Pixelmon EV Training Guide

So, by now you know the basics – you’ve installed the mod, you’ve learned the different types of Pixelmon, how to capture them, how to make them evolve, etc. So let’s kick your Pixelmon training up a step. Today, I’ll be teaching you about one of the more advanced (and equally useful) training tactics – Pixelmon EV Training. What this does is allows you to focus your Pixelmon on a specific stat (more detail later), and then use this to turn your Pixelmon into whatever you want it to be. It may be time-consuming and a bit more complicated than simply leveling up your Pixelmon, but if done correctly, a pokemon’s statistics can go beyond those of even a legendary! So kick your Pixelmon knowledge up a notch, and let’s start!

Basically, during Pixelmon EV training, a Pixelmon gains Effort Value (EV) points through battling, with the optional use of many items. The total amount that a Pixelmon can gain is 510 EVs – no more can be gained after reaching this limit. The limit per stat is 255. The pixelmon gains it’s EV stats directly after a battle, and EVs contribute more stat points as the pixelmon levels up. Basically, EV points are converted into stat points, and as they rise the ratio decreases, allowing less EV points to make more of a difference – by level 100, the ratio will be 4:1, so 4 EV points can increase your statistics by 1. This all probably sounds a bit confusing now, but it’ll make a lot more sense as we go on.

Here are the six stats that you can improve upon during Pixelmon EV Training:

• HP – Health Points represent the stamina/health of the pixelmon. The pixelmon will faint once it reaches 0.
• Attack – Physical strength of the pixelmon – used for physically damaging moves such as Earthquake or Quick Attack.
• Special Attack – Special strength of the pixelmon – used for special damaging moves like Ice Beam or Water Gun.
• Defense – Defense is used to soften the blow to their HP when attacked by a physically damaging move.
• Special Defense – Special Defense is used to soften the blow to their HP when attacked by a special damaging move.
• Speed – Speed is used to determine how quickly the pixelmon attacks, and gives priority to the moves.

Step 1 – Pick/catch any type of Pokémon for your Pixelmon EV training. You probably already have one in mind, but you must remember that the best time to start training a Pixelmon is the second you get it. So if the Pixelmon you have in mind has already participated in countless battles, it has probably already gained tons of EV points, and that will make it much harder to control how you train it, as it can take some unnecessary steps to remove EV points.

Step 2 – Battle! Now that you have a Pokémon ready for Pixelmon EV training, just go around and find different enemies to battle! These Pokémon must not be in the wild, they can also be other players’! So if you have a certain stat you wish to upgrade but just can’t find the pixelmon that release that stat in the wilderness, try asking a friend to let you defeat one of their Pokémon in battle.

As you battle, you will probably realize that EV training takes a while, but fortunately the mod adds some items from the original game to help with that!

• A macho brace, when held, doubles the EV gain for any stat taken from a defeated Pixelmon.
• A power item, when held, gives an additional 4 EV’s with the normal amount of EV’s gained by battling. However, they also halve your Pixelmon’s speed.
• A vitamin, when eaten, raises the EV stat by 10, but will not exceed 100.
• A berry, when eaten, can be used to remove 10 EV stats from a Pixelmon.

These are the items/berries that go along with each statistic:

Step 3 – Keep track! Especially if you’re not the best at mental math, you’re going to want to find some way to keep track of the EV’s you receive from training, and keep progress of your Pixelmon’s statistics. Now this can be simple as just grabbing a pencil and a post-it, or you can go ahead and make some kind of spreadsheet on your computer, but here are the basics:

1. Divide your system with rows containing each of the stats you want to train (HP, Attack, etc)
2. Every time you defeat a Pixelmon, make tally marks, or add numbers, or whatever you wish, for the amount of EV points gained. This will depend on the base number of EV points your defeated enemy drops (look below for exact numbers), and remember to add in any additional statistic points from held items such as power weights, macho braces, etc.

Now, without further ado, click for the base statistics for each Pixelmon. Most only give EV points in one category, but there are a few that can boost multiple.

Here are two pictures of a level 100 Dragonite before and after EV training (because remember, you don’t need to level up to gain EV’s!). Notice the huge spikes in Attack and Speed.

Minor tips:

• These statistics won’t be completely clear until you’ve reached level 100 (where the Pixelmon reaches the ratio of 4 EV points : 1 Stat point), so if you’ve been reading carefully you’ll have noticed that 255 doesn’t divide by 4! It only goes into 252. So, you have 3 extra EV points that are better spent on a different stat, don’t waste them!
• In the case that you have accidentally gained some extra stats from defeating Pokémon, remember to use berries to remove them!
• On many Pixelmon servers, people with this knowledge and experience with EV training will offer to train your Pokémon for you. These EV trainers can be very useful if you’re working on something else and don’t have the time, or are simply too lazy. However, make sure you trust these people to not steal your Pixelmon, and to not mess up the training.
• Another variable to a Pixelmon’s stat is their nature. When you’re Pixelmon EV training, you are trying to increase stats, but these can be helped or hurt by a Pixelmon’s nature. When you open a Pokémon’s menu, you can see their growth (pygmy, enormous) and nature (bold, gentle, hardy) at the bottom – these affect their base statistics as well, and can be a very large factor. So if you’re very focused on a statistic, such as Attack, or Speed, it’s a good idea to look at a Pokémon’s nature, and maybe even find one depending on the nature. Each type of nature increases a stat by 10% and decreases another stat by 10%. However, some don’t do anything at all. Click http://pixelmonmod.com/wiki/index.php?title=Natures  for a chart outlining which nature does what.

Alright folks, that’s it for my tutorial on EV training! As always, leave comments below regarding feedback for this article and tell me about how your own EV training goes! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more tips and tutorials on the Pixelmon mod!