EVs, or ‘ Effort Values ’, are something you can absolutely mediate and are crucial to ensuring your Pokémon reaches its maximum potential.

That said, they can be slightly confusing to understand, so strap in and we’ll do our best to work them out together.

EVs in Detail¶

If IVs represent a Pokémon’s natural talent, then EVs represent learned skills. EVs are another invisible statistic that contribute to the individual growth of any Pokémon, with the EVs your Pokémon gains being directly relevant to their training.

How so? Every Pokémon you meet in combat has a certain EV stat and value that they dispense upon being defeated in battle, like an invisible form of XP. Say you trounce a Wingull, he gives out 1 Speed EV. In addition to this, from X/Y onwards, Pokémon can directly earn EVs through Super Training .

For every 4 Speed EVs your Pokémon has earned, they will earn one additional point in their Speed statistic by the time they hit lvl 100. In fact, you can still train, tweak, alter and gain EVs at lvl 100 - you’ll see the benefits in your stat screen after a battle.

There are restrictions however, in case you grind for EVs forever:

• A Pokémon can only earn a total of 510 EVs (a total of 127 extra stat points altogether at Level 100).
• The amount of EV’s a Pokémon can earn in a specific stat is capped at 255 (a total of 63 extra stat points in one stat at Level 100).

With the maths out of the way, decide what you want to train in (for example, boosting a Shuckle’s two defense stats can turn it into an iron wall) and then get building those EVs!

To find out when your EVs have reached their maximum value, you can check the Super Training app. The meter on the right shows you the total EVs you’ve gained; you can also attempt to use a training bag (such as an Attack one) to see if a particular stat is maxed.

Speeding up EV Growth¶

Potentially, it can take a long time to “EV train” your Pokémon. For instance, to get 255 Speed EVs requires KOing 255 Wingulls… Thankfully there are numerous ways to make the effort of gaining EVs all the simpler.

You can use vitamins to instantly add 10 Evs to one stat. You can do this up to ten times, for 100 EVs, meaning you only actually have to train the remaining 155 points. HP Up = HP. Protein = Attack. Iron = Defense. Calcium = Sp. Attack. Zinc = Sp. Defense. Carbos = Speed.

Wings , found on bridges, can be used to increase a Pokémon’s EV stats and have no limit, though they only add one point at a time. Health = HP. Muscle = Attack. Resist = Defense. Genius = Sp. Attack. Clever = Sp.Defense. Swift = Speed.

If the Macho Brace is held by a Pokémon, they will earn double the EVs after the fight, at the cost of temporarily halving their Speed, reducing the number of fights by a healthy half!

There are similar items that temporarily reduce Speed and promote individual EV gain too.

Pokérus boosts EV gain further, doubling any sort of battle gain should your ’mon be afflicted with the ‘disease’. Beating a Wingull while wearing the Power Anklet and infected with Pokérus will turn 1 Speed EV into 10. Make use of Pokérus if you have it!

Furthemore, Exp. Share not only shares experience, but also EVs too. Unlike the sharing of experience, the shared EVs are not reduced in any way either.

Last but not least, Horde Battles can greatly speed up EV training too. If you can find a Wingull horde, that’s five Wingulls in one battle for 5 Speed EVs. Then combine with Exp. Share, Pokérus, a Macho Brace on the lead Pokémon and a Power item on other Pokémon to really rake in the EVs!

Argh! I messed up!¶

It can be mildly irritating when you EV train for ages, only to slip up or mess up your calculations and get an incorrect EV spread. Fortunately, there are ways to correct your mistakes, so don’t throw your game against the wall just yet…

Certain berries have the effect of reducing EVs, while also boosting your Pokémon’s Happiness. These can be found from berry plots or by playing minigames on the Pokémon Global Link website.

If the berries aren’t enough, you can try your luck in the Super Training app (check the Training Bags section towards the end of the guide) and pray you find a Reset Bag , which completely clears your Pokémon’s EVs.