| 27 | | <h2>Numbers involved</h2> |
| 28 | | <p> |
| 29 | | <dl class="compact highlights"> |
| 30 | | <dt>Calculated stats</dt> |
| 31 | | <dd>For lack of a better name, these are the only numbers the game actually shows to you. They are the values actually used in the damage formula and for determining who moves first. They are recalculated when a Pokémon levels up, gains or loses effort from the use of an item, or is put in a PC Box. Until one of these happens, any effort your Pokémon gains will not affect its stats.</dd> |
| 32 | | <dt>Base stats</dt> |
| 33 | | <dd>For each stat listed above, every Pokémon <em>species</em> has a number from 0 to 255 inclusive that determines, relative to other species, about how good that stat can be. Very few Pokémon actually have base stats near either extreme; 40 is fairly low and 120 is fairly high. These are the numbers displayed on the Pokémon pages in my Pokédex.</dd> |
| 34 | | <dt><abbr title="individual value">IV</abbr>s</dt> |
| 35 | | <dd>Each Pokémon has a number for each that ranges from 0 to 31. These are called its IVs (or sometimes DVs), and essentially represent the Pokémon's genes; a level 100 Pokémon with a 31 IV will have a stat 31 higher than the same Pokémon with a 0 IV. All six of them are randomly set when you first encounter a wild Pokémon or receive an egg (although breeding can affect them somewhat), and cannot be changed later.</dd> |
| 36 | | <dt><abbr title="effort value">EV</abbr>s</dt> |
| 37 | | <dd>Every time one of your Pokémon earns EXP, it accumulates one or more effort points spread over one or more stats, depending on the species of the defeated Pokémon -- you can find them listed in my Pokédex. These points are not split up like EXP is; every Pokémon that partakes in a battle (or that is holding an EXP Share) earns full effort. Effort points can increase a Pokémon's final calculated stat at level 100 by up to 63, so they are extremely important if you want to maximize a Pokémon's effectiveness. Each stat can have up to 255 effort points, and a given Pokémon can have a maximum of 510 effort points total -- however, every four effort points gives one stat point at level 100, so giving a Pokémon more than 252 effort in a particular stat is slightly wasteful.</dd> |
| 38 | | <dt>Level</dt> |
| 39 | | <dd>Of course, your Pokémon will gain stat boosts every level even if you gain no effort at all, as all of these numbers are proportionally dampened before level 100. A level 50 Pokémon with max IVs will only have a stat 15 higher than the same Pokémon with zero IVs, and similarly EVs can only make a difference of 31.</dd> |
| 40 | | </dl> |
| 41 | | <p>Each Pokémon also has a <a href="[% c.uri_for('/dex/mechanics/natures') %]">nature</a>, which may either not affect its stats at all or raise one stat by 10% and lower another by 10%. HP is not affected by natures.</p> |
| 42 | | <p>If you wish to know a Pokémon's IVs -- usually so you can pick the best Pokémon from a group of several -- you can use my <a href="[% c.uri_for('/dex/calculators/iv') %]">IV calculator</a>. You can also look at the Pokémon's Summary screen for somewhat vaguer results; the personality note above the favorite Poffin flavors hint as to the Pokémon's highest IV. <!-- TODO --></p> |
| 43 | | <p>There are other ways to train your EVs, too:</p> |
| | 30 | <h2>Number Crunching</h2> |
| | 31 | <p>The first and most obvious factor affecting a Pokémon's stats is its species. Every species of Pokémon has six <var>base stats</var>, one per stat, which affect how good Pokémon of that species can ever get. These stats range from 0 to 255, although the extremes are rare; 40 is fairly low, whereas 120 is fairly high. A few exceptions exist, for example <a href="[% dex_uri('pokemon', 'Blissey') %]">Blissey</a> and its obscenely high 255 HP stat. These are the numbers listed under 'Stats' in the Pokédex. A difference of 1 point in a base stat, all else being equal, makes a difference of 2 points in the calculated stats -- that is, with no other changes, a <a href="[% dex_uri('pokemon', 'Chansey') %]">Chansey</a> (base HP of 250) evolving into a <a href="[% dex_uri('pokemon', 'Blissey') %]">Blissey</a> (base HP of 255) will gain 10 max HP.</p> |
| | 32 | <p>Next is a Pokémon's set of <var>individual values</var> or IVs (sometimes called DVs), which are specific to each individual Pokémon. Whenever a Pokémon appears in the wild, or when you receive an egg, the Pokémon is permanently assigned a set of six random numbers, one per stat, ranging from 0 to 31. These are its IVs, and serve to make individual Pokémon naturally better or worse than others, rather than all about equally strong. A difference of 1 in an IV makes a difference of 1 in the calculated stats, so IVs can at best only affect calculated stats by 31 points.</p> |
| | 33 | <p>Although IVs are never shown in the game, you can figure them out with an <a href="/dex/calculators/iv">IV calculator</a>. Diamond and Pearl provide a few subtle hints as to a Pokémon's IVs, such as the quip on the Summary screen above the Pokémon's preferred flavors, but they are so obscure and vague that it is hardly worth the effort to use them -- it's far easier to enter a L100 wifi battle and enter the L100 stats into a calculator.</p> |
| | 34 | <p>Perhaps most importantly is <var>effort</var>, often referred to as <abbr title="effort values">EVs</abbr>. These are another form of personalization, although they are not set in stone like IVs are. Every time a Pokémon gains experience from a battle, it gains a handful of effort points in one or more stats depending upon the Pokémon it defeated. As a general rule, these points generally correspond to the best stat the defeated Pokémon has, and stronger Pokémon give more points; <a href="[% dex_uri('pokemon', 'Charizard') %]">Charizard</a>, for example, gives 3 Special Attack points, whereas <a href="[% dex_uri('pokemon', 'Magikarp') %]">Magikarp</a> only gives a single Speed point.</p> |
