Progression: Levels, Genetics & Pots

Levels 1–100

Every plant climbs from Level 1 to 100. Each stat rides a straight line from its Level-1 floor to its Level-100 cap: HP fans from a narrow ~35–45 out to a wide 90–240 (longevity decides how far it opens up), and ATK grows from a modest floor to roughly double. Tempo runs the other way — SPD and INI are inverted, quickest as a seedling and easing as the plant matures (see stats).

DEF also climbs floor→cap. Every plant firms up a little within its category band as it levels, and trees become real walls — a tree's cap is about 100 × its wood density. This no longer trades against HP: trees are the intentional tanky top, kept honest by poison (which ignores DEF) and the type-matchup wheel, not by a stat swap. Because DEF is diminishing armor, its biggest effect is blunting a flurry of small hits — a single heavy hitter still punches through.

Apart from the moves that unlock at set levels, leveling only scales the numbers — it never rewrites the base formula or the kit.

Those level gates open your moves: the starter attack at L1, the once-per-battle ability at L25, and the advanced attack at L40.

The XP curve is steep — roughly 50 × (L−1)², so Level 100 sits near 490k XP. Two sources feed it:

Source	XP
Battle participation	0.25 per damage dealt, capped at 250 per battle
Capturing a plant	25 flat

You earn participation XP whether you win or lose, so even chip damage counts. Add a Phosphorus amendment (field gear) for ×1.25 XP.

Genetics: IVs and EVs

Genetics tune how much stat a plant expresses — they never change the base formula or the kit.

• IVs are locked in the moment you capture a plant (0–30, 15 is neutral), one for each of the six stats. HP and ATK move within a ±10% band of their base, and both tempo stats, SPD and INI, are scaled by up to ±10%. DEF swings by up to 1 point, and retreat cost by up to 2 Sun, where a good roll makes the plant cheaper to switch out. A high-IV capture is a keeper.
• EVs are earned through play: each capture banks 6 into that species' signature stat (HP, ATK or DEF) and 1 into SPD, up to a cap. INI and retreat take no EVs, so their IVs are all the genetics they carry.

Same species, same level, different IVs = meaningfully different plants. That's the roll you're chasing on every capture.

Harvest rolls

The IVs are rolled when the battle starts, and the plant you catch keeps exactly the IVs you fought. Each battle with a species in one neighborhood (a cell about three-quarters of a mile across) gives you the next roll, so you never meet the same plant twice in a row. Running away or losing still uses up that roll.

You get 30 rolls of a species per neighborhood per hour, at whatever pace you like. After that the plant needs to recover: try a different neighborhood, or wait for the clock to reach the next hour.

Rolls are the same for everyone. Your 5th fern in a neighborhood this hour has the same IVs, and the same card back, as anyone else's 5th fern there this hour, so it's worth comparing notes.

Pots and Repotting

A pot caps the level a plant can actually express. Battle XP keeps flowing past the cap, but only banks about 2 levels ahead — then the plant goes root-bound and stops growing until you repot.

A Pot (belt consumable, 60 coins) repots mid-battle. It:

• releases banked growth up to the growth gate (your trainer level + 2),
• heals by exactly the max HP gained,
• and cleanses statuses.

You get up to 3 Pot uses per match. A Moss Pole (climbers only) permanently raises the gate and bank by 1 — at half XP pace for that extra band.

Native vs Invasive

Nativity doesn't touch the XP curve, but it decides what your leveled stats become in the arena:

	Effect on a leveled plant
Native	HP ×1.15; benched natives project HP overshield onto the active
Invasive	Wider ATK ceiling (introduced-breadth aggression), realized as it matures; pays self-damage on every hit

Level and genetics set the base; nativity multiplies it at battle time.