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IVs, EVs, Natures... I just don't get it.

Novena

X/Y : Novena : 0877-1323-0325
13
Posts
10
Years
I understand the "concept," I suppose... I get that EVs can determine WHAT stats will be, IVs are WHAT the stats ARE... Right? And Natures, of couse, boost certain stats and "reduce" others...

But... How do you determine what is "good?" "Perfect?"

How can you tell if a Poke'mon has a good nature for what they are?

When EV/IV training, is it best to train for one stat? Two? Three? Or all of them? Do you should train what you think needs to be increased? Do you train their best stat to make it a monster? Do you train their worst stat to balance them out?

I have a general idea of the whole thing, but I just don't understand the depths of it all. The math involved makes my brain ache. (I'm the creative kind of person - I'm still amazed I can do simple multiplication.) I've looked up videos, read Bulbapedia's wiki page on it (THAT just made me want to cry...), read other forum posts, guides, looked up forums on here... It just isn't getting through. :(
Is there a way someone could explain this in a much more simpler way for me to understand? I hope this can help others, as well, because I've noticed that there are other people can't grasp the depths of the idea at all, either.



I guess a good place to start... I have a Sylveon that I am currently training through levelling. I have already made it "Fully Trained" through the training system on X/Y. Could I get some input? Did I do this correctly? :

Level: 92
Nature: Mild (+ Sp. Attack. - Defense)
HP: 313
Attack: 186
Defense: 134
Sp. Attack: 247
Sp. Defense: 252
Speed: 170
If I remember correctly, I trained on Special Attack and from the looks of it, Special Defense.

His moves:
Draining Kiss (Special)
Moonblast (Special)
Cut (Physical)
Fairy Wind (Special)

Edit : Also... How do you know if a Poke'mon is in the top percentage? That's something I have never figured out. Ever. Even the slightest.
 

Pumpkaboo

Peek-a-boo
83
Posts
10
Years
IV's are the individual values of a pokemon, they cannot be changed and are determined when the pokemon is obtained. The max IV a pokemon can have is 31, while the lowest is 0. Generally a "perfect" pokemon is one with all 6IV's at 31, though 90% of the time you don't need all of them only maxed, so many go for 5IVs.

EVs are the Effort Values. They're obtained by either knocking out wild/trainer pokemon (not trainers you battle online or in the maison where your levels are set for you). So for example if you kill a whismur your pokemon will gain 1 effort point in HP. You can have a maximum of 252 Effort values in each stat, with a max of 510 effort values total. The best ways to EV train are via horde battles or through the super training, though the juice shoppe can give you a nice daily boost too. (In english, you can max 2 stats with a few points left over)

In regards to determining what effort values to put into your pokemon you need to take it's IVs and Nature into account. So using Sylveon as an example it's got a great Sp.D stat there, so you can maximize on that by slapping 252 EVs into the HP, then you get to choose which sort of build you're going for. Since it's a special attack based Sylveon you probably want to focus on those stats too, so possibly roll 252 HP/252 Sp.A and then the rest of the points in speed since your nature hinders the defense. Sylveon's doesn't really need the special defense as it's base is around 130 iirc making it able to stand it's ground well enough. Or at least that's my opinion I'm sure other people would have better builds!
 

Novena

X/Y : Novena : 0877-1323-0325
13
Posts
10
Years
Okay... So when speaking in terms of IVs/EVs, it really DOES just depend on your build? x: Everything I have come across so far has made it seem like there are certain things you HAVE to do... I mean, certain Poke'mon having to have -whatever stat- at the highest percentage possible, not focusing on more than one.

That clears it up quite a bit in regards to the IV/EVs. Thank you. :)

Though now I have to ask... With the super training... It tells you once a Poke'mon is "Fully Trained." You can't do any of the Super Training Regimens anymore... So what the heck is the training afterwards for? Does it increase certain stats further?
 
Sopheria

Sopheria

響け〜　響け！
4,904
Posts
10
Years
Novena said:
I understand the "concept," I suppose... I get that EVs can determine WHAT stats will be, IVs are WHAT the stats ARE... Right? And Natures, of couse, boost certain stats and "reduce" others...

But... How do you determine what is "good?" "Perfect?"

How can you tell if a Poke'mon has a good nature for what they are?

When EV/IV training, is it best to train for one stat? Two? Three? Or all of them? Do you should train what you think needs to be increased? Do you train their best stat to make it a monster? Do you train their worst stat to balance them out?

