Training Techniques to Maximize Your Pokémon's Stats:

A Complete Guide for Scarlet/Violet Version

Are you interested in training your Pokémon to have the best stats, but you don't know how to get started? Follow along with this detailed step-by-step guide as I demonstrate how to give your Pokémon the best stats it can possibly get. Every mechanic and training technique will be explained, with plenty of screenshots to help you understand each step.

As our example, I will train a Politoed. The same fundamental principles will apply to any other Pokémon you'd like to raise, whether you're preparing for competitive battles or you just like having top quality Pokémon. As you watch Politoed's training progress, you'll learn how to make your own decisions about raising any Pokémon you like to its fullest potential.

Before you start training, take some time to consider your end goal. It's only possible for a Pokémon to maximize two of its stats, at most, so you should decide in advance what you'd like to train your Pokémon to actually do. Maybe you've already chosen which stats you want your Pokémon to specialize in; for example, you want an Incineroar with the highest possible Attack stat. Or maybe you aren't sure yet.

If you have a Pokémon you want to raise but you're not sure which stats would be best to raise, think about what you'd like to do with the Pokémon. Do you want to use this Pokémon in Tera Raids? Do you want it to help you catch more Pokémon easily? Do you want to create a strategy based on a specific move, ability or theme? Do you want it to fulfill a specific team role? These ideas should help guide you towards choosing a stat build. Remember, there's no right or wrong answer! Pick whatever seems good to you. If you change your mind later, that's okay - you can always change your Pokémon's training again. So explore your creativity and have fun!

Let's walk through this decision-making process for my Politoed.

First of all, we'll want to look at a summary of Politoed's species data to see exactly what kind of material we're working with. Click here to view it on PokemonDB. This is always a great place to start! This shows us a lot of very useful info, including the species' default stat spread (base stats) and all the moves it can learn.

In this case, we see that Politoed's strongest stats overall are HP, Special Attack, and Special Defense. Matching its naturally strong areas, Politoed can also learn a decent variety of useful special attacks, plus some interesting support moves too.

Overall, the information we just discussed helps me answer the question: how should I raise my Politoed? Well, I don't have anything super specific in mind... but I enjoy doing high level Tera Raids, so I'd like my new Politoed to be okay for raiding. And five-star+ difficulty raids favor durability over offense, since you will often be unable to one-hit KO the bosses through their massive HP pools. So that means Politoed should have solid defenses, especially her Special Defense, so she can take plenty of hits. I also want her to do decent damage using special attacks, but just pure damage isn't gonna be her main focus.

So, putting all these considerations together, let's maximize Politoed's HP and Special Defense.

(What are base stats? They're not something you can see directly in-game. They are hidden numbers that set the default stats for each Pokémon species in the game. In other words, base stats are the background numbers that give each species different stats. They are the numbers that say Jolteon are faster than Slowpoke, and Shuckle have high defenses but low attacks.)

Here's her summary. Just caught at level 60, no training yet:




A Pokémon's nature increases one stat by 10% and reduces another by 10%, indicated by red (up) and blue (down) arrows shown on the Pokémon's stat chart. Every nature has a different effect.


Politoed has a careful nature. Careful nature raises Special Defense and lowers Special Attack. That's not ideal - we want Politoed to use special attacks, but her Special Attack stat is currently being lowered. Fortunately, it's easy to fix this issue.

Mints are consumable items that adjust the effect of a Pokémon's nature. When you feed your Pokémon a mint, its stats get recalculated using the formula for the nature indicated by the mint. The nature shown in the Pokémon's summary does not change, but its stats do - exactly as though the Pokémon had a different nature from the beginning. Stats-wise there is absolutely no difference between an original nature and a minted nature, so there's no downside to using mints! The stat change is permanent until you feed your Pokémon another mint, which you can do as many times as you'd like. Mints are sold at the Chansey Supply Shops in Mesagoza, Montenevera, and Cascarrafa.

Let's feed Politoed a calm mint. Calm nature raises Special Defense and lowers Attack.



Notice how Politoed's stats changed: Attack decreased from 102 to 91 (-11), and Special Attack increased from 112 to 125 (+13).

