Pmd2 monster.md

The "monster.md" contained in the "/BALANCE" directory, contains data for every single unique entities in the game.

Explorers of Sky's monster.md has a unique entity entry format. Entries in EoS are 68 bytes long, while in EoT/D they're 76 bytes long. Additionally, there is a "monster.mnd" file in EoT/D that appears to contain extra data related to entities in the "monster.md" file.

File Structure

Overview

Offset	Length	Endianness	Type	Name	Description
0x00	8			MonsterData Header	A very short header for the MD format.
0x08	(NbEntries * 68)			Entities Data Block	A block containing entries for every entities in the game.

MonsterData Header

Offset	Length	Endianness	Type	Name	Description
0x00	4			Magic Number	The string "MD\0\0", { 0x4D, 0x44, 0x0, 0x0 }, or 0x4D440000.
0x04	4			NbEntries	The amount of entries in the Entities Data Block.

Entities Data Block

Simply one entity's entry after another, no padding whatsoever.

The file contains 1,155 entries. The Pokemon in the National Pokedex from 1 to 493 are represented in here. Entry #0 is a dummy entry.

There are several reasons why the file contains 1,155 entries:

• Every Pokemon has a duplicate entry. One for each of its gender. Even genderless, or female/male-only species have 2 entries.
• Several entities are dummy placeholders, mainly copies of Arceus's data.
• Several entities are for special NPC characters in the game.

The layout of the data is :

• Entries [0 to 600[ contains data for the default gender, usually male, genderless, or female.
• Entries [600 to 1,154] contains data for the secondary gender, either female, or invalid.

The secondary entries that have their gender set to "invalid" usually are genderless or single gender specie.

Move set data, level-up data, name string, category string, and a possibly a few others, are associated to the index in the "monster.md" file of the entries [0 to 600[. The only exception to this is the way pokemon faces are assigned. The kaomado.kao file contains 1,155. Which is one for every single entity entry in the "monster.md" file. This allows separate genders to have a different set of face portraits. Its used for several Pokemon that exhibit physical gender differences.

A little more on kaomado.kao

• Species for which both gender are physically identical have a single set of portraits corresponding to the index of their primary gender entry in "monster.md", while the entry for their secondary gender are all null. The game probably falls back to the primary gender's entry when no portrait data is found for the secondary gender.

Entity Entry (Explorers of Sky)

Entry for a single entity follow this layout. Several things in here aren't 100% certain yet however.

Entity Entry (Total length 68 bytes)

