D/P EV Training Guide

EconBiscuit · Apr 18, 2008

Table of Contents

What are EVs
Vitamins
Reducing EV's
Pokerus
Hold Items (Power Items/Macho Brace)
How to Get Power Items: The Quickest Way
Quick List of Best Places to Train EVs
The VS Seeker: How to Get it and How It Works
Training HP Evs
Training Attack EVs
Training Defense EVs
Training Special Attack EVs
Training Special Defense EVs
Training Speed Evs
Split EV Training

EV's

EV is short for Effort Value. You get effort values every time you gain experience from a pokemon. For every 4 EV points you have in a particular stat, you gain one extra point in that stat at level 100. e.g. let’s say for our purposes that if you got a Magikarp to level 100 using just Rare Candies, thus gaining no EVs, you would have an attack of 60. However if you had the same Magikarp gain 4 EVs in attack, once he is level 100 he would have an attack of 61, instead of an attack of 60.

In all statistics combined, you may have a total of 510 Evs. This means you can gain up to 127 points overall. In each individual statistic however, you may only have 255 EVs (Though you will only gain stat points up to 252 EVs). This means you can gain up to 63 extra points, in any given statistic.

A common EV Spread is 252/252/4 (which gives you 63/63/1 extra stat points) however many things are EV'd in a more precise spread to satisfy the requirements needed on that Pokémon.

At the Market in Sunyshore City there is a lady who gives a ribbon to the first pokemon in your party if it is completely EV trained. If your Pokemon can get the ribbon from this lady, it has all 510 EV points filled.

Please note:

EV's are different from IV's, for an accurate description of how to check and get better IV's please read X-act's breeding guide.

Vitamins

Vitamins are a useful aid in the EV training process, as they can make your training session go by much faster. You will find that vitamins are more useful in training EVs 100 points, or lower.

Vitamins can be purchased at the Veilstone department store for $9,800 each, or at the Battle Tower for one point.

Vitamins will give a Pokémon 10 EV's in a particular stat until 100 EV's have been gained in that stat.(For example, you give your Garchomp 110 Attack EVs and then remember you haven’t used vitamins. Since you already have 100 attack EVs, you will not be able to gain any more through vitamins)

Here is a Quick List of Vitamins

HP-UP – Hit-Points
Protein – Attack
Iron – Defence
Calcium – Special Attack
Zinc – Special Defence
Carbos – Speed

These are best used before EV training

Reducing EV's

There is no way to tell how many EVs you have directly without using a cheat device. So it is best to record the EV's a Pokémon gains in order to ensure that you don't EV it incorrectly.

If you do EV it incorrectly there are berries you may feed your Pokemon that decrease your EV points. The first berry reduces the base stat to 100. After the base stat is at least 100, the EV is reduced by 10 for every berry you give it. You cannot achieve negative EVs, thus this is a good way to approx. check the EV's on a Pokémon.

Berries that reduce EV's are:-

#21 Pomeg Berry - Reduces HP
#22 Kelpsey Berry - Reduces Atk
#23 Qulaot Berry - Reduces Def
#24 Hondew Berry - Reduces Sp. Atk
#25 Grepa Berry - Reduces Sp. Def
#26 Tamato Berry - Reduces Speed

Pokerus

Pokerus is a "disease" your pokemon develop randomly while walking around/battling. Pokerus doubles the total EVs you gain after a battle. This is after factoring in all power items. Pokerus is similar to how Macho Brace worked in the ADV games but Pokerus does not have a negative effect on your speed.

For example, say you fight a Gyarados while wearing a Power Bracer. This would give you the base 2 EVs + the 4 EVs from the Bracer, totalling out at 6 EVs. however with Pokerus you can gain 12 EV's from fighting a single monster. 252/12 = 21 Battles

To catch Pokerus is random, it's less than the chance of encountering a shiny and to obtain it you must hit a Wild Pokemon with Pokerus with a Physical attack and then you have 1/3 chance of contracting it. The first time you have it the lady in the Pokecenter will tell you when you go to get your Pokemon healed.

Another way to see if you have Pokerus is to check the top left corner of the screen when you are looking at the summary of your pokemon. If it has active Pokerus there will be a small purple box reading PKRS. If it has inactive Pokerus you will see a small circle with a red dot in the middle, near the bottom left hand corner.

Active Pokerus is held by your pokemon for 3 days before it becomes inactive. However for time to pass on the "Pokerus clock", your pokemon must be in your party, not in a box.

To spread Pokerus between Pokemon, you must have both Pokemon in your party, when you battle a Pokemon next to A Pokemon with Pokerus in your team order has a chance of getting Pokerus. If your Pokemon is in a box, it will not spread its Pokerus. However it is recommended that you keep some spare pokemon in your box with active Pokerus

Hold Items

Aswell as Pokerus, there are also some hold items which affect the amount of EV's you get.

Macho Brace - Just like Pokerus, it doubles the amount of EV's you gain after battle. If Magikarp gave you 1 Speed, then after Pokerus it will give you 2, and factoring Macho Brace will give you a total of 4 Speed Ev's

Power Items

List of the Items
Power Weight - Helps HP Growth
Power Bracer - Helps Attack Growth
Power Belt - Helps Defence Growth
Power Lens - Helps Special Attack Growth
Power Band - Helps Special Defence Growth
Power Anklet - Helps Speed Growth

Power items are items that can be held by your Pokemon. These increase the EVs you receive at the end of a battle by 4. So if you were to fight a Magikarp wearing the Power Bracer, you'd gain 1 Speed EV from the Magikarp and 4 Attack Ev's from the Bracer, Factoring in Pokerus will give you a total of 10 EV's per Pokemon.

Note: When using a Power Item or Macho Brace your speed is reduced, though this is not a lasting effect.

Getting the Power Items

Some people on Smogon will be happily trade you these in order to EV train however this is the quickest way to get them if you are unable to trade for them.

All of the power items are obtained by purchasing them at the Battle Tower Gift Shop.

Each of the items cost 16 BP each, and there are 6 to buy. A set will cost you 96 BP.

SINGLE BATTLE OFFLINE

This room is the fastest way to get points. Online is too unpredictable, and doubles is a lot slower. Plus, neither offers the bonus of the Tower Tycoon.

The process goes like this. First you start a challenge. You proceed through 2 rounds of opponents, each consisting of 7 different trainers. After the first two rounds you challenge one more set of trainers. The difference this time is you get to challenge the Tower Tycoon in place of the 7th trainer. After you defeat him, you get a bonus amount of BP. Once you have received the bonus you end your challenge and start over.

The entire process will net you 26 BP. To obtain a full set of power items, you must complete the process 4 times.

This is a recommended team for you to use to get through the Battle Tower.
All of these pokemon are fairly common on the Smogon WiFi forums, so you may find it worth your time to try and get some of them there.

Metagross @ Lum Berry
~ Bullet Punch
~ Meteor Mash
~ Explosion
~ Earthquake

This lucky guy can almost 1HKO anything you will see. He will basically rip through the tower no problem. His ability to use Explosion makes stall wars with bulky waters much easier. Lum berry negates the effects of the ever present Hypnosis and swagger, along with all other status inflicting moves.

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
~ Outrage/ Dragon Claw
~ Earthquake
~ Fire Fang
~ Swords Dance

After a Swords Dance you kill everything in 1 hit. Outrage pretty much does that unboosted, so it’s good to go right off the bat. This works well in tangent with Metagross, because they cover each others weaknesses.

The third Pokemon isn't really needed if you can use Garchomp and Metagross well, However Lucario fills in as a nice back up slot

Lucario @ Wise Glasses/Life Orb/Choice Specs
~ Vacuum Wave
~ Aura Sphere
~ Shadow Ball
~ HP Ice/Dragon Pulse

Your standard special orientated Lucario, Ghost & Fighting hits every type for at least normal effectiveness, and the last slot is for Dragons. HP Ice is preferred but Dragon Pulse will suffice.

After completing the first 2 rounds, and the majority of the third, you will have to fight the Tower Tycoon. His team is always the same 3 pokemon. I have listed here their moves, natures, and EV spreads. Use them to your advantage.

The Tower Tycoon's Team

Milotic @ Salac Berry
Timid
EVs in Speed and Defence
Dragon Pulse
Hypnosis
Recover
Hydro Pump

Most annoying, and dangerous Pokemon BT has to offer. Be wary of this if it wasn't for this then a Garchomp Lead would work very well. When you see this, blow up Metagross. Lum berry prevents sleep, and Metagross lives a Hydro Pump. Milotic Dies to explosion. Be VERY careful not to activate the berry. You're in trouble if it goes off.

Rhyperior @ Expert Belt
Quiet
EV trained in Attack and Special Attack
Ice Beam
T-bolt
Flamethrower
Rock Wrecker

This Rhyperior hits pitifully low even with his + special attack Nature, unless he is hitting you for super effective. Don't worry, he is slow and has plenty of weaknesses to pick on. Garchomp kills it, Metagross kills it, and Lucario kills it.

Dragonite @ Wide Lens
Adamant
EV trained in Attack and HP
Aqua Tail
Stone Edge
Iron Tail
Dragon Rush

Any of your dragon Pokemon, (Or Lucario) should out speed this and get a 1 or 2 hit kill.

Quick List of Best Places to Train EVs

This is just a quick list. More detailed information will be held later in the guide. I mention the VS Seeker in this list. If you do not know what this is or how it works, I have compiled a quick guide on it below this list.

HP - West of Pastoria city in the water, on Route 212, you will run into Woopers. Give one base HP EV each. Rarely will you see Quagsires that give 2 EVs each. Combined both of these monsters have a 100% encounter rate.

If you are using the VS Seeker, on Route 209 there is a great place to train. There is a girl at the top of the sand, her name is Cowgirl Shelly. She owns 5 Bidoofs that give 1 HP EV each.

Attack - Route 229 fishing with a Super Rod. Fishing here will net you a Gyarados every time. Gives 2 base attack EVs.

You may also fish in Twinleaf Town, where you encounter Seaking. These fish give 2 attack EVs each.

Defence - Ruin Maniac Cave. Walking around you will encounter Geodudes and Hippotas. Both give 1 base EV in defence each.

Special Attack – In the resort area there is a small pool you may surf in to encounter Golduck 100% of the time. Gives 2 base EV points each.

The Old Chateau is also a good place to train. Here you will find Gastlys that give 1 EV each. If you have a GBA Pokemon game in your DS you will run into Haunters and Gengars as well. These spectres give 2 and 3 special attack EVs each, respectively.

