Before we get into heavy competitive discussion, we have to discuss training. Now, both breeding and training come after you build your team, however, it's important to know how these aspects work, so you know what is feasible.
Effort Values, or EVs for short, are very similar to IVs in that they affect base stats, but an EV's impact is much greater. For example, check out these images below.
Effort Values, or EVs for short, are very similar to IVs in that they affect base stats, but an EV's impact is much greater. For example, check out these images below.
The top image shows a Gengar without any EVs, and the bottom image shows the same Gengar, but this time it has EVs.
Simply, each Pokemon can have a total of 510 EVs. Most EV spreads will have either 508 or 510, but you should never go below 508. The reason 508 exists is pretty simple; for every 4 EVs a Pokemon has, it gains a single point towards its stats. This is clearly outline in the above image, where Gengar was given only 4 Hp EVs and only gained a single stat point. The reason 508 EVs exist in competitive is because the most basic EV spread of 4/252/252 has an extra 2 EVs that do absolutely nothing. Finally, a stat can only obtain a maximum of 255 EVs! Nothing more!
All that said, EVs are significantly more straight forward than IVs. I'll get into how to decide what EVs to go for in the upcoming entries, but in this article, I'll talk solely on how to get EVs.
In order to get your Pokemon EVs, you have a few options. The first option is to battle Pokemon. You see, every Pokemon in the wild has a specific amount of EVs they give towards a specific stat. To find out which Pokemon gives which EVs, you can use the Serebii Pokedex and check the section shown below!
Simply, each Pokemon can have a total of 510 EVs. Most EV spreads will have either 508 or 510, but you should never go below 508. The reason 508 exists is pretty simple; for every 4 EVs a Pokemon has, it gains a single point towards its stats. This is clearly outline in the above image, where Gengar was given only 4 Hp EVs and only gained a single stat point. The reason 508 EVs exist in competitive is because the most basic EV spread of 4/252/252 has an extra 2 EVs that do absolutely nothing. Finally, a stat can only obtain a maximum of 255 EVs! Nothing more!
All that said, EVs are significantly more straight forward than IVs. I'll get into how to decide what EVs to go for in the upcoming entries, but in this article, I'll talk solely on how to get EVs.
In order to get your Pokemon EVs, you have a few options. The first option is to battle Pokemon. You see, every Pokemon in the wild has a specific amount of EVs they give towards a specific stat. To find out which Pokemon gives which EVs, you can use the Serebii Pokedex and check the section shown below!
This is arguably the most fun way to EV train, and rightly so. You're actually playing the game as opposed to Breeding. There are a few tips and tricks that go with this method as well.
For starters, you can battle Hordes!
For starters, you can battle Hordes!
What's awesome about Hordes is that you'll get 5x the amount of EVs in a shorter time frame. If you're curious which Hordes apply which EVs, check out this link for X&Y Hordes, and this link for ORAS Hordes. You need to be careful with Hordes, however. Since you are getting 5x the amount of EVs, you'll need to make sure you aren't fighting too many Pokemon. In addition, sometimes Hordes can show up with a random Pokemon within them that doesn't have to do with the EV you're training for. You need to run from these Hordes!
That isn't where this ends, however. There is a good virus in this game called Pokerus. This is a virus that is caught rarely while battling. However, once a Pokemon catches it, it is very easily spread to other Pokemon. As long as you have Pokemon in your party in the slots next to the Pokemon infected, it will spread to your whole team. Be weary, however, as once a new day starts within the game, the virus will be cured! You can prevent this from happening by dropping the Pokemon into the PC!
That isn't where this ends, however. There is a good virus in this game called Pokerus. This is a virus that is caught rarely while battling. However, once a Pokemon catches it, it is very easily spread to other Pokemon. As long as you have Pokemon in your party in the slots next to the Pokemon infected, it will spread to your whole team. Be weary, however, as once a new day starts within the game, the virus will be cured! You can prevent this from happening by dropping the Pokemon into the PC!
As you can see in the image above, the left Sylveon has Pokerus, but the right does not!
But what's so good about Pokerus? Well, it doubles the EVs gained! So, say you're farming a Horde of Pokemon that only give 1 EV each. In both X&Y and ORAS, Whismur gives 1 Hp EV every time you KO it. So, if you battle a Whismur horde, you are now gaining 5 Hp EVs per battle. However, add Pokerus into the mix and you're now gaining a full 10 EVs per battle.
