Why are natures, EV's and IV's so important?!

thats a retorical question. i know that natures depend on how they grow in levels faster and EV's and IV's make them stronger. but does it really even matter? let me explain.

training with pokemon is all about friendship and strategies. it doesnt even matter about natures. you level it up the way you want to. EXP share, grinding, always first in battle and always healing it until you can't. i don't get why it matters.

EV's and IV's shouldnt matter. it doesnt matter about strength (in some cases yes but thats not the point). if you make them too strong, no one will want to battle you and then you will get bored with nothing to do and get bored with training and training. its about strategies. if you make up a good enough strategy, then you can beat a level 100 mewtwo with all level 85 geodudes. (its just an example dont take it to heart lol).

it just makes me mad because half of the trades i want to do end up failing because my pokemon apparently dont have a good enough nature or good EV's and IV's. i dont even understand how to check them or raise them. and i dont want any explanation because i dont have any interest in natures, EV's and IV's. Abilities, good move sets, and a good strategy are my ways to succeed.

I just dont understand why these are so important when all you need are good moves and a good strategy to win.


NO HATE PLEASE!!!!

From a non-competitive aspect, all these things are what make your Pokemon different. You hatch 100 Geodude eggs? They all look the same, but they're not. They all have their own natures and IVs, which is, I think, how it should be. You mention that being a trainer is more personal than stats, and I agree, which is why the system makes sense the way it is now.

Competitively, if you want to be the best trainer, it's going to take more than just strategy to win. You're going to have to put in effort to select and raise your Pokemon. That's not to say that non-perfect Pokemon have no shot at winning, it's just that there's a certain potential that Pokemon can reach, that not all do reach, but if they do gives them an advantage.

Since this is more about the games than it is Pokemon overall, I'll move this over to Pokemon Gaming Central for you.

For a number of people- especially those you see online, aren't just casual Pokemon fans, and are more interested in things like EVs/IVs and Natures, in order to battle competitively. Personally, I don't care about any of these things, since I only play Pokemon on my own, and have no desire to battle and raise competitive Pokemon. That being said, I've got no idea what half of the natures or anything do, so I'd be at a disadvantage to begin with if I tried.

But much like Flushed said, 100 Pokemon that look the same at a first glance really aren't, and some will be better than others (much like real animals themselves). I've got nothing against those who only use the best out of those 100 options, but I'm happy with whatever Pokemon I use.

MOVED.

From the perspective of a non-competitive fan, they make each Pokemon individual.

However, hardcore Pokemon fans go through a few thousand Pokemon to try and get the perfect Pokemon for their teams, with 31 IVs and the best nature. Then they have to find the right moves and EV train them. To them, those Pokemon who are significantly better than others are the right ones to use in competitive battling and will be able to sweep anything. They're important to the competitive battlers.

Also I'm think you might have the information about natures wrong. Natures don't determine how a Pokemon levels up. They increase one stat but decreases another (with the exception of 5 that don't do anything).

I personally don't care about IVs or whatever. I can be picky about genders but other than that I just use whatever Pokemon I get first try. Of course I'm not against those who do go through tons of Pokemon to find those perfect 6. They can choose how they like to battle. I'm just battling for the fun of it.

Takes too much time to care and make a team. Might as well go to PO or Showdown if one wants to play competitively. Otherwise just play the games for fun.

In my eyes, pokemon should be treated as friends throughout the game, just pick any you wish and make them battle the way that is most suited for them, their moveset, nature, EV and IV's.
For competitive, it IS needed to get a good team with the correct IV's and EV's, but only to the point that it's neccesary, more isn't really required other then to suit your own battle style (say defensive, then only IV's and EV's for defence and Sp. Defence for example). Getting all IV's by breeding a few dozen pokemon and then at the right nature as well will take too much to be worth it, so i'd say people should have two seperate teams, one as his own personal team, and one in the battle box as his competitive team, and if he/she wishes, collect competitive pokemon that aren't immensily hard to get, since it will barely make any difference except if your opponent uses an ability/stat switch tactic, but even then it should be fine if you could get your own tactic rolling first.

For my main game team, none of that really matters. I just catch pokemon I like and play for fun.

I don't worry about things like IVs, EVs, or Natures until post-game stuff when I'm building a team to battle my friends. I've been working on hatching a perfect shiny Eevee, and even though it's a lot of work, it's also pretty rewarding once you finally get it :)

I'm probably gonna sound like I'm just parrotting what everyone else is saying, but it's true - natures, EVs and IVs are imperative to competitive battling. For the regular trainer, they really don't mean much. After all, the reason these mechanics are there is just to introduce some diversity into Pokemon. However, for competitive battling, you really don't stand a chance if you waltz into a battle with a Pokemon who has sub-par IVs, EVs that are all over the place and a hindering nature. Strategy can help slightly, but ultimately, you won't get far if you don't pay attention to these hidden game mechanics.