Offset	Length	Type	Name	Description
0x00	2	uint16	EntityID	A entity-unique ID to identify the entity in both of its 2 entries. (Independent from file index)
0x02	2	uint16	Unk#31	Unknown. Pokemon with the same category string have the same value in here.
0x04	2	uint16	NationalPokedexNb	The national Pokedex number, as displayed in Chimecho's assembly.
0x06	2	uint16	Unk#1	Unknown, seems to be 0x1 for most pokemon ! ( smaller than 1 => Slowed down status, 1 = no status, bigger than 1 => Sped up status )
0x08	2	uint16	PreEvoIndex	The INDEX of the pre-evolution inside the "monster.md" file. Not the Pokedex number, or the Entity ID! Is 0 if none.
0x0A	2	uint16	EvolutionMethod	The evolution method required to evolve to this Pokemon from the pre-evo specified in PreEvoIndex. Null if unused.
0x0C	2	uint16	EvoParam#1	The first parameter for the evolution method. Null if unused.
0x0E	2	uint16	EvoParam#2	The second parameter for the evolution method. Null if unused.
0x10	2	uint16	SpriteIndex	The index of the Entity's sprite. Its the index inside the three Pokemon sprite files inside the "/MONSTER/" directory!
0x12	1	uint8	Gender	Gender of this particular entity entry. (0 = Invalid, 1 = Male, 2 = Female, 3 = Genderless)
0x13	1	uint8	BodySize	The body size of the Pokemon. Used when determining how many Pokemon fits in the party.
0x14	1	uint8	PrimaryType	The Pokemon's primary type.
0x15	1	uint8	SecondaryType	The Pokemon's secondary type.
0x16	1	uint8	MovementType	This decides what terrains the entity can move over, and whether its hovering or not.
0x17	1	uint8	IQGroup	The IQ group the Pokemon belongs to.
0x18	1	uint8	PrimaryAbility	The Pokemon's primary ability's ID.
0x18	1	uint8	SecondaryAbility	The Pokemon's secondary ability's ID.
0x1A	2	uint16	BitFlag1	Most likely used to store bitflags!
0x1C	2	uint16	ExpYield	Possibly the Exp yield.
0x1E	2	int16	RecruitRate1	Possibly another recruit rate, this one is usually closer to 0 when RecruitRate1 and RecruitRate2 are different!
0x20	2	int16	BaseHp	The HP the Pokemon has at lvl 1.
0x22	2	int16	RecruitRate2	Possibly recruit rate.
0x24	1	int8	BaseAtk	The attack stat of the Pokemon at lvl 1.
0x25	1	int8	BaseSpAtk	The special attack stat of the Pokemon at lvl 1.
0x26	1	int8	BaseDef	The defense stat of the pokemon at lvl 1.
0x27	1	int8	BaseSpDef	The base special defense of the pokemon at lvl 1.
0x28	2	int16	Weight	Probably the weight tier for weight based damages.
0x2A	2	int16	Size	Probably the size tier for size based damages.
0x2C	1	int8	Unk#17	Unknown. Most of the time 0xA.
0x2D	1	int8	Unk#18	Unknown. Most of the time 0xA.
0x2E	1	int8	Unk#19	Unknown. Value seems between.
0x2F	1	int8	Unk#20	Unknown. Most of the 0x8.
0x30	2	int16	Unk#21	Always 0x64. Possibly max level for the Pokemon ?
0x30	2	int16	Unk#21	Always 0x64. Possibly max level for the Pokemon ?
0x32	2	int16	BaseFormIndex	Seems to match the index in the "monster.md" file of the Pokemon's first form's first entry.. Its always the index of the entry within the 0 to 600 range! Never the one between 600 and 1155 !
0x34	2	int16	ExclusiveItem#1	The first 1-star exclusive item for this Pokemon. Null if NA.
0x36	2	int16	ExclusiveItem#2	The second 1-star exclusive item for this Pokemon. Null if NA.
0x38	2	int16	ExclusiveItem#3	The 2-star exclusive item for this Pokemon. Null if NA.
0x3A	2	int16	ExclusiveItem#4	The 3-star exclusive item for this Pokemon. Null if NA.
0x3C	2	int16	Unk#27	Unknown. Values so far : 0x2EE, 0x320.
0x3E	2	int16	Unk#28	Unknown. Often 0xF.
0x40	2	int16	Unk#29	Unknown.
0x42	2	int16	Unk#30	Unknown.

Entity Entry (Explorers of Time/Darkness)

Each monster.md entry in Explorers of Time/Darkness is 76 bytes long.

Evolution Method

WARNING: The following are based on observing the data for several Pokemon, and there is a possibility the role of each fields and value is not entirely accurate.

Value	Evolution Method	Parameter#1 Use	Parameter#2 Use
0x00	None	-	-
0x01	Level	(uint16)Level required to evolve	(uint16)Optional evolutionary item ID
0x02	IQ	(uint16)IQ required	(uint16)Optional evolutionary item ID
0x03	Item(s)	(uint16)Regular Item ID	(uint16)Optional evolutionary item ID
0x04	Unknown	-	-
0x05	Link Cable	(uint16)Null	(uint16)0x01

Evolutionary item ID are numbered from 1 to 7 apparently:

ID	Name
0x01	Link Cable
0x02	Unknown
0x03	Unknown
0x04	Unknown
0x05	Sun Ribbon
0x06	Lunar Ribbon
0x07	Beauty Scarf

Type List

Value	Type
0x00	None
0x01	Normal
0x02	Fire
0x03	Water
0x04	Grass
0x05	Electric
0x06	Ice
0x07	Fighting
0x08	Poison
0x09	Ground
0x0A	Flying
0x0B	Psychic
0x0C	Bug
0x0D	Rock
0x0E	Ghost
0x0F	Dragon
0x10	Dark
0x11	Steel
0x12	Neutral

Ability IDs List

List of all the possible Pokemon abilities.

