Flavor

Flavor is a special set of attributes that certain s in the Pokémon world have. The affected foods include, Pokéblocks, Poffins, Apricorns, Aprijuice, and malasadas. There are five different flavors: Most of the foods can have more than one flavor attributed to them.
 * Spicy (Japanese: い spicy)
 * Dry (Japanese: い astringent)
 * Sweet (Japanese: い sweet)
 * Bitter (Japanese: い bitter)
 * Sour (Japanese: っぱい sour)

The primary flavor mechanic is taste preferences: different Pokémon like and dislike different flavors, depending on their Nature. This usually influences the effectiveness of the food. The flavors that a Pokémon likes and dislikes correspond to the stat that its Nature raises or lowers. For example, all Pokémon who like spicy flavors have a Nature that raises their, while those that dislike spicy flavors have a Nature that lowers it. Pokémon who have neutral Natures have no likes or dislikes.

Different flavors also represent different stats in most foods. For example, a Pokéblock that has a spicy flavor will raise a Pokémon's condition. When this is combined with the taste preference aspect, if a Pokémon dislikes spicy foods and is fed a Pokéblock that is predominantly spicy, its Cool condition will raise less than if a Pokémon that likes spicy foods was fed the same Pokéblock.

Although they use the word "bitter", herbal medicines have no connection with flavor mechanics.

Flavor preferences
The flavor that a Pokémon likes or dislikes depends on its Nature, as shown in the table below. The liked and disliked flavors correspond to the stats each Nature raises and lowers.

Stats associated with flavors
The flavor of a food usually influences its effectiveness, but different foods generally affect different mechanics.
 * , Pokéblocks, Poffins: Contest conditions
 * Apricorns, Aprijuice: performance
 * Malasadas: Affection

With the exception of malasadas, the flavor or flavors present in a food also represent which stats will be raised.

also have a unique interaction with flavors. In-battle, these Berries restore, but if they are consumed by a Pokémon that dislikes the Berry's main flavor, the Pokémon will become. This is the only flavor-dependent mechanic that has been consistently carried forward since its introduction.

In Generation III
When the player checks a Berry's tag, positive flavors (all flavors if every flavor is 0) are indicated by a red circle around the name of the flavors.

In Generation IV
When the player checks a Berry's tag, the flavors are indicated by a pentagon.

Similar mechanics
In Generation V, each Berry can make three different "flavors" of ice cream for the mini-game. Each flavor has different Scoop and Stickiness attributes.

In Generation VI, Berries have color groups. These color groups are used when growing Berries or making Juice or Pokéblocks. have six color groups: red, blue, purple, green, yellow, and pink. have five color groups: red, yellow, blue, green, and pink; each of these again correspond to a contest condition.

Trivia

 * The bag descriptions of the, , , , and Berries in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire state that they are spicy, sour, sweet, bitter, and sour, respectively, referencing their previous flavors in the Generation III and IV games.
 * The reference in the Bluk Berry's description was not noticed, and as such, い was translated as "sour" instead of as "dry" as in previous games.
 * In Generation III, the total sum of all flavor attributes is always zero (0).