| | 35 | <p>Effort is collected individually for each stat, and can reach up to 255; however, the combined effort in all six stats can never go above 510. Every 4 effort points grants 1 calculated stat point, and any remainder is ignored, so the most useful effort points a stat can have is 252 (63 * 4). Thus, effort can make a difference of up to 63 in a given stat on a given Pokémon.</p> |
| | 36 | <p>One more important consideration, although not used solely for stats, is a Pokémon's <var>level</var>; before L100, a Pokémon's stats are scaled down by about its level's proportion to 100. That is, a level 50 Pokémon's stats are about half of what they should be, it takes 8 effort points instead of 4 to grow by 1 stat point, etc. This ensures that, even if nothing else changes, a Pokémon's stats will still increase as it levels up. The underlying values don't change, though, so effort points that appear useless at an early level will become more useful later on.</p> |
| | 37 | <p>Finally, each Pokémon also has a <a href="[% c.uri_for('/dex/mechanics/natures') %]">nature</a>, listed on its Summary screen, which either has no effect at all or raises one stat by 10% but lowers another by 10%. HP is not affected by natures.</p> |
| | 38 | |
| | 39 | <h2>More on Effort</h2> |
| | 40 | <p>As effort is the value you can best control and most significantly affects stats, it should be your main focus. Breeding for good IVs is worth it, but not to the point of requiring 30 or 31 in every stat; each point only gives a single extra stat point, after all.</p> |
| | 41 | <p>Here, then, are a few more ways to affect effort.</p> |
| 45 | | <li>There is an item called the Macho Brace which will double the effort points gained by the holder, for the small cost of a temporary reduction in Speed as long as it is held.</li> |
| 46 | | <li>There are also six similar specialized items, one for each stat and listed in the table below, that grant an additional four effort points in their respective stat every time the holder gains effort in that stat from battle. This four-point bonus applies before the Pokérus (described below), so defeating a Pokémon that gives one Attack effort point normally will give ten to a Pokémon with Pokérus holding a Power Bracer.</li> |
| 47 | | <li>There is also a rare condition known as Pokérus which will permanently double the EVs a Pokémon gains. If a Pokémon has it and is contagious, a small purple "PKRS" will appear on its Summary screen, and you will be informed when you heal at a Pokémon Center. As long as a Pokémon is contagious, it will have a chance to spread the virus to other Pokémon in your party or in the same box when you finish battles. The virus is otherwise harmless. After a day or two a Pokémon in your party (but not in a box!) will stop being contagious, although it will still have the effect. There will also be a small dot on its Summary screen to indicate that it cannot become contagious again.</li> |
| 48 | | <li>The six drug items listed in the table below will each raise a Pokémon's effort points by 10, although they cannot be used to raise any EV over 100, so they should be used as early as possible. They are listed in the table below.</li> |
| 49 | | <li>If you ever wish to <em>decrease</em> a Pokémon's accumulated effort points -- perhaps because you weren't deliberately training it, or accidentally beat the wrong Pokémon, etc -- there are six Berries which each lower a stat by 10 points when fed to a Pokémon. They also increase happiness slightly. They are listed in the table below.</li> |
| | 43 | <li>The [% item_link('Macho Brace') %] is a held item which will double any effort the holder receives.</li> |
| | 44 | <li>There is a rare condition known as <var>Pokérus</var> which will permanently double the effort a Pokémon gains. If a Pokémon has it and is contagious, a small purple "PKRS" will appear on its Summary screen, and you will be informed when you heal at a Pokémon Center. As long as a Pokémon is contagious, it will have a chance to spread the virus to other Pokémon in your party or in the same Box when you finish battles. The virus is otherwise harmless. At midnight, any Pokémon in your party (but not those in a Box!) will stop being contagious, although it will still have the effect. There will also be a small dot on its Summary screen to indicate that it cannot catch the virus or become contagious again.</li> |
| | 45 | <li>Battle Tower provides six "Power" items, one for each stat, which increase any effort the holder gains in the respective stat by 4. This happens before Pokérus is considered, so with both effects, a Pokémon gaining 1 effort point will gain 10 instead. These items are listed in the chart below.</li> |
| | 46 | <li>Six consumable items, one per stat, can be purchased to give a Pokémon 10 effort points. However, these items cannot increase the effort in a given stat past 100, so they are best used early. These items are listed in the chart below.</li> |
| | 47 | <li>If you have lost track of a Pokémon's effort and want to figure out its IVs, or otherwise want to reduce its effort, there are six Berries which each lower the effort in a certain stat by 10. If the corresponding stat has no effort, they won't work, so you can feed them en masse to a Pokémon without worry of using too many. These Berries are listed in the chart below.</li> |