Special Defence – Off the water in Sunyshore city. You will see Tentacruel 60% of the time that gives 2 Special Defence EVs each. Rarely will you see Mantykes that give 1 EV each.

You may also surf the water in Pastoria city. Here you will always run into Tentacools that give 1 special defence EV each.

Speed – Up on the ledges near the Survival Area. (Head east of Survival area and use rock climb to access.) You will encounter Fearows and Raticates, both of which give 2 speed EVs each. Rarely will you see Rattatas and Spearows, both of which give 1 base EV each.

If you are using the VS Seeker, on Route 205 east of Eterna City you will find a bunch of fishermen. Challenge the second one from the right, Fisherman Andrew. He has six Magikarp that give 1 Speed EV each.

The VS Seeker

You get this item on Route 207 from Dawn. (Or Lucas if you are a girl.)

This nifty gadget allows you to re-fight trainers you have challenged before. Simply select it and it will tell you all the trainers in the area who wish to battle. After you use it you must walk 100 steps for it to recharge.

I suggest that you make good use of the VS Seeker, because it can make EV training a lot easier for you.

Training HP EVs

This is one of the simplest EVs to train. The best place to train HP is west of Pastoria City, on Route 212. You will see a small body of water, which you can hope on in and surf on. In this water you will see Woopers which give one point each, and Quagsires which give 2 points each. Together they both have a 100% encounter rate, though Woopers are far more common.

I suggest only training on the Woopers. This is for the pure simplicity of calculations, because when using power items the Woopers always give an EV amount divisible by 5.

Alternatively you may use the VS Seeker to repeatedly challenge a girl on Route 209 named Cowgirl Shelly. She has 5 Bidoofs which give 1 HP EV each. She is a great alternative place.

Training Attack EVs

Though attack is simpler than HP training, it requires more attention. The best place to train attack EVs is East of the Fight Area, or West of the resort area (Easier this way) on route 229. Here with your Super Rod you may fish for Gyarados, which appear 100% of the time you actually get a catch. These water snakes give you a generous 2 EV points each.

Another good place to fish is Twinleaf Town. Here you can encounter Seakings, which give 2 EV points in attack each.

I realize some people have issues getting the rod to work, so here is exactly how to do it. I suggest that you first assign the Super Rod to your Y-Button. After you have done this, press your Y-Button, while standing next to the water, and pay attention to the screen. When you see the exclamation point above your characters head, quickly tap the A Button once. You do not have to have super reflexes to get this right, though you do need to be paying attention.

Training Defence EVs

The best place to do this is in the Ruin Maniacs cave. This is outside of where you catch the Unknown, the tunnel you actually find the guy in.

Here you will find primarily Geodudes, though Hippotas are not completely uncommon. Each of these guys gives 1 EV point each for defence. The low levels of these creatures make defence EV training much simpler than it might seem at first.

Training Special Attack

The best place to train this is in the Resort Area. In this small little town you will find a small pool of water near the bottom right-hand corner of the town. In this pool of water you may surf, and find Golducks. These guys give a generous 2 EV points for everyone you faint. On top of that, they are a 100% encounter rate.

Another place you may train special attack is in the Old Chateau, though it is only worth it if you have a GBA Pokemon game.

Here you will find Gastlys that give 1 special attack EV each. If you have a GBA game inserted into your DS, you will also encounter Haunter and Genagr. These guys give 2 and 3 special attack EVs respectively.

Training Special Defence

This stat is almost always easier to train if you use the Split EV training method explained below. Thankfully though, not many things need special defence EVs.

The best place to train this stat is North of Sunyshore city. Once you’ve flown there, head north until you find Jasmine, the Steel Type Gym Leader from GSC who gives you the HM. Now, swim out into the water. Here you will find, Tentacruels. They are a 60% encounter rate. You will occasionally run into Mantykes, who gives 1 Special Defence EV each.

An alternative and possibly better place to train is in Pastoria City. East of the Move Tutor’s home you will see a pool of water. If you surf in here you will encounter Tentacools which give 1 special defence EV each. This is a 100% encounter.

Training Speed

The best way is using the Versus Seeker. On Route 205, you will find many fishermen fishing. (You get to Route 205 by exiting Eterna City via the eastern exit.) Challenge the second fisherman from the right, Fisherman Andrew. He has 6 Magikarps that give 1 Speed EV each.

There is however another good training area. You will find the training area east of the Survival area. Head east of the Pokecenter until you find a place you can rock climb. Climb up, and you are on the ledges.

Here you will find Fearows and Raticates, both of which give 2 speed Ev points each. You also (Though much more rarely) find their pre-evolved forms, Rattata and Spearow, who offer 1 EV point each.

The reason EV training here is not as effective as fighting Fisherman Andrew, is the lack of a 100% encounter rate. You will find that Golduck and Machoke are fairly commonly found here. Though this makes the location inferior to Fisherman Andrew, it is still a good place to train.

Training Split EVs

Split EV training is recommended for when you are training for a generic 252/252 Spread (Such as commonly used on Sweeper or Walls). To split train EV's you can fight Pokemon that have 1 Atk/1 Speed but it is recommended you use a Power Item and fight a Pokemon that gives different IV for example

You attach a Power Band to your Pokemon while killing Geodudes, so you gain 1 Defence and 4 Special Defence EVs for every Geodude you kill

Take care when using this method as it may be harder to keep track of the EVs you have gained

EconBiscuit · Apr 18, 2008

Working on removing the informalities, correcting the mistakes pointed out. Also going to add in more content some more content

garo · Apr 19, 2008

three points you might include:
* The item Macho brace doubles the amount of EV obtained like the pokerus.
* Power items and macho brace temporarily reduce your speed stat, the speed goes back to normal when the item is removed, and do not affect your speed growing when your poke level up.
* In training split evs section the power item is not a must, you can split ev train with pokes that earn you EV in two stats, like cacturne that gives you 1 attack and 1 sp. attack EV points.

Overall you did a good job explaining the EV, congratulations and thanks for contributing to the community.

maddog · May 15, 2008

Milotic has Dragon Pulse, not Ice Beam.

I'll edit more things in later

Mekkah · May 27, 2008

It's "EVs" and "IVs", not "EV's" and "IV's", because it's "values", not "value's". At some points in this guide it's correct, at others it's not.

Mikazukinoyaiba · May 27, 2008

List of EV Trainers for Attack, Defense, and Sp. Atk

You provided a list of trainers to EV train against for HP and Speed, I have some more for Attack, Defense, and Sp. Atk. They're the best to use (so far) from what I found in terms of convenience and their pokemon strength.

Attack - PI Carlos Route 214 (to the North in a white suit)
3 Seakings lvs 56, 57, & 58 (2 EVs each)

Defense - Ninja Boy Fabian Route 210 (in tall grass area you'll have to talk to him so he'll appear)

3 Geodudes lvs 23, 23 , and 26. (1 EV each)

Special Attack - Collector Douglass Route 214 (furthest to the South)

3 Roselia's lvs 20, 22, & 24 (2 EVs each)

As of now I haven't found any trainers better for Attack, if anyone does find one please do tell. Also keep in mind that these are all of the FINAL parties for each of these trainers once you've faced Heatran. The parties shouldn't change or level up any more.

Serv · Oct 26, 2008

What happened here? To add to the recommended EV training grounds I particularly like this guide here. Perhaps you can just mesh them together and credit both authors. Thanks have a nice day ^^.

Imran · Feb 21, 2009

My Edit:

• I have changed very little content-wise. The majority of the work I have done is to brush up the informalities and make it more presentable, re-ordering sections and other such "housekeeping"
• I lumped all of the EV Training and Vs. Seeker into one section labeled “Generic EV training” – The contents was way too long
• Removed the bit about the Tower Tycoon, well, I have paraphrased it at least. it was the largest part of the guide, and on the whole, unnecessary – I have linked to the BT thread instead.
• I have also removed some other stuff that I felt was unnessecary, which has reduced the length of the guide, this helps make it a little more readable / less intimidating
• Removed Quick List of best places to train EVs, If people are really bothered they will read the small section under generic EV training
• Switches Pokerus and Hold Items section around as examples were a bit messed up.
• I was thinking about adding a “preparations” section, mentioning counting methods etc… but I am not sure that this is nessecary as these points are touched upon throughout the guide. Conclusion might also be unnessecary / needs revising, I shall get around to this, but I would also like opinions on the nessecity of it
• I have tried to sort out any stylistic issues between my writing and the previous writers writing, although I would like to have this checked!
• I am happy to HTML this myself when people feel it is ready
• Also, a full grammar check would be nice, I hope I have done a lot of it myself, but grammar isn’t necessarily my strong point ^_^

Table of Contents

• What are EVs?
• Vitamins
• Reducing EVs
• Hold Items
• Pokerus
• Generic EV Training
• Split EV Training

What are EVs?

EV is short for Effort Value. Effort values are acquired every time you defeat and gain experience from a Pokémon. Any single Pokémon can gain up to 510 EVs in total, with a maximum of 255 in each particular statistic. For every four EVs you have in a particular statistic, you gain one extra point in that statistic at level 100; this means that it is in your best interest to ensure that the number of EVs in each is divisible by four, any more are wasted. For example, if you got a Magikarp to level 100 using only Rare Candies, and therefore gaining no EVs, you would have an Attack statistic of 60. However, if you had the same Magikarp gain four EVs in Attack whilst training, once he is level 100 he would have an Attack statistic of 61, instead of 60. This means that you can add a maximum of 127 overall points (508 EVs) to all statistics collectively, and a maximum of 63 to any given statistic by the time the Pokémon reaches Level 100.

Creating competitive EV spreads is not too difficult to accomplish. As a general rule, you want to be maximizing the statistics that a given Pokémon already excels in; you would maximize Special Attack and Speed on Gengar, for example. There are, however, a few other variables to consider, and these are covered in A Guide to Effectively Applying and Distributing EVs, and Maximizing your Defenses.

At the Market in Sunyshore City there is a lady who gives a ribbon to the first Pokémon in your party if it is completely EV trained. If your Pokémon can get the ribbon from this lady, it has all 510 EV points filled. Only 508 points are needed to actually complete your EV spread, so this is not nessecarily a great way of checking.

It is important to note that EVs are not IVs. For an introduction to IVs and the best methods for attaining good ones please read The Breeding Guide.

Vitamins

Vitamins are a useful aid in the EV training process, as they can reduce the length of the training period significantly. Vitamins are the quickest way to EV train early, and can be purchased at the Veilstone department store for $9,800 each, or at the Battle Tower for one Battle Point.

