EVs (Effort Values)

EVs, or "Effort Values", are external values important to the overall training
of a Pokemon. They are gained, along with Experience Points (EXP), from any
Pokemon you battle, may it be in the wild or from other trainers (though, as a
side-note, Pokemon from the Battle Frontier do not give EVs, as they do not
give EXP as well).

Each Pokemon has a unique set of EVs they give out, 1-3 EVs for one, or
sometimes two, stats. For every four EVs a Pokemon obtains, that's one point
added to the stat with four EVs. For example, if you fight four Sentret (which
give 1 Attack EV each), you gain 4 Attack EVs, which means +1 in the Attack
stat.

Sounds neat, right? But, of course, there are limits. A Pokemon can only gain a
total of 510 EVs, and 255 EVs per stat. That means the maximum stat bonus EVs
can give per stat is 63, should you give 252 EVs to one stat. 252 is the
accepted bonus, as it is the highest number less than 255 divisible by 4. With
that said, 252/252/6 is pretty much the most basic EV spread for a Pokemon,
adding 63 points to two stats and 1 point to one stat.

So yeah, it's very important. An un-EV trained Pokemon almost always falls to a
properly-EV trained Pokemon of the same level. Add in IVs and Natures, and
you've used your Pokemon to its fullest battling potential.

252 is such a high number, and battling a Pokemon 252 times (or 126 for those
that give 2 EVs) sounds very tiring. Fortunately, Gamefreak has blessed us with
items that are there specifically to aid in EV training.

First of which is the Macho Brace, which has been around since the 3rd Gen.
When held by a Pokemon, it doubles the EVs obtained by the Pokemon holding it,
at the expense of its speed being halved. So, if you battle a Starly with a
Macho Brace, instead of getting one Speed EV like you normally should, you get
1 x 2 = 2 EVs.


Secondly are six new items introduced in Diamond and Pearl. For every EV you
gain, you get four EVs in a certain stat, regardless of the EV you receive. You
can all get them in the Battle Frontier for 16 BP IIRC. They are as follows:


---------------------------------------
Item || Stat they Affect
---------------------------------------
Power Weight || HP
Power Bracer || Attack
Power Belt || Defense
Power Lens || Special Attack
Power Band || Special Defense
Power Anklet || Speed
---------------------------------------

So if you battle a Starly with a Power Anklet, instead of getting one Speed EV
like you normally should, you get 1 + 4 = 5 EVs.


Third are six vitamins that have been around since second gen. They are sold
for 9800 Pokedollars or 1 Battle Point each, and they do aid in EV training by
providing at most 100 EV points in their specific stat. Do note, though, that
they'll only provide the FIRST 100 EV points, and not the last. Sorry I didn't
note this earlier. u_u The items are:

---------------------------------------
Vitamin || Stat they Affect
---------------------------------------
HP Up || HP
Protein || Attack
Iron || Defense
Calcium || Special Attack
Zinc || Special Defense
Carbos || Speed
---------------------------------------


Last, but definitely not the least, isn't an item, but rather a special virus
called the Pokerus. Wild Pokemon have a very, VERY small chance of possessing
this very special virus (almost as rare as wild Pokemon being shiny), but if
you're lucky enough to battle one, the Pokemon that beat it will be infected by
the virus. To find out, simply open up your Pokemon's page, and if a purple bar
with "PKRS" appears next to its name, it's infected. After a few more battles,
your entire party will be infected with this really awesome virus.

What does it do? It doubles the amount of EVs you receive in battle, taking
into consideration all the items mentioned above.

So if you battle a Pidgey with a Macho Brace AND Pokerus, instead of getting
one Speed EV like you normally should, you get (1 x 2) x 2 = 4 EVs.

And if you battle that same Pidgey with a Power Anklet AND Pokerus, instead of
getting one Speed EV like you normally should, you get (1 + 4) x 2 = 10 EVs.
One of the users of this guide has given me proof that this is the correct
formula, so yeah. =)

They don't work with the vitamins though. Feeding a Pokerus-ed Pokemon with
Protein doesn't give it 20 Attack EVs, but the usual 10.

And one more thing, Pokerus is never-ending, but the spreading part doesn't
last for more than one or two days. Everytime the date rolls over (a new day),
Pokerus "leaves" your Pokemon. When it does, the purple "PKRS" sign will be
replaced by an orange smiley face. Don't fret, though, as the double in effort
points will still be in effect - the only thing that leaves is the ability to
spread it to other Pokemon.

With this in mind, one must avoid losing Pokerus completely by storing a
Pokemon with an active Pokerus on the PC Storage. This will preserve the
status of Pokerus forever until the Pokemon is taken out. A handy thing,
indeed.


Should you make a mistake with EV training, though, you should never fear, as
there are six berries that take away ten EV points and increase the Pokemon's
happiness. That way, you can redo your EV training to make your Pokemon to
your liking. The berries are:

---------------------------------------
Berry || Stat they Affect
---------------------------------------
Pomeg || HP
Kelpsy || Attack
Qualot || Defense
Hondew || Special Attack
Grepa || Special Defense
Tamato || Speed
---------------------------------------

Do note that if you have more than 100 EVs on your Pokemon on a certain stat,
eating the correct berry will reduce those EVs all the way down to 100. So you
technically only need eleven of the same berry to reduce a stat from 101-252
back to 0.



Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/ Platinum

HP - Shellos/ Bidoof - Valley Windworks
Attack - Machoke/ Bibarel - Route 211 East
Defense - Graveler/ Onix - Iron Mountain
Special Attack - Gastly/ Haunter - Old Chateau
Special Defense - Tentacool/ Tentacruel - Route 220
Speed - Staravia/ Pikachu - Trophy Garden

Pokemon HearthGold and SoulSilver

HP - Slowpoke - Slowpoke's Well
Attack - Goldeen/ Seaking - Route 42
Defense - Graveler/ Geodude - Route 45
Special Attack - Psyduck/ Golduck - surf on Route 35
Special Defense - Tentacool/ Tentacruel - Route 40
Speed - Magikarp/ Gyarados - Lake of Rage

Another good spot for EVing in Sp. Att is psyducks/golducks in Ilex forest with surf, only pokes you'll fight, level 10-20.
And for speed, I ran around SlowPoke well. like 90% chance to fight zubats, oneshot (usually), lvl 4-8

You can also Surf in the Dark Cave, you will only find Magikarp.

This guide sure helps. I never actually had a clue where to ev train. I just tried finding ev pokes and farm there. This spot might not be as good but. The area below the Pokemon Manshion in Platinum has Marills with like a 50% find. Marill gives 2 hp.

HP: Route 201 has Bidoof (1). Good enough I suppose.

Attack: Route 207 has Machop (1) you can use. With Power Bracer and PokeRus you get 10 EVs for each one.

Defense: Iron Island has Graveler (2) Onix (2) and Steelix (3)

Sp. Atk: Route 208 has Budew (1) and Roselia (2). Maybe one other, but I forget.

Sp. Def: Route 223 has Tentacruel (2) and Mantyke (1).

Speed: Route 205 has a fishing trainer with 6 Magikarp (1). With the Power Anklet and Pokerus, You get 60 Speed EVs each time you beat him.

...This should help all Platinum trainers.

Wow thanks! The pokemon you suggested are amazing! (:

Leo has some B/W hotspots as well.

sorry, leo, I took it off