Pokemon Sword and Shield: EV Training Guide

What are EVs in Pokemon Sword and Shield?

Pokemon Sword and Shield have brought back the concept of Effort Values (EVs), something which has existed in every single Pokemon game so far. EVs are basically the points that determine the stats of your Pokemon - HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed.

A Pokemon can accumulate a total of 510 points added to their base stats and a single stat can have a maximum of 252. You can get EVs when you defeat a Pokemon in battle. EVs are very helpful, especially if you are battling competitively online.

Different Pokemon give different EV stats. For example, defeating a Skwovet will permanently grant 1 HP point. If you defeat a Diglett, you can permanently gain 1 Speed point. All Pokemon give different EVs and it varies. EVs can also be passed down to Pokemon via breeding.

But there are other ways to get EVs as well. In this guide, we'll look at how you can train your Pokemon's EVs.

How to Check EVs

Go to your Pokemon party and choose the Pokemon's EVs you want to see. You will see a hexagon logo next to a Poke Ball which gives you information about the Pokemon's Dynamax Level and a graph of how their EVs are distributed.

You will also see a few symbols and colours in the EV Radar. Here is what they mean.

Light Yellow - Your Pokemon's current stats
Dark Yellow - Amount of EVs that can be allocated. This also means that you have not used all the 510 EVs that are allowed for your Pokemon
Stars - EVs on a specific stat has reached maximum of 252 EVs.
Light Blue - Amount of EVs already allocated. This also means that you have used all the 510 EVs that are allowed for your Pokemon.

Raise EVs by using Vitamins

You can buy Vitamins for 10,000 currency in Wyndon Pokemon Center. You can also buy Vitamins for 2 BP at the BP Shop in Battle Stadium. BP is a lot harder to come by so it is recommended you buy Vitamins using currency and save your BP for other items.

There are 6 available vitamins for each stat. Here's what they do:

HP Up: Raises HP by 1 point
Protein: Raises Attack by 1 point
Calcium: Raises Special Attack by 1 point
Iron: Raises Defense by 1 point
Zinc: Raises Special Defense by 1 point
Carbos: Raises Speed by 1 point

Raise EVs by using Feathers

You can also collect "Feathers" which raise your EVs by one single point. It is also free as you can't purchase Feathers anywhere. Feathers can be found in two locations with Bridges -Route 5 and Motostoke Outskirts. Here is a list of the Feathers and the stats they raise:

Health Feather: HP
Muscle Feather: Attack
Genius Feather: Special Attack
Resist Feather: Defense
Clever Feather: Special Defense
Swift Feather: Speed

Power Items

There are also certain "Power" items that can raise your Pokemon's EVs after they finish a Battle. They usually come with pre-conditions, such as lowering speed in order to boost another stat.

You can only buy the Power items from the Hammerlocke BP Store. They cost 10 BP each. Using Power items are a costly way to increase your EV stats but it can be cheaper than spending 10,000 currency on Vitamins all the time.

Here is a list of the Power items along with the stats they increase:

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

Poke Seminars

Image result for poke jobs pokemon sword shield

Poke Jobs are a feature where you can send your Pokemon to work jobs to gain EXP and gather rare items. When you reach Hammerlocke and unlock the seminar, Poke Seminars are held often and they have the same mechanics as a Poke Job.

You can choose to send your Pokemon for a seminar for a duration of time of your choosing. The duration normally affects how many EV points you gain. Here is a list of the duration along with how many stats you can get:

A little while: 1 hour (4 EVs)
Very short: 2 hours (8 EVs)
Short: 3 hours (12 EVs)
Long: 4 hours (16 EVs)
Very long: 8 hours (32 EVs)
Half day: 12 hours (48 EVs)
Whole day: 24 hours (96 EVs)

Lower EVs with Berries

There are also certain Berries which upon consumption, will lower a particular stat by 10 points. You can also use those 10 points to allocate to another EV if you need it. Here is a list of the Berries and stats they lower:

Pomeg Berry: -10 HP
Kelpsy Berry: --10 Attack
Hondew Berry: -10 Special Attack
Qualot Berry: -10 Defense
Grepa Berry: -10 Special Defense
Tamato Berry: -10 Speed

Pokerus

Pokerus is an extremely rare "virus" which gives your Pokemon double the EVs they would normally have. It is possible to "infect" another Pokemon with a Pokerus. Simply catch or trade a Pokemon with a Pokemon that has a Pokerus. You can also trade with other players to get a Pokerus infected Pokemon in case you don't get it.

Get a ribbon for maxed out EVs

Go to Hammerlocke and go to the house on the right of the Pokemon Center. A lady in the house will check your EVs and award you with a "Best Effort Ribbon" if you show her a Pokemon with maxed out EVs.

Edited by A. Ayush Chatterjee