One vitamin will give a Pokémon ten EVs in a particular statistic, but will cease to work after 100 EVs have been gained in that statistic. (For example, if you give your Salamence 110 Attack EVs and then remember you haven’t used vitamins, you will not be able to gain any more through this method, as you have already reached the 100 limit.) Due to this fact, if you plan to apply vitamins, it is best to do it before using any other method to EV train. Vitamins can speed up the early portion of your training and are easy to keep track of.

Here is a quick list of vitamins and their corresponding statistics:

HP Up – HP
Protein – Attack
Iron – Defense
Calcium – Special Attack
Zinc – Special Defense
Carbos – Speed

Reducing EVs

There is no way to tell how many EVs you have directly without using a cheating device. It is, therefore, best to record the EVs a Pokémon gains in order to ensure that you don't EV train it incorrectly. A tally chart or other counting method is very useful for this.

If you find that you have EV trained a Pokémon incorrectly, there are berries that decrease your Pokémon’s EVs that can bail you out. If the number of EVs is over 100 in a particular statistic, the corresponding Berry will drop the number of EVs in that statistic to 100. If the number is 100 or less, then the number of EVs in that statistic is then reduced by 10. This means that using 11 of a Berry will always reset the number of EVs to 0, in the corresponding statistic. This means that if you lose count, you can start again. All of these Berries can be received from the Berry Masters house on Route 208.

Here is a quick list of the berries and their corresponding statistics:

#21 Pomeg Berry - HP
#22 Kelpsey Berry - Attack
#23 Qualot Berry - Defense
#24 Hondew Berry - Special Attack
#25 Grepa Berry - Special Defense
#26 Tamato Berry - Speed

Hold Items

There are several items that can be found in-game that will allow you to speed up your EV training by adding extra EVs at the end of battles. These items will cut your Pokémon’s Speed in half while equipped. Should you choose to train against low-level Pokémon, this is unlikely to make a difference. However, should you choose to train against Pokémon whose levels are slightly below, comparable, or higher than your Pokémon’s level, this may make training a more long winded process.

The Macho Brace is an item that, when held by your Pokémon, doubles the amount of EVs you gain after a battle. For example, if you defeat a Magikarp, you will gain two EVs, as the one Speed EV is doubled.

Power items, when held, add extra EVs the end of a battle. Each item adds four EVs into the statistic that it corresponds to. For example, if you were to fight a Magikarp wearing the Power Bracer, you'd gain one Speed EV from the Magikarp and four Attack EVs from the Bracer.

The power items and their corresponding statistics are:

Power Weight - HP
Power Bracer - Attack
Power Belt - Defense
Power Lens - Special Attack
Power Band - Special Defense
Power Anklet - Speed

Obtaining the Power Items

All of the power items can be obtained from the Battle Tower Shop. Each one costs 16 Battle Points, and there are 6 to buy. If you wish to buy the whole set, you will have to spend 96 Battle Points. The quickest way to gain points in the Battle Tower is to play the Single Battle Room. If you complete the first three rounds, you will face the Tower Tycoon, who gives you much more Battle Points than usual, should you defeat him. Please read DP Battle Tower Records for more advice on how to build a team to beat the Tower Tycoon. Alternatively, should you ask politely around the "Simple Questions, Simple Requests" thread, you may find somebody generous enough to trade for them.

Pokerus

Pokerus is a "disease" your Pokémon develop randomly while walking around/battling. Disease is a bad label for it, though, as it doubles the total EVs you gain after a battle! This is after factoring in all additional boosts from items, such as the Macho Brace or Power Items. Pokerus is similar to how Macho Brace worked in the ADV games; however, Pokerus does not have a negative effect on your Speed. For example, say you fight a Gyarados while wearing a Power Bracer. This would give you the base two EVs + the four EVs from the Power Bracer, totaling out at 6 EVs. However, with Pokerus that number doubles to 12 EVs from fighting a single Pokémon. This effectively halves the time that it takes you to EV train a Pokémon!

Initially, it is completely random for one of your Pokémon to acquire Pokerus; it's less than the chance of encountering a shiny Pokémon! The first time one of your Pokémon acquires the disease, the lady in the Pokémon Center will tell you when you have your Pokémon healed. Another way to see if you have Pokerus is to check the top left corner of your Pokémon’s summary screen. If it has active Pokerus there will be a small purple box reading PKRS. If it has inactive Pokerus you will see a small smiley face to the right of your Pokémon’s picture. Pokémon have active Pokerus for three days before it becomes inactive. However for time to pass on the "Pokerus clock", your Pokémon must be in your party, not in a box.

To spread Pokerus between Pokémon, you must have both Pokémon in your party. Place it next to the Pokémon in your party with Pokerus and it will have a chance of contracting the disease every time that you battle. If your Pokémon is in a box, it will not spread its Pokerus. However, it is recommended that you keep some spare Pokémon in your box with active Pokerus, to ensure that you can pass it on to other Pokémon later, should you wish. Although Pokerus sounds hard to get, it is relatively easy to pick one up around the Smogon Wi-Fi sub-forum, should you ask politely.

Generic EV Training

You will pick up the Versus Seeker as you initially play through the game. You obtain it on Route 207 from Dawn (or from Lucas if you are a girl.) This nifty gadget allows you to re-fight trainers you have challenged before. Simply select it and it will tell you all the trainers in the area who wish to battle. After you use it you must walk 100 steps for it to recharge, meaning that you can’t challenge people again until you have done this. You will find that the Versus Seeker is a valuable gadget for efficient EV training.

Training HP

The best place to train for HP EVs is west of Pastoria City, on Route 212. You will see a small body of water that you can Surf on. In this water you will see Wooper, who give one point each, and Quagsire who give two points each. Together they both have a 100% encounter rate, though Wooper are far more common. It is easier to only train on the Wooper, purely to help simplicity of calculations, because when using power items the Wooper always give an EV amount divisible by 5. This is easy enough to accomplish; simply make sure you switch to a Pokémon that is faster than the Quagsire and run, should you wish to not gain EVs from them. Alternatively, can may use the VS Seeker to repeatedly challenge a girl on Route 209 named Cowgirl Shelly. She has 5 Bidoof which give one HP EV each.

Training Attack

The best place to train Attack EVs is East of the Fight Area, or West of the resort area on Route 229. Here, with your Super Rod, you may fish for Gyarados, who appear 100% of the time you actually get a catch. These water snakes give you a generous two Attack points each. Another good place to fish is Twinleaf Town. Here you can encounter Seaking, which give two EV points in Attack each. If you fish in the water below Cowgirl Shelly you will also find only Gyarados and Seaking. Cyclist John, on the Cycling Road above Route 206, has two Staraptor, who each give out 3 Attack EVs!

Using the Super Rod is simple enough, although it may take a little getting used to, so here is exactly how to do it. I suggest that you first assign the Super Rod to your Y-Button. After you have done this, press your Y-Button while standing next to the water and prepare to concentrate. When you see the exclamation point above your characters head, quickly tap the A Button once.

Training Defense

The best place to train for Defense EVs is in the Ruin Maniac’s cave. This can be found on Route 214, on the left hand side of your screen. Here you will mostly find Geodude, although Hippopotas can also be found. Both of these give one EV point for Defense. The low levels of these creatures make Defense EV training much simpler than it might seem at first.

Training Special Attack

The best place to train for Special Attack EVs is in the Resort Area. In this small little town you will find a small pool of water near the bottom right-hand corner. If you Surf on this pool of water you will find Golduck. These guys give a generous two EV points for every one you defeat. On top of that, they are the only Pokémon you will encounter when Surfing! Another place you may train Special Attack is in the Old Chateau. There you will find Gastly that give one Special Attack EV each. If you have a GBA game inserted into your DS, you will also encounter Haunter and Gengar, who give two and three Special Attack EVs respectively. Scientist Shaun can be found on Route 212 (South,) he has two Alakazam, who give out 3 SpA EVs each, however, you will require Cut and a Bike to reach him.

Training Special Defense

The best place to train for Special Defense EVs is north of Sunyshore city. Once you’ve flown there, head north until you reach the sea. When you Surf in this water you will find Tentacruel, who give two Special Defense EVs each. They will be found 60% of the time, but you will also occasionally run into Mantyke, who give one Special Defense EV each. This statistic is almost always easier to train if you use the Split EV training method explained below. Thankfully though, not many things need Special Defense EVs.

An alternative and possibly better place to train is in Pastoria City. East of the Move Tutor’s home you will see a pool of water. If you surf in here you will encounter Tentacool who give one Special Defense EV each. They can be found 100% of the time.

Training Speed

The best place to train for Speed EVs is against Fisherman Andrew on 205. To re-challenge him, simply use the Vs. Seeker. He is the second trainer from the right and has 6 Magikarp, which give 1 Speed EV each. You will find another good training area east of the Survival Area. If you use Rock Climb, you will find yourself on the ledges; here you will find Fearow and Raticate, both of whom give two Speed EVs each. You also (albeit much more rarely) find their pre-evolved forms, Rattata and Spearow, who offer one EV each. EV training here is not as effective as fighting Fisherman Andrew, because of the lack of a 100% encounter rate. You will unfortunately find that Golduck and Machoke are also fairly commonly found here.

Split EV Training

Split EV training is recommended for when you are training for a generic 252/252 spread (that are primarily used on sweepers.) There are two different types of Split EV training. The first is when you are fighting Pokémon that give two different types of EVs. For example, defeating a Camerupt will earn you one Attack EV and one Special Attack EV.

The other type is where you battle a Pokémon that gives one type of EV, but then use a Power Item that corresponds to a different statistic, in order to train both simultaneously. For example, you attach a Power Band to your Pokémon while killing Geodude, this way you gain one Defense and four Special Defense EVs for every Geodude you kill.

Take care when using this method as it may be harder to keep track of the EVs you have gained!

Conclusion

EV training is not all that difficult, but remember, practice makes perfect! A reasonable amount of concentration is needed to ensure that you don’t miss-count, but if you follow the advice in this guide, very little should go wrong. If you are still stuck, and unsure what to do, feel free to ask around the Smogon Wi-Fi Sub-forum. There are many friendly users that would gladly help you out, they may even train them for you, for the right price of course!

Colloquy · Feb 21, 2009

Imran said:
Table of Contents

• What are EVs?
• Vitamins
• Reducing EVs
• Hold Items (Power Items/Macho Brace)
• Pokerus
• Generic EV Training
• Split EV Training

What are EVs?

