Hello, and thanks for taking the time to read this. These are some basics to IVs and EVs that I will explain that have helped me go very far in all the pokemon generations. I'm a two-time world top 8 finalist and a one-time national champion. If you're interested in the competitive aspect of Pokemon, I highly suggest you take some time to read this guide.

First, we'll start with IVs.

What are IVs?
IV stands for Interal Values. You can't ever see these numbers and they can't ever be changed. They are numbers that are different for EVERY pokemon, and there is one random IV for every stat. Think of these as your "bonus stats." They can range anywhere from 0-31.

Let's go with an example. I find a random Starly and I catch it. It's IVs are:
HP: 21
Attack: 23
Defense: 2
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 14
Speed: 14

That means in addition to its regular stats, my Starly will have 21 EXTRA HP added onto it's Maximum HP, 2 EXTRA defence added onto it's Maximum Defense and so on. But wait, didn't I already say you can't ever see these numbers? How would I ever know? Well you need a Pokemon IV Calculator. As intimidating as that sounds, don't worry it's quite easy to use. All it requires is that you fill out the information. It will be MUCH easier if you have Rare Candies and test out your pokemon IVs before saving. You can find one here:

http://www.metalkid.info/Pokemon/OnlineProgram/Calculators/IV.aspx

Okay, so you got down how to check IVs, and you now understand what they are. How do you get the IVs you want so you can get the perfect 31? Breeding is the key. Whenever you breed pokemon, a random IV is sent from each of the parent pokemon to the new pokemon at random. You have to keep breeding and checking IVs until you get the IV that you want for the stat you want. There is no way to get a 31 IV for all stats; your odds are about equal to winning the lottery. Now, all this seems very time consuming, and not at all worth the effort. However there is one more shortcut you can take, and that's looking at it's Characteristic. On every pokemon, you will find a Characteristic to every pokemon that will help you narrow down the possible IVs it has. The Characteristics are found on the pokemon when it says something like "Likes to thrash about" or "Capable of taking hits." Here is a list of all the Characteristics, and what each one means:

HP
-Loves to eat 0/5/10/15/20/25/30
-Often dozes off 1/6/11/16/21/26/31
-Often naps 2/7/12/17/22/27
-Scatters things often 3/8/13/18/23/28
-Likes to relax 4/9/14/19/24/29

Attack
-Proud of its power 0/5/10/15/20/25/30
-Likes to thrash about 1/6/11/16/21/26/31
-A little quick-tempered 2/7/12/17/22/27
-Likes to fight 3/8/13/18/23/28
-Quick tempered 4/9/14/19/24/29

Defense
-Sturdy body 0/5/10/15/20/25/30
-Capable of taking hits 1/6/11/16/21/26/31
-Highly persistent 2/7/12/17/22/27
-Good endurance 3/8/13/18/23/28
-Good perseverance 4/9/14/19/24/29

Special Attack
-Highly curious 0/5/10/15/20/25/30
-Mischievous 1/6/11/16/21/26/31
-Thoroughly cunning 2/7/12/17/22/27
-Often lost in thought 3/8/13/18/23/28
-Very finicky 4/9/14/19/24/29

Special Defense
-Strong willed 0/5/10/15/20/25/30
-Somewhat vain 1/6/11/16/21/26/31
-Strongly defiant 2/7/12/17/22/27
-Hates to lose 3/8/13/18/23/28
-Somewhat stubborn 4/9/14/19/24/29

Speed
-Likes to run 0/5/10/15/20/25/30
-Alert to sounds 1/6/11/16/21/26/31
-Impetuous and silly 2/7/12/17/22/27
-Somewhat of a clown 3/8/13/18/23/28
-Quick to flee 4/9/14/19/24/29


That means if I had a pokemon with "Quick to flee" as its characteristic, its speed IV would be either 4, 9, 14, 19, 24 or 29. Although this doesn't help figure out exactly which one it is, it definitely helps narrow it down and if you're going for a 31 in a stat, you know which Characteristics to rule out. You only really need a 31 in one stat, you don't necessarily need one in 2, but if you're going for 2, breeding is the fastest way to go. It's essential that you use an IV calculator if you want to figure out EXACT IVs.

Now, onto EVs.

What are EVs?
EVs stand for Effort Values. Unlike IVs, EVs are bonus stats that you control. You get to distribute EVs however you see fit. Do you want a fast, high attacking Blaziken? Do you want a high defense, high HP Walrein? You control how EVs go.

Now, how to get EVs. Whenever you defeat a pokemon in battle (except battles with your friends, only in-game battles), the pokemon you defeat releases 1 EV. Think of an EV as a 1/4 stat. For every 4 EVs you get, you get 1 stat boost in that category. Now, how do you know which pokemon give which EVs?

Well, pokemon you defeat tend to have the characteristic of that pokemon. For example, if you knock out a Starly, you get 1 speed EV. If you defeat a Shinx, you get an attack EV and for a Bidoof it's 1 HP EV. Here's a list of easy ways to get EVs in each category:

HP: Bidoofs are the easiest way. They all give 1 HP EV when defeated.
Attack: Defeat a Shinx, they're at the beginning of the game and they all give 1 Attack EV.
Defense: Defeat a Geodude, they're found in many caves. They give 1 Defense EV.
Speed: Starlys and Zubats give 1 Speed EV. So do Magikarp.
Special Attack: Abras give 1 Special Attack EV while Kadabras give 2.
Special Defense: Slowpokes give 1 Special Defense EV.

