What Is EV Training In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl?

"Pokemon Brilliant Diamond" and "Shining Pearl" have been loved by critics and fans alike. Despite being leaked on Twitch against Nintendo's will, people have been enjoying features like customizing their character and catching Shiny Pokemon. But one aspect of the remakes that is of great interest to competitive players is EV training.

EV (or Effort Value) figures are hidden stats that are boosted when Pokemon level up. EV figures translate to a Pokemon's stats four to one, meaning four EVs will become an additional point in either the Special Attack, Special Defense, HP, Attack, Defense, or Speed stat. Each Pokemon can only have 510 EV points total, which means that players might want to pay attention to which stats are seeing the most boosts after battle. 

Players can check a Pokemon's EV figures by opening up the menu and going to the hexagon tab after selecting a specific Pokemon. menu. From there, press "X" and the chart will give players a rough idea of which stats have seen the most improvement. This won't show any specific numbers, but players can tell that a specific stat is maxed out with EV figures when a yellow star appears beside a stat. 

There are several different ways you can EV train your Pokemon, and some methods are much quicker to do than others.

There are three main methods for quick EV training in "Pokemon Brilliant Diamond" and "Shining Pearl."

The first and easiest way to EV train Pokemon is by buying the correct Vitamin for the stat the player wants to increase. As Reddit user Whyme132303 points out, there's no cap on the number of Vitamins a player can give their Pokemon, and 26 Vitamins can get a Pokemon to 252 EV figures to any stat. This method can be a bit costly, but the same user explained that players can also repeat a battle daily on Route 210 that awards $26,000. So if you're looking to raise some quick funds, that's one the best ways to go about it.

Defeating Pokemon in trainer battles is another way to gain EV. Specific Pokemon have EV figures attached to them, and defeating them will give Pokemon the additional stats. Reddit user a_wild_dunsparce shared a graphic to help people know exactly which battles should be repeated daily to boost specific EV stats. This can take a lot of time, especially if the player isn't comfortable with changing the date on their Switch to trick the game into a quick repeat battle.

Of course, Pokemon can also gain EV boosts from defeating wild Pokemon, but it's pretty random, and not particularly the best method.

Because there are a limited number of EV points a Pokemon can have, and since battling will give Pokemon EV boosts throughout the game, most players will have to reset the EVs of their Pokemon before focusing their training to specific stats.

Fortunately, there are berries in the game that can lower a Pokemon's EVs. Unfortunately, most of them are only readily available after you beat the game, so many of these berry locations won't help too much when it comes to training your Pokemon specifically to face the Elite Four. If a player has Surf, however, Reddit user notwiththeflames has listed off places to find specific berries for lowering EV figures. Additionally, the Berry Master on Route 208 can also give players a random berry every day, so lucky players may find just what they're looking for.

If all of that sounds like a hassle, there's some more good news. When it comes to the main story campaign, many players have argued that EV training isn't all that important. Players can still take on the hardest battles without perfect EV Pokemon, but having good EV figures can definitely make things easier. Building a team around strong EV is also incredibly important for any competitive online battles.