Politoed still officially has a careful nature, but now the effect of her nature is more beneficial. The calm mint lets Politoed do more damage with special attacks, while keeping the Special Defense boost she already had before. In exchange, she'll now deal less damage with physical attacks. This is a great tradeoff because I'm not planning to teach her any physical attacks - she won't need to use her Attack stat at all.

EV training (also known as super training) means the process of purposefully distributing effort points (also known as stat experience) in order to achieve some specific outcome. The EV system represents the concept of your Pokémon working out or practicing to become better at a particular skill. This system is why Pokémon raised with only rare candies are said to be weaker than Pokémon raised with battling. If you care about stat min/maxing, EV training is a crucial step!

You can still successfully EV train even if you don't understand the details of how it works, so if you don't care, feel free to skip the next paragraph....

Okay, here goes the explanation. Imagine that each of your Pokémon's six stats has its own invisible experience bar. As your Pokémon "levels up" its stats, it gets bonus stat points. EVs, effort values, basically represent your Pokémon's levels for each of the six stats. A Pokémon can gain a total of 510 effort points spread across all its parameters. Each individual stat can gain up to 252 points; effectively at 252 the stat has reached the max "stat level" of 63, and it can't gain any more exp for that stat. In other words, the Pokémon is getting the highest possible EV bonus to the relevant stat. The actual impact of EVs on stat values scales with the Pokémon's level and nature. (In general, 4 EVs = +1 stat point at lvl 100.)

(Psst - you might be interested in my EV Training Planner. This tool shows you simple step-by-step instructions for exactly how to train any EV spread you'd like. If you're following this guide with your own Pokémon, why not give it a try?)

A basic, straightforward way to EV train is to do a 252/252/6 spread - two stats raised to "lvl 63" and one stat raised to "lvl 1." Since this is a max stats guide, we obviously gotta max out some stats, so I'll be demoing this spread: 252 HP, 252 Special Defense, and 6 Special Attack.

In this section I will demonstrate how to EV train using consumables called vitamins. This is a super fast and easy method. The only downside is that you might have to spend time farming money to buy the items.

Consumables for Gaining EV Points
Item Effect
HP Up +10 HP EVs
Health Mochi +10 HP EVs
Health Feather +1 HP EV
Protein +10 Attack EVs
Muscle Mochi +10 Attack EVs
Muscle Feather +1 Attack EV
Iron +10 Defense EVs
Resist Mochi +10 Defense EVs
Resist Feather +1 Defense EV
Calcium +10 Special Attack EVs
Genius Mochi +10 Special Attack EVs
Genius Feather +1 Special Attack EV
Zinc +10 Special Defense EVs
Clever Mochi +10 Special Defense EVs
Clever Feather +1 Special Defense EV
Carbos +10 Speed EVs
Swift Mochi +10 Speed EVs
Swift Feather +1 Speed EV

Any combination of these items will work as long as they add up to the desired final value. All vitamins can be purchased at the Chansey Supply Shop in North Cascarrafa, mochis can be won as prizes in the Ogre Oustin' game at the Kitakami Festival, and feathers can be picked up off the water when you are surfing in one Paldean ocean or on Lake Casseroyal. Sometimes feathers can be picked up off the ground in other places, but they're most common in the water.

We want Politoed to have 252 HP points. So, for example, we can feed Politoed 25 HP Ups/Health Mochi, plus two Health Feathers, equaling exactly 252 HP EVs. Or we could use 26 HP Ups/Health Mochi - that would actually equal 260, but since the maximum limit is 252 per stat, it will cap out at 252. Or we could use 252 Health Feathers. Or any other combination.

Let's go ahead and use 26 HP Ups on Politoed:



At 252 points the HP EVs are maxed out. To indicate this, you will see a sparkle effect on HP on the EV chart in the Pokémon's stat summary.


Notice how Politoed's stats have changed: HP increased from 185 to 223 (+38).

