Overview
PokéAPI is one of the most popular free APIs for developers and provides comprehensive Pokémon data including stats, moves, abilities, and evolutions for all 1000+ Pokémon. No API key is required, making it an ideal choice for beginners learning to work with REST APIs. You can query data by Pokémon name or National Pokédex number.
Beginner Tip
You can reference Pokémon by either their name (lowercase) or their Pokédex number in the URL. Start with simple endpoints like /pokemon/pikachu before exploring nested resources.
Measurement Record
What actually happened when we called this API from our own infrastructure. Every value below was recorded by the request, not copied from the provider's documentation.
- Request
- GET https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/pikachu
- Result
- HTTP 200 · application/json · 290,335 bytes · compressed
- Response time
- 38 ms (median of 3) · fastest 37 ms
- Transport
- TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 · certificate issued by Google Trust Services
- Browser CORS
- Allowed — Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
- Served by
- cloudflare
- Recorded
- 2026-08-10
Fields Returned
Top-level fields present in the response we captured, with the type and value we actually received.
| Field | Type | Value received |
|---|---|---|
| abilities | array | [1 item] |
| base_experience | integer | 112 |
| cries | object | {2 fields} |
| forms | array | [1 item] |
| game_indices | array | [1 item] |
| height | integer | 4 |
| held_items | array | [1 item] |
| id | integer | 25 |
| is_default | boolean | true |
| location_area_encounters | string (url) | https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/25/encounters |
| moves | array | [1 item] |
| name | string | pikachu |
| order | integer | 35 |
| past_abilities | array | [1 item] |
Captured Response
Captured from a real request to https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/pikachu on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.
{
"abilities": [
{
"ability": {
"…": "(2 more fields)"
},
"is_hidden": false,
"slot": 1
}
],
"base_experience": 112,
"cries": {
"latest": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/cries/main/cries/pokemon/latest/25.ogg",
"legacy": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/cries/main/cries/pokemon/legacy/25.ogg"
},
"forms": [
{
"name": "pikachu",
"url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon-form/25/"
}
],
"game_indices": [
{
"game_index": 84,
"version": {
"…": "(2 more fields)"
}
}
],
"height": 4,
"held_items": [
{
"item": {
"…": "(2 more fields)"
},
"version_details": [
{
"…": "(2 more fields)"
}
]
}
],
"id": 25,
"is_default": true,
"location_area_encounters": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/25/encounters",
"moves": [
{
"move": {
"…": "(2 more fields)"
},
"version_group_details": [
{
"…": "(4 more fields)"
}
]
}
],
"name": "pikachu",
"order": 35,
"past_abilities": [
{
"abilities": [
{
"…": "(3 more fields)"
}
],
"generation": {
"…": "(2 more fields)"
}
}
],
"…": "(7 more fields)"
} Field Reference
id National Pokédex number for the Pokémon name Lowercase name of the Pokémon used in API URLs base_experience Base experience points gained when this Pokémon is defeated height Height of the Pokémon in decimetres (divide by 10 for metres) Implementation Example
Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.
const url = "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/pikachu";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data); What Can You Build?
Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.
How This API Fails
We deliberately sent this API a broken request and recorded exactly what came back on 2026-08-10. Knowing the shape of an error before you hit it makes error handling much easier to write.
Bad Request
Common Errors & Troubleshooting
Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.
Measured Score Breakdown
Live HTTP request to the API endpoint
Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026
Technical Specifications
Related Tags
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