EV is short for Effort value. Effort values are acquired every time you defeat and gain experience from a Pokémon. Any single Pokémon can gain up to 510 EVs in total, with a maximum of 255 in each particular statistic. For every four EVs you have in a particular stat, you gain one extra point in that statistic at level 100; this means that it is in your best interests to, ensure that the number of EVs in each is (repetition) divisible by four, any more are wasted. For example, if you got a Magikarp to level 100 using only Rare Candies, and therefore gaining no EVs, you would have an Attack statistic of 60. However, if you had the same Magikarp gain four EVs in Attack whilst training, once he is level 100 he would have an Attack statistic of 61, instead of 60. This means that you can add a maximum of 127 overall points (508 EVs) to all statistics collectively, and a maximum of 63 to any given statistic by the time the Pokémon reaches Level 100.

Creating competitive EV spreads is not too difficult to accomplish. As a general rule, you want to be maximizing the statistics that a given Pokémon already excels in; you would maximize Special Attack and Speed on Gengar, for example. There are, however, a few other variables to consider, and these are covered in A Guide to Effectively Applying and Distributing EVs, and Maximizing your Defenses.

At the Market in Sunyshore City there is a lady who gives a ribbon to the first Pokémon in your party if it is completely EV trained. If your Pokémon can get the ribbon from this lady, it has all 510 EV points filled. Only 508 points are needed to actually complete your EV spread, as 510 is not divisible by four, so those points aren't needed.

It is important to note that EVs are not IVs. For an introduction to IVs and the best methods for attaining good ones please read The Breeding Guide.

Vitamins

Vitamins are a useful aid in the EV training process, as they can reduce the length of the training period significantly. Vitamins are the quickest way to EV train early, and can be purchased at the Veilstone department store for $9,800 each, or at the Battle Tower for one Battle Point.

One vitamin will give a Pokémon ten EVs in a particular statistic, but will cease to work after 100 EVs have been gained in that stat. (For example, if you give your Salamence 110 Attack EVs and then remember you haven’t used vitamins, you will not be able to gain any more through this method, as you have already reached the 100 limit.) Due to this fact, if you plan to apply vitamins, it is best to do it before using any other method to EV train. Vitamins can speed up the early portion of your training and are easy to keep track of.

Here is a quick list of vitamins and their corresponding statistics:

HP Up – HP
Protein – Attack
Iron – Defense
Calcium – Special Attack
Zinc – Special Defense
Carbos – Speed

Reducing EVs

There is no way to tell how many EVs you have directly without using a cheating device. It is, therefore, best to record the EVs a Pokémon gains in order to ensure that you don't EV train it incorrectly. A tally chart or other counting method is very useful for this.

If you find that you have EV trained a Pokémon incorrectly, there are berries that decrease your Pokémon’s EVs that can bail you out. If the number of EVs is over 100 in a particular statistic, the corresponding Berry will drop the number of EVs in that statistic to 100. If the number is 100 or less, then the number of EVs in that statistic is then reduced by 10. This means that using 11 of a Berry will always reset the number of EVs to 0, in the corresponding statistic. This means that if you lose count, you can start again. All of these Berries can be received from the Berry Master's house on Route 208.

Here is a quick list of the berries and their corresponding statistics:

#21 Pomeg Berry - HP
#22 Kelpsey Berry - Attack
#23 Qualot Berry - Defense
#24 Hondew Berry - Special Attack
#25 Grepa Berry - Special Defense
#26 Tamato Berry - Speed

Hold Items

There are several items that can be found in-game that will allow you to speed up your EV training, by adding extra EVs at the end of battles. Both of these items, though, will cut your Pokémon’s Speed in half. Should you choose to train again low-level Pokémon, this is unlikely to make a difference. However, should you choose to train against Pokémon whose levels are slightly below, comparable, or higher than your Pokémon’s level, this may make training a more long winded process.

The Macho Brace is an item that, when held by your Pokémon, doubles the amount of EVs you gain after a battle. For example, if you defeat a Magikarp, you will gain two EVs, as the one Speed EV is doubled.

Power items, when held, add extra EVs the end of a battle. Each item adds four EVs into the statistic that it corresponds to. For example, if you were to fight a Magikarp wearing the Power Bracer, you'd gain one Speed EV from the Magikarp and four Attack EVs from the Bracer.

The power items and their corresponding statistics are:

Power Weight - HP
Power Bracer - Attack
Power Belt - Defense
Power Lens - Special Attack
Power Band - Special Defense
Power Anklet - Speed

Obtaining the Power Items

All of the power items can be obtained from the Battle Tower shop. Each one costs 16 Battle Points, and there are 6 to buy. If you wish to buy the whole set, you will have to spend 96 Battle Points. The quickest way to gain points in the Battle Tower is to play the Single Battle Room. If you complete the first three rounds, you will face the Tower Tycoon, who gives you much more Battle Points than usual, should you defeat him. Please read DP Battle Tower Records for more advice on how to build a team to beat the Tower Tycoon. Alternatively, should you ask politely around the "Simple Questions, Simple Requests" thread, you may find somebody generous enough to trade for them.

Pokerus

(Note that it has the accented 'e', like Pokemon, according to Serebii)

Pokerus is a "disease" your Pokémon develop randomly while walking around/battling. Disease is a bad label for it, though, as it doubles the total EVs you gain after a battle! This is after factoring in all additional boosts from items, such as the Macho Brace or Power items. Pokerus is similar to how Macho Brace worked in the ADV games; however, Pokerus does not have a negative effect on your Speed. For example, say you fight a Gyarados while wearing a Power Bracer. This would give you the base two EVs + the four EVs from the Power Bracer, totaling out at 6 EVs. However, with Pokerus that number doubles to 12 EVs from fighting a single Pokemon. This effectively halves the time that it takes you to EV train a Pokémon!

Initially, it is completely random for one of your Pokémon to acquire Pokerus; it's less than the chance of encountering a shiny Pokemon! The first time one of your Pokémon acquires the disease, the lady in the Pokémon Center will tell you when you have your Pokémon healed. Another way to see if you have Pokerus is to check the top left corner of your Pokémon’s summary screen. If it has active Pokerus there will be a small purple box reading PKRS, if it has inactive Pokerus you will see a small smiley face to the right of your Pokémon’s picture. Pokémon have active Pokerus for three days before it becomes inactive. However for time to pass on the "Pokerus clock", your Pokémon must be in your party, not in a box.

To spread Pokerus between Pokémon, you must have both Pokémon in your party. Place it next to the Pokémon in your party with Pokerus and it will have a chance of contracting the disease every time that you battle. If your Pokémon is in a box, it will not spread its Pokerus. However, it is recommended that you keep some spare Pokémon in your box with active Pokerus, to ensure that you can pass it on to other Pokémon later, should you wish. Although Pokerus sounds hard to get, it is relatively easy to pick one up around the Smogon Wi-Fi sub-forum.

Generic EV Training

You will pick up the Versus Seeker as you initially play through the game. You obtain it on Route 207 from Dawn (or from Lucas if you are a girl.) This nifty gadget allows you to re-fight trainers you have challenged before. Simply select it and it will tell you all the trainers in the area who wish to battle. After you use it you must walk 100 steps for it to recharge, meaning that you can’t challenge people again until you have done this. You will find that the Versus Seeker is a valuable gadget for efficient EV training.

Training HP

This is one of the simplest statistics to train. The best place to train HP is west of Pastoria City, on Route 212. You will see a small body of water that you can Surf on. In this water you will see Wooper, who give one point each, and Quagsire who give two points each. Together they both have a 100% encounter rate, though Wooper are far more common. It is easier to only train on the Wooper, purely to help simplicity of calculations, because when using power items the Wooper always give an EV amount divisible by 5. This is easy enough to accomplish, simply make sure you switch to a Pokémon that is faster than the Quagsire and run, should you wish to not gain EVs from them. Alternatively, can may use the VS Seeker to repeatedly challenge a girl on Route 209 named Cowgirl Shelly. She has 5 Bidoof which give one HP EV each.

Training Attack

Although Attack is simpler than HP training, it requires more attention. The best place to train Attack EVs is East of the Fight Area, or West of the resort area on Route 229. Here, with your Super Rod, you may fish for Gyarados, who appear 100% of the time you actually get a catch. These water snakes give you a generous two Attack points each. Another good place to fish is Twinleaf Town. Here you can encounter Seaking, which give two EV points in Attack each.

Getting the Super Rod to work is simple enough, although it may take a little getting used to, so here is exactly how to do it. I suggest that you first assign the Super Rod to your Y-Button. After you have done this, press your Y-Button while standing next to the water, and prepare to concentrate. When you see the exclamation point above your characters head, quickly tap the A Button once.

Training Defense

The best place to do this is in the Ruin Maniac’s cave. This can be found on Route 214, on the left hand side of your screen. Here you will mostly find Geodude, although Hippopotas can also be found. Both of these give one EV point for Defense. The low levels of these creatures make Defense EV training much simpler than it might seem at first.

Training Special Attack

The best place to train this is in the Resort Area. In this small little town you will find a small pool of water near the bottom right-hand corner. If you Surf on this pool of water you will find Golduck. These guys give a generous two EV points for every one you defeat. On top of that, they are the only Pokémon you will encounter when Surfing! Another place you may train Special Attack is in the Old Chateau. There you will find Gastly that give one Special Attack EV each. If you have a GBA game inserted into your DS, you will also encounter Haunter and Gengar, who give two and three Special Attack EVs respectively.

Training Special Defense

This statistic is almost always easier to train if you use the Split EV training method explained below. Thankfully though, not many things need Special Defense EVs. The best place to train this statistic is north of Sunyshore city. Once you’ve flown there, head north until you reach the sea. When you Surf in this water you will find Tentacruel, who give two Special Defense EVs each. They will be found 60% of the time, but you will also occasionally run into Mantyke, who give one Special Defense EV each.

An alternative and possibly better place to train is in Pastoria City. East of the Move Tutor’s home you will see a pool of water. If you surf in here you will encounter Tentacool who give one Special Defense EV each. They can be found 100% of the time.

Training Speed

The best way to train Speed is by using the Versus Seeker. On Route 205 you will find many fishermen fishing. Use the Versus Seeker, and should he be “active", challenge the second fisherman from the right, Fisherman Andrew. He has 6 Magikarp that all give one Speed EV each.

You will find another good training area east of the Survival Area. If you use Rock Climb, you will find yourself on the ledges; here you will find Fearow and Raticate, both of whom give two Speed EVs each. You also (albeit much more rarely) find their pre-evolved forms, Rattata and Spearow, who offer one EV each. EV training here is not as effective as fighting Fisherman Andrew, because of the lack of a 100% encounter rate. You will unfortunately find that Golduck and Machoke are also fairly commonly found here.