Value	Ability
0x1	Stench
0x2	Thick Fat
0x3	Rain Dish
0x4	Drizzle
0x5	Arena Trap
0x6	Intimidate
0x7	Rock Head
0x8	Air Lock
0x9	Hyper Cutter
0xA	Shadow tag
0xB	Speed Boost
0xC	Battle Armor
0xD	Sturdy
0xE	Suction Cups
0xF	Clear Body
0x10	Torrent
0x11	Guts
0x12	Rough Skin
0x13	Shell Armor
0x14	Natural Cure
0x15	Damp
0x16	Limber
0x17	Magnet Pull
0x18	White Smoke
0x19	Synchronize
0x1A	Overgrow
0x1B	Swift Swim
0x1C	Sand Stream
0x1D	Sand Veil
0x1E	Keen Eye
0x1F	Inner Focus
0x20	Static
0x21	Shed Skin
0x22	Huge Power
0x23	Volt Absorb
0x24	Water Absorb
0x25	Forecast
0x26	Serene Grace
0x27	Poison Point
0x28	Trace
0x29	Oblivious
0x2A	Truant
0x2B	Run Away
0x2C	Sticky Hold
0x2D	Cloud Nine
0x2E	Illuminate
0x2F	Early Bird
0x30	Hustle
0x31	Drought
0x32	LightningRod
0x33	CompoundEyes
0x34	Marvel Scale
0x35	Wonder Guard
0x36	Insomnia
0x37	Levitate
0x38	Plus
0x39	Pressure
0x3A	Liquid Ooze
0x3B	Color Change
0x3C	Soundproof
0x3D	Effect Spore
0x3E	Flame Body
0x3F	Minus
0x40	Own Tempo
0x41	Magma Armor
0x42	Water Veil
0x43	Swarm
0x44	Cute Charm
0x45	Immunity
0x46	Blaze
0x47	Pickup
0x48	Flash Fire
0x49	Vital Spirit
0x4A	Chlorophyll
0x4B	Pure Power
0x4C	Shield Dust
0x4D	Ice Body
0x4E	Stall
0x4F	Anger Point
0x50	Tinted Lens
0x51	Hydration
0x52	Frisk
0x53	Mold Breaker
0x54	Unburden
0x55	Dry Skin
0x56	Anticipation
0x57	Scrappy
0x58	Super Luck
0x59	Gluttony
0x5A	Solar Power
0x5B	Skill Link
0x5C	Reckless
0x5D	Sniper
0x5E	Slow Start
0x5F	Heatproof
0x60	Download
0x61	Simple
0x62	Tangled Feet
0x63	Adaptability
0x64	Technician
0x65	Iron Fist
0x66	Motor Drive
0x67	Unaware
0x68	Rivalry
0x69	Bad Dreams
0x6A	No Guard
0x6B	Normalize
0x6C	Solid Rock
0x6D	Quick Feet
0x6E	Filter
0x6F	Klutz
0x70	Stedfast
0x71	Flower Gift
0x72	Poision Heal
0x73	Magic Guard
0x74	$$$
0x75	Honey Gather
0x76	Aftermath
0x77	Snow Cloak
0x78	Snow Warning
0x79	Forewarn
0x7A	Storm Drain
0x7B	Leaf Guard

IQ Groups List

Here are the possible values for a Pokemon's IQ group:

Value	IQ Group
0x0	A
0x1	B
0x2	C
0x3	D
0x4	E
0x5	F
0x6	G
0x7	H
0x8	Unused
0x9	Unused
0xA	I
0xB	J
0xC	Unused
0xD	Unused
0xE	Unused
0xF	Invalid

Movement Types List

Defines on what types of terrain the Pokemon can move on. All types above "Standard" also include the terrain Standard refers to.

Value	Movement Type
0x0	Standard
0x1	Unknown
0x2	Hovering
0x3	Unknown
0x4	Lava
0x5	Water

Credits

• Jellynater for the list of Pokemon abilities.
• TruePikachu for some of the details on the monster.md format! [1]
• The WMS project, for their notes. [2]
• OgreGunner and nhahtdh for that huge thread on GameFaqs filled with tidbits of information! [3]
• Kelvin Chung for the .grammar file containing much useful information on the PMD:RRT format, which share similarities with PMD2! [4]