EFFORT VALUES AND INDIVIDUAL VALUES GUIDE 

POKEMON NATURES   

     Both trainers only have one pokémon left and bring out their last pokémon. The first trainer sends out their Electivire... and so does the second trainer! It is something that rarely happens but it does happen. Even though both pokémon are the same and might even have the same moveset there are still differences. Some which can be clearly seen on the stat page. While other remain hidden from a trainers eye. This guide will explain how pokémon differ from another even if they are the same species. Of course you can also use this to know how to get strong pokémon.

     Since pokémon Ruby and Sapphire pokémon can have different natures. These natures aren't just for show but give the pokémon a certain stat boost while they level. However you can't gain something without giving something else up of course. So while one stat grows better another stat doesn't grow so much as it should. There are also several natures that are neutral. Technically those natures give a gain and loss for the same stat. Which means it cancels eachother out. You might think that neutral is good but think of it like this. If you have a pokémon that only has special attack moves. Where is the need for a high attack stat then? As you can look up in the list below a Modest nature would be good for such a pokémon because special attack improves at the cost of attack going slow. To see what which nature does what for a pokémon its stats look at the list below:  

Nature
Increase
Decrease
Adamant
Attack
Special Attack
Bashful
-
-
Bold
Defense
Attack
Brave
Attack
Speed
Calm
Special Defense
Attack
Careful
Special Defense
Special Attack
Docile
-
-
Gentle
Special Defense
Defense
Hardy
-
-
Hasty
Speed
Defense
Impish
Defense
Special Attack
Jolly
Speed
Special Attack
Lax
Defence
Special Defense
Lonely
Attack
Defense
Mild
Special Attack
Defense
Modest
Special Attack
Attack
Naive
Speed
Special Defense
Naughty
Attack
Special Defense
Quiet
Special Attack
Speed
Quirky
-
-
Rash
Special Attack
Special Defense
Relaxed
Defense
Speed
Sassy
Special Defense
Speed
Serious
-
-
Timid
Speed
Attack

EFFORT VALUE (EV)

Of course having the right nature isn't all you need to get a good pokémon. There are also so called effort points. Whenever a pokémon battles, whether it's a wild pokémon or from a trainer, it gains effort points. Unfortunatly these effort points can't be seen in the game. Every pokémon has a specific effort point it gives for a specific stat. A Pikachu gives 2 effort points for speed and a Lugia 3 effort points for special defence. Just to give some examples. As you can see the points that are given can differ. Some give only 1 effort point for a stat and others 2 or 3 for a stat. The effort points don't really do much when it is only 1, 2 or 3. For an effort point to really count you will need 4 effort points for a stat. If we look at our example again that means if you battle two Pikachu's the speed of your pokémon will raise more when it levels. Because 2 + 2 = 4. It can't get simpler then that really.

Now this doesn't mean that if you battle alot of Pikachu you will end up with an amazing high speed. There is a limit to how many effort points a pokémon is allowed to have. A pokémon can only have a total of 255 effort points for 1 stat. After the 255 limit is reached you won't get any more effort points for that stat. Which means that if you somehow battle 86 Lugia's your pokémon will have earned 255 effort points for special defence and not 258. Next to that a pokémon is can't have more then 510 effort points in total. So you can only, if you want to, get the most out of 2 stats. Alot of people however give their pokémon 252 effort points and the remaining 6 in some other stat. The reason for this is because of what i explained earlier. For an effort point to really count you will need 4 effort points for a stat. If you would put 255 in 2 stats then you kind of waste 4 effort points. Which could make a difference if you invest those remaining effort points in something like hit points, defence or special defence.

