PMJ
Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands
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Hello, friends. This guide will teach you everything you could ever need to know about effort values, individual natures, and natures in generation six. Let's get down to brass tacks.
Part 1: What are Effort Values, and Why Should I Care?
Part 2: Increasing and Decreasing Effort Values
Part 3: EV Training 101
Part 4: Horde Training
That's all!
Part 1: What are Effort Values, and Why Should I Care?
Effort Values (EVs) are hidden values that every Pokemon has. Every Pokemon that you obtain can earn a maximum of 510 EVs; these EVs can be allocated to any of the six stats (HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed). As of generation six, each stat has a cap of 252 EVs per stat.
In generation six, you can see a rough estimate of what EVs your Pokemon has earned by checking the Super Training tab on the 3DS's touch screen. As you gain EVs, you'll see a yellow meter extend towards the corner of the stat you get EVs in. The closer it is to the corner, the more EVs you have in a stat. The vertical bar on the far right side of the screen is your Pokemon's EV capacity of 510 EVs. Once it's full (that is, you have allocated all 510 possible points) you will no longer be able to gain EVs in that stat.
EVs, simply, increase your stats. The more you train in a certain stat, the more that stat will increase. At level 100, for every four EVs your Pokemon has earned in a stat, you will earn one stat point. That means if you fully train in a certain stat, you will gain an additional 63 points (252 / 4 = 63) in that stat. That's a huge bonus.
In generation six, you can see a rough estimate of what EVs your Pokemon has earned by checking the Super Training tab on the 3DS's touch screen. As you gain EVs, you'll see a yellow meter extend towards the corner of the stat you get EVs in. The closer it is to the corner, the more EVs you have in a stat. The vertical bar on the far right side of the screen is your Pokemon's EV capacity of 510 EVs. Once it's full (that is, you have allocated all 510 possible points) you will no longer be able to gain EVs in that stat.
EVs, simply, increase your stats. The more you train in a certain stat, the more that stat will increase. At level 100, for every four EVs your Pokemon has earned in a stat, you will earn one stat point. That means if you fully train in a certain stat, you will gain an additional 63 points (252 / 4 = 63) in that stat. That's a huge bonus.
Part 2: Increasing and Decreasing Effort Values
Increasing EVs
There are three ways to gain EVs. The first way is through Super Training. There are three main levels of Super Training, and each level has six training regimens which correspond to a given stat. Complete all six training regimens on a given level to unlock the next level.
Level one training regimens award +4 EVs to the appropriate stat. Levels two and three award +8 and +12 EVs, respectively.
This method is slow, boring, and absolutely not recommended.
The second way is to use items. There are two categories of items that increase EVs: vitamins and wings. Vitamins can be purchased from the Battle Maison, or Laverre City's Poke Mart. When used, they give 10 EVs per stat; however, they cap off at 100 EVs. If your Pokemon already has 100 or more EVs in that stat, you can no longer use the vitamin for that stat. Wings are only obtained from the fourth level of Super Training (unlocked after your Pokemon has all 510 EVs allocated) and, when used, gives 1 EV per stat. Unlike vitamins, there is no cap on wing use.
When you start EV training, buy vitamins first. They're a bit expensive, but if you have the Bargain O-Power, you can cut the cost a bit. At the end of the game, money should be no object (I'm sitting at $1.1m right now and still have 200+ Balm Mushrooms to sell), though. Wings sound nice, but they are still terribly inefficient. Don't bother farming them.
The third way--the main way--to increase EVs is to go out and kill stuff. I'll explain that in more detail in the next section.
Decreasing EVs
Decreasing EVs is like picking your poison. There are only two methods, and both of them are a hassle. It's a lot easier to just save before you EV train and keep track of them as you go, then reset if you mess up.
The first method, which takes less effort on your part, is to use the Reset Bag in Super Training. When your Pokemon finishes training with it, all its EVs will be set to zero. The only way to get Reset Bags is to get lucky. When you tap the empty bag on the Super Training screen, sometimes your Pokemon will find special training bags. The Reset Bag is plain white and, for the purposes of EV training, should be the only one you're concerned with; all others can be discarded. If your Pokemon isn't napping, it will automatically hit the bag about once per minute. It's pretty rare, so I wouldn't exactly sit around and try to make one appear.
The second method involves feeding your Pokemon certain berries. There are six berries which, when used, will decrease your Pokemon's EVs by 10: Pomeg (HP), Kelpsy (Attack), Qualot (Defense), Hondew (Special Attack), Grepa (Special Defense), and Tamato (Speed). As a bonus, if your Pokemon has more than 100 EVs in a certain stat, using a single berry will drop your EVs straight to 100. Following that, they will remove 10 EVs each time. So with three Pomeg Berries and full HP investment, your EVs would go from 252 -> 100 -> 90.
