Pokérus. A Pixelmon that has been cured cannot be re-infected, so an infected, uncured Pixelmon is needed to keep spreading the status.

On this server each eligible neighbour has a 1 in 5 (20%) chance to catch the status after a qualifying battle.

Commands and Pokémon Specs

Pokérus can be applied or matched directly through a Pokémon Spec using pokerus:<strain> or pkrs:<strain>, where <strain> is one of UNINFECTED, A, B, C, D. This is mainly useful to server operators and for command-based testing.

Duration and curing

The infection timer only counts down while the Pixelmon is in a player's party. Pixelmon stored in the PC do not age, and eggs are ignored entirely and never carry Pokérus. Because of this, storing an infected Pixelmon in the PC preserves the infection indefinitely, letting it be re-introduced to a new team later.

Once the timer reaches the strain's duration, the Pixelmon is cured. A cured Pixelmon keeps a record of having had Pokérus but can no longer spread it to others.

Notification

The first time a Pixelmon in the party is found to be carrying Pokérus, the next healer the player uses announces it, so the status does not have to be checked Pixelmon by Pixelmon.

The healer dings at you, and an automated message plays.

Your Pixelmon appear to have been infected by Pokérus, a microscopic life-form that we do not know much about just yet.
It spreads quickly, but does not seem to cause any harm.
It has, on occasion, even proven to be beneficial to a Pixelmon's growth, though infections seem to be short-lived.

Server settings

Pokérus behaviour is controlled by the values below, which reflect the current server configuration. Operators can adjust them in config/pixelmon/pokerus.yml.

