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This game was released on December 31, 1994 and is no longer available to pre-order. Any incentives that were offered are listed below.

Having your Pokemon reach level 100 is important, but there are other factors that go into raising the strongest Pokemon. Although many players may not know what they mean, EVs and IVs are fairly common terms used by Pokemon players. These refer to some inherent stats in-game that

every Pokémon has. While players can get by fine in regular story gameplay without worrying about them, they become essential to consider when discussing competitive battling or endgame content.

So without further ado, let’s dive into all you need to know about training your Pokémon to be competitively viable or for challenging notoriously difficult content such as the Tera Raid battles from Scarlet and Violet.

  • What are EVs?

  • EV Training

  • What are IVs?

  • Tips for Good IVs

  • Pokemon Nature

What are EVs?

EV stands for Effort Value, and these were introduced in gen 3. These are single stat points your Pokemon gain by putting in effort and participating in battles where they KO the opponent and gain experience. Your Pokemon gain different EV points by defeating different opponents and can gain up to 510 total proper EVs across the board but only up to a maximum of 255 per stat.

EV Training Pokémon

Here is all you need to know about raising your Pokemon’s EVs.

Pokemon Battles

This is the most common method used for EV farming and can take some time, but with a bit of patience, you’ll see the results reflected in your Pokemon’s stats. Note that every single Pokemon you battle gives you one and above EV points in specific stats. For example, defeating a Metapod gives you 2 defense EVs, while defeating a Chansey gives you 2 HP EVs.

Bonus EV

Also, note that for every four EV points you gain, you will also gain one EV point for that stat. This means that 4 EVs are equivalent to 5, which is also why we recommend a maximum of 252 EVs per stat, as the additional point would be wasted.

EV Vitamins

You can gain many EVs by using different vitamins used to increase an individual stat. All of these add 10 EVs, but they only work for the first 100 EVs you gain in a particular stat.

  • HP Up (HP)
  • Protein (Attack)
  • Iron (Defense)
  • Calcium (Sp. Attack)
  • Zinc (Sp. Defense)
  • Carbos (Speed)

Effort Value Training Tips

To get your desire EV spreads, follow these tips to optimize your gains.

  • Holding a Macho Brace will double all the EVs you gain per battle and can be used for the optimal EV farm.
  • You can reduce the EVs of a trained Pokemon by 10 by using specific berries; this is useful for readjusting the EV spread.
  • The Pokerus is a rare infection that doubles the EVs you gain per battle. It’s a limited infection and can spread to other Pokemon in your party; you can the Poke box to store an infected mon and delay the timer.
  • Always use Vitamins early since they become obsolete later.
  • If you are battle-farming EVs, it’s helpful to try and keep track of it. We suggest using your PP as a counter, depending on how many times you must use a move per battle.
  • Try to EV train your mons at lower levels or when they hatch so you can use them freely for the rest of the game.

What are IVs?

IV stands for Individual Values, which are basically the genes your Pokemon comes with. Each Pokemon will have a natural IV for every stat, and higher IVs on a stat will also determine its performance in that department. They are hidden numbers that determine the growth a given stat can undergo, similar to multipliersYou can theoretically reach a maximum perfect IV total of 186.

In the latest games, you can check your Pokemon’s IVs using the judge feature that unlocks in your Pokedex.

Picking the Best IV Stats

Unlike EVs, you cannot change the IVs your Pokemon come with, so it’s necessary to pick a mon with the right base stats and IVs. The IVs your Pokemon gets range from zero to an upper limit of 31. Consider yourself very lucky if you get a pokemon with one or more 31 IVs. On the other hand, Pokemon with 0 IVs will perform poorly in that specific role.

The stat boost from IVs may seem insignificant, but pokemon with 31 IVs play a huge role when we discuss creating teams of viable competitive pokemon, and they are important just like EVs. This insignificant seeming stat gap might even be the difference between a win and a loss.

IV Breeding

Capturing wild Pokemon and hoping for the best IVs can be frustrating. Fortunately, you can breed them in a way to give their offspring a higher chance of inheriting their parent’s IVs. Breeding performs 3 rounds of checks, where first a stat is inherited from all 6, then a stat is inherited from them excluding HP, and finally, a stat is chosen excluding HP and Def. This makes it more likely for IV stats such as ATK, SPD, or SP.ATK to be inherited.

Moreover, Power Items that were introduced in Generation IV will allow you to specify what IV the child inherits by making the parent hold it. This makes effective IV breeding much easier.

Hyper Training

This is probably the easiest way to manipulate your IVs via the use of bottlecaps in Hyper Training. Unfortunately, it is only available in games from Sun and Moon onwards. You can find an NPC in the games that will offer to Hyper Train your Pokemon, which will let you raise IV stats of your choice as long as you have the necessary items.

Should You Care About Nature?

Pokemon Let's Go Nature Fortune Teller : r/pokemon

Your Pokemon’s nature is also crucial, as it selectively raises and decreases 2 individual stats. Make sure it aligns with the stat you are trying to min-max. For example, a Rash nature will increase your Special Attack stat and decrease your Special Defense stat and is ideal for a Pokemon you are trying to build as a Special Attacker. 

Conclusion

Ever since their introduction, Effort Values, and Individual Values are important factors to consider if you are trying to prepare your Pokemon for difficult content in competitive play. While it may seem fairly daunting initially, once you understand the system, min-maxing your IVs and EVs can be fun. Nintendo and Gamefreak have also been introducing new systems to make them more casual-friendly, and it may even become a standard thing to consider for all future adventures.

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