The hard part? You can't find any of these berries in Kalos naturally. You'll have to get two specific berries, plant them next to each other, compost three other berries of the same color to get Surprise or Amaze Mulch, use it on the two berry plots, hope you get a mutation, and then wait out the growing period, while coming back every couple hours to take care of pests which will negatively affect your yield if left alone.
I told you it was a hassle. If you're not already a dedicated berry farmer, don't even waste your time.
There are three ways to gain EVs. The first way is through Super Training. There are three main levels of Super Training, and each level has six training regimens which correspond to a given stat. Complete all six training regimens on a given level to unlock the next level.
Level one training regimens award +4 EVs to the appropriate stat. Levels two and three award +8 and +12 EVs, respectively.
This method is slow, boring, and absolutely not recommended.
The second way is to use items. There are two categories of items that increase EVs: vitamins and wings. Vitamins can be purchased from the Battle Maison, or Laverre City's Poke Mart. When used, they give 10 EVs per stat; however, they cap off at 100 EVs. If your Pokemon already has 100 or more EVs in that stat, you can no longer use the vitamin for that stat. Wings are only obtained from the fourth level of Super Training (unlocked after your Pokemon has all 510 EVs allocated) and, when used, gives 1 EV per stat. Unlike vitamins, there is no cap on wing use.
| Vitamin | Wing | |
| HP | HP Up | Health Wing |
| Attack | Protein | Muscle Wing |
| Defense | Iron | Resist Wing |
| Special Attack | Calcium | Genius Wing |
| Special Defense | Zinc | Clever Wing |
| Speed | Carbos | Swift Wing |
When you start EV training, buy vitamins first. They're a bit expensive, but if you have the Bargain O-Power, you can cut the cost a bit. At the end of the game, money should be no object (I'm sitting at $1.1m right now and still have 200+ Balm Mushrooms to sell), though. Wings sound nice, but they are still terribly inefficient. Don't bother farming them.
The third way--the main way--to increase EVs is to go out and kill stuff. I'll explain that in more detail in the next section.
Decreasing EVs
Decreasing EVs is like picking your poison. There are only two methods, and both of them are a hassle. It's a lot easier to just save before you EV train and keep track of them as you go, then reset if you mess up.
The first method, which takes less effort on your part, is to use the Reset Bag in Super Training. When your Pokemon finishes training with it, all its EVs will be set to zero. The only way to get Reset Bags is to get lucky. When you tap the empty bag on the Super Training screen, sometimes your Pokemon will find special training bags. The Reset Bag is plain white and, for the purposes of EV training, should be the only one you're concerned with; all others can be discarded. If your Pokemon isn't napping, it will automatically hit the bag about once per minute. It's pretty rare, so I wouldn't exactly sit around and try to make one appear.
The second method involves feeding your Pokemon certain berries. There are six berries which, when used, will decrease your Pokemon's EVs by 10: Pomeg (HP), Kelpsy (Attack), Qualot (Defense), Hondew (Special Attack), Grepa (Special Defense), and Tamato (Speed). As a bonus, if your Pokemon has more than 100 EVs in a certain stat, using a single berry will drop your EVs straight to 100. Following that, they will remove 10 EVs each time. So with three Pomeg Berries and full HP investment, your EVs would go from 252 -> 100 -> 90.
The hard part? You can't find any of these berries in Kalos naturally. You'll have to get two specific berries, plant them next to each other, compost three other berries of the same color to get Surprise or Amaze Mulch, use it on the two berry plots, hope you get a mutation, and then wait out the growing period, while coming back every couple hours to take care of pests which will negatively affect your yield if left alone.
I told you it was a hassle. If you're not already a dedicated berry farmer, don't even waste your time.
Part 3: EV Training 101
Earning EVs in Battle
In this section, I'll cover the main way to get EVs: killing Pokemon. It can get a bit tricky, so it gets its own section. I'll make it real simple to understand, so bear with me.
You gain EVs every time a Pokemon is defeated. Like experience points, everyone who participated in the battle gets EVs. Unlike experience points, every combatant gets 100% of the defeated Pokemon's EVs instead of splitting them evenly. A good rule of thumb to remember: If it got experience from the battle, it got EVs, too. Don't forget that you also get experience--and EVs--from catching Pokemon! With the Exp. All, you don't even have to have your weak Pokemon fight, which is invaluable to quick EV training.
In past generations, EVs were awarded on a level up, which meant that once a Pokemon hit level 100, it could no longer EV train (you could still feed it vitamins and wings though). As of generation six, EVs are awarded as soon as the battle is over, which means you can now EV train at any level - even at level 100. Finally.
Unfortunately, there is no way to find out in-game what EVs a Pokemon give out when it is defeated. Most online Pokedexes will have this information; pick one you like and search.
For the purposes of this guide, I'll be listing the most efficient places to EV train, so you won't really have to worry about any of that.
