[Sword & Shield] EV, IV???

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

Hello, I'm probably going to sound like a total newbie here but after beating Sword I wanted to max out my team and get some nice shiny pokemon too.

I want to start with Gardevoir as my support and special attack pokemon but I'm struggling to max her out. I don't understand the IV and EV things, people keep saying I need a good ditto to breed her so I keep trying to catch one but im not sure where I get this good ditto from.

I would appreciate it if someone could help explain this to me in a way I can understand better :)

 

[Devalue]

IVs" Individual Values. Think of it as a Pokemon's inherent power. Begins with these values upon being caught or hatched.

Obtains the ability to check IVs by reaching Poke Ball Rank at the Battle Tower (see: beat Leon in Single or Doubles there). Upon doing that, check your boxes. Hit the + button (maybe once or twice). Should show something like this:



0 IVs: No Good
1-15 IVs: Decent
16-25 IVs: Pretty Good
26-29 IVs: Very Good
30 IVs: Fantastic
31 IVs: Best

Maximized this Zacian in Hitpoints, Attack, Defense, and Special Defense.

So, how do you get Bests on a Pokemon? Some options:

1. Level them to 100. Head to the Battle Tower. Find the Hyper Training person. Give a Bottle Cap or Gold Bottle Cap. Maximizes one stat with a normal Bottle Cap and all stats with a Gold Bottle Cap.
2. Catch the Pokemon from a Max Raid. Believes five-star Max Raids are guaranteed to have (at least) four "Best".
3. Breeding. Deserves its own section.

Go to the Daycare. Pair a female Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir with a compatible male Pokemon. Passes on three of the parents' IVs normally. Increases to five if with one of them holding a Destiny Knot. (Makes no difference which holds the Destiny Knot.) May also pass on the nature of a specific parent by giving that one an Everstone.

Hatch Pokemon until you get a good one. May wish to change out parents to increase your odds of getting more Bests.

Generally recommends Ditto because it can be paired with any Pokemon, male or female. Speeds up the process. Can be done without it, however. Advises catching things from Max Raids for this.

Finds Ditto from Max Raids at this Den in Stony Wilderness (near the Wild Area Daycare):


Note: Only spawns with the rare purple beam. Is the only possible rare spawn from that den, fortunately.

Another note on breeding: Do not use Hyper Trained Pokemon for breeding. Passes on the stat's original IV value, not the Hyper Trained value.

_________

EVs: Effort Values. Reflects the effort your Pokemon went through. Begins at 0. Maxes out a stat at 252 points. Allows 255 points in any single stat and a total of 510 points for a Pokemon.

To check a Pokemon's EVs, go to a Pokemon's summary page. Bring up the hexagon with its stats. Hit X. Switches to this:


Displays the Pokemon's EVs in light blue. Sparkles when maxed out. (Does not really show it here. Screenshotted at a bad time. Is maxed out in HP and Attack, though.)

Increases through three ways:

1. Defeat Pokemon. Increases a value by 1-3, depending on the opponent. Receives it in a stat that opponent is good at. For example: 2 Hitpoint EVs from Chansey. 1 Defense EV from Onix. Gives these Effort Values to all Pokemon in the party.
2. Vitamins. Refers to things like Carbos and HP Up. Adds 10 EVs per item.
3. Send it on a Poke Job. (Prefers this method, personally.) Earns points based on the time spent.

A little while: 4 EVs
Very short: 8 EVs
Short: 12 EVs
Long: 16 EVs
Very Long: 32 EVs
Half Day: 48 EVs
Whole Day: 96 EVs

Sounds slow, right? Accelerates this with two different held items:
- Macho Brace: Doubles all EV gains (from defeating Pokemon and Poke Jobs) on the Pokemon holding this.
- Power Weight (HP), Power Bracer (Attack), Power Belt (Defense), Power Lens (Special Attack), Power Band (Special Defense), and Power Anklet (Speed): Increases gains in its stat by 8. Triples yields from Poke Jobs (because of the time calculation of 4 per hour + 8).

Purchases both for BP in Hammerlocke. May also acquire the Macho Brace from the DLC's Cram-o-matic. (Did not test this. Looks like Salac Berry x2 and Armorite Ore x2 will work.)


May run into an issue: already having 510 EVs on a Pokemon. Reduces the EVs for unwanted stats with two methods:
1. Pomeg, Kelpsy, Hondew, Qualot, Grapa, and Tamato Berries. Subtracts 10 EVs from a stat per berry.
2. The Effort Value remover. (DLC only.) Go to the Workout Sea in the Isle of Armor. Look for someone on a small, sandy island. Erases all of a Pokemon's EVs for 10 Armorite Ore.

________________

Tossed a lot of information at you. Is anything unclear? Do you need further clarification or examples on something?

