Welcome to a EV guide. It'll hopefully let you know exactly what an EV is and how they work!
1. What is an EV?
2. What is an EV Spread and how do EVs effect my pokemon?
3. Training itself and making it all easier
4. More complex EV spreads and a step by step example of obtaining one
5. EV reducing berries
6. EV Training Hotspots
7. A few FAQs
8. Final notes.
1. What is an EV?
An EV, or effort value (sometimes referred to as effort points or EPs) is a point naturally gained by pokemon when they gain experience. So this means through the EXP Share as well as normal fighting. This point can be in any of the pokemon's stats: HP / Def / Atk / Spe / Spa / Sdef. To train, you KO pokemon that give you the specific number of EVs that you need in your desired stat to make your pokemon much more effective in combat. Each pokemon has an overall limit of 510 EVs, with a limit of 255 EVs per stat. For every 4 EVs a pokemon gains, that means an extra stat point at level 100. Keep reading, it'll become less complicated
2. What is an EV Spread and how do EVs effect my pokemon?
The way an EV set is set out is called a spread, obviously referring to how you distribute the EVs around your stats. There is one standard set for sweepers and the like, which looks like this:
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 HP (For physical attackers)
252 Spa / 252 Spe / 6 HP (For special attackers)
That should look quite straightforward. The special attack EVs mean the pokemon will hit harder with it's attacks and the speed will make it much faster. Usually, the remaining 6 EVs are dumped into HP meaning one more hit point at level 100. I'll show you the difference between a pokemon with this EV spread, and a pokemon without this EV spread. That should show you how it works. We'll use Heracross.
I have here an Adamant Heracross. It hasn't been EV trained at all. For simplicity's sake we're assuming perfect IVs (individual values. Google them if you don't know what they are)
Heracross
Adamant
NO EVs
HP: 301 <-
Atk: 314 <-
Def: 186
Spa: 104
SpDef: 226
Spe: 206 <-
And now with the 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP EV spread that becomes...
Heracross
Adamant
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP EVs
HP: 302 <-
Atk: 383 <-
Def: 186
Spa: 104
SpDef: 226
Spe: 269 <-
Hopefully you can see that there's quite a difference. Okay, so not in HP, but attack has received a 69 point boost. From that you should be able to see the immediate benefits of EV training itself.
3. Training itself and making it all easier
It's all very well just typing this stuff in if you're using Shoddybattle, but for in game getting desired EV spreads can be tricky but rewarding. To obtain the desired
EVs, you have to obtain the 252 EVs (for example) in which ever stat you'd like by battling.
For example, Gastly gives you 1 Special Attack EV every time you kill one. So wahey, you kill 252 Gastlys and you're on your way...
Luckily it's not quite like that. The good people at Gamefreak have added several ways for you to obtain EVs much faster than 1 per kill with the help of Vitamins, Power items and Pokerus.
Vitamins:
These are the $9800 items available in Veilstone shopping centre. Each Vitamin gives a boost of 10 EVs per stat, with a maximum possibility of using 10 per stat on one pokemon. In other words, you can't use Vitamins once a pokemon has 100 EVs in the stat you are training. I'll quickly tell you what each Vitamin gives you...
HP-UP = 10 EVs in HP
Protein = 10 EVs in Atk
Iron = 10 EVs in Def
Calcium = 10 EVs in Spa
Zinc = 10 EVs in SpDef
Carbos = 10 EVs in Spe
So let's use the Adamant Heracross from earlier. Before I go out and massacre wild pokemon for sport, I want to make sure I have a boost in Attack and Speed to minimize the number of wild pokemon I have to KO. So I buy 10 Protein and 10 Carbos and feed them to my Heracross. His EV spread has gone from nil to...
100 Atk / 100 Spe
Giving you a nice base to work off. Note how you don't buy a HP-UP as that would give you 10 EVs in HP, which is not what we want for the sweeper spread. That shows you how to get started with your training.