To better explain how EVs get awarded, I'll be using a Gourgeist as an example. I want to train Gourgeist in Defense, so I look up which Pokemon give Defense EVs. I see that, ironically, Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense EV when awarded. (As an aside: some Pokemon, like Carbink, give EVs in multiple stats. Unless you're training in both of those stats, run from them.)
Gourgeist kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense, so Gourgeist has earned 1 EV in Defense. This is EV training in its simplest form. If I wanted to, I could kill off 252 Pumpkaboo and I'd be done. There are, however, a few ways to increase the amount of EVs you can earn per battle, so much so that you can finish EV training in 15-20 minutes.
Incresing EVs Earned in Battle
1. PKRS
Pokerus, or PKRS for short, is a virus that randomly infects your Pokemon when you heal them at a Pokemon center. If you don't have it in your game, ask someone to give you a junk Pokemon that's been infected. Infect a few Pokemon of your own and drop them in the PC, and the virus will never go away.
PKRS doubles the EVs you earn from a battle. It's as easy as that.
Gourgeist, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. PKRS doubles that, so Gourgeist has earned 2 EVs in Defense.
But wait! There's more!
2. Macho Brace
You can get the Macho Brace on Route 15 (Rock Smash required). Like PKRS, it doubles the EVs you earn from a battle, and yes, they stack. So:
Gourgeist@Macho Brace, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. Macho Brace doubles that to make 2. PKRS doubles that, so Gourgeist has earned 4 EVs in Defense.
And just when you thought things couldn't get any easier:
3. Power Items
There are six Power Items, with each one corresponding to a certain stat: Weight for HP, Bracer for Attack, Belt for Defense, Lens for Special Attack, Band for Special Defense, and Anklet for Speed. They are exclusively found in the Battle Maison for 16 BP each and award a bonus of +4 to the stat they boost. This is where it can get a little tricky.
Let's say that I want to get my Defense training done as soon as possible, so I give Gourgeist the Power Belt and go nuts.
Gourgeist@Power Belt, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. Power Belt adds four to make 5. PKRS doubles that, so Gourgeist has earned 10 EVs in Defense.
Now, the great thing about the Power Items is that you can double up on your EV training and get two stats done at once. I'm also gonna want to train Gourgeist in HP, so...
Gourgeist@Power Weight, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. Power Weight adds four EVs to HP. PKRS doubles both of those, so Gourgeist has earned 2 EVs in Defense and 8 EVs in HP.
You can earn up to 10 EVs per battle with PKRS and the appropriate Power Item, which speeds things up quite a bit!
In this section, I'll cover the main way to get EVs: killing Pokemon. It can get a bit tricky, so it gets its own section. I'll make it real simple to understand, so bear with me.
You gain EVs every time a Pokemon is defeated. Like experience points, everyone who participated in the battle gets EVs. Unlike experience points, every combatant gets 100% of the defeated Pokemon's EVs instead of splitting them evenly. A good rule of thumb to remember: If it got experience from the battle, it got EVs, too. Don't forget that you also get experience--and EVs--from catching Pokemon! With the Exp. All, you don't even have to have your weak Pokemon fight, which is invaluable to quick EV training.
In past generations, EVs were awarded on a level up, which meant that once a Pokemon hit level 100, it could no longer EV train (you could still feed it vitamins and wings though). As of generation six, EVs are awarded as soon as the battle is over, which means you can now EV train at any level - even at level 100. Finally.
Unfortunately, there is no way to find out in-game what EVs a Pokemon give out when it is defeated. Most online Pokedexes will have this information; pick one you like and search.
For the purposes of this guide, I'll be listing the most efficient places to EV train, so you won't really have to worry about any of that.
To better explain how EVs get awarded, I'll be using a Gourgeist as an example. I want to train Gourgeist in Defense, so I look up which Pokemon give Defense EVs. I see that, ironically, Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense EV when awarded. (As an aside: some Pokemon, like Carbink, give EVs in multiple stats. Unless you're training in both of those stats, run from them.)
Gourgeist kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense, so Gourgeist has earned 1 EV in Defense. This is EV training in its simplest form. If I wanted to, I could kill off 252 Pumpkaboo and I'd be done. There are, however, a few ways to increase the amount of EVs you can earn per battle, so much so that you can finish EV training in 15-20 minutes.
Incresing EVs Earned in Battle
1. PKRS
Pokerus, or PKRS for short, is a virus that randomly infects your Pokemon when you heal them at a Pokemon center. If you don't have it in your game, ask someone to give you a junk Pokemon that's been infected. Infect a few Pokemon of your own and drop them in the PC, and the virus will never go away.
PKRS doubles the EVs you earn from a battle. It's as easy as that.
Gourgeist, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. PKRS doubles that, so Gourgeist has earned 2 EVs in Defense.
