B&W EV Training – Pt.1: Introduction

Our wonderful moderator over at Mt. Moon, Kabutopzilla, has graciously written up a 5 part EV training guide for pokejungle! Today will be the first one, a simple introduction to EV training.  Let the lecture begin!

EV training is often notorious for confusing many players whom do not stray terribly far into the competitive metagame of Pokémon. People often do not take the time to understand it because it is pretty confusing at first glance. I don’t blame anyone for thinking in such a way, because even I had troubles with it. I just disregarded it the whole time I’d play, ignoring the possibilities. When I actually started, however, an enormous improvement in my Pokémon was apparent. Hopefully this guide will assist players in learning just how the EV system works.

Why should you EV train? Because, as someone on Mount Moon Community stated once, “If you don’t EV train, you won’t win against anybody who does.” Although that’s not inherently true, the feat is painstakingly difficult, so why not jump onto the wagon? After all, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

First off, EV stands for Effort Value. Just thought I should get that out there. Each Pokémon can have 510 EVs total, with up to 255 in any single stat. Therefore, you could have 255 EVs in two stats and have them maxed out, meaning no more EVs can be distributed by that point. I’ll get more into distribution later. EVs are calculated in numbers divisible by 4. This means that for every 4 EVs you gain in a given stat, you get 1 more stat point added to that stat that you would otherwise have not had by the time you reached level 100.

Gaining EVs is the easiest part of the whole process: just battle. If you manage to defeat a Pokémon in-game, be it wild or in the hands of an in-game trainer, you gain whatever EVs that particular Pokémon gives. The kind of EVs you receive from specific Pokémon depend on what EVs that particular species offers. For instance, Graveler offers 2 Defense EVs, meaning every Graveler you defeat will give 2 Defense EVs to any Pokémon of yours that participated (including those holding an Exp. Share) in the particular battle with that Graveler. Therefore, assuming you use no boosters (will get to that later), every two Gravelers you defeat will effectively add 1 tangible Defense stat point, which will be evident by the time you reach level 100.

The maximum EVs any Pokémon can yield is 3. Pokémon that which yield 3 EVs are always either legendary or the third evolution of a particular evolution line. The minimum is 1. These EVs can go to any of the six stats, and all 3 can be devoted to one particular stat or up to three stats. Some Pokémon yield 1 EV in three separate stats, adding to a total of 3.

So how do you keep track of all the EVs you’ve distributed to your Pokémon? To be quite honest, the only real way (without using an Action Replay) is to monitor and regulate the Pokémon you battle. As you progress through the game the first time or when starting anew, tracking EVs becomes a huge issue due to limited resources to exploit and the need to just grind, grind, grind. So, I highly suggest that, unless you have some elaborate and ingenious plan to successfully EV train your Pokés early on, don’t worry about EVs until after you have beaten the game, or at least until you’re really late in the game. I know this wrecks your playthrough team, but Nintendo makes the storyline of each game relatively easy, so don’t fret over it. Plus, there is a legitimate way to get rid of all EVs on your Pokémon and begin anew with EV training it; I’ll get to that later.

When you do have the resources available to EV train in a practical manner, I suggest keeping track by utilizing PP. Yes, PP. If you got the idea of what particular EVs you are receiving and how many thereof, start using PP to measure how many EVs you have so far. This method is only advisable if you can assure an OHKO with this move (probably delivered by a “mentor” Pokémon).

—Tomorrow’s article will focus on where to EV train your pokemon to get the maximum boosts in the stats you want to train for.

ps- Although the drop down menus are gone, clicking the links up top will bring you to the main page which now links to all of the pages which were previously in drop-downs.  Enjoy 🙂