How to EV Train Your Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet

EV training is an important aspect of competitive Pokemon battles since it will dictate how versatile your monster partners are in serious PVP matches. But before we begin, you might not understand EVs or how to train them properly. To help with your endeavor, here’s a thorough guide on how to EV Train your Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

(Updated on August 22, 2024 – Updated links).

Table of Contents:

• EV or Effort Value, Explained
• How to Train EV and Stats
  1. Battling Wild Pokemon
  2. Using Power Items
  3. Giving Your Pokemon Vitamins
  4. Giving Your Pokemon Feathers
  5. Reset EVs on a Pokemon
• How to Check EV and Stats

EV or Effort Value, Explained

Simply put, Effort Values (or EV for short) are hidden stats that will increase your Pokemon’s six Base Stats: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. For every 4 EVs a Pokemon obtains, it will get one additional point in those Stats. However, any Pokemon you hatched or caught will start without any EV.

For each Base Stat, a Pokemon can only acquire up to 252 EVs (or 63 extra points). For example, a Level 100 Skeledirge without any EV trained on its HP will only have 318 HP; meanwhile, an EV-trained Level 100 Skeledirge will have 381 HP. But you have to remember that, in total, it can only gain 510 EVs across all Stats. That means, to optimize their Stat growth, trainers usually split their EV training into three Stats:

• Train 252 EVs in one “primary Stat.”
  • Attack or Special Attack if you want to increase its offensive capabilities.
  • Defense or Special Defense for survivability.
• Train 252 EVs in Speed.
  • Because the first hit and missed attacks can quickly dictate how a match turns.
• Train the remaining 6 EVs to boost HP.

How to Train EV and Stats in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

1. Battling Wild Pokemon

Beating wild Pokemon and gaining XP will increase your Pokemon’s EV. Yet, one very important thing to note is which Stat’s EV you get depends on which wild Pokemon you defeated. Listing all possible EV gain would take too much space and time, thankfully Reddit user u/wihlybt has found the best locations to farm EVs through defeating specific Pokemon:

West of Zapapico:

• Makuhita: +1 HP EV
• Hariyama: +2 HP EV
• Torkoal: +2 Defense EV
• Rolycoly: +1 Defense EV
• Carkol: +2 Defense EV
• Silocobra: +1 Defense EV
• Orthworm: +2 Defense EV

West of West Province (Area One) – Central:

• Mudbray: +1 Attack EV
• Mankey: +1 Attack EV
• Rockruff: +1 Attack EV
• Capsakid: +1 Attack EV
• Yungoose: +1 Attack EV
• Gumshoos: +2 Attack EV

The small island in East Paldean Sea:

• Tauros: +1 Attack and +1 Speed EVs
• Stenee: +2 Attack EV
• Magikarp: +1 Speed EV
• Gyarados: +2 Attack EV
• Buizel: +1 Speed EV
• Floatzel: +2 Speed EV
• Wattrel: +1 Speed EV
• Kilowattrel: +2 Speed EV

User u/i_eat_da_poops also found their own perfect spot to train EV in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which is the Dalizapa Passage, north of the Academy and between The Great Crater and Snow biome, containing:

• Makuhita: +1 HP EV
• Hariyama: +2 HP EV
• Snorunt: +1 HP EV
• Dunsparce: +1 HP EV
• Gabile: +1 Attack EV
• Gabite: +2 Attack EV
• Frigibax: +1 Attack EV
• Larvitar/Bagon: +1 Attack EV
• Yungoose: +1 Attack EV
• Gumshoos: +2 Attack EV
• Salandit: +1 Speed EV
• Salazzle: +2 Speed EV
• Dugtrio: +2 Speed EV
• Sableye: +1 Attack and +1 Defense EVs
• Deino: +1 Special Attack EV
• And a bunch of Gimmighouls

As other Pokemon in your party gain XP through EXP Share, they will also gain the same amount of EV from that battle, making training EV in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet faster than you previously thought. Unfortunately, Auto-Battles won’t give you any EVs, so unless you’re farming materials, you don’t want to skip manual battles.

2. Using Power Items

To increase the amount of EV gained from each battle, you would want to give your Pokemon Power Item from Delibird Presents shops and make them hold it:

3. Giving Your Pokemon Vitamins

Aside from hunting wild Pokemon, giving them Vitamin will increase 10 EVs to your Pokemon’s certain Stat (+2.5 Base Stat point). Vitamins can be purchased at Chansey Supply Shops for 10,000 PokeDollars each after you’ve beaten three Gym Leaders:

4. Giving Your Pokemon Feathers

Like Vitamins, Feathers can increase EVs, just at a lower value. These can be obtained from the field (often on the waters of Casseroya Lake), Porto Marinada Auction, or as Tera Raid rewards:

5. Reset EVs on a Pokemon

Considering there is a 510 EV cap, you might want to reset the EV distribution in case you did something wrong. Thankfully, you can do it by feeding your Pokemon Berries. A complete opposite of Vitamins, these Berries will reduce 10 EVs of a certain Stat (-2.5 Base Stat point) but raise Friendship:

The easiest method to obtain these Berries is from Porto Marinada Auction. But according to u/PhoenixKamika-Z, if you keep picking shining/sparkling items on the ground between Artazon and Levincia, you should be able to get lots of EV-resetting Berries.

How to Check EV and Stats in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Although you cannot see the specific amount of how many EVs a Pokemon has acquired, you can see a rough estimate by pressing the L button on the Pokemon Stat screen. A Base Stat that has been maxed out (has 252 EVs) will sparkle, and the Stat graph will turn blue when a Pokemon has reached the overall 510 EV cap.