Best Nature for Mankey, Primeape, and Annihilape in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

The Mankey line of Pokémon is as old as the series itself and has been unchanged for its twenty-four-year history — until Scarlet and Violet, that is. The pure Fighting-type Mankey and Primeape now have a third evolution to look forward to Annihilape, a Fighting/Ghost dual-type that puts a previously underperforming (stats-wise) set of Pokémon squarely in the upper echelons. You can take your Annihilape and its previous forms to greater heights with the proper Nature.

Related: Where to find Mankey in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

The Nature you want for Mankey, Primeape, and Annihilape

There are two Natures you want to look for when Training or breeding Mankey up to Annihilape. Its only dump stat is Special Attack, and its Defense isn’t great either, but all its other stats are at least good, so we want to leave those along.

• Adamant is the best Nature for Annihilape. Adamant is a straight buff to the Attack Stat, making the Special Attack stat suffer. Because the Mankey line has absolute garbage for Special Attack, with Adamant, the Pokémon loses literally nothing.
• Lonely is a good second Nature option. While Lonely does reduce the Defense of Annihilape and its previous forms, Defense is also its second weakest stat, and many of the attacks that hit its weaknesses are Special Attacks. You leave Annihilape’s Special Defense intact with Lonely while making it a little squishier against regular Attacks.

Never use an Annihilape with any of the following Natures, as they all either lower Attack or raise Special Attack.

• Bold (Lowers Attack)
• Calm (Lowers Attack)
• Mild (Raises Special Attack)
• Modest (Lowers Attack, Raises Special Attack)
• Quiet (Raises Special Attack)
• Rash(Raises Special Attack)
• Timid (Lowers Attack)

Annihilape isn’t necessarily the meta right now for six-star Tera Raids — that honor goes to Iron Hands, Azumarill, and a few other select Pokémon for specific situations — but he’s usable for the entire story campaign and much of the endgame before you reach the most challenging content.