Reun's EV Training Guide

[Reuniclus]

EV Training
~By Reuniclus

Definitions you need to know before reading:

EV: An abbreviation for “Effort Value”. Effort values are the hidden values your Pokemon receive after defeating a Pokemon in battle and gaining EXP. EVs can be manipulated, meaning that they can be invested and also taken away.

IV: An abbreviation for “Individual Value”. Individual values are another kind of hidden values that your Pokemon have. Unlike EVs, however, IVs cannot be manipulated, meaning that they cannot be added to or taken away; the Pokemon is stuck with those specific values forever.

***You must be familiar with these terms before reading on***

EV Lesson 1: EVs are categorized into the 6 stats that they could affect: HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack and Special Defense. Effort Values are like…extra experience points that are hidden. Every time you defeat a wild Pokemon or a trainer Pokemon (wild Pokemon are preferable for EV training), it will increase your Pokemon’s EVs by the amount of EVs that the defeated Pokemon offers.

Here is an example: Defeating a wild Patrat will increase your Pokemon’s Attack EVs by one since the Patrat gives away 1 Attack EV each time it is defeated. For every 4 EVs the Pokemon earns, the stat value of the Pokemon will increase by one, usually.

EV Lesson 2: Every single Pokemon can gain EVs, but there is a limit to how many EVs can be invested into a single Pokemon, as well as into a single stat. Overall, a Pokemon can invest in no more than 510 EVs total. Out of those 510 EVs, only 255 of those EVs can be invested into a single stat. It is impossible to invest more than 255 EVs into a single stat such as HP, Attack, Defense, etc. (Sometimes you will only need 252 EVs to max out a single stat and it is preferable, but we’ll get into this later)

An example of the EV numbering system is this: A special sweeper such as a Gengar would normally have high Special Attack and Speed. Therefore, 255 or 252 EVs will be invested into its Special Attack stat and the other 255/252 EVs will be put into its Speed stat.

Now here comes me explaining the 252 EVs vs. 255 EVs part. You only need 252-255 EVs to max out a stat. However, there are slight benefits for investing 252 EVs into a stat instead of 255 EVs. Remember before how I said every 4 EVs increases a certain stat by 1? If you invest 252 EVs into a certain stat like Attack and another 252 into a different stat such as Speed, you’ve invested 504 EVs out of the 510 available. The last 6 EVs available can be invested into another different stat, increasing the stat by 1 (Technically you only need to invest 4 EVs instead of 6 to increase it by 1). No more EVs can be invested after 510 EVs have been reached.

EV Lesson 3: (organizing and manipulating EVs): There are multiple ways to organize EVs; the most common way is to invest 252 into one stat, 252 into another stat, and 4 into the last one. However, you can manipulate your Pokemon’s EV spread differently; your Pokemon don’t always need to have 252 invested into a single stat. Other times, you will invest 128 EVs into one stat and 128 into another as opposed to the traditional 252 EVs. On common sets of Pokemon you will normally see its EV spread laid out in the Pokemon’s set. Here is an example with the different EV amounts:

Scrafty @ Lum Berry <- The item the Pokemon is holding
Jolly <- The nature of the Pokemon
252 Spd / 128 Atk / 128 HP <- The Pokemon’s EV spread
Moxie <-The Pokemon’s ability
-Drain Punch <- The Pokemon’s moveset
-Dragon Dance
-Crunch
-Ice Punch

In this case, Scrafty has 252 EVs in Speed, 128 EVs in Attack, and 128 EVs in HP. This allows Scrafty to become a sort of tank. Most Pokemon that are considered to be “tanks” will have this sort of EV spread.

EV Lesson 4: You may be thinking to yourself about how tedious EV training can be. However, there’s a way to speed up the process of EV training. This list will provide ways of how you can increase and speed up the process of EV training.

Vitamins- Vitamins are quite important for speeding up the process, but buying them can be pricy. What vitamins do basically is give the Pokemon 10 EVs for 1 specific stat. However, a Pokemon can only ingest 10 stat-specific vitamins; the rest of the EVs must be gained by training. Vitamins will also not work when the Pokemon already has over 100 EVs for one specific stat. This will allow the Pokemon to obtain 100 EVs easily by ingesting 10 vitamins for a specific stat without even beginning the process of EV training. Here is a list of vitamins that can be used.

Protein- Gives 10 Attack EVs to your Pokemon
HP Up- Gives 10 HP EVs to your Pokemon
Iron- Gives 10 Defense EVs to your Pokemon
Calcium- Gives 10 Special Attack EVs to your Pokemon
Zinc- Gives 10 Special Defense EVs to your Pokemon
Carbos- Gives 10 Speed EVs to your Pokemon

Vitamins help speed up the process of EV training. Here is an example: If you want to train a Zoroark to have a lot of Special Attack and Speed, you would feed it 10 Calciums and 10 Carbos. This will allow it to start off with 100 EVs in Special Attack and 100 EVs in Speed.

Wings- These items are exclusive to Black and White only and are found on all 4 bridges. Wings have the same purpose as vitamins in which they increase the Pokemon’s EV count, but they are not as effective as vitamins. Wings increase the EVs of a certain stat by 1 EV, while vitamins increase the EVs of a certain stat by 10; therefore, 10 Wings = 1 vitamin in terms of the amount of EVs they offer. Unlike vitamins, Wings can be used when a Pokemon’s certain stat exceeds 100 EVs.

