Even though Pokémon has reached mass appeal thanks to its cute monsters and simple RPG mechanics, it has also fostered a community of more hardcore trainers. These trainers don’t necessarily want to catch ’em all, but rather catch and train the best. To the untrained eye, any two Pokémon of the same species would be identical, but Effort Values, aka EVs, have existed for generations and make a massive impact on how your Pokémon’s stats work. This can get very complicated, especially if you’re new to EV training, so we’ll fill out your Pokédex entry with everything you need to know about EV training in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
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What are EVs and how do they work?
EVs are the stats of your Pokémon, with each one able to gain 510 in total spread across its six stats: HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Defense, and SP. Attack. Each one can have a maximum of 252 points, meaning that you can’t have one Pokémon with every stat maxed out. Instead, you can only increase two to max level, and then use the remaining six points for a third stat.
There are multiple ways to gain EVs, as well as reset them, such as beating or catching specific Pokémon, and the use of special items.
You can view any Pokémon’s current EVs by looking in their summary and using the left trigger to tab over to their stats screen. On the right, you will see a hexagon with yellow lines stretching out toward each point. The yellow interior shape represents their EV, and if it touches the corner and that stat name has sparkles near it, that means it has reached the maximum 252 EVs. Unfortunately, there is no way to see an exact EV number in a stat before it is maxed out.
One last point to know about EVs is that for every four EVs a Pokémon earns in a particular stat, they will gain one additional point for that stat.
How to EV train Pokémon
When you first catch or hatch a Pokémon, they will have no EVs, making them a blank slate. However, just like every Pokémon will gain XP with every battle fought, even if they don’t participate, all the Pokémon on your team will earn the same EVs as your leader does, so make sure to either keep a team of Pokémon that you want to gain the same EVs, or put some away to not give them stats they don’t need.
Fighting specific Pokémon is the most common way to earn EVs, with each successful fight giving one EV. You can check out this guide on which Pokémon to train for each stat sheet and where to find them.
It’s important to note that you don’t gain any EVs from using auto-battle.
To speed up EV leveling, purchase and equip the related power item from Delibird Presents. There’s one item for each stat, and if your Pokémon is wearing one during battle, they will gain a total of nine EVs instead of just one.
Finally, you can simply feed Pokémon vitamins or feathers to boost their EV by 10 each if you have enough cash laying around. Here’s which vitamins increase which stat:
- HP Up: HP
- Protein: Attack
- Iron: Defense
- Carbos: Speed
- Calcium: Special Attack
- Zinc: Special Defense
Here’s which feathers increase which stat:
- Health Feather: HP
- Muscle Feather: Attack
- Resist Feather: Defense
- Genius Feather: Special Attack
- Clever Feather: Special Defense
- Swift Feather: Speed
Alternatively, you can remove EVs to respec a Pokémon by feeding them specific berries. These berries lower EVs by 10:
- Pomeg: Lowers HP
- Kelpsy: Lowers Attack
- Qualot: Lowers Defense
- Hondew: Lowers Special Attack
- Grepa: Lowers Special Defense
- Tomato: Lowers Speed
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