Split EV Training

Split EV training is recommended for when you are training for a generic 252/252 spread (such as commonly used on sweepers or walls). There are two different types of Split EV training. The first is when you are fighting Pokémon that give two different types of EVs. For example, defeating a Camerupt will earn you one Attack EV and one Special Attack EV.

The other type is where you battle a Pokémon that gives one type of EV, but then use a Power Item that corresponds to a different statistic, in order to train both simultaneously. For example, you attach a Power Band to your Pokémon while killing Geodude, this way you gain one Defense and four Special Defense EVs for every Geodude you kill.

Take care when using this method as it may be harder to keep track of the EVs you have gained!

Conclusion

EV training is not all that difficult, but remember, practice makes perfect! A reasonable amount of concentration is needed to ensure that you don’t miss-count, but if you follow the advice in this guide, very little should go wrong!

Good Job.

Rave · Feb 21, 2009

I have two great places for Ev training Atk and SpA. You can delete this post if necessary.

--------------------------

Cyclist John
Route 206
Two Staraptor Level 54 (6 Atk IVs)

The fact that both Staraptor have Intimidate can be annoying, but it's offset by easy resetting. The Bike path looks something like:

Code:

______________________________________
                                ______
<---------------------------->X|______
______________________________________

X = John.
<-> = Reset Path.

So you literally go up 50 steps (exactly where the path stops) and then let go.

--------------------------

Scientist Shaun
Route 212 South
Two Alakazam Level 53 (6 SpA IVs)

His location requires Cut and it's always raining, but Alakazam are very fast to Ev against.

Scientist Shaun can be found just to the left of Pastoria city by taking the first bike ramp you see. (It is behind two cut trees)

-------------------

There's also like a Tuber Jared that does 6 Gastrodon, but Bidoof is much easier.

Imran · Feb 22, 2009

Thanks Addie, I have made those changes. Thankyou also Rad3n, I have added those two locations.

EDIT: Added to the conclusion, any more suggestions / grammar etc... ?

Rave · Feb 22, 2009

I must apologise for a lack of clarity. I meant the Bike Path which is in/on top of route 206 for Cyclist John; as that makes a difference. Also;

The best way is using the Versus Seeker. On Route 205, you will find many fishermen fishing. (You get to Route 205 by exiting Eterna City via the eastern exit.) Challenge the second fisherman from the right, Fisherman Andrew. He has 6 Magikarps that give 1 Speed EV each.

That's a little jumbled.

"The best place to train for Speed is against Fisherman Andrew on 205. To re-challenge him, simply use the Vs. Seeker. He is the second trainer from the right and has 6 Magikarp which give 1 Speed EV each. If you give your Pokemon the Power Anklet, that's 30 Speed EVs a battle!"

Is a little clearer. I would also recommend keeping all of the introductions more uniform. Try beginning all of them with:

"The best place to train for stat is..."

Havak · Feb 22, 2009

Yeah, I agree with Rad3n on that one.

Also, maybe mention the other place useful for Attack EVs. IIRC it's in the waters just below where the trainer with five Bidoof is. Fishing with the Super Rod gives only Gyarados and Seaking, and I believe they're usually at a lower level than the ones in the other areas mentioned, so it could be easier for some people.

Maybe we should make a list of how many potential EVs you can gain as well?

Eg.

Fisherman Andrew

EVs per battle: 6
With PokeRus or Macho Brace: 12
With PokeRus + Macho Brace: 24
With Power Anklet: 30
With PokeRus + Power Anklet: 60

Or whatever it is.. lol

Imran · Feb 22, 2009

Added Rad3n's sentence and I have made the introductions more uniform.

I have added Havak's suggested area (although the levels aren't necessarily lower) and changed Cyclist John so that he is now on the Bike Path!

I am unsure about that Havak, I guess a table would be OK something along the lines of:

Number of EVs Pokemon gives | w/ Rus or Brace | w/ Rus + Brace | w/ Power Item | w/ Rus + Power Item
1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10
2 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 12
3 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 14

I don't know, is this table nessecary. I would like to hear thoughts on this. Obviously it will look better when I have HTMLed it, but I think it might be a useful reference for beginners.

EDIT: OK it looked better in the box I was typing it in, but you get the idea!

2nd EDIT: I mocked one up in a HTML practiser:

diinbong · Feb 22, 2009

Imran said:
Table of Contents

• What are EVs?
• Vitamins
• Reducing EVs
• Hold Items (Power Items/Macho Brace)
• Pokerus
• Generic EV Training
• Split EV Training

What are EVs?

EV is short for Effort Value. Effort values are acquired every time you defeat and gain experience from a Pokémon. Any single Pokémon can gain up to 510 EVs in total, with a maximum of 255 in each particular statistic. For every four EVs you have in a particular statistic, you gain one extra point in that statistic at level 100; this means that it is in your best interest(removed "s") to (removed ",") ensure that the number of EVs in each is divisible by four; any more are wasted. For example, if you got a Magikarp to level 100 using only Rare Candies, and therefore gaining no EVs, you would have an Attack statistic of 60. However, if you had the same Magikarp gain four EVs in Attack whilst training, once he is level 100 he would have an Attack statistic of 61, instead of 60. This means that you can add a maximum of 127 overall points (508 EVs) to all statistics collectively, and a maximum of 63 to any given statistic by the time the Pokémon reaches Level 100.

Creating competitive EV spreads is not too difficult to accomplish. As a general rule, you want to be maximizing the statistics that a given Pokémon already excels in; you would maximize Special Attack and Speed on Gengar, for example. There are, however, a few other variables to consider, and these are covered in A Guide to Effectively Applying and Distributing EVs, and Maximizing your Defenses.

At the Market in Sunyshore City there is a lady who gives a ribbon to the first Pokémon in your party if it is completely EV trained. If your Pokémon can get the ribbon from this lady, it has all 510 EV points filled. Only 508 points are needed to actually complete your EV spread, so this is not nessecarily a great way of checking.

It is important to note that EVs are not IVs. For an introduction to IVs and the best methods for attaining good ones please read The Breeding Guide.

Vitamins

Vitamins are a useful aid in the EV training process, as they can reduce the length of the training period significantly. Vitamins are the quickest way to EV train early, and can be purchased at the Veilstone department store for $9,800 each, or at the Battle Tower for one Battle Point.

One vitamin will give a Pokémon ten EVs in a particular statistic, but will cease to work after 100 EVs have been gained in that statistic. (For example, if you give your Salamence 110 Attack EVs and then remember you haven’t used vitamins, you will not be able to gain any more through this method, as you have already reached the 100 limit.) Due to this fact, if you plan to apply vitamins, it is best to do it before using any other method to EV train. Vitamins can speed up the early portion of your training and are easy to keep track of.

Here is a quick list of vitamins and their corresponding statistics:

HP Up – HP
Protein – Attack
Iron – Defense
Calcium – Special Attack
Zinc – Special Defense
Carbos – Speed

Reducing EVs

There is no way to tell how many EVs you have directly without using a cheating device. It is, therefore, best to record the EVs a Pokémon gains in order to ensure that you don't EV train it incorrectly. A tally chart or other counting method is very useful for this.

If you find that you have EV trained a Pokémon incorrectly, there are berries that decrease your Pokémon’s EVs that can bail you out. If the number of EVs is over 100 in a particular statistic, the corresponding Berry will drop the number of EVs in that statistic to 100. If the number is 100 or less, then the number of EVs in that statistic is then reduced by 10. This means that using 11 of a Berry will always reset the number of EVs to 0, in the corresponding statistic. This means that if you lose count, you can start again. All of these Berries can be received from the Berry Masters house on Route 208.

Here is a quick list of the berries and their corresponding statistics:

#21 Pomeg Berry - HP
#22 Kelpsey Berry - Attack
#23 Qualot Berry - Defense
#24 Hondew Berry - Special Attack
#25 Grepa Berry - Special Defense
#26 Tamato Berry - Speed

Hold Items

There are several items that can be found in-game that will allow you to speed up your EV training (removed ",") by adding extra EVs at the end of battles. Both of these items will cut your Pokémon’s Speed in half while equipped. Should you choose to train against low-level Pokémon, this is unlikely to make a difference. However, should you choose to train against Pokémon whose levels are slightly below, comparable, (added comma) or higher than your Pokémon’s level, this may make training a more long winded process.

The Macho Brace is an item that, when held by your Pokémon, doubles the amount of EVs you gain after a battle. For example, if you defeat a Magikarp, you will gain two EVs, as the one Speed EV is doubled.

Power items, when held, add extra EVs the end of a battle. Each item adds four EVs into the statistic that it corresponds to. For example, if you were to fight a Magikarp wearing the Power Bracer, you'd gain one Speed EV from the Magikarp and four Attack EVs from the Bracer.

The power items and their corresponding statistics are:

Power Weight - HP
Power Bracer - Attack
Power Belt - Defense
Power Lens - Special Attack
Power Band - Special Defense
Power Anklet - Speed

Obtaining the Power Items

All of the power items can be obtained from the Battle Tower Shop. Each one costs 16 Battle Points, and there are 6 to buy. If you wish to buy the whole set, you will have to spend 96 Battle Points. The quickest way to gain points in the Battle Tower is to play the Single Battle Room. If you complete the first three rounds, you will face the Tower Tycoon, who gives you much more Battle Points than usual, should you defeat him. Please read DP Battle Tower Records for more advice on how to build a team to beat the Tower Tycoon. Alternatively, should you ask politely around the "Simple Questions, Simple Requests" thread, you may find somebody generous enough to trade for them.

Pokerus

Pokerus is a "disease" your Pokémon develop randomly while walking around/battling. Disease is a bad label for it, though, as it doubles the total EVs you gain after a battle! This is after factoring in all additional boosts from items, such as the Macho Brace or Power Items. Pokerus is similar to how Macho Brace worked in the ADV games; however, Pokerus does not have a negative effect on your Speed. For example, say you fight a Gyarados while wearing a Power Bracer. This would give you the base two EVs + the four EVs from the Power Bracer, totaling out at 6 EVs. However, with Pokerus that number doubles to 12 EVs from fighting a single Pokémon. This effectively halves the time that it takes you to EV train a Pokémon!

Initially, it is completely random for one of your Pokémon to acquire Pokerus; it's less than the chance of encountering a shiny Pokémon! The first time one of your Pokémon acquires the disease, the lady in the Pokémon Center will tell you when you have your Pokémon healed. Another way to see if you have Pokerus is to check the top left corner of your Pokémon' s summary screen. If it has active Pokerus there will be a small purple box reading PKRS. If it has inactive Pokerus you will see a small smiley face to the right of your Pokémon’s picture. Pokémon have active Pokerus for three days before it becomes inactive. However for time to pass on the "Pokerus clock", your Pokémon must be in your party, not in a box.

