Outside of PvP, the answer is yes. You gain energy equal to half the HP you lose (rounded). A lower defense IV may or may not help you fill your bar faster. Fast move damage is calculated based on a bunch of factors, and is long product that is then rounded down and has 1 damage added to it (the damage formula is in an article in this site). Because of the rounding, it may or may not be the case that different Defense IVs yield different amounts of damage recieved from fast moves. Charge move damage is more likely to change based on Defense IVs, but it makes a much smaller difference proportionally. For more in depth analysis of the subject, see the articles on breakpoints and bulkpoints. :) Also, Merry Christmas!
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About charged moves
Does any fast or charged move taken in a battle add up with your energy levels (for your charged move)?
If taking some hits helps to fill the energy bar(s) faster, is it correct to say that a pkm with lower defense IV would fill even faster when taking some hits?
P.S.: Be nice people, that's my first question here.
Thanks!
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Answers
Hmm. Attack IV is important for sure, but between HP and Defense, it would in general be whichever is lower on the attacker in question; i.e. the HP IV is more important on Alakazam, while the Defense IV is more important on Hariyama. These also become more important with glassier attackers, and high cost charge moves.
The idea of using lower defense and higher HP works when comparing two different species of pokemon with radically different base stats. The classic example, Lapras (low defense/high HP) will gain a lot of extra energy compared with Cloyster (high defense/low HP).
The stat difference from IVs is very small though, so the difference in energy gain will also be very small.
Here is a post someone wrote about one particular matchup (Golem vs Ninetales):
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/7cfqj0/the_0_def_iv_myth_why_15015_isnt_the_secret_to/
Basically, the difference between 0-15 def IV is small, maybe the difference of a few damage per attack so the extra energy gain is very minimal. In fact, if the lower defense only increases damage by 1 and the increase doesn't get over the rounding for "ceiling(HP loss/2)" then you are only takjng extra damage and not gaining any extra energy.
The amount of energy you gain from fast attacks far surpasses whatever increase you may get from extra damage. A little extra energy may allow you to use a charge attack sooner, but it can also knock out your pokemon sooner. It is very situational, so you would have to be looking at specific matchups and breakpoints to determine whether intentionally choosing lower defense IV would be better.
