The next Dynamic Value used in Pokémon training I will cover is Effort Values. Effort Values (EVs) are points awarded to your Pokémon’s stats after knocking out an opponent's Pokémon. These points are not visible in-game, and certain EVs will go to different stats based on the Pokémon you battle.

I learned about EVs back when they were first introduced in the 3rd generation of games, with help of www.serebii.net. I’m sure plenty of trainers use that site and others for their training information. They have a great online PokéDex with lists of all attacks, EVs and max stat values. Although the example of a scale to represents EVs is my own, without Serebii I might not have learned about them in the first place. That goes with the other Dynamic Values hidden from plain site in-game.

All Pokémon have their own Effort Value tally. For example, Magikarp will always give 1 EV point in Speed to the Pokémon that knocks it out, and Ghastly will always give 1 EV point in Special Attack.

When your Pokémon levels up, it will gain a number of points in it's stats. For every 4 EV points in a particular stat that your Pokémon has, it will gain 1 additional stat point upon leveling up than it would have normally. So if I have a Pokémon with 4 EV points in Speed, instead of only gaining 3 points in Speed, it will gain 4.

In my last post I mentioned that each Pokémon has a maximum possible amount of stat points in each stat area. It's the same for EV points. The maximum amount of EV points a Pokémon can have at any time is 512. The way I have found to visualize it best is to imagine a scale that keeps track of EV points. The scale will stop counting EVs once the counter reaches 512. You might have noticed that there are characters that will give your Pokémon a ribbon called the Effort Ribbon. Once it gets this ribbon, it signifies that your Pokémon has reached 512 EVs and can no longer obtain more.

Not only is there a limit of 512, but each stat also has a limit to how many EVs can be obtained. Imagine the scale again. Now we will add 6 large cups onto the scale, each representing a different stat area (HP, ATK, DEF, SATK, SDEF, and SPD). Each stat can only receive a total of 255 EV points. So once the cup is filled with 255 EV points, that cup will no longer accept any more points. That means that if you wanted to max out any stat, you would only be able to max out 2 areas. This is where the strategy really kicks in.

The stats that you decide to train are based on a number of variables. One, which stats is your Pokémon best at? Weavile’s potentially highest stat it Speed, so training one with Speed EVs would be a good idea. Another thing to look at would be what kind of Pokémon do you want to train? Some are good at attacking and defending, so deciding which one to use for what purpose is important as well. As an extreme example, Mewtwo has incredible Special Attack, however it also has great Attack as well. Since the shift between Physical and Special Attacks took place in the 4th generation, deciding which stat to train and what attacks to learn is crucial. Training a Mewtwo in SATK but giving it Physical moves would not be a smart choice.

There are a number of roles that Pokémon can take based on the stats and move sets that they have. Walls are Pokémon that are meant to stall the opponent into defeat with status moves and high defenses. Sweepers are Pokémon that are fast and hit hard. However, since their defenses are normally very low, they need to finish off their opponents in one or two turns or else they will be knocked out. Those are just two for now.

In my next post I will cover a Dynamic Value that requires the most patience to deal with, Individual Values. Not only do they help determine what your Pokémon’s maximum stat values are, but they also determine little things such as the power and effects of the move Hidden Power.

A lot of us have experienced Pokémon games in one generation or another.  I’m sure a lot of you are playing through the 4^th generation of games now, with a 5^th coming September 18th in Japan!

How many of you are wondering how some trainers are able to train their Pokémon to a point where they appear unbeatable?  Well, I can help answer that.  This is the first in a series of posts that will help explain how to thoroughly train your Pokémon and prepare them to be the best they can be.

There are a number of things that contribute to the overall stats of your Pokémon.  The easiest ones to understand are natures and max possible stats.  Ever since Ruby and Sapphire’s release, Pokémon have been given natures to help differentiate one Pokémon from another.  There are natures such as Docile, Brave, and Naïve. 

Natures not only give Pokémon their own personalities, but they also determine what stats they will be best in.  For example, a Weavile with a Naïve nature will be faster than a Weavile with a Brave nature.  That is because natures generally increase the max possible amount of stat points in a particular stat by 10%. 

 20 of the 25 natures have an advantage and disadvantage, meaning that while it increases a particular stat by 10%, it will also decrease another stat by 10% in order to keep things balanced.  The remaining 5 are neutral natures and have no increase or decrease in any stat area.

Let’s look at Sneasel’s evolved form, Weavile again.  There are 2; one has a Naïve nature (for increasing Speed) and the other has a Hardy nature (no increase or decrease).  The maximum number that Weavile can have in Speed with a neutral nature is 349.  That’s nothing to sneeze at!  However, the maximum number the Speed-increased one can have is 383.  That can make a huge difference when fighting another Pokémon trained to be fast!  In fact, that’s not too far off from Mewtwo’s maximum Speed with a Speed-increasing nature (394).

            The following is a list of natures and what they increase and decrease.

If you are playing HeartGold/SoulSilver, you can clearly see what stats are affected.  When viewing the stats on the summary page in your game, the stat names that are colored Red will gain the 10% increase because of the nature, while those colored Blue will receive the 10% decrease.  All other stat names stay White.

Having this information is just the beginning of your Pokémon training.  There are other things that contribute to the stats of your Pokémon, including Effort Values (EVs) and Individual Values (IVs).  Combined with Natures, these variables are called Dynamic Values (DVs).  Natures are really the only Dynamic Values that can be seen in-game, which is why they are the easiest to work with.  Next time I'll cover Effort Values, since they are the next step up for training!