Thursday, May 6, 2010

Pokemon EV Training for Dummies

You know you want it. You know you want that stat increase. It's a HUGE advantage no one can deny...And to do that you'll need to master the dark arts of EV training!

I can hear some of you groaning right now. Regular EV trainers should have no problem understanding them, while non-EV trainers don't know what the fuss is all about. You can try not to care about EV Training, but this hidden number is also referenced inside all Pokemon games from Hoenn onwards (the Effort Ribbon). Want to get the best out of your favorites? Try my simpler guide to EV Training! You'll understand what I'm trying to say or your money back.

What are EVs?
EVs are Effort Values.They're earned each time your Pokemon defeats another in battle, whether they are wild or belong to a Trainer. Each species gives out different EVs, and you can check them out at Serebii. The EVs earned are then given to your Pokemon in the same way as EXP, only it isn't displayed, of course.

The difference? You can switch out Pokemon and both will still get the same EVs! (they aren't and can't be split in half- read on to find out why)


So what's the big deal anyway?
It's all about the extra stats. As mentioned before, each Pokemon you defeat gives out EVs. Example: Beating a Zubat gives out one Speed EV. Yes, there's EVs for all the major stats, including Hit Points. Some Pokemon give out mixed EVs, or more than one.

Zubat is worth one Speed EV. Earn four Speed EVs and your Pokemon's Speed will increase by an extra one point on the next level up(or distributed throughout the Pokemon's levels and slowly siphoned in as it goes up naturally in level). Simple, right? Let's make things even easier. Since everything in EVs is done in fours, let's see another example.

Pieces of Heart from Zelda games. Four will earn you an extra life.



Likewise, four EVs will give you one extra stat point. So beat four Zubats and your speed will go up by one. Easy!

There's a limit, right?

Of course there is. Everyone would end up with 999 on every stat if there isn't. The maximum number of Effort Value points for each Pokemon is 510. And each stat is only permitted up to 255 points.

Since 4 points gives you one stat point, you'll only need 252 points per stat, so you can fully max out two stats. 3 points left over won't do you much good(but then again, neither does using the remaining six on another stat)
Let's put this in chart form so it's a bit less confusing. If I were to EV a Pokemon in Attack, I would use up half of the total space for a Pokemon's EVs. EVing a second stat(in this case, Defense), would completely use it up.
The remaining six can be used on a 3rd stat, though it's only one point.

You don't necessarily have to max out the EVs on one stat, however. Adjust them according to your strategy. It's like buying upgrades for a weapon or a car, or wearing different types of armors/weapons in an RPG, you switch between them for different effects and different outcomes.

So how do I EV train if a route has more than one Pokemon? It's tedious trying to even find the one I'm looking for!

You can reduce the time needed if you know a certain route contains only one or two species of Pokemon. Try researching the locations around Sinnoh/Johto and find out what you're looking for. Serebii.net has a few suggestions on where you might want to EV a certain stat, for example, the Old Chateau in Eterna Forest only has one Pokemon- Gastly. Perfect for training Special Attack.

Another trick is to double the number of EV Points received per battle, or using the stat-boosting items on your Pokemon. The Power Belt, Lens, Anklet, etc. (from Gen IV onwards) which can be bought at the Battle Frontier, doubles the number of EVs received when attached to a Pokemon. So, if a Pokemon is holding the Power Anklet and KOs a Zubat, it gets 2 EVs for Speed instead of the usual one. This halves the time needed!

The Pokemon virus, or PokeRus, has the same effect, but it  doubles EVs for all stats, instead of just one. When combined with the above items, the amount of EVs you get is quadrupled. So, one Zubat would give you 4 Speed EVs now. Fascinating, isn't it?

The stat-boosting items, HP Up, Protein and so on, actually increases the Pokemon's EVs by 10 for that stat. You can have a Pokemon use up to six of each of them.

Made a mistake while EVing? Reset the EVs by using berries 20 to 26! From Pomeg to Tamato, these reduce EVs of stats by 10, the opposite effect of the stat-increasing items. It follows in the order: HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def and Speed. Which berries reduce which stats can be easily gleaned through the berry's description.

To summarize:

That's about it for EVing~! Yep, it's that simple, but if there's anything you still don't understand, just comment below or message me on the Nintendo 5-Star forums. Happy training!
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7 comments:

  1. I have been trying to EV train my Gible. The stats I am interested in are Attack and Speed. The problem is I never get much higher stats.
    I trained my Gible like this:
    First I gave it an Exp. Share and beat a lot of Gyarados till it was level 20. Then I went to route 201 to beat all the Machop. I beat some Ponyta as well to boost up it's speed. After a couple of levels the Attack was raised with 7 once and that's about it. What am I doing wrong?

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  2. Oh, and another question, I see alot of people using Rare candies when they are done EV training. Is this necessary? Or can I just beat random pokemon to level after the EV training (if it will ever work with me)?

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  3. "Anonymous said...
    I have been trying to EV train my Gible. The stats I am interested in are Attack and Speed. The problem is I never get much higher stats.
    I trained my Gible like this:
    First I gave it an Exp. Share and beat a lot of Gyarados till it was level 20. Then I went to route 201 to beat all the Machop. I beat some Ponyta as well to boost up it's speed. After a couple of levels the Attack was raised with 7 once and that's about it. What am I doing wrong?
    May 15, 2010 7:02 AM"

    Whingey dumbass? Most Fully evolved pokemon don't even +4 stat raises therefore if Gible's attack increased by 7 that means EV IS ALREADY WORKING. Are you trying to be funny or are you just stupid? What did you expect, you wanted attack to increase by 40 everytime?

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  4. EV boosting items add 4 effort values to the set stat.....not double it. Macho Brace doubles all EVs gained like pokerus. So it goes like this:

    x+y=EVs gained
    x=EVs obtained by battle
    y=+4 to whatever stat increasing item you have
    example:
    power belt adds +4 to def. EVs
    so if i fight a gravler I get
    2+4=6
    so i gain 6 EVs
    but if i have pokerus:
    2(2+4)=12
    so I gain 12
    only macho brace and pokerus double, ev boosting items give 4 evs to a certain stat no matter who is battled

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  5. you know it doesn't increase all at once. as ur pokemon levels up higher and higher, you will begin to see more and more change. So yeah, it looks like its working.

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  6. the power items give you a set 4 ev in one stat on top of the evs you get from the pokemon
    say you fought a zubat with a power weight attached, when you defeated the zubat, you would get 1 speed ev and 4 hp evs! http://www.psypokes.com/lab/evguide.php
    macho brace is the only item that doubles your ev wield from that pokemon

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  7. so if i battle lots of zubats with y raiachu once igets to lv 50 its speed stat will be very high?

    ReplyDelete