The attack Hidden Power is based off of the calculation of IVs. Depending on the combination of your Pokemon's 6 IVs, their Hidden Power will vary in type and strength. Hidden Power can be any type except Normal, although Hidden Power will always appear to be a Normal-type move in-game, and its power can range between 30 and 70. Both of these factors are determined entirely by the Pokemon's IVs.

Working out Hidden Power's type/power

There are several methods for finding out what type/power a Pokemon's Hidden Power has:

• A Wi-Fi Lv.100 battle will allow you to calculate your exact IVs - most IV calculators will be able to tell you your Pokemon's Hidden Power type/power from those values. This is the best method.
• A blonde-haired man in the Game Corner prize room located in Veilstone City for Platinum players and Celadon City for HeartGold/SoulSilver players (he is not present in Diamond/Pearl) will tell you what Hidden Power type your Pokemon has. Note that he will not tell you what the move's power is - you will need to use the above method to work out the power.
• Using Hidden Power against a Kecleon will cause it to change its type to whatever type your Hidden Power is - Color Change will then tell you what type Kecleon has become and thus indirectly tell you what type of Hidden Power your Pokemon has. This method is the only one that actually requires the Pokemon to know the Hidden Power move beforehand, and this method will not tell you what power your move has.

Hidden Power's type can also be worked out via trial and error by using it against random opponents, but the above three methods are deemed the quickest and most reliable ways to work out what Hidden Power you have.

Getting the Hidden Power you want

Outside of hacking, getting the exact Hidden Power you want is generally a long and arduous process since there's no way to control all six IVs on a Pokemon; since Hidden Power's type/power is determined by all six IVs, just one IV out of place will change your Hidden Power type to a type you won't want. However, there are several trends that are notable and interesting if nothing else:

- Adding or subtracting a number divisible by four from any number of IVs will not affect Hidden Power's type or power, as shown:

HP - 31, Attack - 31, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 30, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Electric, 70

HP - 31, Attack - 7, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 30, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Electric, 70

HP - 31, Attack - 7, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 30, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 3

Hidden Power Electric, 70

HP - 31, Attack - 7, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 30, Sp.Defense - 11, Speed - 3

Hidden Power Electric, 70

HP - 31, Attack - 7, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 26, Sp.Defense - 11, Speed - 3

Hidden Power Electric, 70

- Hidden Power will always have a power of 70 and be Dark-type if all IVs are 31. If just one IV is dropped to 30 from that full-31 spread, a notable pattern will start to emerge if you keep subtracting from that one IV:

HP - 31, Attack - 31, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 31, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Dark, 70

HP - 31, Attack - 30, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 31, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Dragon, 70

HP - 31, Attack - 29, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 31, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Dark, 68

HP - 31, Attack - 28, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 31, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Dragon, 68

HP - 31, Attack - 27, Defense - 31, Sp.Attack - 31, Sp.Defense - 31, Speed - 31

Hidden Power Dark, 70

This cycle will continue until the Attack IV drops to zero, as long as no other IVs are altered. Doing this with the Defense IV instead of the Attack IV will result in the same cycle except with 67 Power instead of 68, and dropping Speed in this manner instead will give Hidden Power Ice in place of Dragon, and a power change of 64 instead of 68. Otherwise, the cycle has the same pattern as long as no other IV is altered by anything not divisible by four.

Getting the correct Hidden Power will be a long, tedious process regardless of whether you know the above trends or not - unfortunately, there is no proof-positive method outside of RNG and hacking for getting the exact Hidden Power you want, but with enough patience and Hidden Power calculating methods at your disposal, it is definitely possible.