Power Items:
After the elite 4 you gain access to the battle tower / frontier, where you earn points to be spent at the market place etc etc. Here you can buy Power items that your pokemon hold to gain more EVs. Each power item gives you 4 EVs in whatever stat the item itself specializes in, the only downside is a TEMPORARY loss of speed. For example, every time my Heracross gains an EV in ANY stat the Power Anklet he is holding will give him 4 extra EVs. So you can be gaining experience off pokemon that give you SpDef EVs and still be getting your Speed EVs, but I don't recommend doing that. This is crucial to quickly and efficiently training EVs. I'll give you a quick list of what each power item is called and what it does.
Power Weight: + 4 EVs in HP
Power Bracer: +4 EVs in Atk
Power Belt: +4 EVs in Def
Power Lens: +4 EVs in SpA
Power Band: +4 EVs in SpDef
Power Anklet: +4 EVs in Spe
They all slash your speed remember, but this wears off. It's like holding the Iron Ball. Lowers your speed, but stops when you take the item off the pokemon.
As I have said, I don't recommend EV training without the appropriate power item or it takes MUCH longer.
Pokerus
This is the virus that your pokemon can catch. There is a 1 in 21845 chance that a wild pokemon will be carrying this disease when you catch it. I've only ever received two pokemon from my own games with Pokerus. One was on silver so that doesn't count, the other was on a Mewtwo that I soft reset for on Leaf Green (It was timid and it had pokerus).
How do you know your pokemon has pokerus? Well Nurse Joy tells you when you heal your pokemon and a massive great purple PKRS sign appears on your pokemon in the summary screen. Pokerus is removed from any pokemon in your party when the clock passes over (so midnight). Pokerus stays indefinitely on any pokemon in your PC box, so it's good to have at least one pokemon in your PC box with Pokerus at any time.
To spread the virus, you must go into battles. The best way of spreading it is running from battles so as not to add any unwanted EVs to your pokemon.
What Pokerus actually does is doubles the amount of EVs you receive... Except those received via vitamins. So pokemon that would give 1 EV per kill now give 2 and power items now give you 8 EVs per KO instead of 4. This is pretty much crucial to EV training... If you don't have a pokemon with pokerus, get one. If you do have one, spread it to others and keep one in the PC. You don't want to leave your only pokemon with Pokerus in your party overnight and loose the virus forever, that'd be pretty silly.
Once a pokemon has been cured of Pokerus, it can never receive the virus again, so make the most of it (or stick it in the PC for later...).
Pokerus is quite magical when you're EV training. I'll show you why. Let's use Heracross again. I'd like to train speed with Heracross. I've given him his Carbos and he's ready to go. I use the old rod and up comes a magikarp (or you use the VS seeker on the 6 magikarp trainer... I'll do hotspots later...)
Magikarp gives 1 Speed EV per KO. Not great. At all. But with Pokerus, this becomes 2 Speed EVs per KO. Still not great... However, if I give Heracross a Power Anklet at the same time, I'm suddenly getting 10 Speed EVs per KO.
1 X 2 = 2
4 X 2 = 8
2 + 8 = 10
That's more like it.
Now, instead of KO'ing 152 Magikarp (factoring in Vitamins), I only have to KO 16. As I only want 252 EVs, not 255 (which is what KO'ing 16 with the power anklet attached will get) you should remove the power item for the last KO. So you've KO'd 15 Magikarp giving you 150 EVs on top of your original 100, you have 250 EVs there. To top it off, remove the power anklet and KO another magikarp. You'll only get 2 EVs, bringing your Speed EV total to 252. Perfect. Save.
It works like this for every stat. Here's a quick run down on how many EVs you'll get training with what combination of pokerus / power item. Point refers to the EV given by the KO. Nothing to my knowledge gives more than 3 EVs per KO.
EV Training
1 point
2 points
3 points
EV Training with Pokerus
1 point becomes 2
2 points become 4
3 points become 6
EV Training with Power Item
1 point becomes 5
2 points become 6
3 points become 7
EV Training with Power item AND Pokerus
1 point becomes 10
2 points become 12
3 points become 14
So that's a massive difference if you're training with Pokerus and the correct power item. For the sweeper set we're giving my Heracross, we'd KO 16 Magikarp as I've said, then for example chain 16 Shinx. Again making sure to remove the power item for the final KO. This leaves us with:
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 0 HP
We want those last 4 HP points so, we take out Heracross to route 212. I surf on my Manaphy and a wild quagsire appears. Heracross KO's it and I gain 4 EVs in HP (WITHOUT a power item, WITH Pokerus). This leaves me with 508 total EVs and for the effort ribbon you need 510, so I KO a wooper giving me another 2 HP EVs bringing my total to an amazing 510.