 

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

IVs" Individual Values. Think of it as a Pokemon's inherent power. Begins with these values upon being caught or hatched.

Obtains the ability to check IVs by reaching Poke Ball Rank at the Battle Tower (see: beat Leon in Single or Doubles there). Upon doing that, check your boxes. Hit the + button (maybe once or twice). Should show something like this:

View attachment 99077

0 IVs: No Good
1-15 IVs: Decent
16-25 IVs: Pretty Good
26-29 IVs: Very Good
30 IVs: Fantastic
31 IVs: Best

Maximized this Zacian in Hitpoints, Attack, Defense, and Special Defense.

So, how do you get Bests on a Pokemon? Some options:

1. Level them to 100. Head to the Battle Tower. Find the Hyper Training person. Give a Bottle Cap or Gold Bottle Cap. Maximizes one stat with a normal Bottle Cap and all stats with a Gold Bottle Cap.
2. Catch the Pokemon from a Max Raid. Believes five-star Max Raids are guaranteed to have (at least) four "Best".
3. Breeding. Deserves its own section.

Go to the Daycare. Pair a female Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir with a compatible male Pokemon. Passes on three of the parents' IVs normally. Increases to five if with one of them holding a Destiny Knot. (Makes no difference which holds the Destiny Knot.) May also pass on the nature of a specific parent by giving that one an Everstone.

Hatch Pokemon until you get a good one. May wish to change out parents to increase your odds of getting more Bests.

Generally recommends Ditto because it can be paired with any Pokemon, male or female. Speeds up the process. Can be done without it, however. Advises catching things from Max Raids for this.

Finds Ditto from Max Raids at this Den in Stony Wilderness (near the Wild Area Daycare):
View attachment 99078

Note: Only spawns with the rare purple beam. Is the only possible rare spawn from that den, fortunately.

Another note on breeding: Do not use Hyper Trained Pokemon for breeding. Passes on the stat's original IV value, not the Hyper Trained value.

_________

EVs: Effort Values. Reflects the effort your Pokemon went through. Begins at 0. Maxes out a stat at 252 points. Allows 255 points in any single stat and a total of 510 points for a Pokemon.

To check a Pokemon's EVs, go to a Pokemon's summary page. Bring up the hexagon with its stats. Hit X. Switches to this:
View attachment 99076

Displays the Pokemon's EVs in light blue. Sparkles when maxed out. (Does not really show it here. Screenshotted at a bad time. Is maxed out in HP and Attack, though.)

Increases through three ways:

1. Defeat Pokemon. Increases a value by 1-3, depending on the opponent. Receives it in a stat that opponent is good at. For example: 2 Hitpoint EVs from Chansey. 1 Defense EV from Onix. Gives these Effort Values to all Pokemon in the party.
2. Vitamins. Refers to things like Carbos and HP Up. Adds 10 EVs per item.
3. Send it on a Poke Job. (Prefers this method, personally.) Earns points based on the time spent.

A little while: 4 EVs
Very short: 8 EVs
Short: 12 EVs
Long: 16 EVs
Very Long: 32 EVs
Half Day: 48 EVs
Whole Day: 96 EVs

Sounds slow, right? Accelerates this with two different held items:
- Macho Brace: Doubles all EV gains (from defeating Pokemon and Poke Jobs) on the Pokemon holding this.
- Power Weight (HP), Power Bracer (Attack), Power Belt (Defense), Power Lens (Special Attack), Power Band (Special Defense), and Power Anklet (Speed): Increases gains in its stat by 8. Triples yields from Poke Jobs (because of the time calculation of 4 per hour + 8).

Purchases both for BP in Hammerlocke. May also acquire the Macho Brace from the DLC's Cram-o-matic. (Did not test this. Looks like Salac Berry x2 and Armorite Ore x2 will work.)


May run into an issue: already having 510 EVs on a Pokemon. Reduces the EVs for unwanted stats with two methods:
1. Pomeg, Kelpsy, Hondew, Qualot, Grapa, and Tamato Berries. Subtracts 10 EVs from a stat per berry.
2. The Effort Value remover. (DLC only.) Go to the Workout Sea in the Isle of Armor. Look for someone on a small, sandy island. Erases all of a Pokemon's EVs for 10 Armorite Ore.

________________

Tossed a lot of information at you. Is anything unclear? Do you need further clarification or examples on something?

Thank you so much! I appreciate the time you took to post this. I understand a little better now thank you, unfortunately I'm still not so clear on the purple beam you mentioned for ditto, do you have to be champion to do that or need a certain time of day? Also how do I get a ralts with good ivs to breed?

 

[ReKoil]

Thank you so much! I appreciate the time you took to post this. I understand a little better now thank you, unfortunately I'm still not so clear on the purple beam you mentioned for ditto, do you have to be champion to do that or need a certain time of day? Also how do I get a ralts with good ivs to breed?