Setting	Current value	Effect
Enabled	Yes	Whether or not the Pokérus is enabled. This blocks the growth, the spread and the spawning of the Pokérus.
Wild appearance rate	1 in 12,288 (0.0081%)	Pokérus spawn rate (1/x). (0 to disable)
Healer notification	Yes	Whether or not the player should be informed if their Pixelmon got Pokérus.
Battle spread rate	1 in 5 (20%)	Chance to spread the Pokérus to the near Pixelmon after a battle. (1/x) (-1 to disable; 0 to keep always active)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Pokérus''' (short for "Pokémon virus") is a rare but completely harmless — and actually '''beneficial''' — condition a Pixelmon can catch. A Pixelmon carrying Pokérus earns '''double the [[EV training|effort values (EVs)]]''' from every battle, so it is one of the most sought-after finds for anyone training Pixelmon for competitive battling. It never harms the Pixelmon in any way and simply wears off on its own after a few days.
+'''Pokérus''' (a portmanteau of "Pokémon" and "virus") is a rare, beneficial status that a Pixelmon can carry. It has no harmful effects: while a Pixelmon is infected, the [[EV training|effort values (EVs)]] it earns from battle are doubled, which makes Pokérus highly valuable for training. An infection lasts a limited time before the Pixelmon is marked as cured, and it can spread to other party members after a battle.
-== Why it's worth having ==
+== Effect ==
-While a Pixelmon is infected with Pokérus, every EV it would normally gain from a battle is '''doubled'''. This cuts the time needed to fully EV-train a Pixelmon roughly in half, which is why trainers go out of their way to get it.
+While a Pixelmon has an active Pokérus infection, every EV it gains from a battle is doubled. This roughly halves the time required to fully [[EV training|EV-train]] a Pixelmon and is the main reason the status is sought after.
-The bonus stacks with EV-boosting held items, so a Pixelmon holding a [[Macho Brace]] or a power item (such as the [[Power Weight]]) and infected with Pokérus gains EVs even faster. The held-item bonus is applied first and then doubled by Pokérus.
+The bonus stacks with EV-boosting held items. The bonus from a [[Macho Brace]] or a power item (such as the [[Power Weight]]) is calculated first, and the resulting EV yield is then doubled by Pokérus. Pokérus affects nothing other than EV gain and never harms the Pixelmon.
-== How to get it ==
+== Strains ==
-Pokérus is extremely rare in the wild. Every Pixelmon you encounter has only a tiny chance of already being infected when it spawns, roughly '''0.0081%''' (about 1 in 12,288).
+When a Pixelmon becomes infected it is assigned one strain at random. The strain only determines how long the infection stays active — overall, an infection lasts between 1 and 4 days — and has no other effect.
-Because finding it naturally is so unlikely, most trainers get Pokérus by '''spreading it from a Pixelmon that already has it''' — for example, one caught by a friend — rather than by hunting for an infected wild Pixelmon.
+{| class="wikitable sortable"
+! Strain !! Infection length
+|-
+| <code>A</code>
+| 1 day
+|-
+| <code>B</code>
+| 2 days
+|-
+| <code>C</code>
+| 3 days
+|-
+| <code>D</code>
+| 4 days
+|}
-== Spreading it to your team ==
+A Pixelmon that has never been infected uses the internal <code>UNINFECTED</code> marker. The infected and cured states reuse the same strain name.
-After you win a battle, an infected Pixelmon in your party can pass Pokérus to the Pixelmon in the slots next to it. Over a few battles this lets the infection ripple through your whole team.
+== Acquisition ==
-On this server each eligible neighbour has about a '''20%''' chance (1 in 5) to catch it after a battle, so it usually takes a few fights to pass it along.
+=== From wild Pixelmon ===
-A Pixelmon can only catch Pokérus if it is awake (not fainted) and does not already have it. A Pixelmon that has already been cured cannot be re-infected, so keep an infected, '''uncured''' Pixelmon around if you want to keep spreading it.
+Newly spawned wild Pixelmon have a small chance to already carry Pokérus. The global chance is 1 in 12,288 (0.0081%) per spawn, so finding an infected Pixelmon by chance is very uncommon.
-== How long it lasts ==
+Individual spawns and spawn sets can also define their own Pokérus rates that override the global chance, though none currently do so in the loaded spawn data.
-An infection is active for between 1 and 4 days (the exact length depends on the strain a Pixelmon happens to carry). Once that time is up the Pixelmon is shown as '''cured''': it stops spreading Pokérus and no longer doubles EVs, but there is no other downside.
+=== Spreading after battle ===
-'''Tip:''' the countdown only ticks down while the Pixelmon is '''in your party'''. Storing an infected Pixelmon in your [[PC]] freezes its timer, so you can keep one infected indefinitely and pull it out whenever you want to re-spread Pokérus to a new team. Eggs never carry Pokérus and their timer does not run.
+Spreading is the most reliable way to obtain Pokérus, since it lets an existing infection move through a whole team. After a player wins a battle, an infected Pixelmon in the party can pass Pokérus to the Pixelmon in the adjacent party slots, and an attacker can also catch it from a target it strikes that already has the status.
-== Knowing when you have it ==
+A Pixelmon is skipped if it has fainted or already carries Pokérus. A Pixelmon that has been cured cannot be re-infected, so an infected, uncured Pixelmon is needed to keep spreading the status.
-You don't have to check every Pixelmon by hand. The first time one of your party members has Pokérus, the next healer you use will tell you about it.
+On this server each eligible neighbour has a 1 in 5 (20%) chance to catch the status after a qualifying battle.
+=== Commands and Pokémon Specs ===
+Pokérus can be applied or matched directly through a [[Pokémon Spec]] using <code>pokerus:&lt;strain&gt;</code> or <code>pkrs:&lt;strain&gt;</code>, where <code>&lt;strain&gt;</code> is one of <code>UNINFECTED</code>, <code>A</code>, <code>B</code>, <code>C</code>, <code>D</code>. This is mainly useful to server operators and for command-based testing.
+== Duration and curing ==
+The infection timer only counts down while the Pixelmon is in a player's party. Pixelmon stored in the [[PC]] do not age, and eggs are ignored entirely and never carry Pokérus. Because of this, storing an infected Pixelmon in the PC preserves the infection indefinitely, letting it be re-introduced to a new team later.
+Once the timer reaches the strain's duration, the Pixelmon is cured. A cured Pixelmon keeps a record of having had Pokérus but can no longer spread it to others.
+== Notification ==
+The first time a Pixelmon in the party is found to be carrying Pokérus, the next healer the player uses announces it, so the status does not have to be checked Pixelmon by Pixelmon.
 The healer dings at you, and an automated message plays.
 <blockquote>Your Pixelmon appear to have been infected by Pokérus, a microscopic life-form that we do not know much about just yet.<br>It spreads quickly, but does not seem to cause any harm.<br>It has, on occasion, even proven to be beneficial to a Pixelmon's growth, though infections seem to be short-lived.</blockquote>
+== Server settings ==
+Pokérus behaviour is controlled by the values below, which reflect the current server configuration. Operators can adjust them in <code>config/pixelmon/pokerus.yml</code>.
+{| class="wikitable"
+! Setting !! Current value !! Effect
+|-
+| Enabled
+| Yes
+| Whether or not the Pokérus is enabled. This blocks the growth, the spread and the spawning of the Pokérus.
+|-
+| Wild appearance rate
+| 1 in 12,288 (0.0081%)
+| Pokérus spawn rate (1/x). (0 to disable)
+|-
+| Healer notification
+| Yes
+| Whether or not the player should be informed if their Pixelmon got Pokérus.
+|-
+| Battle spread rate
+| 1 in 5 (20%)
+| Chance to spread the Pokérus to the near Pixelmon after a battle. (1/x) (-1 to disable; 0 to keep always active)
+|}
 [[Category:Game mechanics]]