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Ta-dah. That's it. A standard sweeper spread explained, whilst the training method is simultainiously explained. Then you can fly to Sunnyshore and get your EV ribbon from the nice lady in the market. If you've made a mistake somewhere, you won't get one. Don't worry, just look back over what you've KO'd and see where you went wrong... If you still are having problems, load up the game and try again.
4. More complex EV spreads and a step by step example of obtaining one
Once you get a little more involved with the competitive battling scene you'll notice that not all EV spreads are as kind as the sweeper set. They can get much more complex as you tweak your pokemon to suit certain roles. For example, a mixed Swampert wouldn't use that sweeper set, it'd be completely wasted. So for that set you'd run something more like
240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpA
Or if you found that a swords dancing Gliscor woulds suit your squad, you'd want to run a spread like:
252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 Spe
What I will show you next, is how to create a more complex EV spread.
I hope it's all made sense so far. To clarify, I'll give an example.
I'm going to EV train a Bulky Gyarados. I've got a hatched (shiny) Adamant Gyarados, rare candy'd it up to level 50 (so it can EV train by itself without switching in and out) and made sure it has the right moves. I've then been to the battle tower / frontier (or veilstone shopping mall) and bought the appropriate vitamins. The spread I want is:
156 HP / 108 Atk / 100 Def / 144 Spe
(This actually adds up to 508, so I'll KO an extra magikarp for the effort ribbon.)
So for this, I bought 10 vitamins per stat. 10 HP UPS, 10 Protein, 10 Iron and 10 Carbos. I then fed them all to the red Gyarados leaving him with an initial EV spread of:
100 HP / 100 Atk / 100 Def / 100 Spe
Then, I infected him with Pokerus. I got my infected Blastoise out of the PC and into my party. I then went to some grass, put gyarados first and fled from random encounters until Gyarados caught the virus. I didn’t KO them to avoid unwanted EVs being gained by Gyrarados.
Onto the EV training. I'll literally just write out what I KO'd in what order and what it got me. It should really help seeing it all written down. Where it says "*STAT* Needed", that is on top of the initial vitamin value of 100.
REMEMBER TO EQUIP THE APPROPRIATE POWER ITEM.
WHEN NEEDS BE ALSO REMEMBER TO UN-EQUIP IT.
HP: Needed = 56
ROUTE 212 SURF
1 X wooper = 10 (W / PW / PKRS) (PW = Power Weight)
1 X wooper = 10 (W / PW / PKRS)
1 X quagsire = 12 (W / PW / PKRS)
1 X quagsire = 12 (W / PW / PKRS)
1 X wooper = 10 (W / PW / PKRS)
1 X wooper = 2 (W / PKRS)
10 + 10 + 12 + 12 + 10 + 2 = 56
ATT: Needed = 8
ROUTE 212 GRASS
1 X Bibarel = 4 (W / PKRS)
1 X Kriketune = 4 (W / PKRS)
4 + 4 = 8
DEF: Needed = 0 (Vitamins got me to the right value instantly)
SPE: Needed = 44
ROUTE 205 OLD ROD FISH
1 X magikarp = 2 (W / PKRS)
1 X magikarp = 2 (W / PKRS)
1 X magikarp = 10 (W / PA / PKRS) (PA = Power Anklet)
1 X magikarp = 10 (W / PA / PKRS)
1 X magikarp = 10 (W / PA / PKRS)
1 X magikarp = 10 (W / PA / PKRS)
1 X magikarp = 2 (final to boost EV total to 510)
2 + 2 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 (+2 for the final boost) = 46
Just a note, that 46 doesn't increase the stat total more than 44 at 100 as you only gain a stat point every 4 EVs. This extra 2 do nothing.
I then took the red gyarados to the nice lady in the market, who gave it an effort ribbon.
So hopefully you can see that EV training more complex spreads just require more discipline and keeping count than anything more.