So now you know how to raise up desired stats. However, there are limits. For each stat you can only have 255 EVs. And the maximum EVs a pokemon can have is 510. That means once you've defeated 255 Bidoofs, you're done and won't get any more EVs in HP or stat boosts. This seems very, very time consuming, but there are items that can help you speed this up 4 times faster: Power items. They're found after you beat the game as prizes in the Battle Tower area, and they all give 4 extra EVs whenever you defeat a pokemon. They are as follows:

Power Anklet - Lowers Speed, adds four Speed EVs on top of the usual EV gain
when experience is gained.

Power Band - Lowers Speed, adds four Special Defense EVs on top of the usual
EV gain when experience is gained.

Power Belt - Lowers Speed, adds four Defense EVs on top of the usual EV gain
when experience is gained.

Power Bracer - Lowers Speed, adds four Attack EVs on top of the usual EV gain
when experience is gained.

Power Lens - Lowers Speed, adds four Special Attack EVs on top of the usual EV
gain when experience is gained.

Power Weight - Lowers Speed, adds four Hit Points EVs on top of the usual EV
gain when experience is gained.


So there you go. You may not see the stat boosts right away because they are randomly distributed between whatever level your pokemon is and level 100. You will eventually get ALL of your stat boosts from your EVs though, so just be patient until you reach that final level.

Bonus Section!

What are Natures?

Natures are different with each pokemon too, except they're a bit easier to manipulate. They give a 10 percent boost to one stat's growth, and -10 percent to another stat growth. Like IVs, they're completely random between each pokemon and you can't control the nature of pokemon found in the wild unless...

You have a pokemon with the ability Synchronize. Pokemon found in the wild while your lead pokemon has synchronize will have a 50 percent chance of having the same nature. So if my Adamant Abra with Synchronize is my lead pokemon, and I run into a Starly, it has a 50 percent chance of having an Adamant Nature. Now, that's good and all, but how do you know which natures to get, and how do you know which stats each nature will lower and raise? Well, that's what this guide is here for.

Beneficial to | Hindering to
Nature | (10% boost) | (10% loss)
---------|----------------- |-----------------
Adamant | Attack | Special Attack
Bashful | None | None
Bold | Defense | Attack
Brave | Attack | Speed
Calm | Special Defense | Attack
Careful | Special Defense | Special Attack
Docile | None | None
Gentle | Special Defense | Defense
Hardy | None | None
Hasty | Speed | Defense
Impish | Defense | Special Attack
Jolly | Speed | Special Attack
Lax | Defense | Special Defense
Lonely | Attack | Defense
Mild | Special Attack | Defense
Modest | Special Attack | Attack
Naive | Speed Special | Defense
Naughty | Attack | Special Defense
Quiet | Special Attack | Speed
Quirky | None | None
Rash | Special Attack | Special Defense
Relaxed | Defense | Speed
Sassy | Special Defense | Speed
Serious | None | None
Timid | Speed | Attack

There you go. The ones that have None and None as boosts/decreases are Neutral natures, and are meant to have no good or bad drawbacks. Let's say you're breeding pokemon though. It's still easy to get a nature you want. All you need to do is equip the female pokemon that's breeding (or the Ditto) with an Everstone, and it will have a 50 percent chance of passing down it's nature.


A few more notes
Hidden Power is a move that is used quite often in competitive battling. It's power and element are based off of IVs, so they're completely random. Your best bet in getting a Hidden Power with the right type and power you want is to breed and attempt to manipulate the IVs through breeding and checking it's Characteristic.

Items are crucial to a battle as well as pokemon. If you pokemon has an item, many times it could be the difference between a win and a loss. Berries are often underestimated and labeled as horrible, but many times they can save you from a super effective attack, or raise a stat you need when you're low on HP.

How do you win every battle? You don't. You learn from your losses, and you improve your team. There is no one team that wins every time, and there will be teams that will surprise you. Using the pokemon that are most overused aren't the key to winning, it's coming up with a team that works AS A TEAM. Let's say you have 6 pokemon that are super powerful, the most used pokemon. You will run straight into a wall that will stop all of your powerful pokemon, and you'll get stalled out. Utility is part of pokemon, and that means having heal moves, support moves, or status-inflicting moves. It's all a part of your unique plans that you make for your team.

I hope this guide was helpful, and that the more people become interested in the complexity of Pokemon rather than just discarding it as another childish game.

wow this helps a lot thanks I guess.

holy chicken tits this is amazing!

now to build my team hahaha

umm how do you know the right natures and descripton for each pokemon?

There's a lot of Pkmn Info at www.serebii.net go there to find out anything Pkmn. LOL

that doen't make sense. care to elaborate?

Open up the menu by pushing X. Go to Pokemon. Click on the pokemon's stats you want to see and click SUMMARY. Go to Page two by pushing right once. At the very top in red you'll see ______ nature. The nature will be written in red. The characteristic is the fifth line down, the one right before the food line and right after the space. It should look like this:

Adamant nature <--- Nature
Mar. 22, 2009 <-----Date Raised
Route 201 <----------Area Found
Met at Lv. 5 <-------Level Found At

Quick to flee. <-------Characteristic
Likes spicy food. <----Poffin type

but is that the nature for that pokemon? Ive been asking waht is the best nature for each pokemon? Like is there a list? or something?

Oh. Each pokemon have different growths. A lot of time, it's preference. However, you're not going to go give Alakazam Attack EVs or an Attack Nature. Most of it is usually obvious based on it's moveset and it's stat growth. Usually it'd be best to just check a pokemon reference website like Serebii or Bulbapedia.

How do you get pokerus and what are the cances of getting it and can you infuence it happening. Or is it just like getting a shiny pokemon?

It's like the Shiny pkmn deal. ^_^

That doesn't answer my question. lol thanks. I shall wait for a response though.