EV Lesson 5: Sometimes you'll end up accidentally investing EVs into the wrong stat while you train. EVs that are accidentally gained into the wrong stat cannot be gotten rid of naturally. However, there is a way to solve this issue. You will be able to take away EVs by using EV-reducing berries or the Barber Shop in BW2. Each EV-reducing berry will take away 10 EVs from a certain stat. The Barber shop in BW2 is used for the same exact reason. For those who don't know, EV reducing berries can be bought from the Pokemon Breeder in Route 5 in BW2 only. It is much easier to reduce EVs in BW2 than in BW. If you're playing BW, then the only place to really get EV-reducing berries is from the Dream World.

EV Training Hotspots

For Pokemon Black and White:
HP: Liberty Tower- Victini (Can be rebattled after exiting the room) ~ 3 HP EVs each
Or Icirrus City [Surf]- Stunfisk (100% encounter rate) ~ 2 HP EVs each
Attack: Route 1- Patrat and Lillipup (100% encounter rate altogether) ~ 1 Atk EV each
Defense: Relic Castle- Yamask (50% encounter rate) ~ 1 Def EV each *Avoid defeating the Sandile, they give Attack EVs, not Defense EVs*
Or Pinwheel Forest- Sewaddle and Venipede (60% encounter rate) ~ 1 Def EV each *Avoid defeating the Petilil/Cottonee and Pidove*
Special Attack: Celestial Tower- Litwick and Elgyem (100% encounter rate altogether) ~ 1 SpAtk EV each
Special Defense: Driftveil City [Surf]- Frillish (100% encounter rate) ~ 1 SpDef EV each
Speed: Route 6 [Surf]- Basculin (100% encounter rate) ~ 2 Spe EVs each
Or Route 1 [Surf]- Basculin (100% encounter rate) ~ 2 Spe EVs each [The Basculin here are easier to defeat than the ones on Route 6]

For Pokemon Black 2 and White 2:
HP: Castelia Sewers [Surf]- Grimer (100% encounter rate) ~ 1 HP EV each
OR Icirrus City [Surf]- Stunfisk (100% encounter rate) ~ 2 HP EVs each
Attack: Victory Road 1F- Banette and Golurk (100% encounter rate altogether) ~ 2 Atk EVs each *Note: EV training off of these Pokemon can be tough as their levels are in the 50s*
Defense: Relic Castle- Yamask and Sandshrew (60% encounter rate altogether) ~ 1 Def EV each *Avoid defeating the Sandile, they give Attack EVs, not Defense EVs*
Special Attack: Celestial Tower (1st floor)- Litwick (100% encounter rate) ~ 1 SpAtk EV each
Special Defense: Virbank City [Surf]- Frillish (100% encounter rate) ~ 1 SpDef EV each
Speed: Route 19 [Surf]- Basculin (100% encounter rate) ~ 2 Spe EVs each

A section for IVs will be made later along with the breeding section. If anyone has questions about the guide or comments, feel free to post them below.

[Cat333Pokémon]

Another good place to hunt for HP EVs is Icirrus City, while surfing on the water. Stunfisk gives +2 each.

A recommendation is to state how many EVs each gives, like Banette and Golurk each give 2 Attack EVs.

[Reuniclus]

Originally Posted by Cat333Pokémon

Another good place to hunt for HP EVs is Icirrus City, while surfing on the water. Stunfisk gives +2 each.

A recommendation is to state how many EVs each gives, like Banette and Golurk each give 2 Attack EVs.

I updated the guide to include these details. The amount of EVs each Pokemon gives in the list is underlined.

[TurtwigX]

For Black and White, Route 1 is much better than Route 2 for Attack. It has ONLY Patrat and Lillipup, and no Purrloin. Route 1 Surfing also has Basculin, which I believe are at the lowest level. And for Defense there's also Pinwheel Forest which has Sewaddle and Venipede for a combined 60% Defense chance, both with 1 EV.
You also might want to add Pokerus in there in Lesson 4. It does cut the training by HALF.
And this is just a grammar thing to me, but you made it sound like the wings are only in Black and White but not in BW2.

[Reuniclus]

Originally Posted by TurtwigX

For Black and White, Route 1 is much better than Route 2 for Attack. It has ONLY Patrat and Lillipup, and no Purrloin. Route 1 Surfing also has Basculin, which I believe are at the lowest level. And for Defense there's also Pinwheel Forest which has Sewaddle and Venipede for a combined 60% Defense chance, both with 1 EV.
You also might want to add Pokerus in there in Lesson 4. It does cut the training by HALF.
And this is just a grammar thing to me, but you made it sound like the wings are only in Black and White but not in BW2.

Thanks for bringing that up, the guide has been updated again. Any suggestions that will make this guide easier to follow will be encouraged.

[JDxImpetus]

Dwebbles at the Desert Resort give off 1 Def EV

[Reuniclus]

Originally Posted by JDxImpetus

Dwebbles at the Desert Resort give off 1 Def EV

Dwebbles only have a 10% encounter rate in the Desert Resort. Training for Defense here would be a waste of time. It's much more recommended to train in the Relic Castle.

[ThePokeMan]

Originally Posted by Reuniclus

Dwebbles only have a 10% encounter rate in the Desert Resort. Training for Defense here would be a waste of time. It's much more recommended to train in the Relic Castle.

Speaking of Desert Resort, I usually go to B2F there for my BW EV training. There's a 50/50 encounter rate there; Krokorok (2 Attack EVs) and Cofagrigus (2 Defense EVs). It always helps when I can take out 2 birds with 1 stone at the Desert Resort.

(BTW, you might wanna include the fact that all participating Pokémon in a battle will recieve the EVs from a defeated Pokémon, not just the one that KO'd it.)