The wonderful thing about the Pokemon games is that there's something in it for everyone. For those who love an action-packed storyline in an RPG, Pokemon provides that. For those who love collecting and discovering new things, Pokemon also provides that. For those who love investigating the hidden mechanics of a game and tweaking these mechanics, Pokemon even provides this for those people, too. The best thing? You're not forced to deal with every single aspect of the games. You can play Pokemon any way you want to, and everyone else can play Pokemon the way that they see fit. If you don't see the point in breeding for perfect IVs and natures and EV training, no one is forcing you to do so, but there are plenty of people who are interested in this aspect of Pokemon.

It depends how you look at it.

Natures, IVs, and EVs are not at all necessary to the game and its storyline - they're'e mostly for competitive battling, perfectionists, or people looking for more things to do post-game. Having to breed for the right stats and natures gives battlers more to do and certainly requires more work than catching a Pokemon and bringing it to battle with you without considering what its best and worst attributes are. It gives you a chance to consider what spreads you want for your Pokemon.

IVs and EVs do not matter and they are 100% optional for trainers not looking to battle competitively. But even so, you can battle people with your regular teams; all it requires is some searching and requesting. Battling is a very big post-game experience and I'm sure spicing it up a bit for people was the intention of the game's creators and not to make it more tedious or boring. You're not required to get the right natures or IVs/EVs at all, that's just the preferred style of battling.

trust me i have nothing against people that EV train and all of that unless it comes to trading. i like having a variety of pokemon that i sometimes cant get but when i find one i want, i try, but i fail because they arent up to code to some people. they can EV train them thereselves and they can even breed it for the right one. it just frustrates me so much.

Natures, EVs and IVs don't matter in-game because the opponents are easy. The game has been designed in such a way that a first timer can beat the game without having to know all the technical details.
I've beaten Ruby using a Starmie that had Adamant nature. I never checked its IVs and didn't EV train it either. Still it was good enough to take on the Elite 4 while being at the same level as them.

But if you are playing competitively, the opponents are real people who have their own strategies and Pokemon with the proper natures, full IVs (unless they need a stat to be low) and an EV distribution to suit their strategy. If you fought them with a Pokemon that had a random nature, IVs and EVs then you'd be at a huge disadvantage regardless of how good your moveset was.
I personally do not check for any of these when playing the game because I find it too much of a hassle. I simply use Pokemon Online and it takes about 5 minutes to make a good team.

Btw if you're new to it, you could try to learn more. It can be put to good use in the game. Proper EV training in the game (EV training is very easy) will save you hours of unnecessary grinding. If you have many Pokemon of the same species, choose one with the best nature.

Banz said:

I personally do not check for any of these when playing the game because I find it too much of a hassle. I simply use Pokemon Online and it takes about 5 minutes to make a good team.

Btw if you're new to it, you could try to learn more. It can be put to good use in the game. Proper EV training in the game (EV training is very easy) will save you hours of unnecessary grinding. If you have many Pokemon of the same species, choose one with the best nature.

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My approach is to test teams and ideas on Pokemon Showdown, and when I find a strategy I truly like, I recreate them in the games.

As a mostly non-competitive player, they matter because they make our Pokemon even more special, and stuff.

I used to be the same way, not understanding why those things were so important to people. When I first got into competitive battling, I pretty much just did movesets, not really paying much attention to anything else. For me, it helped to just take moving into competitive at my own pace; I focused on movesets and items first, then natures and EVs, and finally IVs. In that time, I've bred and trained my fair share of pokemon, good and bad, but with each step, when I had done it the best I could, I could notice the difference in my pokemons abilities in battle over previous times I've used them. I don't think it's as much what each does individually, but where the right combination can turn the tides of a battle. As a former casual player, I can understand where it's a little hard to grasp that, but once you've tried it yourself, you'll notice

Also, don't feel bad about the trades thing. I know its frustrating when they won't accept a pokemon that they could breed themselves, but it could be that the reason they don't is because they may already be breeding that particular pokemon, and when they heard you had one for trade, they decided to take a chance to see if it was the one they wanted. As frustrated as you are that they didn't trade could be how frustrated they are that they still haven't gotten the pokemon they want for their teams. Two sides of every coin.