But wait! There's more!
2. Macho Brace
You can get the Macho Brace on Route 15 (Rock Smash required). Like PKRS, it doubles the EVs you earn from a battle, and yes, they stack. So:
Gourgeist@Macho Brace, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. Macho Brace doubles that to make 2. PKRS doubles that, so Gourgeist has earned 4 EVs in Defense.
And just when you thought things couldn't get any easier:
3. Power Items
There are six Power Items, with each one corresponding to a certain stat: Weight for HP, Bracer for Attack, Belt for Defense, Lens for Special Attack, Band for Special Defense, and Anklet for Speed. They are exclusively found in the Battle Maison for 16 BP each and award a bonus of +4 to the stat they boost. This is where it can get a little tricky.
Let's say that I want to get my Defense training done as soon as possible, so I give Gourgeist the Power Belt and go nuts.
Gourgeist@Power Belt, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. Power Belt adds four to make 5. PKRS doubles that, so Gourgeist has earned 10 EVs in Defense.
Now, the great thing about the Power Items is that you can double up on your EV training and get two stats done at once. I'm also gonna want to train Gourgeist in HP, so...
Gourgeist@Power Weight, infected with PKRS, kills a Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo gives 1 Defense. Power Weight adds four EVs to HP. PKRS doubles both of those, so Gourgeist has earned 2 EVs in Defense and 8 EVs in HP.
You can earn up to 10 EVs per battle with PKRS and the appropriate Power Item, which speeds things up quite a bit!
Part 4: Horde Training
Don't forget, you get EVs from horde battles, too! That's a staggering 50 EVs per fight!
You will need the following:
When you use Sweet Scent in the tall grass, you will always trigger a horde battle (unless you are in an area where there are no hordes). Get into the battle, kill everyone in the horde, and enjoy your free 50 EVs. Sweet Scent will always fail if it's raining on the world map, which will only affect Attack training.
Here are the best training spots in the game. Remember, these are horde battles. Run from all other hordes:
HP: Gulpin on Route 5
Attack: Weepinbell or Arbok on Route 19 (They each give 2 Attack EVs -> 60 EVs a fight); if it's raining, Bellsprout or Ekans on Route 14
Defense: Geodude or Durant (or Aron, X only) in Terminus Cave (Durant gives 2 EVs; flee if you run into Durant + Heatmor horde)
Special Attack: Smoochum or Vanillite in Frost Cavern
Special Defense: Mime Jr. in Reflection Cave
Speed: Wingull on Route 12 or Murkrow on Route 15
Remember, with the Exp. All turned on, everyone in your party will get EVs. So if you're training, say, two special sweepers who both need Special Attack and Speed EVs, you can give the Power Anklet to one of them and the Power Lens to the other, then swap once they both hit the limits for that stat because both of those Pokemon will be getting Speed EVs after every battle. Just remember that unless they're both holding the same Power Item, they'll be getting a different amount of EVs per battle. Make sure your math is right.
You will need the following:
- A Pokemon with an area-of-effect attack, such as Surf. Surf is recommended because it has wide distribution and it can hit Ground-type Pokemon. This Pokemon should be strong enough to OHKO five level 24 Weepinbell with Surf.
- A Pokemon with Sweet Scent. Wild Oddish (from Route 6) and Mawile (from Glittering Cave) will come with it. This Pokemon can be of any level.
- A Pokemon with Fly. Because walking everywhere is terrible.
- (Optional) Repel, of any kind, and of any number. Depending on where you're training, all you will need is one.
When you use Sweet Scent in the tall grass, you will always trigger a horde battle (unless you are in an area where there are no hordes). Get into the battle, kill everyone in the horde, and enjoy your free 50 EVs. Sweet Scent will always fail if it's raining on the world map, which will only affect Attack training.
Here are the best training spots in the game. Remember, these are horde battles. Run from all other hordes:
HP: Gulpin on Route 5
Attack: Weepinbell or Arbok on Route 19 (They each give 2 Attack EVs -> 60 EVs a fight); if it's raining, Bellsprout or Ekans on Route 14
Defense: Geodude or Durant (or Aron, X only) in Terminus Cave (Durant gives 2 EVs; flee if you run into Durant + Heatmor horde)
Special Attack: Smoochum or Vanillite in Frost Cavern
Special Defense: Mime Jr. in Reflection Cave
Speed: Wingull on Route 12 or Murkrow on Route 15
Remember, with the Exp. All turned on, everyone in your party will get EVs. So if you're training, say, two special sweepers who both need Special Attack and Speed EVs, you can give the Power Anklet to one of them and the Power Lens to the other, then swap once they both hit the limits for that stat because both of those Pokemon will be getting Speed EVs after every battle. Just remember that unless they're both holding the same Power Item, they'll be getting a different amount of EVs per battle. Make sure your math is right.
That's all!