5. EV reducing berries
That's all I really need to say about training and EV spreads. Now I'll talk a little about EV reducing berries.
These are berries that reduce EVs in a certain stat. For example, let's say I actually hate having 252 Speed on my Heracross and I want 252 HP instead (never do this by the way. It's just an example) I can feed Heracross enough berries to set his Speed EVs to 0. These berries lower EVs by 10. If the EV is over 100, it is reset to 100. Any berry after this reduces the EV in question by 10. Before I continue, I will give you a list of the names of the berries and what they do.
Pomeg Berry - Reduces HP EV
Kelpsy Berry - Reduces Atk EV
Qualot Berry - Reduces Def EV
Hondew Berry- Reduces Spa EV
Grepa Berry - Reduces SpDef EV
Tamato Berry - Reduces Spe EV
So if I wanted to reset Heracross' 252 Speed EVs to 0 Speed EVs, I would give it 11 berries. The first berry would reset the 252 EVs to 100 EVs. The next 10 would reduce the value by 10 each time until Heracross has no EVs in speed left, then the game says the stat can't fall any lower. You get these berries later on in the game.
GROW MORE WHEN YOU GET THEM DO NOT USE YOUR ONLY BERRIES... Only because it can be annoying obtaining more.
6. EV training hotspots.
There are plenty of guides with massive lists of where to EV train in what stat. I'll list the ones I use and the ones I use only. If you're interested on which pokemon give which EVs when you KO them, look it up on the Serebii.net DPPt pokedex.
HP:
I honestly just use wild wooper / quagsire. You go to route 212 and surf. You get to the pond fastest by going south from Hearthome. It's past the mansion, in the rainy section. Quagsire give 2 EVs / KO and Wooper give 1 EV / KO. With power items and pokerus that's 16 wooper, the last one without a power item. Or it's 14 Wooper and a Quagsire. It goes on. You'll usually find yourself here just to get those final 6 HP EVs anyway.
Attack:
For attack either I chain Shinx in the earlier routes. They give 1 EV / KO so it's easy to keep track of.
Or I fish for Gyarados / Seaking with a super rod. They each give 2 Atk EVs / KO. You have to use a super rod. I use the pond in the resort area.
Or I use the VS seeker. On Route 203, Youngster Dallas is the second trainer you'll see if you're coming from Jubilife. He eventually builds up a squad of Luxray, Bibarel, Golem
and Staraptor, each level 50. I'd only recommend him if you're not training via EXP share and if you're training a high level pokemon. Golem is a massive problem if you're using
an EXP share as he gives 3 defense EVs. Switch out for Golem and you'll be getting 8 EVs per time you battle him.
Luxray = 3 (14 with power item / pokerus)
Staraptor = 3 (14 " "
Bibarel = 2 (12 " "
Resulting in 40 Attack EVs per battle.
Defense:
I use Hiker Kevin. He is standing on raised terrain on Route 207. He uses three Geodude and an Onix. This gives you a total of 4 EVs. With power items and pokerus that's raised to 42 defense EVs per battle. I don't bother with wild pokemon for defense. I don't usually EV train defense terribly high anyway. I did with my vaporeon though.
Special Attack:
On the wild side of things there's Gastly, Golduck and Psyduck. Gastly gives 1 SPA EV Per KO (10 with PI + PKRS), Psyduck gives the same and Golduck gives 2 SPA EVs / KO (or 12). Gastly is of course found in the haunted mansion and is my preferred method. I kill 15, remove the power item then kill 1 more. Golduck is found in the resort area pond by surfing. Psyduck is found like everywhere by surfing. He also pops up in the resort area pond, so you can get them there too. The resort area Pokemon range from 30-55 I think. Gastly gets to around level 17 in the mansion. (Haunter and Gengar are also good, giving 2 and 3 EVs respectively. They appear with a GBA game in the slot). I don’t VS seeker train Spa. I usually use Gastly
Special Defense:
For SpDef I use Beauty Devon. She's on route 214, south from Veilstone City. She's the trainer past the man that's walking up and down repeatedly. She has three wormadams which add together for a cool 6 SpDef EVs. 36 SpDef EVs if you're using the appropriate item and pokerus.