To spread Pokerus between Pokémon, you must have both Pokémon in your party. Place it next to the Pokémon in your party with Pokerus and it will have a chance of contracting the disease every time that you battle. If your Pokémon is in a box, it will not spread its Pokerus. However, it is recommended that you keep some spare Pokémon in your box with active Pokerus, to ensure that you can pass it on to other Pokémon later, should you wish. Although Pokerus sounds hard to get, it is relatively easy to pick one up around the Smogon Wi-Fi sub-forum.

Generic EV Training

You will pick up the Versus Seeker as you initially play through the game. You obtain it on Route 207 from Dawn (or from Lucas if you are a girl.) This nifty gadget allows you to re-fight trainers you have challenged before. Simply select it and it will tell you all the trainers in the area who wish to battle. After you use it you must walk 100 steps for it to recharge, meaning that you can’t challenge people again until you have done this. You will find that the Versus Seeker is a valuable gadget for efficient EV training.

Training HP

The best place to train for HP EVs is west of Pastoria City, on Route 212. You will see a small body of water that you can Surf on. In this water you will see Wooper, who give one point each, and Quagsire who give two points each. Together they both have a 100% encounter rate, though Wooper are far more common. It is easier to only train on the Wooper, purely to help simplicity of calculations, because when using power items the Wooper always give an EV amount divisible by 5. This is easy enough to accomplish; simply make sure you switch to a Pokémon that is faster than the Quagsire and run, should you wish to not gain EVs from them. Alternatively, can may use the VS Seeker to repeatedly challenge a girl on Route 209 named Cowgirl Shelly. She has 5 Bidoof which give one HP EV each.

Training Attack

The best place to train Attack EVs is East of the Fight Area, or West of the resort area on Route 229. Here, with your Super Rod, you may fish for Gyarados, who appear 100% of the time you actually get a catch. These water snakes give you a generous two Attack points each. Another good place to fish is Twinleaf Town. Here you can encounter Seaking, which give two EV points in Attack each. If you fish in the water below Cowgirl Shelly you will also find only Gyarados and Seaking. Cyclist John, on the Cycling Road above Route 206, has two Staraptor, who each give out 3 Attack EVs!

Getting the Super Rod to work is simple enough, although it may take a little getting used to, so here is exactly how to do it. I suggest that you first assign the Super Rod to your Y-Button. After you have done this, press your Y-Button while standing next to the water (removed ",") and prepare to concentrate. When you see the exclamation point above your characters head, quickly tap the A Button once.

Training Defense

The best place to train for Defense EVs is in the Ruin Maniac’s cave. This can be found on Route 214, on the left hand side of your screen. Here you will mostly find Geodude, although Hippopotas can also be found. Both of these give one EV point for Defense. The low levels of these creatures make Defense EV training much simpler than it might seem at first.

Training Special Attack

The best place to train for Special Attack (I'm assuming this is what you meant instead of "Defense") EVs is in the Resort Area. In this small little town you will find a small pool of water near the bottom right-hand corner. If you Surf on this pool of water you will find Golduck. These guys give a generous two EV points for every one you defeat. On top of that, they are the only Pokémon you will encounter when Surfing! Another place you may train Special Attack is in the Old Chateau. There you will find Gastly that give one Special Attack EV each. If you have a GBA game inserted into your DS, you will also encounter Haunter and Gengar, who give two and three Special Attack EVs respectively. Scientist Shaun can be found on Route 212 (South,) he has two Alakazam, who give out 3 SpA EVs each, however, you will require Cut and a Bike to reach him.

Training Special Defense

The best place to train for Special Defense EVs is north of Sunyshore city. Once you’ve flown there, head north until you reach the sea. When you Surf in this water you will find Tentacruel, who give two Special Defense EVs each. They will be found 60% of the time, but you will also occasionally run into Mantyke, who give one Special Defense EV each. This statistic is almost always easier to train if you use the Split EV training method explained below. Thankfully though, not many things need Special Defense EVs.

An alternative and possibly better place to train is in Pastoria City. East of the Move Tutor’s home you will see a pool of water. If you surf in here you will encounter Tentacool who give one Special Defense EV each. They can be found 100% of the time.

Training Speed

The best place to train for Speed EVs is against Fisherman Andrew on 205. To re-challenge him, simply use the Vs. Seeker. He is the second trainer from the right and has 6 Magikarp,(added comma) which give 1 Speed EV each. You will find another good training area east of the Survival Area. If you use Rock Climb, you will find yourself on the ledges; here you will find Fearow and Raticate, both of whom give two Speed EVs each. You also (albeit much more rarely) find their pre-evolved forms, Rattata and Spearow, who offer one EV each. EV training here is not as effective as fighting Fisherman Andrew, because of the lack of a 100% encounter rate. You will unfortunately find that Golduck and Machoke are also fairly commonly found here.

Split EV Training

Split EV training is recommended for when you are training for a generic 252/252 spread (that are primarily used on sweepers.) There are two different types of Split EV training. The first is when you are fighting Pokémon that give two different types of EVs. For example, defeating a Camerupt will earn you one Attack EV and one Special Attack EV.

The other type is where you battle a Pokémon that gives one type of EV, but then use a Power Item that corresponds to a different statistic, in order to train both simultaneously. For example, you attach a Power Band to your Pokémon while killing Geodude, this way you gain one Defense and four Special Defense EVs for every Geodude you kill.

Take care when using this method as it may be harder to keep track of the EVs you have gained!

Conclusion

EV training is not all that difficult, but remember, practice makes perfect! A reasonable amount of concentration is needed to ensure that you don’t miss-count, but if you follow the advice in this guide, very little should go wrong. If you are still stuck, and unsure what to do, feel free to ask around the Smogon Wi-Fi Sub-forum. There are many friendly users that would gladly help you out; they may even train them for you, for the right price of course!

I just changed around some punctuation and edited a few grammatical errors. You could tell it was written with care :)

Rave · Feb 23, 2009

I have written way to much by way of suggestions here. There is probably a rule against this, so I'm sorry if I broke it.

Imran said:
EV is short for Effort Value. Effort values are acquired every time you defeat and gain experience from a Pokémon. Any single Pokémon can gain up to 510 EVs in total, with a maximum of 255 in each particular statistic. For every four EVs you have in a particular statistic, you gain one extra point in that statistic at level 100; this means that it is in your best interest to ensure that the number of EVs in each is divisible by four, any more are wasted. For example, if you got a Magikarp to level 100 using only Rare Candies, and therefore gaining no EVs, you would have an Attack statistic of 60. However, if you had the same Magikarp gain four EVs in Attack whilst training, once he is level 100 he would have an Attack statistic of 61, instead of 60. This means that you can add a maximum of 127 overall points (508 EVs) to all statistics collectively, and a maximum of 63 to any given statistic by the time the Pokémon reaches Level 100.

Just a few things with this part. You mention how many EVs a Pokemon can have before you explain what they do. The examples are also a little jumbled. You mention stuff like EVs being best invested in groups of four almost randomly. I would shift the first part around significantly.

"EV is short for Effort Value. Effort values are acquired every time you defeat and gain experience from a Pokémon. For every four EVs you have in an individual statistic, you gain an extra stat point at level 100. For example, if you raised a Magikarp to level 100 using only Rare Candies, it would gain no EVs, and would have an Attack statistic of 60. If you had given the same Magikarp four Attack EVs whilst training, at level 100 it would have an Attack statistic of 61."

"The maximum number of EVs a Pokemon can obtain is 510. A Pokemon can also have no more than 255 EVs in a statistic. You can add a maximum of 127 overall points (508 EVs) to all level 100 statistics collectively. Because there is a limit of 255 EVs per stat, the maximum an individual statistic can be increased by is 63 (252 EVs). Because four EVs in a statistic are needed to raise it by one, it is best to ensure that the number of EVs invested in each statistic is divisible by four."

You also need to mention EV Jump points and EV dead points (216/ 176/ 136/ 96/ 56/ 16 and 220/ 180/ 140/ 100/ 60/ 20) as well as the effect of a Pokemon's nature (+6, -6). The paragraph containing this information should go here (in between the competitive side of Ev and the introduction). You also don't mention that you need to level up to get the benefit of EVs (making EV training at level 100 impossible).

Creating competitive EV spreads is not too difficult to accomplish. As a general rule, you want to be maximizing the statistics that a given Pokémon already excels in; you would maximize Special Attack and Speed on Gengar, for example. There are, however, a few other variables to consider, and these are covered in A Guide to Effectively Applying and Distributing EVs, and Maximizing your Defenses.

This paragraph should really be about the competitive implications of EVs. Leave how to best distribute them to the links, as the competitive variables are too many. I suppose a general rule is fine, but not exactly necessary.

At the Market in Sunyshore City there is a lady who gives a ribbon to the first Pokémon in your party if it is completely EV trained. If your Pokémon can get the ribbon from this lady, it has all 510 EV points filled. Only 508 points are needed to actually complete your EV spread, so this is not nessecarily a great way of checking.

You spelled "necessarily" and "Sunnyshore" wrong, first of all xD. This paragraph's topic sentence should really begin by saying what the lady does, not where she is. You might also suggest using a vitamin on a stat that you weren't training when finished to check if you over EVd (etc.)

It is important to note that EVs are not IVs. For an introduction to IVs and the best methods for attaining good ones please read The Breeding Guide.

Fine.

Vitamins

Vitamins are a useful aid in the EV training process, as they can reduce the length of the training period significantly. Vitamins are the quickest way to EV train early, and can be purchased at the Veilstone department store for $9,800 each, or at the Battle Tower for one Battle Point.

"Vitamins, such as Protein and Carbos, are a useful aid..." better establishes what you are talking about. Vitamins are also the best way to reduce the time it takes to EV train, not the best way to EV train early.

One vitamin will give a Pokémon ten EVs in a particular statistic, but will cease to work after 100 EVs have been gained in that statistic. (For example, if you give your Salamence 110 Attack EVs and then remember you haven’t used vitamins, you will not be able to gain any more through this method, as you have already reached the 100 limit.) Due to this fact, if you plan to apply vitamins, it is best to do it before using any other method to EV train. Vitamins can speed up the early portion of your training and are easy to keep track of.

This paragraph could be much stronger. My below example is more concise, but still a little bit off.

