Learn how to effectively train Effort Values (EVs) in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Discover methods like battling, vitamins, Poke Pelago, Festival Plaza, Power items, and Pokerus to maximize your Pokémon's stats.
While a Pokémon’s IVs are predominantly fixed, EVs can be customized. You don’t need to concern yourself with EVs during the main story, as their influence is hardly felt. Only for tougher battles should you start to consider planning.
At Level 100, a Pokémon gains 1 stat point for every 4 EVs accumulated. A Pokémon can gain up to 252 EVs in one stat, equating to a maximum stat boost of 63 in a single stat. You are allowed 510 total EVs, so you can have a second stat boosted by 63 points and a third stat boosted by 1 point.
Comparing a run-of-the-mill Pokémon from the main story with a hardcore trainer’s Pokémon with a carefully selected Nature, the best IVs, and optimized EVs is like looking at night and day!
Manipulating EVs
The primary method of EV training—the term coined for training your Pokémon to promote specific EV gain—is through battling wild Pokémon. Each Pokémon species awards 1 to 3 EVs in a given stat. Therefore, identify which species gives what EVs, then focus on defeating that species.
EV training is best done after the main story. During the story, you’ll encounter a wide range of Pokémon, each with wildly different EV yields, making careful EV management unfeasible.
Outside of battles, you can feed your Pokémon vitamin-type items such as Calcium and Carbos, which boost EVs by 10 points in the specified stat. Vitamins are expensive, and you cannot use them if the EVs in a stat are 100 or more.
Wing-type items such as Genius Wing boost EVs by 1 point each but are not bound by such restrictions.
Isle Evelup in Poke Pelago allows you to passively EV train up to 3 groups of 6 Pokémon. The Festival Plaza offers drinks that instantly maximize the EVs in one stat, but this luxury is limited to once per day.
EVs the EZ Way
With 510 EVs to gain for each Pokémon, there are ways to speed up EV gain.
Give your Pokémon certain hold items that promote EV gain. For 16 BP each at the Battle Royale Dome, you can purchase Power items, such as the Power Anklet. These add a flat +8 EVs of the stat they correspond to.
Pokémon that have contracted Pokerus will permanently earn double EVs, even after Pokerus is cured. You have a lottery chance of contracting Pokerus from wild Pokémon, but thanks to Wonder Trade, it’s not uncommon for infected Pokémon to be sent en masse.
Power items and Pokerus stack. If you fight a Pokémon that gives +1 EV to Speed with a Power Anklet equipped and the Pokémon has Pokerus, you will get (1 + 8) * 2 = 18 Speed EVs.
If you’re EV training multiple Pokémon, you can turn on EXP Share, which shares the same amount of EVs to your entire party. Just make sure every Pokémon in the party is either already maxed out or needs the EV of that particular stat.
Although Pokémon Sun and Moon removed horde battles, you can use ally chaining for a similar effect. When a wild Pokémon is low on health, it may call for an ally to help it. You can use the Adrenaline Orb item to encourage this behavior.
How ally chaining works: after a Pokémon calls for an ally, defeat the original Pokémon or the ally Pokémon, then wait for the remaining Pokémon to call for another ally. Repeat the process to spawn more allies.
Each ally Pokémon summoned grants double the usual EVs. This effect stacks with Pokerus and the Power items. So with each ally Pokémon defeated, you can gain (1 + 8) * 2 * 2 = 36 EVs. To reach 252 EVs, you need only defeat 7 ally Pokémon.
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