As said before a pokémon gives a specific amount of effort points that is set in the game. However with the use of several hold items that amount can be manipulated. The macho brace is the first of these items. It doubles the effort points you recieve from a pokémon. Instead of getting 1 effort point in Hp from defeating a Bidoof you will get 2 effort points when your pokémon hold this item. Defeating a Lugia while holding this item gives your pokémon an amazing 6 effort points in special defence.
Even though the macho brace sounds like an amazing item there are better ones. These items can only be obtained by spending your battle points. At the cost of 16 battle points you can buy one of the power items. There is a total of 6 for these items and as you probably guessed there is one for each stat: power weight (Hp), power bracer (attack), power belt (Defence), power lens (Special attack), power band (Special defence) and power anklet (speed). Unlike the macho brace these hold items do not double the effort points a pokémon receives. Instead of that it gives and extra 4 effort points when defeating a pokémon that gives the same effort points. Which means that if you would hold the power band and defeat a Lugia you will get 7 effort points for special defence. That's only 1 more effort point it would give when holding the macho brace but in the long run that little difference becomes alot bigger.

Last but not least is a rare condition your pokémon can get which is actually beneficial for getting effort points: Pokérus. This condition works the same as macho brace but doesn't need to be equipped. To get pokérus is either by being lucky or getting one in a trade and infect your other pokémon with it. Infect other pokémon!? Yes, if you have a pokémon that says pokérus in purple on their stat page it is possible to pass it onto other pokémon. This is done by having the infected pokémon and other pokémon in your team while battling. It might take some battle but then your other pokémon will also have it. Pokérus however doesn't last last forever. After a while your pokémon will be cured. It will have a smiley on their stat page instead of the purple pokérus sign and it won't be able to infect other pokémon anymore. The pokémon will never get infected again either. A pokémon that is in your PC box will never be cured. So if you want to keep pokérus always keep at least 1 of the infected pokémon in your pc box.

If you would use pokérus and the power items it all stacks up. First you get the the power item boost and then it get's doubled with pokérus. Let's forget for a moment about the wings and say you want 252 effort points in hit points. By giving your pokémon 10 hp up there is only 152 left to obtain yourself. Normally you would have to battle 152 bidoofs but now your pokémon has pokérus and holding the power weight. Defeating 1 bidoof means your pokémon gets 10 effort points when defeating only 1 bidoof. After defeating 15 Bidoofs you already have 150 effort points. At this point you should take away the power weight. Otherwise you end up getting 255 effort points. By taking the power weight from your pokémon the 16th Bidoof will only give 2 effort points in hp which will give your pokémon a total of 252 effort points. Just the way it was planned.

Now you might wonder how you can be certain that your pokémon really has 510 effort points. In the games pokémon Ruby/Sapphire upto pokémon Heart gold/Soul silver you can go to a person who will give you the effort ribbon. The person only gives this ribbon when your pokémon has 510 effort points in total. This was changed in pokémon black and white as there are no ribbons to be obtained in this game at all. Instead there is a person that only compliments you on how hard your pokémon has worked.

INDIVIDUAL VALUES (IV)

This is the part of pokémon stats that you can't see in the game itself. However there are some ways in the game that can help you determine what the individual value for your pokémon is but lets start with the basics first. Individual Value is a number between 0 and 31. Every stat has its own number. These can differ but can also be the same.

Stats Example 1 Example 2
Hit points
5
25
Attack
25
17
Defence
31
12
Special attack
14
25
Special defence
20
14
Speed
0
12


Now what do these numbers between 0 and 31 exactly mean? The most simple answer to that is that the closer you are to 31 the better. Nothing more nothing less. If you look at "Example 1" you see that defence is really good because the number it has is 31. The speed on the other hand is really bad because it is 0. Which is the furthest away from 31. This is all you need to know about individual value's. Think more about and you might get confused. While it is really all that simple.

To get a pokémon with a certain individual value there are several options:
1. You catch a pokémon in the wild and be lucky
2.You breed a pokémon and be lucky.
3. Already have a pokémon with the correct individual value in a stat and give it the proper power item.