"Each vitamin will give a Pokemon ten additional EVs to its corresponding statistic, but can only be used as part of that statistic's first 100 EVs. For example, if your Salamence has 110 Attack EVs already, the vitamin that corresponds to Attack will no longer work. For this reason, it is best to invest a statistic's first 100 EVs with vitamins; speeding up the EV process considerably."

Here is a quick list of vitamins and their corresponding statistics:

HP Up – HP
Protein – Attack
Iron – Defense
Calcium – Special Attack
Zinc – Special Defense
Carbos – Speed

Fine.

Reducing EVs

There is no way to tell how many EVs you have directly without using a cheating device. It is, therefore, best to record the EVs a Pokémon gains in order to ensure that you don't EV train it incorrectly. A tally chart or other counting method is very useful for this.

I would swap around the topic sentence to "Without using a cheating device, there is no way to tell how many EVs you have received," and combine it with the following sentence as it cuts down on unnecessary wording. I would also change this section's title to "Removing EVs" as it's more accurate.

"Without using a cheating device, there is no way to tell how many EVs you have received, and it is therefore best to record the EVs a Pokémon gains as you go. A tally chart is a great way to do this."

If you find that you have EV trained a Pokémon incorrectly, there are berries that decrease your Pokémon’s EVs that can bail you out. If the number of EVs is over 100 in a particular statistic, the corresponding Berry will drop the number of EVs in that statistic to 100. If the number is 100 or less, then the number of EVs in that statistic is then reduced by 10. This means that using 11 of a Berry will always reset the number of EVs to 0, in the corresponding statistic. This means that if you lose count, you can start again. All of these Berries can be received from the Berry Masters house on Route 208.

This paragraph is also quite messy.

"If you accidently EV train a Pokémon incorrectly, don't fret! Certain berries can remove your Pokémon’s EVs. If a Pokemon has over 100 EVs in a statistic, its corresponding Berry will drop that statistic's number of EVs back to 100. If there are still 100 EVs or less in the statistic, each Berry will remove 10 EVs. This means that by using 11 Berries on statistic, you will reset its number of EVs to 0. Because of this, if you happen to lose count, you can always start again."

Here is a quick list of the berries and their corresponding statistics. All of these Berries can be received from the Berry Masters house on Route 208.

#21 Pomeg Berry - HP
#22 Kelpsey Berry - Attack
#23 Qualot Berry - Defense
#24 Hondew Berry - Special Attack
#25 Grepa Berry - Special Defense
#26 Tamato Berry - Speed

I moved the sentence about where to get the berries here.

Hold Items

There are several items that can be found in-game that will allow you to speed up your EV training (by adding extra EVs at the end of battles). These items will cut your Pokémon’s Speed in half while equipped. (Should you choose to train against low-level Pokémon, this is unlikely to make a difference. However,) Should you choose to train against Pokémon whose levels are slightly below, comparable, or even higher than your own, this can make training a tedious process.

I would call this section "Held Items," as I believe that is what they're called in game (I could be wrong). "by adding extra EVs at the end of battles" is not necessary as you explain this in each item's paragraph. You do not really need to mention that low level Pokemon shouldn't make a difference either (not just because most of what gets trained comes from an egg).

The Macho Brace is an item that, when held by your Pokémon, doubles the amount of EVs you gain after a battle. For example, if you defeat a Magikarp, you will gain two EVs, as the one Speed EV is doubled.

I would start with where the Macho Brace can be found, then explain what it does. I would also shorten the last sentence to "For example, if you defeat a Magikarp, who normally gives one Speed EV, with the Macho Brace equipped, you would gain two Speed EVs instead."

Power items, when held, add extra EVs the end of a battle. Each item adds four EVs into the statistic that it corresponds to. For example, if you were to fight a Magikarp wearing the Power Bracer, you'd gain one Speed EV from the Magikarp and four Attack EVs from the Bracer.

I would, again, briefly state where to find the Power Items first. This lets you crop the next section completely. The rest is fine.

The power items and their corresponding statistics are:

Power Weight - HP
Power Bracer - Attack
Power Belt - Defense
Power Lens - Special Attack
Power Band - Special Defense
Power Anklet - Speed

Obtaining the Power Items

All of the power items can be obtained from the Battle Tower Shop. Each one costs 16 Battle Points, and there are 6 to buy. If you wish to buy the whole set, you will have to spend 96 Battle Points. The quickest way to gain points in the Battle Tower is to play the Single Battle Room. If you complete the first three rounds, you will face the Tower Tycoon, who gives you much more Battle Points than usual, should you defeat him. Please read DP Battle Tower Records for more advice on how to build a team to beat the Tower Tycoon. Alternatively, should you ask politely around the "Simple Questions, Simple Requests" thread, you may find somebody generous enough to trade for them.

This is really un-needed.

Pokerus

Pokerus is a "disease" your Pokémon develop randomly while walking around/battling, but disease is a bad label for it, as it actually doubles the total amount of EVs you gain after a battle! This is done after factoring in all additional boosts from items too (, such as the Macho Brace or Power Items). Pokerus works similarly to the Macho Brace (worked in the ADV games); but does not halve your Speed. If you were to defeat a Gyarados while wearing the Power Bracer, it would normally give you the two Attack EVs from defeating it and the four EVs from the Power Bracer. This totals out at 6 EVs, but with Pokerus that number doubles to 12! (EVs from fighting a single Pokémon.) This further decreases the time (that) it takes you to EV train a Pokémon!

This paragraph is almost perfect. I thought that some sentences could have been more concise, so I changed them around a bit.

Initially, it is completely random for one of your Pokémon to acquire Pokerus; it's less than the chance of encountering a shiny Pokémon! The first time one of your Pokémon acquires the disease, the lady in the Pokémon Center will tell you when you have your Pokémon healed. Another way to see if you have Pokerus is to check the top left corner of your Pokémon’s summary screen. If it has active Pokerus there will be a small purple box reading PKRS. If it has inactive Pokerus you will see a small smiley face to the right of your Pokémon’s picture. Pokémon have active Pokerus for three days before it becomes inactive. However for time to pass on the "Pokerus clock", your Pokémon must be in your party, not in a box.

To spread Pokerus between Pokémon, you must have both Pokémon in your party. Place it next to the Pokémon in your party with Pokerus and it will have a chance of contracting the disease every time that you battle. If your Pokémon is in a box, it will not spread its Pokerus. However, it is recommended that you keep some spare Pokémon in your box with active Pokerus, to ensure that you can pass it on to other Pokémon later, should you wish. Although Pokerus sounds hard to get, it is relatively easy to pick one up around the Smogon Wi-Fi sub-forum, should you ask politely.

These two Paragraphs are pretty much un-necessary. If there's no where you can link to I suppose it is necessary, but I would be very tempted to leave it out anyway.

I have to stop here. I apologise for changing the very core of all your writing. It seems wrong (and it's probably against the rules), but a lot of it didn't seem to flow right for me. Ignore/Steal/Copy/Delete as you feel.

Imran · Feb 23, 2009

Your help is very much appreciated. I shall sort them out sometime this evening or tomorrow.

EDIT: Might have to wait until the weekend, I am super busy going back to school today. I am currently in the process of discussing it with Rad3n

Rave · Feb 27, 2009

This article has been all over the place lately, but Imran has asked me to finish it off.

• I have re-worded most of the article, but changed very little content.
- I did completely change the content of the competitive EV spread section.
- I did completely change the content of the "Sunnyshore lady" paragraph.
• I dumped a lot of stuff which was not important. Unless someone convinces me this article is the place to explain everything about Pokerus, it will not be included.
• I added some important information regarding the effects of a Pokemon's nature.
• I renamed a few titles.
• I tried to hint at where you actually get EVs from. The original guides said from defeating Pokemon, but were pretty un-clear.
• I added mentions of the EXP. Share to the Items section. I also added that all Pokemon who participate in battle get the same, full, number of EVs.
• I added that all Pokemon start with no EVs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents

• What are EVs?
• Vitamins
• Removing EVs
• Held Items
• Pokerus
• Generic EV Training
• Split EV Training

What are EVs?

EV is short for Effort Value. Effort values are acquired every time you defeat and gain experience from a Pokémon. Unlike experience however, EVs are not split. Everyone who participated gets the full amount of EVs. For every four EVs you have in an individual statistic, you gain an extra stat point at level 100. For example, if you raised a Magikarp to level 100 using only Rare Candies, it would gain no EVs, and would have an Attack statistic of 60. If you had given the same Magikarp four Attack EVs whilst training, at level 100 it would have an Attack statistic of 61.

All Pokemon start with no EVs when obtained. The maximum number of EVs a Pokemon can obtain is 510. A Pokemon can also have no more than 255 EVs in a statistic. Without factoring natures, you can add a maximum of 127 overall points (508 EVs) to all level 100 statistics collectively. Because there is a limit of 255 EVs per stat, the maximum an individual statistic can be increased by is 63 (252 EVs). Because four EVs in a statistic are needed to raise it by one, it is best to ensure that the number of EVs invested in each statistic is divisible by four.

Investing EVs into a statistic which is raised or lowered by a Pokemon's nature has a small effect on its outcome. Pokemon with a boosting nature will gain an additional statistic point at 16, 56, 96, 136, 176 and 216 EVs. These are usually referred to as "Jump Points." Pokemon with a hindering nature will not gain an additional statistic point at 20, 60, 100, 140, 180 and 220 EVs. These are usually referred to as "Dead Points." This means that with a boosting nature, a Pokemon will get 69 additional points instead of 63 from 252 EVs. With a hindering nature, a Pokemon will only get 57.

EVs have large competitive implications, and creating effective EV spreads is not particularly difficult. Most of this is covered in A Guide to Effectively Applying and Distributing EVs, and Maximizing your Defenses. Cross-referencing with a Speed Tier list can also be very helpful.

There is a lady at the Market in Sunnyshore City who gives a ribbon to the first Pokémon in your party if it has obtained 510 EVs. Because only 508 points are needed to complete your EV spread, this is only really helpful for checking if you invested more EVs than you intended to. The best way to check if you have EVd a Pokemon correctly is to find an IV battle. As the Pokemon's stats will be shown as they would be at level 100, assuming you know the Pokemon's IVs, an IV calculator can tell you if the Pokemon was EVd correctly.

It is important to note that EVs are not IVs. For an introduction to IVs and the best methods for attaining good ones, please read The Breeding Guide.

Vitamins

Vitamins, such as Protein and Carbos, are a useful aid in the EV training process. They are probably the single most efficient way to reduce the time EV training takes. They can be purchased at the Veilstone department store for $9,800 each, or at the Battle Tower for one Battle Point.