Purple beams are random. No way to guarantee them afaik. You'll just have to keep chucking Wishing pieces into the den and fight whatever pops up until you get a purple one.
A five star Gardevoir or Gallade raid should get you a ralts with good IV's if you breed them after catching.

 

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

Purple beams are random. No way to guarantee them afaik. You'll just have to keep chucking Wishing pieces into the den and fight whatever pops up until you get a purple one.
A five star Gardevoir or Gallade raid should get you a ralts with good IV's if you breed them after catching.

Thank you :) I appreciate it a lot, how do you find a max raid battle ralts or gardevoir?

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Thank you so much! I appreciate the time you took to post this. I understand a little better now thank you, unfortunately I'm still not so clear on the purple beam you mentioned for ditto, do you have to be champion to do that or need a certain time of day? Also how do I get a ralts with good ivs to breed?

there's a trick for purple beams. u go to the pokemon den u re interested in and find the raid of the pokemon u need (do this offline). if there's an already active raid, finish it. once the raid is finished, u can reactivate it by using a wishing piece. so follow exactly what i tell you. go to menu -> options -> text mode and change it to "slow", then save the options setting and then, save the game. Now, u re in front of the raid u want to reactivate. talk to it to use a wishing piece. it will ask u first if u want to use a wishing piece and u have to say yes and then it will ask you to save the game. Now, that's the part where u have to be careful. AS SOON AS you press "yes" give a sudden look to the raid. u can recognize a purple beam really soon. if it's not a purple beam, press home before the game finishes to save and close the game. now u can re open it and u will be back in front of the raid of ur interest and u haven't spent a wishing piece yet. as u understand, this method will help you find a purple beam without wasting more that a wishing piece. once u find the purple beam, u need to check if that's the pokemon u re looking for and if the star level is high enough. (purple beams go from 3 to 5 stars). if u got a 3 stars, for example, but u want a 5 one,, there's another trick. u still must be offline for it. so, u have the purple beam, u see the pokemon isn't right or it only has 3 stars. follow these steps: press "invite others" and then press "home button" (but DON'T CLOSE IT). go to -> switch system settings -> date and time -> move it to the next day -> return to the game. Exit from the "invite others" thing and exit the raid itself. once u do that, u ll notice that the purple beam is still there and that the raid will give u other 2000 watts, because it's the next day. re-enter the raid and u ll notice that the pokemon changed. if it didn't or it's still the one u don't need, u have to repeat the process.
it's hard to understand by my text. so i will link u a video that lets u see it. the only thing is that it's in Italian, but subtitles should be available. anyway, it does exactly what i told u. hope this helps, but if u have questions, just ask me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tl0M1xrmx4

 

[Devalue]

Common red beam on the left. Rare purple beam on the right. Recalls hearing the purple beam being a 10% chance over the regular red beam.

Recommends the den below in Bridge Field for Ralts, Kirlia, and Gardevoir. Shows up with either color beam.


Remembers Gardevoir somewhat difficult as a 5-star. Probably spammed Dazzling Gleam.

 

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

there's a trick for purple beams. u go to the pokemon den u re interested in and find the raid of the pokemon u need (do this offline). if there's an already active raid, finish it. once the raid is finished, u can reactivate it by using a wishing piece. so follow exactly what i tell you. go to menu -> options -> text mode and change it to "slow", then save the options setting and then, save the game. Now, u re in front of the raid u want to reactivate. talk to it to use a wishing piece. it will ask u first if u want to use a wishing piece and u have to say yes and then it will ask you to save the game. Now, that's the part where u have to be careful. AS SOON AS you press "yes" give a sudden look to the raid. u can recognize a purple beam really soon. if it's not a purple beam, press home before the game finishes to save and close the game. now u can re open it and u will be back in front of the raid of ur interest and u haven't spent a wishing piece yet. as u understand, this method will help you find a purple beam without wasting more that a wishing piece. once u find the purple beam, u need to check if that's the pokemon u re looking for and if the star level is high enough. (purple beams go from 3 to 5 stars). if u got a 3 stars, for example, but u want a 5 one,, there's another trick. u still must be offline for it. so, u have the purple beam, u see the pokemon isn't right or it only has 3 stars. follow these steps: press "invite others" and then press "home button" (but DON'T CLOSE IT). go to -> switch system settings -> date and time -> move it to the next day -> return to the game. Exit from the "invite others" thing and exit the raid itself. once u do that, u ll notice that the purple beam is still there and that the raid will give u other 2000 watts, because it's the next day. re-enter the raid and u ll notice that the pokemon changed. if it didn't or it's still the one u don't need, u have to repeat the process.
it's hard to understand by my text. so i will link u a video that lets u see it. the only thing is that it's in Italian, but subtitles should be available. anyway, it does exactly what i told u. hope this helps, but if u have questions, just ask me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tl0M1xrmx4

Thank you :) I will give it a watch.

