IVs and EVs

Adam Ryder

Aspiring Trainer
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For the loving Arceus of me, I can't understand these values! Can someone please explain them to me for my Cranidos-like brain?
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
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EV- Effort Values. Each Pokemon has HP, Attack, defense, special attack, special defense and speed. Each time your Pokemon wins another Pokemon, your Pokemon gains not only EXP ponts but also EV points depends on the Pokemon you have just won. For example, Winning against Abra gives your Pokemon 1 EV point for the Special attack stat.
Each stat is limited to gain up to 252 EV's. And in general, each Pokemon can gain up to 510 EV's.
For each 4 EV points you get, in level 100 your Pokemon will get an extra point in the stat those EV points were invested (For level 50 battles, it is for each 8 EV points).
In practice, to make you understand what EV's are doing: 252 ev's = extra 63 points to your Pokemon's stat in level 100.

IV's- Individual values. Each Pokemon has additional points in each stat that are ranged from 0-31 per stat. For example, take 2 Slowpokes.
You may notice that even though both of them are untrained and in level 1, their stats are not the same. While one of them has 6 points in special attack, the other has 7.
They even have the same nature. So what is the explanation? The Slowpoke that has 7 points in its Special attack stat has more IV's in special attack than the other one.
Once again, like EV's- You get to see these points's full potential only after you reach level 100.
 

Jabberwock

#Jovimohnaeliackvid
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IVs are sort of like a Pokémon's DNA; you can't change them, only breed to get better ones. They work like scattered mind said, I just prefer to think of them as DNA.
Also, if you're traded a Pokémon with markings under its sprite in the summary screen (from right to left: circle, triangle, square, heart, star, rhombus), odds are its original owner used these to mark its IVs. HP corresponds to the circle, Attack to the triangle, and so on. Note that they won't be automatically marked when you catch/breed a Pokémon; you have to go to the IV judge in Kiloude City (XY) or the Battle Resort (ORAS) to check the IVs, and then mark them yourself.

EVs can also be gained in Super Training, and are marked on the training meter.
 

Adam Ryder

Aspiring Trainer
Member
1. How can I tell how many IVs and/or EVs a Pokemon has?

2. Can Cosplay Pikachu have max IVs/ EVs in every stat?
 

Jabberwock

#Jovimohnaeliackvid
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–IVs can be checked in XY at the Kiloude City Pokémon Center. Talk to the guy with purple hair on the left, referred to as the Judge, and he'll list one or more stats, and then either "decent," "good," "fantastic," or "can't be beat." He will only list the stat(s) with the highest IVs, so you'll have to go to an online IV calculator to find the rest (just Google search for it). You want the stats to be "can't be beat," which would mean that each of the stats he listed has an IV of 31. The same judge can be found in ORAS at the Battle Resort (I think also in the Pokémon Center).

EVs, on the other hand, are a little more tricky. The best way to check would be to go to Super Training, save the game <-(this is very important), and then use a Reset Bag on the Pokémon whose EVs you want to check. It'll take away all the Pokémon's EVs, but it'll show you how many it had before taking them away. It only shows them for a few seconds, though, so I recommend having a camera on hand. Afterward, you can restart the game to the point where you had saved, and the Pokémon will still have its EVs, only this time you'll know how many EVs it has.

The absolute easiest way, though, is to start from scratch with a Pokémon you know has 0 EVs, like a freshly hatched/caught Pokémon. Then, you can just keep track of how many EVs it gains.
The easiest way to EV-train a Pokémon is by using hordes, Pokérus, and Power Items. Hordes, as I'm sure you know, are groups of five of the same Pokémon, so you'll basically quintuple the EVs gained in each battle. Pokérus doubles it further, and Power Items (Power Bracer, Power Lens, etc.) add 4 EVs to the specified stat, before multipliers.
So consider, for example, that you wanted to train an Abra in Special Attack. You would first give it Pokérus (you have to have another Pokémon with Pokérus for this, just Wonder Trade until you get one if you don't have one already. It's characterized by a bar saying "Pokérus" under the Pokémon's name in the summary screen) by having the infected Pokémon in the lead slot of the party, Abra in another slot, and the Exp. Share off. That last part ensures that the Pokémon doesn't gain unwanted EVs prematurely. Then battle until Abra is infected with Pokérus.
After that, give Abra a Power Lens (obtained at the Battle Maison) and fly to Hoenn Route 119. Make sure you have a Pokémon with Sweet Scent in your party or a ton of Honey, as well as a Pokémon that has a multi-target move (Surf, Earthquake, etc.) in the front slot. Turn the Exp. Share back on. Now use Sweet Scent or Honey to attract a horde, which should be Oddish. KO all of them with your multi-target move (be it Surf, Earthquake, or other). Now, here's the calculation for all the EVs Abra gained:
1 (Oddish gives 1 base SpA EV)
+4 (Power Lens)
x2 (Pokérus)
x5 (you KO'd 5 Oddish)
Total: 50 SpA EVs
And the table for which Pokémon give which EVs is as follows:
HP: Whismur (Rusturf Tunnel)
Attack: Shuppet (Mt. Pyre)
Defense: Sandshrew (Route 111)
Sp. Atk: Oddish (Route 119)
Sp. Def: Swablu (Route 115)
Speed: Zigzagoon, Taillow, or Wingull (Route 104; all are on the route, and all give 1 Speed EV)

–Cosplay Pikachu can have max IVs in every stat; you would just need to soft-reset for them (Google search the term if you aren't sure).
As for the EVs, only you can control how many EVs it gains, so yes, it can have max EVs, and will, unless you never use it for battle. :p

Hope that helped! :)
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
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If anyone wants to know more things about IV's and EV's, you can also check this thread by @PMJ which is really great if you want to get into all the details.

Good luck :)
 

PMJ

happy thoughts
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Articles Head
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Wow that is old. Looks like the table function didn't survive the update.
 
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