Each vitamin will give a Pokemon ten additional EVs to its corresponding statistic, but can only be used as part of that statistic's first 100 EVs. For example, if your Salamence has 110 Attack EVs already, the vitamin that corresponds to Attack will no longer work. For this reason, it is best to invest a statistic's first 100 EVs with vitamins; speeding up the EV process considerably.

Here is a quick list of vitamins and their corresponding statistics:

HP Up – HP
Protein – Attack
Iron – Defense
Calcium – Special Attack
Zinc – Special Defense
Carbos – Speed

Removing EVs

Without using a cheating device, there is no way to tell how many EVs you have received, and it is therefore best to record the EVs a Pokémon gains as you go. A tally chart is a great way to do this.

If you accidentally EV train a Pokémon incorrectly, don't fret! Certain berries can remove your Pokémon’s EVs. If a Pokemon has over 100 EVs in a statistic, its corresponding Berry will drop that statistic's number of EVs back to 100. If there are still 100 EVs or less in the statistic, each Berry will remove 10 EVs. This means that by using 11 Berries on a statistic, you will reset its number of EVs to 0. Because of this, if you happen to lose count, you can always start again.

Here is a quick list of the berries and their corresponding statistics. All of these Berries can be received from the Berry Master's house on Route 208.

#21 Pomeg Berry - HP
#22 Kelpsey Berry - Attack
#23 Qualot Berry - Defense
#24 Hondew Berry - Special Attack
#25 Grepa Berry - Special Defense
#26 Tamato Berry - Speed

Held Items

There are several items that can be found in-game which will allow you to speed up your EV training. These items will cut your Pokémon’s Speed in half while equipped so should you choose to train against Pokémon whose levels are slightly below, comparable, or even higher than your own, this can make training a tedious process.

The Macho Brace can be obtained by showing all three forms of Burmy to a man in Pastoria city. When held by a Pokémon, it doubles the amount of EVs gained after defeating a Pokemon. For example, if you defeat a Pokemon (such as Magikarp) who normally gives one Spe EV, with the Macho Brace equipped, you would gain two Speed EVs instead.

The six Power items can be obtained at the Battle Tower for 16 Battle Points each. When held by a Pokemon, they add four additional EVs after every Pokemon you defeat. Each item corresponds to a statistic, and the four EVs gained are not determined by the Pokemon you defeat. If you were to fight a Magikarp wearing the Power Bracer, you'd gain one Spe EV from the Magikarp and four Atk EVs from the Bracer.

Here is a list of the Power Items and their corresponding statistics:

Power Weight - HP
Power Bracer - Attack
Power Belt - Defense
Power Lens - Special Attack
Power Band - Special Defense
Power Anklet - Speed

For help obtaining the Power Items, try the DP Battle Tower Records.

The Exp. Share can be obtained from Eterna City if you have seen 50 or more Pokemon. When equipped by a Pokemon, it not only takes half the experience gained, but gets EVs as well. Rather than splitting the EVs, both Pokemon still get the full amount. For instance, if a Pokemon that gave one Spe EV (such as Magikarp) were defeated, the Pokemon that killed it and the Pokemon with the Exp. Share would both get half the experience, but would still both get 1 Spe EV.

Pokerus

Pokerus is a "disease" your Pokémon develop randomly while walking around/battling, but disease is a bad label for it, as it actually doubles the total amount of EVs you gain after a battle! This is done after factoring in all additional boosts from items too. Pokerus works similarly to the Macho Brace; but does not halve your Speed. If you were to defeat a Gyarados whilst wearing the Power Bracer, you would normally get the two Attack EVs from the Gyarados and the four Attack EVs from the Power Bracer. This totals out at 6 EVs, but with Pokerus that number doubles to 12! This further decreases the time it takes you to EV train a Pokémon.

Generic EV Training

After reading to this point, you should have some understanding of what EVs are. The next step is to actually go out and try EV training for yourself. But wait! There are 493 Pokemon. Where do I train? What Pokemon give what EVs? This section will highlight some of the best places to EV train. Although every Pokemon will give a certain type of EV when defeated, most Pokemon are in-efficient to train against. Some Pokemon give EVs for two different stats, some Pokemon give more EVs than others.

Some of this training involves the use of the Vs. Seeker, which you obtain during the course of the game. This nifty gadget allows you to re-fight trainers you have challenged before. When selected, it will tell you all the trainers in the area who wish to battle. After use, you must wait 100 steps for it to recharge.

Training HP

There are several great places to train for HP EVs.

In Route 212 (North), you will encounter only Wooper and Quagsire while surfing. Wooper gives one HP EV and Quagsire gives two. They range between level 20 and level 40.
Cowgirl Shelly can be found in Route 209. She has five Bidoof, which give one HP EV each. The Bidoof are all around level 15.
Tuber Jared can be found in Route 213. He has 3 Gastrodon around level 50. Gastrodon give two HP EVs each.

Training Attack

Training for Atk EVs is not as simple as HP.

Cyclist John can be found on the Cycling road. He has two Staraptor around level 50. Staraptor give 3 Atk Evs each, but their high level and Intimidate ability can make training difficult.
In the Fight Area, or west of the Resort area on Route 229, you will always find Gyarados when fishing. Gyarados give two Atk EVs, but fishing is extremely tedious and requires a great deal of concentration.
In Twinleaf Town, Seaking can also be found when fishing. They give two Atk EVs each.

Training Defense

There aren't many good places for EV training Def.

In the Ruin Maniac’s cave on Route 214, only low-level Hippopotas and Geodude will appear. Each give one Def EV.
Just north of the Fight Area on Route 225, you will find Psychic Daisy. She has two Slowbro abound level 60 which give 2 Def EVs each.

Training Special Attack

Training for SpA is very easy.

When Surfing in the Resort Area, you will find only Golduck. They give two SpA EVs each.
In the Old Chateau, you will encounter only Gastly who give one SpA EV each. If you have a GBA game inserted into your DS, you may also encounter Haunter and Gengar, who give two or three SpA EVs respectively. The Old Chateau requires Cut to enter.
Scientist Shaun can be found on Route 212 (South). He has two Alakazam, which give three SpA EVs each. You also require Cut to reach him.

Training Special Defense

Training for SpD, much like Def, is not necessarily hard. There are just no great places.

When Surfing north of Sunnyshore city, you will find Tentacruel and Mantyke. Tentacruel appears more frequently and gives two SpD EVs. Mantyke only gives one.
East of the Move Tutor’s house in Pastoria City, you will find only Tentacool while surfing. Tentacool give one SpA EV each.

Training Speed

Spe is a very easy statistic to EV.

Fisherman Andrew on 205 has 6 Magikarp, which give one Spe EV each.
East of the Survival Area, on the ledges, you will find Fearow and Raticate. Both give two Spe EVs. Unfortunately, you may also encounter Rattata, Spearow, Machoke and Golduck here. The ledges require Rock Climb to reach.
Using the Old Rod on almost any body of water will hook a Magikarp, giving one Spe EV.

Split EV Training

Split EV training is more difficult than training statistic-by-statistic, but is also more efficient.

The first type of Split Ev Training involves fighting Pokémon that give two different types of EVs. Pokemon such as Camerupt and Unown give one Attack EV and one Special Attack EV and are great for training mixed sweepers. The only real advantage this type of split training holds over doing each stat separately is that you don't have to move around as much.

The second type of Split EV Training involves using a Power Item that corresponds to a statistic you aren't training. For example, if you were to attach a Power Band to your Pokémon while killing Geodude, you would gain one Def EV and four SpD EVs for every kill. This makes it easier to get EVs in statistics which are difficult to EV train.

Conclusion

EVs are a simple concept once you get your head around them. EV training can be difficult, but practice makes perfect! A reasonable amount of concentration is needed to ensure you don’t miss-count, so it's generally a bad idea to try and train when you are tired. If you are still confused about EVs, try asking around. Most people were in your boat at some point in time and will be happy to help you.

Legacy Raider · Apr 4, 2009

Would just like to mention another useful place for training up Speed. To the east of Eterna city, on Route 211, there is Ninja Boy Zachary in the grass. He starts off with 3 Zubat, but by the third Vs Seeker rematch after the Elite Four, he has a Golbat and two Crobat, all level 51. This gives a total of 8 Speed EVs without any boosting items, and is arguably quicker and easier for high levelled Pokemon to train on than Fisherman Andrew. This is in both DP and Platinum.

Also, Surfing on any body of water inside Mt Coronet will make you encounter Zubat and Golbat, giving one and two Speed EVs respectively, and they are the only Pokemon you will encounter. In addition, Surfing in the first part of Victory Road, i.e. the bit you can access before the elite four, you will encounter only Floatzel, which give 2 Speed EVs each. Because of the high encounter rate, you can EV train Speed here very quickly.

Skivenski · Jun 8, 2009

It would be a nice contribution if you would include the EV spreads for the Pokemon you mentioned in the suggested Battle Tower team. I'm sure most of us here could figure that out ourselves, but seeing this guide is for those new to the subject, it would be favorable to those just skimming the Smogon forums.

Blackaced_ · Jun 25, 2009

Just a noob question.

If I accidentally go over the 255 Rule does that mean the Evs somehow disappear?

I am 99% Sure it doesn't but better safe than sorry.

:]

charmaster · Nov 3, 2009

wow, i found this very helpful, thx!

Mecha Ajnin · Dec 30, 2009

Quick Question I ev trained a Ninjask and got my effort ribbon now do I need to keep fighting pokemon who cgive me the Ev's or can I fight whoever just to get him to level 100 without messing up my Ev's

Wigglytuff [Old] · Jan 2, 2010

Iron Island good for defence.

Have you tried the iron island for defence training?

It has as its most common pokemon found graveler's that give 2 defence ev points.

You will also see golbats (or however its spelled) they give +1 speed ev so just run from them.

Uncommonly there are onix found that give 1 defence ev point.

Hopefully this helps.

Treymoney · Feb 10, 2010

You say that EVs are achieved through gaining experience. Does that include exp from an exp share?

D/P EV Training Guide

EconBiscuit

EconBiscuit

garo

maddog

is a master debater

Mekkah

Mikazukinoyaiba

Serv

Imran

Colloquy

Rave

Imran

Rave

Havak

I'm the Best. You're a Towel.

Imran

diinbong

Rave

Imran

Rave

Legacy Raider

sharpening his claws, slowly

Skivenski

Blackaced_

charmaster

Mecha Ajnin

Wigglytuff [Old]

Treymoney