Let's move on to the next stat. In this section I will demonstrate how to EV train using wild Pokémon battles. This is the slower but cheaper method of EV training. Whenever a Pokémon gains experience from a battle* **, it also gains EV points. What points you earn and how many are determined by the species of the defeated opponent. So, it's best to pre-plan exactly what Pokémon you will battle and how many of them you'll need to KO. And during EV training you should only catch or KO the appropriate target species, otherwise you might gain points you didn't want.

* Level 100 Pokémon can still gain EVs even though they can't gain any more experience.

** You must manually battle wild Pokémon or NPC trainers. Pokémon do not gain any EVs from auto battles, Synchro Mode, Tera Raids, or PVP.

We want Politoed to have 252 Special Defense points. Let's get started. First, we will need certain held items to equip. Next, we will need to identify the right Pokémon to battle: wild Pokémon that will give the kind of EVs we want. Then, we will need to figure out how many of them to KO in order to gain the number of points we want. Finally... we will need to follow the plan!

The Power training items are held items that make EV training a lot faster. When equipped, your Pokémon will gain 8 additional EV points for every KO. Those 8 EVs are determined by the held item. For example, let's say your Pokémon is holding a Power Bracer, which gives bonus Attack EVs. Then you KO a Chansey, which gives +2 HP EVs. Your Pokémon gains +2 HP EVs from the Chansey, plus +8 Attack EVs from the Power Bracer it's holding.

Note that the Power items' descriptions mention a Speed penalty. This effect is temporary. The Power items decrease the holder's Speed by 50%, only while your Pokémon is actually holding the Power item. Just unequip the Power item when you're done using it; your Pokémon's speed will go right back to normal!

Held Items Used for Battle EV Training
Item Effect Example Target Example Target's EV Yield Total EVs per Example KO
Power Weight +8 HP EVs Marill +2 HP EVs +10 HP EVs
Power Bracer +8 Attack EVs Veluza +2 Attack EVs +10 Attack EVs
Power Belt +8 Defense EVs Sudowoodoo +2 Defense EVs +10 Defense EVs
Power Lens +8 Special Attack EVs Golduck +2 Special Attack EVs +10 Special Attack EVs
Power Band +8 Special Defense EVs Hypno +2 Special Defense +10 Special Defense EVs
Power Anklet +8 Special Defense EVs Floatzel +2 Speed EVs +10 Speed EVs

Per this table, we'll have Politoed hold a Power Belt so she will gain more Special Defense EVs.


Now we'll battle some Hypno. Let's travel to the ruins east of Alfornada (head out of town going east, up the hillside); it's easy to find Hypno there.

We'll proceed to beat up 26 Hypno, equalling 252 Sp.Def EVs. Again, this would be enough to give 260 HP EVs, but since the maximum limit is 252 per stat, it will cap out at 252; we effectively only get 2 EVs from the 26th Hypno KO.



(Shh - I cheated and used some Zinc after these screenshots. Politoed was going to level up and I wanted her to stay at level 60 for easier stat comparisons. Let's just pretend I KOd 26 Hypno. The end results are the same!)

Unequip the Power item when you're finished using it.

At 252 points the Sp.Def EVs are maxed out. Again, to indicate this in-game, you will see a sparkle effect on Sp.Def on the EV chart in the Pokémon's stat summary.

Let's review how Politoed's stats have changed after this: Special Defense increased from 148 to 190 (+42).

Having distributed 504 out of 510 EV points, we have 6 points left over. We'll dump these into Special Attack using 6 Genius Feathers.



We are now finished with EV training! Here's the final change: Special Attack increased from 125 to 126 (+1). Those last 6 EV points don't do a whole lot, but at least it's something.


Notice that the EV hexagon spread has changed from yellow to blue, indicating that Politoed can't gain any more EV points. There are sparkle effects for HP and Sp.Def, indicating that those two stats have gained the maximum number of EV points.

As a fully trained Pokémon, Politoed now qualifies for the Effort Ribbon. Talk to the girl with a Luxio in the courtyard in south-central Levincia. This achievement awards the title "the Once Well-Trained." I like to get this ribbon for all the Pokémon I EV train.