The first option well there is nothing you can really do besides being lucky. Then there's the second option. Which is cheaper because as it doesn't cost you alot of pokéballs. If you aim for a pokémon with 31 IV in a stat. Pick a pokémon that has the highest individual value for the stat that you want and breed with it. This doesn't mean you will always breed pokémon with a higher individual value but it does increase the chances for it. When you are done breeding and there's still no pokémon with 31 IV repeat the process. At least one of the new bred pokémon probably has a higher individual then the pokémon you started breeding with. As last we have the third option. This is for passing on the individual value from one pokémon to another really. Even if it's the same species. Giving the proper power item is quite easy to find out. The power bracer for example helps to raise the attack stat. So if you want to pass on the individual value for attack then this is the item you should give. If you want to pass on the individual value for speed then give it the power anklet because that is the item that helps to raise speed.

As mentioned before there are some ways to slightly check the individual value of a pokémon in the game. However these methods don't give a clear number for the individual values. With the exception of having 31 IV for a stat.

The first method is by looking at the chararistic that a pokémon has. Just like with natures these chararistics aren't for show. Below is a list on what the specific chararistic means when it comes to individual values:
 
Individual number
ends with either
Hit Points
Attack
Defence
Special attack
Special Defence
Speed
0 or 5
Loves to eat Proud of its power Sturdy body Highly curious Strong willed Likes to run
1 or 6
Often dozes off Likes to thrash about Capable of taking hits Mischievous Somewhat vain Alert to sounds
2 or 7
Often naps A little quick tempered Highly persistent Thoroughly cunning Strongly defiant Impetuous and silly
3 or 8
Scatters things often Likes to fight Good endurance Often lost in thought Hates to lose Somewhat of a clown
4 or 9
Likes to relax Quick tempered Good Perseverance Very finicky Somewhat stubborn Quick to flee

     This is not the only help the game gives you. In the battle subway or battle tower, depending on the game you play, there is a person who can give you some insight on the individual value for your pokémon. He will rate the total of your pokémon its individual value and tells you what he thinks about the highest individual value that your pokémon has. In the battle subway if a pokémon has more then one stat with the highest indivual value then all of those will be said. The person in the battle tower will only tell you one at a time. Which means that if you think that your pokémon has more then one high individual value you have to talk several times with this person. Below is a list to know what it all means these persons say: 

Specific Individual Value
Number between What is said
0 and 15 It's rather decent in that regard
16 and 25 It's very good in that regard
26 and 30 It's fantastic in that regard
31 It can't be better in that regard

Overall Individual Value
Number between What is said
0 and 90 This pokémon is decent all around
91 and 120 This pokémon is above average overall
121 and 150 This pokémon has relatively superior potential overall
151 and 186 This pokémon has outstanding potential overall
     For the final piece and the math people among us. Here is the formula to calculate the individual value of a pokémon. Keep in mind though that individual values can only be calculated from level 50 upto level 100 to be accurate. Even at level 50 it can still not be accurate enough. Only level that gives an accurate answer is level 100. I've divided the formula in pieces to make it more understandable for the people who aren't really that good in math:

( stat / personality value ) - 5 = answer 1
answer 1 x ( 100 / current level ) = answer 2
answer 2 - ( effort value / 4 ) = The individual value

The personality value of a pokémon depends on the nature of a pokémon and what it does with the stat.
When a pokémon has a nature that is beneficial for the stat use 1.1 in the place for personality value.
If the nature does nothing wit the stat use 1 in the place for the personality value.
And if the nature is not beneficial for the stat use 0.9 in the place for personality value.

However when calculating the hit points you need to use this formula:

( current HP - current level - 10 ) x 100 = answer 1
( answer 1 / Current level ) - ( effort value / 4 ) = answer 2
answer 2 - ( Basestat x 2 ) = The individual value for hit points 

The base stats for a pokémon can be found on some other pokémon fansites.

To make these formulas even more understandable here is some explanation on how math works.
Everything between ( ) should be done before the rest of the sum.

A / means that you need to divide it. 

     Besides movesets and types you know now there are more things that meet the eye when it comes to pokémon battling. With this guide i hope you will get to the best of your game.

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