“How to EV Train a Pokémon”
There are many different ways to train a Pokémon. Most trainers just play through the game, knocking out whichever wild Pokémon and rival trainers they happen to come across during the story. Doing so will level up your Pokémon fine. However, there is a more effective and specific way to train a Pokémon. It’s call EV training. It’s named “Effort Values” training, because it takes a great deal more effort to do correctly than normal training, and because each time you K.O. an opponent, your Pokémon gain EV points. Many players of the Pokémon games have no idea what EV training even is, and for others, it’s the only type of training that they do. Trainers who compete in Pokémon tournaments are usually the ones who always EV train their parties, their group of Pokémon. However, anyone can EV train their Pokémon if they want to have the most powerful party possible. Once you learn how to EV train, it’s not that complicated, just time consuming.
The first step in learning how to EV train a Pokémon is to learn how different Pokémon stats work. There are 5 different stats: Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk (Special Attack), Sp. Def (Special Defense), and Speed. Depending on what type of Pokémon you are training, you’ll want one or two of these stats to be higher than the others. That is the whole point of EV training; to make the stats you want to go up, go up. Every time you defeat an opponent Pokémon, your Pokémon gets between 1 and 3 EV points, depending on which Pokémon you K.O. Each Pokémon gives a different type of EV, depending on which stat they are best at. For instance, Mankey, a fighting Pokémon, will give you 1 EV point in Attack, while Espeon, a psychic Pokémon, will give you 2 EV points Sp. Atk. Most trainers don’t memorize what every Pokémon gives as an EV; most just memorize a few certain Pokémon from each category. You can’t always go just by what type the Pokémon is. It is also quite easy to find a list of which Pokémon gives what, if you look it up.
Another trick to EV training is feeding your Pokémon 10 bottles of a drink that boosts a certain stat before you start their training. 10 is the maximum you can boost a stat with drinks. Equipping your Pokémon with an EV-boosting item such as Macho Brace, which doubles your EV’s, also helps. If you can find a way to get Pokérus, a Pokémon disease that also doubles your Pokémon’s EV earnings, that also makes EV training go a lot faster. It’s best to get it from someone through a trade, though, because the odds of encountering Pokérus in the wild is 3 in 65,536.
Once your Pokémon is prepared, you’re ready to start training. Pick which stats you want to raise, and find an area with a lot of that Pokémon in the wild. Or, you can find an area with trainers who have that Pokémon and use your VS Seeker to battle with them. The object of EV training is to battle as many of the Pokémon as you can before you level up your Pokémon, so that the EV stats go up a lot more than they usually would per level. Once a Pokémon reaches level 100, it can’t be trained anymore. An easy way to control when your Pokémon will level up is to use a Rare Candy or Rare Candy Bar. These items make your Pokémon level up as soon as you feed it to them.
Usually, each Pokémon in your party has a specific purpose, such as one Pokémon for high speed, another for extreme strength, and so on. Each party can have a maximum of six, so you can have a Pokémon an expert in each category. Strategizing your Pokémon party is another part of EV training. Having a well-rounded team is essential. It is a bad idea to have a party with all of the same kind of Pokémon; a party of six Attack-based Pokémon would be useless if you had to fight against a Defense-based opponent. You would need a Sp. Atk-based Pokémon if you wanted to have the upper hand in that particular battle.
There are 25 different natures a Pokémon can have. When a Pokémon is born or encountered in the wild, when caught, will have one of the following natures: Adamant, Bashful, Bold, Brave, Calm, Careful, Docile, Gentle, Hardy, Hasty, Impish, Jolly, Lax, Lonely, Mild, Modest, Naïve, Naughty, Quiet, Quirky, Rash, Relaxed, Sassy, Serious, or Timid. Depending on which nature a Pokémon has, it will have +10% in one stat, and -10% in another. For instance, Adamant natured Pokémon get +10% in Attack, and -10% in Sp. Atk. Bold nature gets + Defense, - Attack. Brave nature gets + Attack, - Speed. Calm nature gets + Sp. Def, - Attack. Careful nature gets + Sp. Def, -Sp. Atk. Gentle nature gets + Sp. Def, - Defense. Hasty nature gets + Speed, - Defense. Impish nature gets + Defense, - Sp. Atk. Jolly nature gets + Speed, - Sp. Atk. Lax nature gets + Defense, - Sp. Def. Lonely nature gets + Attack, - Defense. Mild nature gets + Sp. Atk, - Defense. Modest nature gets + Sp. Atk, - Attack. Naïve nature gets + Speed, - Sp. Def. Naughty nature gets + Attack, - Sp. Def. Quiet nature gets + Sp. Atk, - Speed. Rash nature gets + Sp. Atk, - Sp. Def. Relaxed nature gets + Defense, - Speed. Sassy nature gets + Sp. Def, - Speed. Timid nature gets + Speed, - Attack. There are a few neutral natures as well, Bashful, Docile, Hardy, Quirky, and Serious, where none of the stats are affected.
You can’t choose which nature a Pokémon will get; it’s all random when you catch them. But you can keep catching the same species of Pokémon until you get the nature you want. Each nature has it’s pros and cons, but depending on which stat you want to be higher, you’ll probably pick a nature with +10% in that stat.
When you decide which stat you want to train for, and which Pokémon you want to train, you find an area with a lot of the type of Pokémon that gives out the EV’s you want. Then, you fight that same opponent Pokémon over and over again. When you’ve fought enough, it’s really up to you to decide when, you feed your Pokémon a Rare Candy or Rare Candy Bar and they’ll level up, gaining an exceptional amount of +stat points in that section. Then, you repeat the same process, over and over, until you get tired of the process.
Most trainers find it difficult to EV train for a long period of time because it’s tedious and time-consuming. It’s best to train your Pokémon for a few levels, or until you get tired of it, then you take a break, and get back to training. It really pays off in the end, even if you don’t EV train your Pokémon for every level. Even raising your stats just a bit can give you the upper hand in a tough battle.
