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 L10, and the advanced attack at L18.

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). They nudge HP and ATK within a ±10% band and give small flat swings to SPD and DEF. A high-IV capture is a keeper. INI is the exception — a plant's opening tempo is a pure species trait, identical on every specimen, so genetics never move it.
• EVs are earned through play: each capture banks 6 into that species' signature stat, up to a cap.

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

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.