Our wonderful moderator over at Mt. Moon, Kabutopzilla, has graciously written up a 5 part EV training guide for pokejungle! Here is the second article in the series, where to train your pokemon for EVs in Black and White!
So, where are the best places to EV train? It depends for each stat, and in some cases it depends on your patience level. Here are some good EV “hives” for each stat as seen in Black and White versions:
- HP: Stunfisk in the Moor of Icirrus, and that general area. Stunfisk offers 2 HP points and is the most common Pokémon in the water in that area (bring a Surf slave!). Alternatively, you can go to the Driftveil Bridge and mess with some Duckletts, however Duckletts are less common than running into an item and they only yield 1 HP EV, effectively nullifying their usefulness in comparison to Stunfisk. If you have 250 EVs in a stat and want 252 however, and you have the PokéRus, battle one Ducklett without holding any EV-boosting item.
- Attack: This one is easy. Route 1. In the immediately accessible grasses, you will only run into Lillipups and Patrats, both of which yield 1 Attack EV. This may seem like a low number, and indeed it will take forever to max out without any boosters with this method, but with a Power Bracer and the PokéRus, change that 1 into a 10, and you have a stable and easy way to hit 250 EVs (out of the recommended 252) within half an hour.
- Defense: This one is a tad trickier. You can head to Victory Road and battle Durants (2 Defense EVs) or you can head into Pinwheel Forest and kill some Sewaddles or Venipedes (both only 1 Defense EV). The problem is that both of these habitats harbor other Pokémon as well, and none of these guys’ ecological buddies share the same yield as they do. So you’ll have to do some picking around, but it can be done.
- Special Attack: This one is also incredibly easy. Litwicks, first room past the stairs in the Celestial Tower. On that particular floor, only Litwicks show their faces, making this task simple. However, as with the Attack portion of this list, they only offer 1 EV, requiring boosters if you don’t want to battle 252 Litwicks.
- Special Defense: Also pretty easy, but also just a 1 EV yielder. Frillish are the only thing that will appear in Route 18’s water, and they give 1 Special Defense EV. Again, boosters.
- Speed: Basculin. With the exception of oceanic waters, where Frillish reigns supreme, and swampy waters, where Stunfisk says hello from all angles, Basculin is the only Pokémon to appear in any given body of water, with no contenders. As long as you ONLY Surf, you should only find Basculin, sans the aforementioned exceptions. Basculin yields 2 Speed EVs, making it a pretty good hive. And they are extremely common!
With the exception of Defense, any and every stat is easy to EV train in, at least in Black and White.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s article about EV boosting items to use while training!