EV Training Pokémon in Gen 7One of the most important aspects of building a team is tailoring your Pokémon's EV spreads to suit your exact needs; a Pokémon may need to ensure a KO, survive a hit, or outspeed an important foe. Thus, while 4 / 252 / 252 spreads are often sufficient, many successful players train their Pokémon with their own precise spreads. This guide outlines how to get those spreads in-game; coming up with custom EV spreads is beyond its scope. This guide assumes that:
The Basics: Effort Value Manipulation methods
SOS BattlesThe bane of in-game runs and Pokémon catching alike, SOS battles are, in fact, incredibly useful for EV training. Each time a Pokémon is defeated in an SOS battle, it gives twice the EVs it would have if battled as a normal encounter. This includes the original wild encounter as long as it has successfully called at least one ally. Because this stacks with Pokérus and Power items, defeating a normally 1 EV Pokémon yields the normal 1 EV, plus 8 from the Power item (9 total), doubled by Pokérus (18 total), and doubled again by the SOS battle to give 36 EVs for each Pokémon defeated in the chain. In addition, defeating SOS encounters with no Power item equipped gives 4 EVs per encounter, making it a viable tool for finetuning your spreads. The quickest and most reliable way to trigger SOS encounters is to lead with a Pokémon with False Swipe, with the EXP. Share on, and the Pokémon to train in the back. Ideally, this False Swipe user should also have a regular damaging move and be capable of easily OHKOing the wild encounters. Once you have found the Pokémon you want to SOS chain, bring it down to 1 HP and use an Adrenaline Orb; it should start calling for help almost every round. Mow down the Pokémon it calls for doubled EVs. The easiest places to EV train using SOS battles are:
Note that Magnemite can have Sturdy, so bringing a Pokémon with Mold Breaker or a multi-hit move is a good idea. A few things to remember when SOS training:
Combining different methods for exact numbersSOS battles are good for multiples of 36, while vitamins work for multiples of 10. However, oftentimes in VGC, you need an exact number of EVs that does not divide evenly by either. To solve this, it is possible to combine vitamins, EV Berries, and SOS encounters to get the desired value. The problem becomes a math puzzle of sorts: starting at zero, add a multiple of 36 and either add or subtract a multiple of 10 to get to your desired value. For example, to get exactly 116 EVs in a stat, give the Pokémon 8 vitamins for 80 EVs, and then defeat one SOS call for the remaining 36. Likewise, for 42 EVs, two SOS Pokémon and three Berries = (2*36) - (3*10) = (72 - 30) = 42. It is possible to tell how many SOS Pokémon must be defeated by looking at the last digit of the desired number of EVs for a stat:
Note that you should always give the vitamins to the Pokémon BEFORE SOS training, because vitamins cannot give EVs past 100. Tips, tricks, and shortcuts to EV trainingThe method described above becomes tedious after a while; fortunately, there are ways to further expedite EV training.
A practical exampleIf all this theory is a bit confusing, we'll look at it in practice. Let's imagine that we are EV training a Pokémon with a spread of 76 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 164 Spe. Step 1: Use SOS battles to quickly train any stats with 252 EVs. Since EVs are capped at 252 per stat, the same method you use to raise 4 / 252 / 252 Pokémon works to train up Attack. Step 2: Train stats using combinations, as described above. In this example, it is easy to see that 76 = 36 + 40, or one SOS encounter plus 4 HP Ups. Thus, we can take care of the 76 HP next. Step 3: Use Poké Pelago to train small amounts. Defense and Special Defense both have very small investments; a fully upgraded Isle Evelup can complete them in one hour. Alternatively, the Pokémon can defeat SOS encounters with no Power item equipped to gain 4 EVs per Pokémon defeated. Step 4: Use SOS battles to train the remaining stat. 164 Speed is equal to 4 SOS calls plus 2 Carbos, but this is not as easy to realize as with HP. Luckily, since Speed is the only stat left to train at this point, it can be done using SOS battles; the 510 cap on EVs will ensure that the Pokémon gets the correct amount. *Note: When viewing a Pokémon's summary, even though the exact numbers of EVs are hidden, a stat with 252 EVs sparkles, and a fully EVed Pokémon's indicator turns blue. Appendix: Festival PlazaThe Bouncy Houses and Food Stalls at Festival Plaza can quickly EV train a Pokémon at the cost of Festival Coins. Bouncy HousesBouncy Houses offer six courses, A through F, with each one corresponding to a stat. Thump-Bump Park gives B (Attack) and D (Special Attack), Clink-Clunk Land gives C (Defense) and E (Special Defense), and Stomp-Stomp House gives A (HP) and F (Speed). Beyond level 1, Thump-Bump Park is native to Pokémon Moon, and Clink-Clunk Land is native to Pokémon Sun. In addition, Stomp-Stomp House has even-numbered levels native to Sun and odd-numbered levels native to Moon.
Food StallsUnlike the Bouncy Houses, Food Stalls are not specific to EV training; however, they can be used for that purpose. The Lunches at the Battle Table each give a Pokémon 10 EVs of the corresponding stat at a cost of 20 FC. Using vitamins is generally more viable because the Lunches can only be given once per day each, but they can still be given if the Pokémon has more than 100 EVs in the stat. This covers everything you need to know in order to get precise EV spreads in Gen VII. I hope to meet you in a tournament someday! |