The Secret To Training Strong Pokémon In Scarlet And Violet
For most players, Pokémon the game is a pretty simple job of attacking the enemy’s weak point and scoring with that one sweet shot. But Pokémon can become extremely overwhelming once you start playing competitively. What is IV? What is an EV, if not the cute brown fox that can evolve into a bunch of other, more colorful and complex foxes?
In fact, they refer to hidden numbers and basic math that competitive players love to tweak and manipulate to create the most powerful versions of their favorite ‘mons’. EV and IV stand for Effort Value and Personal Value. These hidden numbers determine the final state of a Pokémon’s six stats, and understanding how they work and how to affect them can give you the upper hand in competitive battle. Let’s take a closer look.
Not Eevee…EV!
Manipulating Effort Values is quite a time investment, as they are all based on what you expose the Pokémon to when you raise them. Each Pokémon has a maximum of 510 total EVs to allocate to all six stats, but each stat can only have 252 individual EVs.
You increase EV by using items like vitamins and feathers, each of which boosts specific stats. Vitamins are most effective immediately, as each will increase an individual stat by 10 EV. Before Pokémon Sword and Shield, Vitamins only work up to the first 100 EVs of a Pokémon, but now these items will work to max out an individual’s stats to a ceiling of 252. Feathers aren’t as powerful, only increasing one EV point. Pretty simple so far, but affecting a Pokémon’s EV while you train them in battle takes a bit more planning.
Each Pokémon you battle gains a specific EV when defeated, usually reflecting its own base stats. The amount of EV you’ll get per stat depends on the strength of the Pokémon you’re fighting. For example, if your Pokémon defeats Pichu, it will add an EV point to your creature’s Speed stat. However, if you’re fighting Raichu in its fully evolved form, that will earn you three speed EV points. If you’re feeling too forced, you can beat a bunch of unexpected Pichus to boost your Pokémon’s speed EV, but you’ll hit the stat 252 cap much faster if you’re fighting a stronger Pokémon.
However, some Pokémon don’t pour all of their EVs into a single stat like Raichu does. Take Butterfree as an example. It splits its three EVs into Special Attack and Special Defense. So while there are better Pokémon to fight for each stat individually, defeating a Pokémon that earns you lots of EVs is one way to boost multiple EVs at once. It’s just a matter of your stat goals and how you want to spend your time.
One remarkable thing about EVs is that, because modern Pokémon The game allows the entire party to gain experience after battles, the EV gained will be shared through your team as they gain experience, even if they are not on the field. So pay attention to what you’re training and which Pokémon you’re waiting for to battle, as their EVs will be affected by these battles even if you don’t directly use them.
EV honing can take some time, but you can speed up the process of raising specific EV stats by equipping your Pokémon with power items that correlate with a specific stat, like such as the Power Anklet which increases the speed EV or the Power Belt which increases the defensive EV. . All of these are purchasable at Delibird Presents stores for $10,000 each.
“The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant”
Individual values, known as IVs, are a bit more complicated. IVs are basically Pokémon genetics, where these are the stat boosts inherent to the particular Pokémon you have, ranging from 0 points to 31 points. Once unchangeable, Pokémon series have taken various ways to influence them over the years.
Imagine you have two level 100 Raichus and one has 31 Speed IVs and the other doesn’t. Even if you trained these two Raichus the same way and managed the same EV build, the one born with 31 Speed IVs will have 31 points higher Speed stat than the other. A lot of competitive players will breed Pokémon to try and get optimal IVs, as parent Pokémon will pass higher IVs based on their IVs to their offspring.
In more recent games, Pokémon gave players the ability to “Super Train” their ‘mons to gain IVs in exchange for Bottle Caps. This can be done at locations like Montenevera in scarlet and Violet by talking to a trainer standing near the town’s Pokémon Center. Bottle caps can be difficult to get through. You can buy them at Delibird Presents stores around Paldea, but they are quite expensive at $20,000 per cap. You can also win them in high level tera attacks, but usually just a random drop. So while Hyper Training can be used more immediately, getting those Bottle Caps can take time, which is why some players choose to max out Ditto’s IVs and use use it to create better versions of whatever Pokémon they’re trying to create. Donations.
“Just tell them that’s the nature of Pokémon.”
But regardless of a Pokémon’s EV and IV, a few extra factors will determine if it’s effective in certain builds over others.
Each Pokémon has a set of basic stats inherent to its species, these stats will increase as you raise your creature, and the direction of those stats will be determined by how your EV and IV are. it develops. Raichu’s base stats position it as a fast, special attack Pokémon. It has a base speed stat of 110, and a special attack stat of 95 which far exceeds the base physical attack of 85.
This helps you determine what attacks might be most effective for it to learn. Its physical attack stats are still respectable, but at a glance, Raichu is primarily considered a special attacker. Understanding EVs and IVs can help you shift those scales, or at least make up for certain shortcomings. Raichu’s base physical defense is much lower than the rest, at just 50, so if you want to help make up for that, increase its IV through Super Train or combat with Pokémon naturally increasing EV physical defense can help it bulk up little. But those base stats can be influenced by another factor that can affect how you split your EVs and IVs: Natures.
Besides its universal base stats as a species, every individual Pokémon you encounter will also come with an Essence. They appear in the status summary screen as a means of helping you understand your Pokémon’s personality, but they also determine a stat up and a stat down. As a result, some players will breed multiple versions of Pokémon to try to get the one with the most desired Stat Distribution and Nature for the build they want.
There are a total of 25 Natures in Pokémon games right now and their rise and fall stats are as follows, thanks Serebii:
Hardy: No change
Loneliness: Attack/Defense
Courage: Attack/Speed
Adamant: Attack/Special Attack
Naughty: Special Attack/Defense
Bold: Defense/Attack
Obedient: No change
Comfort: Defense/Speed
Impish: Defense/Speed
Lax: Defense/Special Defense
Shy: Speed/Attack
Rush: Speed/Defense
Serious: No change
Jolly: Speed/Special Attack
Innocent: Speed/Special Defense
Modest: Attack/Special Attack
Light: Special Attack/Defense
Silent: Attack/Special Speed
Shy: No change
Rash: Special Attack/Special Defense
Calm: Defense/Special Attack
Gentle: Defense/Special Defense
Sassy: Special Defense/Speed
Careful: Special Defense/Special Attack
Weird: No change
While Nature is fixed, Sword and Shield introduced Mints, a new set of items that can change the stat distribution associated with them. For example, Modest Mint will increase the Pokémon’s Special Attack, but decrease the Attack stat as if the Pokémon’s Nature had changed. This won’t change the actual personality it talks about in their recap (that would be brainwashed), but it will allow you to tweak their stats for any competitive plan whatever you can think of.
Different Poké for different people
All of these moving parts could have a lot to keep track of, and these mechanics are really for the sickest of the competing sicks. It can be very rewarding to get a Pokémon into the competitive state you want and see them excel in battles, but it’s also a huge investment of time to get your team’s exact count. But if you are curious about the competitive world Pokémon, understanding EV and IV is a useful metric to know if this aspect of the context is right for you. And if not, you can still do cool tera attacks with your friends, just like happening Charizard one happens in scarlet and Violet right away.