I have a general idea of the whole thing, but I just don't understand the depths of it all. The math involved makes my brain ache. (I'm the creative kind of person - I'm still amazed I can do simple multiplication.) I've looked up videos, read Bulbapedia's wiki page on it (THAT just made me want to cry...), read other forum posts, guides, looked up forums on here... It just isn't getting through. :(
Is there a way someone could explain this in a much more simpler way for me to understand? I hope this can help others, as well, because I've noticed that there are other people can't grasp the depths of the idea at all, either.



I guess a good place to start... I have a Sylveon that I am currently training through levelling. I have already made it "Fully Trained" through the training system on X/Y. Could I get some input? Did I do this correctly? :

Level: 92
Nature: Mild (+ Sp. Attack. - Defense)
HP: 313
Attack: 186
Defense: 134
Sp. Attack: 247
Sp. Defense: 252
Speed: 170
If I remember correctly, I trained on Special Attack and from the looks of it, Special Defense.

His moves:
Draining Kiss (Special)
Moonblast (Special)
Cut (Physical)
Fairy Wind (Special)

Edit : Also... How do you know if a Poke'mon is in the top percentage? That's something I have never figured out. Ever. Even the slightest.
Click to expand...

If you're looking for a "right" way to train your Pokemon, then the answer is there's none at all. It all depends on what you're going for. To simplify things (it might sound a little too simple, but this is really all there is to it), if you want a Pokemon to have higher HP, give it EV's in HP. If you want a Pokemon to have higher attack, give it EV's in attack. If you want a Pokemon to have higher defense, give it EV's in defense, etc. Likewise with natures, if you want your Pokemon to have higher attack, but don't care about special attack, try to find one with an adamant nature. That's really all there is to it. Which stats you care more or less about depends on what you want out of your Pokemon.

A good general rule that I like to use, is invest in one stat between physical and special. Your Sylveon knows mostly special moves, so I would recommend EV training it for special attack. Also, I tend not to care much about higher HP, because there's more benefit in higher defense than there is in higher HP.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about IV's. People make a much bigger deal out of them than need be. They're really hard to control, and they don't make a very noticeable difference. EV's and nature are more important.

Novena said:
Though now I have to ask... With the super training... It tells you once a Poke'mon is "Fully Trained." You can't do any of the Super Training Regimens anymore... So what the heck is the training afterwards for? Does it increase certain stats further?
Click to expand...

Fully trained means its EV's are maxed out. Super training won't have any effect, because EV's can't go over the maximum. But even with max EV's you still want to level up your Pokemon.

Basically, leveling up makes your stats increase. EV's determine by how much they'll increase. With max EV's, your stats will grow the fastest they can up leveling up, but they only grow when you level up.
 
Last edited:

Novena

X/Y : Novena : 0877-1323-0325
13
Posts
10
Years
So it seems! Thanks for clarifying on that for me, zomgitscathy. :)

I'm an experienced mmorpg gamer, so when I discovered IVs and EVs, it did have the sense of stats like in mmos, but the more I read about it, the more confused I got, the more time I was investing in the Poke'mon games (way more in one day than any pc game), and the more painkillers I was popping to subdue the migraines, lol.

It does seem like the whole EV/IV thing is made into a massive deal, though I have noticed that Poke'mon can become significantly stronger from doing it, depending on how you train them... It's when I start delving into it that I get confused. Granted, it would have probably helped when I didn't start trying to in D/P/Plt.


Edit: to the part about the super training... Gotcha, so that extra training after Fully Training your Poke'mon is really just for item hording, I guess? Lol.
 
Last edited:
Sopheria

Sopheria

響け〜　響け！
4,904
Posts
10
Years
Novena said:
It does seem like the whole EV/IV thing is made into a massive deal, though I have noticed that Poke'mon can become significantly stronger from doing it, depending on how you train them... It's when I start delving into it that I get confused. Granted, it would have probably helped when I didn't start trying to in D/P/Plt.
Click to expand...

Well, looking at pure numbers, EV's make a significant difference. IV's don't. Given two Pokemon of the same species and level, the Pokemon that was properly EV trained will always beat one the one that has no EV training at all. But a Pokemon with perfect IV's doesn't have that big an advantage over a Pokemon with abysmal IV's. So yes, if you're going to be battling competitively, or just want to give your Pokemon an extra boost, EV train. If not, don't worry about it.
 

Novena

X/Y : Novena : 0877-1323-0325
13
Posts
10
Years
I do plan on battling competively at some point... I just wanted a better understanding of this kind of training... Guess I'll be breeding my team and training them differently this time, though. Thanks again! ^-^
 
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