The 505-point Pokémon drawn at a fifth the size of the other 505

Cream-background chart, kicker “The same twelve numbers · current base stats”, headlined “Two Pokémon, one 505-point budget”. A subhead says each stat is on one zero-based scale, one length per number, and that Nidoqueen spreads its 505 points across all six while Shuckle puts 460 of them into its two defences. A dot plot on an axis from 0 to 250 has six rows with a blue dot for Nidoqueen and an orange dot for Shuckle joined by a grey line: HP 90 and 20, Attack 92 and 10, Defense 87 and 230, Sp. Atk 75 and 10, Sp. Def 85 and 230, Speed 76 and 5. Below, under the heading “Base stat total — the same length, spent differently”, two stacked bars of identical length both end at 505: Nidoqueen’s divides into six similar segments, Shuckle’s is almost all two segments labelled Def 230 and SpD 230, with thin HP and Attack slivers before the first, a Sp. Atk sliver between them and a Speed sliver at the end. Two lines read “Nidoqueen leads on HP, Attack, Sp. Atk and Speed, by 70, 82, 65 and 71; Shuckle leads on Defense and Sp. Def, by 143 and 145.” A card headed “Where the 5.1× came from” explains that a hexagon’s area is the sum, going round the circle, of each stat times the next one, times 0.433; that Shuckle’s two 230s are never next to each other, Defense sitting between two 10s and Sp. Def between a 10 and a 5, so each 230 is multiplied by a tiny number; and that Nidoqueen’s six stats, 75 to 92, are all paired with similar neighbours: same 505 total, 18,396 against 3,616. A second card, “Swap two labels, same Shuckle”, shows two small Shuckle radars: in Pokédex order, area 3,616, two spikes with a gap between them; with Sp. Atk and Sp. Def swapped, area 25,050, a filled triangle where the two 230s now sit side by side. It says that is 6.9× the area and 1.36× Nidoqueen’s with no number changed, and that over all 720 orders Shuckle runs 3,161 to 26,024 while Nidoqueen moves under 1%. A footnote credits base stats from PokéAPI checked against Pokémon Database, notes that Nidoqueen’s Attack was 82 before Generation 6 so the totals have matched since 2013, gives areas in stat units squared on a zero-based 0–250 scale, and says both drawings are our own demonstration, not a reproduction of any game screen or published chart. — Showing the misleading chart

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A team-builder slide we drew from published base stats puts Nidoqueen and Shuckle on matching hexagon radars, zero-based and on one scale, and Nidoqueen’s shape covers 5.1× the area. Both Pokémon have exactly 505 base stat points. The area tracks which stats sit next to each other around the circle, not how many points there are, and swapping two labels makes the same Shuckle 6.9× bigger.

PokéAPI — base stats for Shuckle (#213, /pokemon/shuckle) and Nidoqueen (#31, /pokemon/nidoqueen), retrieved 9 October 2026, checked against Pokémon Database, 2026Added October 9, 2026

01The claim

Nidoqueen brings five times the stats Shuckle does: on matching zero-based hexagon radars, in Pokédex order, its shape covers 18,396 square units to Shuckle’s 3,616, or 5.1×. (A team-builder slide we drew from the published base stats.)

02The trick

Every number on the slide is right, and the axis is fine. It starts at zero and both radars share it. The problem is the thing the slide asks you to read: area. Nidoqueen’s six base stats add up to 505 (90, 92, 87, 75, 85, 76), and so do Shuckle’s (20, 10, 230, 10, 230, 5). Same budget, spent very differently. A radar polygon’s area is not the total, though. Each triangle between two spokes is proportional to the two values multiplied together, so the area depends on pairs, not on the total. Going round the circle, the area is the sum of each stat times the next one, times √3/4 (about 0.433), so it rewards big stats that sit next to each other. Every neighbouring pair of Nidoqueen’s stats is two mid-range numbers, so all six products land between 6,375 and 8,280. Shuckle’s two 230s are never neighbours in Pokédex order: Defense sits between Attack 10 and Sp. Atk 10, and Sp. Def between Sp. Atk 10 and Speed 5. Each big number gets multiplied by a tiny one, so Shuckle’s 460 defensive points buy only about 3,500 square units of ink, while Nidoqueen’s 505 buy 18,400. The order of the labels is a second, hidden lever. Swap Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, which changes no number, and the two 230s become neighbours. Shuckle’s area goes from 3,616 to 25,050, 6.9× larger and now 1.36× Nidoqueen’s. Across all 720 ways to arrange the six labels, Shuckle’s hexagon ranges from 3,161 to 26,024, while Nidoqueen’s even profile barely moves (18,316 to 18,455). So the 5.1× is a fact about the seating plan, not about who has more stats. Pokédex order happens to sit within 15% of Shuckle’s worst possible arrangement. (This is our own demonstration. We are not reproducing any game screen or published chart.)

03The fix

Give each number one length on one zero-based scale. A dot plot of the six stats shows exactly where the two Pokémon differ: Nidoqueen is ahead on HP, Attack, Sp. Atk and Speed, by 70, 82, 65 and 71 points, and Shuckle is ahead on Defense and Sp. Def, by 143 and 145. Under that, a stacked bar of each base stat total shows what the radar hid. The two bars are the same length, 505 each, split into six similar pieces for Nidoqueen and two big blocks for Shuckle. That is the real difference between them: not five times more stats, but the same budget spent in different places. Whether Shuckle’s two 230s are worth more or less than Nidoqueen’s spread depends on the matchup, and no chart shape can answer that. If a radar stays, never read its area as a total or as a measure of balance. It rewards big numbers that happen to sit side by side, which is why the same lopsided Shuckle can draw anything from 3,161 to 26,024. And when profiles are compared, ask who chose the order of the spokes. (Nidoqueen’s base Attack was 82 before Generation 6, so the two totals have only matched since Pokémon X and Y in 2013. The figures here are the current ones.)