 

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

View attachment 99081
Common red beam on the left. Rare purple beam on the right. Recalls hearing the purple beam being a 10% chance over the regular red beam.

Recommends the den below in Bridge Field for Ralts, Kirlia, and Gardevoir. Shows up with either color beam.
View attachment 99082

Remembers Gardevoir somewhat difficult as a 5-star. Probably spammed Dazzling Gleam.

Thank you :) I would be okay with 4 IV one right for breeding? Or does it have to be 5?

 

[Devalue]

Sure. Works best with more IVs. Reduces the amount of randomness. Suffices with four, though.

Some quick breeding examples:
- Male Pokemon: Gastly. Best in HP, Attack, and Defense. Modest Nature. Held Item: Everstone.
- Female Pokemon: Ralts. Best in Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Timid Nature. Held Item: Destiny Knot.

Guarantees Modest Nature with Gastly's Everstone. Picks five of the parents' stats to pass on.

Egg 1: Copied Gastly's Defense and Special Defense. Carried over Ralts's Attack, Special Attack, and Speed. Totals 3 Bests, plus a random roll on HP.

Egg 2: Copied Gastly's HP and Attack. Grabbed Ralts's Defense, Special Attack, and Speed. Winds up with 5 Bests and a random value on Special Defense.

Could take 1 egg or 20 eggs for a good Ralts. May wish to breed with the Ralts from Egg 2 now to try for maximum Special Defense instead of Attack.

Edit: Forgot a helpful breeding tip: Put a Pokemon with the Flame Body ability in your party while hatching eggs. Halves the time to hatch. Some Pokemon with Flame Body as a common ability: Magby line, Litwick line, Larvesta line, Fletchinder + Talonflame, and Carkoal + Coalossal.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Thank you :) I would be okay with 4 IV one right for breeding? Or does it have to be 5?

the more IV, the best if u want to breed a 6IV pokemon, but lemme tell u something. it takes much time from 2 5IV pokemon to give u a 6IV one. I did it on my own with rolycoly and it took me like 600 plus eggs and no shiny btw lol. so, that pretty much depends on what u want. if u re looking for a shiny pokemon with good base IV, then it could be good. but wishing to have a shiny 6IV pokemon from 2 5IV parents isn't really a good idea, because it would mean much much much more time. but u could consider hyper training. u collect bottle caps and it lets u bring ur shiny pokemon IV to the maximum. to do that, ur pokemon needs to be lv 100. good news is: leveling in swo/shi is really easy. if u do many raids u ll have many leveling candies that will be pretty useful

 

[Daveslab2022]

It seems that everyone has given you the best advice. However there's one tidbit that I recommend that would save you a bunch of time hunting for a ditto.

There is a subreddit, r/morebreedingdittos

They will give you a free 6 IV ditto. Note that this ditto has been duplicated, so it's not a legitimate catch. Use this ditto only for breeding and offline purposes. Don't trade it, don't battle online with it. You won't get in trouble with game freak, but the mods of the sub work hard giving out dittos and these are their rules. Please follow them, and get yourself a ditto! I have at least 1 from each Gen from this subreddit, all the way back to gen 6!

 

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

the more IV, the best if u want to breed a 6IV pokemon, but lemme tell u something. it takes much time from 2 5IV pokemon to give u a 6IV one. I did it on my own with rolycoly and it took me like 600 plus eggs and no shiny btw lol. so, that pretty much depends on what u want. if u re looking for a shiny pokemon with good base IV, then it could be good. but wishing to have a shiny 6IV pokemon from 2 5IV parents isn't really a good idea, because it would mean much much much more time. but u could consider hyper training. u collect bottle caps and it lets u bring ur shiny pokemon IV to the maximum. to do that, ur pokemon needs to be lv 100. good news is: leveling in swo/shi is really easy. if u do many raids u ll have many leveling candies that will be pretty useful

Thank you :) I really appreciate the support.

 

[Pokémon Trainer Marnie]

It seems that everyone has given you the best advice. However there's one tidbit that I recommend that would save you a bunch of time hunting for a ditto.

There is a subreddit, r/morebreedingdittos

They will give you a free 6 IV ditto. Note that this ditto has been duplicated, so it's not a legitimate catch. Use this ditto only for breeding and offline purposes. Don't trade it, don't battle online with it. You won't get in trouble with game freak, but the mods of the sub work hard giving out dittos and these are their rules. Please follow them, and get yourself a ditto! I have at least 1 from each Gen from this subreddit, all the way back to gen 6!

Thank you :) I will probably not do this method as I would like a ditto in my party hehehe but thank you for the extra tip :) wish me luck catching one.