It doesn't stop there, however! You can further these gains by equipping the item Macho Brace. Macho Brace doubles the amount of EVs obtained. So now, if you're farming those Whismur hordes, and you have both Pokerus and Macho Brace, you'll gain a whopping 20 EVs per horde. But it doesn't end there! If you want even more gains, you can equip one of the Power Items. Unlike the Mach Brace, Power Items are stat specific. For example, if you want to EV train SpAtk, you'll need to equip the Power Lens. What's better about these items is that they add 4 extra EVs per KO! So, instead of the paltry 5 without anything, or 10 with Pokerus, or even 20 with Pokerus and the Macho Brace, you'll now be recieving a massive 50 EVs per Horde battle! That's insane!
Of course, you don't have to use Hordes. If you are going for a small investment, or trying to top off the remaining EVs that isn't a multiple of 5, 10, 20 or 50, you can battel Pokemon individually!
However, EV training like this can take a while. It's certainly the most enjoyable, but it has the potential to take a while.
Something you may have noticed on the bottom screen is Super Training.
But what's so good about Pokerus? Well, it doubles the EVs gained! So, say you're farming a Horde of Pokemon that only give 1 EV each. In both X&Y and ORAS, Whismur gives 1 Hp EV every time you KO it. So, if you battle a Whismur horde, you are now gaining 5 Hp EVs per battle. However, add Pokerus into the mix and you're now gaining a full 10 EVs per battle.
It doesn't stop there, however! You can further these gains by equipping the item Macho Brace. Macho Brace doubles the amount of EVs obtained. So now, if you're farming those Whismur hordes, and you have both Pokerus and Macho Brace, you'll gain a whopping 20 EVs per horde. But it doesn't end there! If you want even more gains, you can equip one of the Power Items. Unlike the Mach Brace, Power Items are stat specific. For example, if you want to EV train SpAtk, you'll need to equip the Power Lens. What's better about these items is that they add 4 extra EVs per KO! So, instead of the paltry 5 without anything, or 10 with Pokerus, or even 20 with Pokerus and the Macho Brace, you'll now be recieving a massive 50 EVs per Horde battle! That's insane!
Of course, you don't have to use Hordes. If you are going for a small investment, or trying to top off the remaining EVs that isn't a multiple of 5, 10, 20 or 50, you can battel Pokemon individually!
However, EV training like this can take a while. It's certainly the most enjoyable, but it has the potential to take a while.
Something you may have noticed on the bottom screen is Super Training.
The very first thing you want to do with Super Training, if this is the method you want to EV train with, is to use a Pokemon you aren't EV training. What this will do is allow you to unlock every single Super Training regiment.
You see, Super Training gives EVs for every regiment you complete. Level 1 regiments will give you 4 EVs, level 2 regiments will give you 8 EVs, and level 3 regiments will give you 12 EVs. In addition to completeing the regiments, you'll be obtaining Training Bags. Training Bags comes in various styles, but the EV ones will come in various sizes; Small (+4 EVs), Medium (+8 EVs), and Large (+12 EVs). And that's how you EV train with Super Training! It's pretty straight forward, and can be pretty fun!
Finally, there is one last way to EV train. You can EV train through Items. The only problem with this method is that you'll need loads of money (or an Action Replay, you dirty, dirty cheaters). To start with are Vitamins. Vitamins can be found and bought, and will give you 10 EVs to the corresponding stat. For example, HP Up will give you Pokemon 10 Hp EVs. The only drawback is that you can only use 10 of these Vitamins per stat. However, that's where the second set of items, Wings, come into play. Wings can not be bought, but can only be found or won. You can check the link to see where they can be found, but they can also be won via Super Secret Training, which is unfortunately only unlocked by using a Pokemon that is maxed out on EVs. The cool thing about Wings is that they don't have the cap that Vitamins do. You can use Wings from the beginning all the way to the end. Of course, the drawback being that they are rather hard to find. Wings will always give a single EV towards the corresponding stat.