No worries if you made a mistake somewhere. You can remove your Pokémon's EVs and retrain them whenever you'd like! Use these items:

Consumables for Losing EV Points
Item Effect
Pomeg Berry -10 HP EVs
Kelpsy Berry -10 Attack EVs
Qualot Berry -10 Defense EVs
Hondew Berry -10 Special Attack EVs
Grepa Berry -10 Special Defense EVs
Tamato Berry -10 Speed EVs
Fresh-Start Mochi -All EVs

There is no limit to the number of times you can remove and redistribute a Pokémon's EV points. The berries can be picked up off of the ground in Paldea Area Two, and the mochi can be won as a prize at the Ogre Oustin' game at the Kitakami Festival.

Use candy or grind exp - whatever you prefer. I prefer to focus on leveling up after EV training is complete because it's easy to accidentally gain unwanted EV points while battling, which could mess up a planned spread. Once EV training is complete, this is no longer a concern - you cannot accidentally lose or change gained EVs, so you are free to battle any opponents you like.

I have way more than enough Exp candies, so let's feed some to Politoed. Level 100: the pinnacle of power for a Pokémon!




Unsurprisingly, Politoed gets a massive stat boost: HP increased from 223 to 366 (+143), Attack increased from 91 to 150 (+59), Defense increased from 107 to 176 (+69), Special Attack increased from 126 to 207 (+81), Special Defense increased from 190 to 313 (+123), and Speed increased from 101 to 165 (+64). Notice how Politoed's HP and Special Defense grew a lot more than all her other stats. That's those EVs in action!

IVs (individual values, also known as individual strengths) are like a Pokémon's genes: 6 unique values, one assigned to each of its 6 stats, that express that Pokémon's innate stat growth potential. This mechanic is a way to diversify individual Pokémon of the same species and level, so that Jenny's lvl 20 Pikachu is fast and has high HP, while Jimmy's lvl 20 Pikachu is slow but hits hard with its attacks. Hyper training artificially increases a Pokémon's IV, causing the associated stat to be recalculated as though the IV were 31, the highest possible value. The actual IV does not change, but the stat calculation does. In other words, it's like using a mint on an IV. Functionally there is no stat difference between a "best" IV and a "hyper trained" IV.

Hyper training can be done starting at lvl 50. Talk to the Hyper Trainer, a man with an Abomasnow near the Pokémon Center in Montenevera. Hyper training is purchased with bottle caps, which themselves can be purchased at Delibird Presents in Mesagoza.

Let's optimize Politoed's genes as the final step.


This chart displays the Judge assessment of Politoed's current capacities. She is Decent at HP and Attack, and Pretty Good at everything else. Her overall quality is Good.




Five bottle caps later... hyper training complete! The chart now shows each IV we augmented as "Hyper trained!", and Politoed's overall stat quality has correspondingly increased to Amazing. I could have hyper trainer Politoed's Attack too, but I didn't bother since she won't be using that stat at all.

Compare the before and after stat summary pics: HP increased from 366 to 384 (+18), Attack stayed the same, Defense increased from 176 to 186 (+10), Special Attack increased from 207 to 217 (+10), Special Defense increased from 313 to 328 (+15), and Speed increased from 165 to 176 (+11).

Although EV training made a greater impact, hyper training is a nice bonus!

At this point Politoed's stat training is complete. But we're not finished quite yet. I want to change her ability. Water Absorb is a great ability to have as-is - but that Rainy Mark is a perfect match for Drizzle! Let's use an Ability Patch to change that.


Politoed's current moveset also obviously needs improvement... Pound is just embarassing. Let's go ahead and fix that too. I'm teaching her Chilling Water and Mud Slap to debuff raid bosses, Surf for consistent Water damage, and Ice Beam just as filler for now. That will probably be a rotating moveslot, depending on what raid I'm going up against.


Politoed has the highest possible HP and Special Defense, plus a tiny boost to Special Attack. Here's her final build:




Mission accomplished! We have a brand new raid-ready Politoed.



Thanks for reading this guide. Train on! And as a reward for making it all the way to the end, would you like to trade for a free battle-ready Pokémon? Check out the Battle Ready section of my tradeshop (#87) on PokeTrades to view what's currently available.