Pokérus
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In the Pokémon world, the Pokérus (a portmanteau of Pokémon and virus) is a rare virus that is present in all Pokémon video games since Pokémon Gold and Silver. It is extremely infectious in nature, being able to spread between Pokémon of different species. There is no cure for the Pokérus, but a Pokémon can be cured of the Pokérus over a period of 24 hours. Because of this, the Pokérus cannot be contracted or spread in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, although infected Pokémon can be traded to the game, and the effects of the Pokérus are applied normally. Similarly, a Pokémon with the Pokérus cannot be cured of it while in these two games. Despite the name, the Pokérus bestows a beneficial effect to those having it and those having been cured of it. The Pokérus appears in Summary information as though it were a status problem, being abbreviated to PkRS where the Pk is the common superscript P followed by the subscript K, (PkRS).
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[edit] Effects
In the video games, the Pokérus accelerates the hidden statistical development of Pokémon (that is, its training), making it gain effort values at twice the speed. This effect is cumulative with the Macho Brace, and an infected Pokémon with such an item effectively trains at four times faster than normal. In the third generation games, where training is capped to a maximum, the Pokérus does not raise this maximum limit. The overall effect on a Pokémon's strength is thus negligeable, as a Pokémon can be fully trained with or without the Pokérus. It is, however, easier to fully develop a Pokémon's skills with the Pokérus, reducing the number of battles needed to fully train the Pokémon.
The Pokérus is mainly contracted from battles - however, there is only a 2 in 65535 chance of contracting a Pokérus in this manner. If a Pokémon on the active party has the Pokérus, there is a one-in-two chance (one-in-three in the third generation) that a adjacent Pokémon on the team will contract the Pokérus in every round of battle. The active Pokémon can also contract the Pokérus in this manner if the first "bench member" has the Pokérus. In the second-generation games, the Pokérus can also spread when a Pokémon is stored in a Pokémon box. In Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD, the Pokérus can only be contracted from Pokémon that can be snagged.
The Pokérus is cured after 24 hours on the party from the time of infection - Pokémon cannot be cured of the Pokérus if left in a Pokémon box, traded to Pokémon Stadium 2, or to Pokémon Box. However, the effects of the Pokérus remains after a Pokémon is cured - the Pokérus simply stops being contagious. Once cured, a Pokémon cannot be reinfected, except when it is traded to a first-generation game (where the information regarding whether the Pokémon has been contracted the Pokérus is lost). In second generation games, a cured Pokémon will have a small black dot above the Hit Point bar in the status screen, while in the third generation games, there is a small image on the status screen under the Pokémon's picture to the same effect.
Because of the rarity of the virus, many have only learned of the existence of the Pokérus solely from hacking the game data.
[edit] Tactics
Once contracted, it is common for many players to try and save an infected Pokémon with the Pokérus, and then use it to spread the Pokérus to as many other Pokémon as possible. Some players may even have a dedicated "virus carrier" to which the virus can easily be kept in "suspended animation" for this purpose.
[edit] Other Mentions
The Pokérus has only been mentioned once in Pokémon Chronicles, where it is an ongoing new development in the research community. In one episode, Professor Oak is kidnapped by Team Rocket so that they may learn of the Pokérus and create a biological agent using this information - a plan that was eventually foiled by Oak's assistant Tracey Sketchit and Richie.