Speed:
There is only one place in the game to train speed in my eyes; the 6 magikarp trainer. With power anklet and pokerus he gives an awesome 60 Speed EVs per battle. I recommend battling him twice then fishing the rest so that you can remove the power item for the last KO. But it's up to you. If you don't mind having 255 speed just fight him 3 times.
You'll soon memorize these little spots. I think these are the best places in the game to go, but you may find others or other guides may suggest better spots.
7. A few FAQs
Here I'll pull a few questions that are asked quite a lot around the forums. Hopefully it'll clean a few things up.
1. Does the exp. share effect EVs?
A pokemon holding the EXP share will ALWAYS gain EVs. The rule is, if it gains experience it gains EVs. For example, if I am training an Electabuzz in attack and in my party I have a
Gallade holding an EXP share, Gallade will receive the EVs from the KO. If Gallade has pokerus, he'll get double. Gallade will NOT receive any bonus EVs from the Power Items.
2. If I'm KO'ing X with Y and... Maths is confusing me.
Check the table I wrote up earlier. It says how many EVs you'll receive under each condition. Nothing gives 4 EVs per KO so the table will help you.
3. Where can I find the X reducing EV berries?
They're around late game, plated over the final island. If you've already used them all up, the Berry Master hands out berries daily and there's a chance he'll give an EV reducing
berry to you. The berry master is West of Hearthome. You literally leave the city to the west, walk north and his house is right there. He gives out rare berries daily.
4. I EV trained my pokemon and nothing happened to it's stats! What did I do wrong?
Nothing. This is because it didn't level up during training. Level it up when you're done and you'll get some nice high double figure boosts to your stats.
5. How long does EV Training take?
It depends. If you know what you're doing, you're using power items and pokerus it takes around 15 minutes. If you don't use power items or pokerus it can take a LOT longer. If
you're following a guide step by step don't expect to get it done terribly quickly. As I said, once you're good at it and know where to go, it takes around 15 minutes.
6. What EV spread should I use for my *Insert pokemon here*?
The answer to this is "well what do you want to use it for?". The best place is to check up on a competitive battling website about the best EV spreads for pokemon. A certain website
springs to mind that starts with "Smo".
7. EVs don't go away when a pokemon evolves do they?
Nope.
8. If I catch a pokemon do I gain EVs from it?
You didn't gain any experience so no, you don't,
9. Do I gain EVs from trainer battles?
Yes you do. You can train with a VS seeker the same way you would with wild pokemon, just make sure you keep a note of how many EVs you're acquiring.
10. I raised my pokemon to level 100 after EV training but the stats aren't what this website said they should be. What's wrong with my pokemon?
That'll be your IVs. You'll be between 1 and 31 points off the maximum stat obtainable. To get high IVs you'll have to learn about IV breeding, which I'm sure is covered somewhere on the internet.
11. Do I gain EVs from wild pokemon battles?
Yes. Yes you do.
12. A guide says a trainer has a certain squad for EV training but he doesn't have that squad! What's up with that?
That just means you need to use the VS seeker on him or her more. Keep using it and eventually he'll have the squad you want. Don't EV train off squads that aren't what you want tho.
13. Can I still use EV reducing berries after I get my effort ribbon?
Yes, you can. The ribbon effects nothing but the little picture.
8. Final notes.
Well that's it. You should now be pretty clued up on how to EV train. A few things to remember:
1. Vitamins. Always start with them. They're expensive to buy, so rack up some wins at the battle tower / frontier to buy them at 1 BP each.
2. Always use power items. Never forget to switch power items when training, or to take it off to obtain those final couple of points.
3. Get pokerus. Just get it. Ask someone online to trade you an infected pokemon.
And that's all. I hope I've been helpful on the subject. I know there are a fair few guides out there, but I hope you still find the step by step examples and pokerus / power item maths helpful.
If you feel I've missed anything, post it up here. I think this guide covers a fair amount, but I may have missed something so just post it up.
Thanks and good luck!
THIS EV TRAINING GUIDE IS FROM GAMESPOT/GAMEFAQS IN THE POKEMON PLATINUM