And that's it for EV training. Like I said, it's pretty straight forward and there are a variety of ways to approach it, all based on taste. But the coolest aspect of this is that no matter which method you do, you can also mix and match. For example, say we want 252 SpAtk EVs on our Gengar. We can start by giving it 10 Calciums, making its SpAtk Stat have 100 EVs. From there, we can find a horde that gives SpAtk. With Pokerus, which we obtained already, and a Power Lens attatched, all we have to do is fight 3 Hordes. Now we have a total of 250 SpAtk EVs. Finally, we can either find a single Pokemon that gives 1 EV for SpAtk, remembering to take off the Power Item or Macho Brace, or we can just use 2 Genius Wings. And now we have 1 stat fully EV'd for our Gengar! It's pretty easy and arguably the most entertaining aspect of preparing a Pokemon for competitive.
Finally, what happens if you mess up your EV training and give the wrong amount? Well, you have 2 options. The first of which is to obtain a Reset Bag from Super Training. It's given out from various training regiments and will wipe ALL of the EVs a Pokemon has, completely resetting it. This is good if you want to change up an EV spread later down the line without having to re-breed. The second way is to use specific Berries. Using this link, you'll find a list of Berries that will take away 10 EVs each for the corresponding stat. Unfortunately, if you mess up, those are the only ways to fix it. It's not ideal, but it's better than having to start the entire Breeding process over.
So that's it. We've covered the basics, we've covered Breeding and we've finally covered EV Training. The next series of articles will cover how to build and plan a team, and then we will move on to actual battles!
You see, Super Training gives EVs for every regiment you complete. Level 1 regiments will give you 4 EVs, level 2 regiments will give you 8 EVs, and level 3 regiments will give you 12 EVs. In addition to completeing the regiments, you'll be obtaining Training Bags. Training Bags comes in various styles, but the EV ones will come in various sizes; Small (+4 EVs), Medium (+8 EVs), and Large (+12 EVs). And that's how you EV train with Super Training! It's pretty straight forward, and can be pretty fun!
Finally, there is one last way to EV train. You can EV train through Items. The only problem with this method is that you'll need loads of money (or an Action Replay, you dirty, dirty cheaters). To start with are Vitamins. Vitamins can be found and bought, and will give you 10 EVs to the corresponding stat. For example, HP Up will give you Pokemon 10 Hp EVs. The only drawback is that you can only use 10 of these Vitamins per stat. However, that's where the second set of items, Wings, come into play. Wings can not be bought, but can only be found or won. You can check the link to see where they can be found, but they can also be won via Super Secret Training, which is unfortunately only unlocked by using a Pokemon that is maxed out on EVs. The cool thing about Wings is that they don't have the cap that Vitamins do. You can use Wings from the beginning all the way to the end. Of course, the drawback being that they are rather hard to find. Wings will always give a single EV towards the corresponding stat.
And that's it for EV training. Like I said, it's pretty straight forward and there are a variety of ways to approach it, all based on taste. But the coolest aspect of this is that no matter which method you do, you can also mix and match. For example, say we want 252 SpAtk EVs on our Gengar. We can start by giving it 10 Calciums, making its SpAtk Stat have 100 EVs. From there, we can find a horde that gives SpAtk. With Pokerus, which we obtained already, and a Power Lens attatched, all we have to do is fight 3 Hordes. Now we have a total of 250 SpAtk EVs. Finally, we can either find a single Pokemon that gives 1 EV for SpAtk, remembering to take off the Power Item or Macho Brace, or we can just use 2 Genius Wings. And now we have 1 stat fully EV'd for our Gengar! It's pretty easy and arguably the most entertaining aspect of preparing a Pokemon for competitive.
Finally, what happens if you mess up your EV training and give the wrong amount? Well, you have 2 options. The first of which is to obtain a Reset Bag from Super Training. It's given out from various training regiments and will wipe ALL of the EVs a Pokemon has, completely resetting it. This is good if you want to change up an EV spread later down the line without having to re-breed. The second way is to use specific Berries. Using this link, you'll find a list of Berries that will take away 10 EVs each for the corresponding stat. Unfortunately, if you mess up, those are the only ways to fix it. It's not ideal, but it's better than having to start the entire Breeding process over.
So that's it. We've covered the basics, we've covered Breeding and we've finally covered EV Training. The next series of articles will cover how to build and plan a team, and then we will move on to actual battles!