Well, I would like to note that IVs are permanent and unchanging, so I think they represent, rather, a Pokémon’s genetic makeup and any natural variance in aptitude. Otherwise, though, yes, that’s more or less where we seem to be at the moment.
So… Pokérus.
Well, they describe it as a virus, which seems very odd since we normally think of viruses as malicious parasites, not as symbiotes, which the Pokérus clearly is – it dramatically improves a Pokémon’s ability to learn and grow. What this makes me think of is an evolutionary process that seems to have happened (it’s a rather difficult hypothesis to prove, but a lot of biologists like the idea) billions of years ago when the first cells were getting their start. See, in most plant and animal cells, there are little organelles (cell structures) that we use for breaking down complex chemicals to produce energy; these are called mitochondria. Plant cells also have another kind called a chloroplast, which is responsible for photosynthesis (storing light energy in complex chemicals so the mitochondria can break them down later). Anyway, here’s the thing: these structures reproduce on their own, independently of the rest of the cell, using their own DNA (fun fact – although your nuclear DNA is a mixture of your parents’, your mitochondrial DNA is an exact copy of your mother’s, a fact which is extremely useful to evolutionary biologists – look up ‘mitochondrial Eve’ some time). What this seems to suggest is that they were once completely independent organisms which were somehow swallowed up by larger cells and, instead of being digested or whatever, assimilated themselves into the larger cells and started trading services – energy for shelter. I think the Pokérus is an example of the same thing in progress. Give it another fifty million years, and all Pokémon will be born with it. For now, though, it’s an independent organism, barely capable of surviving on its own, that can insert itself into a Pokémon’s cells and, in exchange for a place to live, can streamline certain aspects of the way a Pokémon’s body functions. Pokérus can produce exotic hormones that enhance a Pokémon’s awareness and ability to process information and commit it to memory, enhancing its capacity to learn from the battles it fights (hence the doubling of received Effort points). Perhaps they even enhance a Pokémon’s connection with whatever weird sources of power they drawn on for their attacks.
Hmm… which might mean… hmm.
Pokémaniacal 