The secret to training powerful Pokémon in scarlet and purple

For most players, Pokemon Gaming is a straightforward affair of attacking enemies’ weak spots and scoring that one nice shot. But Pokemon It can get incredibly overwhelming once you start playing competitively. What is IV? What is an electric car, if not a cute brown fox that can evolve into a group of other, more colorful and elaborate foxes?

In fact, they refer to the hidden numbers and back math that competitive players like to tweak and tinker with to create the most powerful versions of their favorite mons. EV and IV stand for voltage values ​​and odd values. These hidden numbers determine the final state of your six Pokémon’s stats, and understanding how they work and how to influence them can give you the upper hand in competitive combat. Let’s take a closer look.

Not Evie… EV!

Manipulating Voltage values ​​is quite an investment of time, as it depends entirely on what you expose your Pokémon to while you’re breeding them. Each Pokémon has up to a total of 510 EV points to distribute among all six stats, but each instance can only have 252 EVs individually.

You can level up EVs using items like vitamins and feathers, which boost each specific stat. Vitamins are most effective right away, as each will raise an individual stat by 10 EVs. Before Pokemon Sword And the shieldVitamins were only effective until the first 100 EVs of a Pokémon, but now, these items will increase an individual’s stat to a maximum of 252. Feathers aren’t that strong, only raising the EV by 1 point. Pretty simple so far, but affecting Pokémon’s EVs as they train in battle takes a little more planning.

Each Pokémon you fight grants specific EV boosts when you defeat them, often reflecting their base stats. The amount of EVs you’ll get for each stat depends on how strong the Pokémon you’re fighting are. For example, if your Pokémon beats Pichu, it will add 1 EV point to your creature’s speed stat. However, if you are fighting a fully evolved Raichu, it will give you three Speed ​​EV points. If you feel you have to, you can beat a group of unsuspecting Pichu to raise your Pokémon’s Speed ​​EVs, but you’ll hit your stat limit of 252 faster if you’re fighting more powerful Pokémon.

However, some Pokémon don’t empty all of their EVs in one go like Raichu does. Take Butterfree, for example. Its three vehicles are divided into special attack and special defense. So while there are better Pokemon to fight for any of the individual stats, defeating a Pokemon that earns you a spread of EVs is a way to raise multiple EVs at once. It’s just a matter of your stat-increasing goals and how you want to spend your time.

One thing that is notable about electric vehicles is that they are modern Pokemon Games allow an entire party to gain experience after battles, and the EVs earned are shared through your party as they gain experience, even if they are not in the field. So be aware of what you are training for and what Pokémon are waiting in the wings to join the fight, as their vehicles will be affected by these battles even if you are not using them directly.

Grinding an EV can take some time, but you can speed up the process of raising certain EV stats by equipping your Pokémon with power items tied to certain stats, such as a Power Anklet that increases EVs speed, or a Power Belt that increases EVs defense. All of these items can be purchased at Delibird Presents stores for $10,000 each.

“The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant.”

The odd values, known as IV, are a bit more complicated. IVs are basically the Pokémon’s genes, as they are stat boosters inherent to your specific Pokémon, which range from zero points to 31 points. once immutable, Pokemon The series has implemented various avenues to influence them over the years.

Imagine you have two Level 100 Raichus, one with 31 IV Speed ​​and the other with Zero. Even if you train these two rycos in exactly the same way and nurture the same EV build, one born with 31 Speed ​​IVs will have a speed rating 31 points higher than the other. A lot of competitive players will breed Pokémon to try and reach optimal IVs, as parent Pokémon pass on higher IVs based on their offspring.

in modern games, Pokemon Granting players the ability to “quick train” to increase their pay for bottle caps. This can be done in locations such as Montenevera’s carmine And the Violet By talking to a trainer standing near the city’s Pokémon Center. Bottle caps may be difficult to obtain. You can buy them at Delibird Presents stores around Paldea, but they are very expensive at $20,000 per cap. You can also win them in higher level terra raids, but often it’s just a random drop. So while it may feel more urgent to be able to use Hyper Training, getting those bottle caps can take time, which is why some players choose to make the most of Ditto’s IVs and use them to generate better versions of whatever Pokémon they try. upload.

“Just tell them it’s the nature of the Pokémon.”

But no matter what Pokémon’s EVs and IVs are, some additional factors will determine whether or not they are inherently effective on some builds compared to others.

Each Pokemon has a set of basic stats inherent to the species that grow as you breed your creature, and the direction of those numbers will be determined by how EVs and IVs appear. Raichu’s basic stats put him as a special fast, attack-driven Pokémon. Her base speed is 110, and her special attack stat is 95 which beats her basic physical attack, which is 85.

This helps you decide which attacks are probably more effective to learn. Her physical attack number is still respectable, but at a glance, Raichu is supposed to be primarily a special attacker. Understanding EVs and motors can help you change those metrics, or at least make up for some of their shortcomings. Raichu’s physical defense base is much lower than the rest, only going down to 50, so if you want to help make up for that, leveling up your IV through Hyper Training or fighting Pokémon that naturally raise EVs of physical defense can help her. Increase physical defense force. a little. But those basic stats can be affected by another factor that can play a role in how your EVs are divided up: nature.

Besides the global base stats as a species, every Pokemon you encounter will also come with a nature. These appear in the status summary screens as a way to give you a sense of your Pokémon’s personality, but they also mark one status increase and one low stat. As such, some players will breed multiple versions of a Pokémon in an effort to get the one with the most desirable nature and base distribution for the build they want.

There are a total of 25 natures in Pokemon Games now, and the stats that increase and decrease are as follows, courtesy of My secret:

Hardy: No change
Lone: Attack / Defense
Brave: Attack / Speed
Adamant: Attack / Special Attack
Brat: Special attack/defense
Bold: defense / attack
Docile: no change
Relaxed: defense / speed
Impish: defense/speed
Indolence: Defense / Special Defense
Shy: Speed/Attack
Hasty: Speed ​​/ Defense
Jad: No change
Jolly: Speed/Special Attack
Dumb: Speed/Special Defense
Modest: Attack / Special Attack
Moderate: Special attack/defense
Calm: Special Attack/Speed
Shy: no change
Rash: Special Attack / Special Defense
Cooldown: Special Defense / Offense
Nice: Special Defense/Defense
Shameless: Special Defense/Speed
Caution: Special Defense / Special Attack
Quirky: no change

While nature itself is immutable, sword And the shield Introduced Mints, a new set of items that can change the distribution of stats associated with them. For example, Modest Mint will increase the Pokémon’s Special Attack, but decrease the Attack status as if the Pokémon’s Nature has changed. This won’t change the actual character they’re talking about in their synopsis (that would be brainwashing), but it will allow you to tweak their stats for any competitive schemes you might have in mind.

Different bokeh for different people

All of these moving parts can be a lot to keep track of, and those mechanics are really there for the more competitive patients. It can be worthwhile to get Pokemon in the competitive state you want and see them excel in battles, but it’s also a great investment of time to get your team’s numbers accurately. But if you are interested in the world of competition PokemonUnderstanding EVs and RFs is a good gauge for whether or not this aspect of the landscape is right for you. And if not, you can still do cool terra raids with your friends, like running Charizard one happens to be in carmine And the Violet Immediately.