Peter “Youko” Spezia
Editor-in-Chief, Show Me Your News

Through three and a half years, eighty-two episodes, and speaking hours on end for the video gaming podcast known as “Show Me Your News,” most listeners have a general idea of where my gaming preferences lie. Even though the podcast initially began as a way to recap the latest news regarding Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) for the Nintendo Wii, and my love for all types of games knows no bounds, the franchise that is closest to my heart is Pokémon. Maybe it’s the nostalgia from popping Pokémon Blue (1998) into my Game Boy Color as the first video game I ever owned, or it’s the hours I spent watching the anime on Kids WB, but my passion for Pocket Monsters seemingly knows no bounds. So when a fan of Show Me Your News asked me to explain something I mentioned on the show in greater detail, I figured that a write-up was the easiest way to do so. Admittedly, for a podcast whose total length now exceeds three days of audio, writing up features isn’t something I usually do for showmeyournews.com, when I’m so used to vocalizing my mind on the latest in the gaming world. In this case, however, there is a lot of information to digest, and typing it all out allows me to present things concisely.

PURPOSE

With that said, the purpose of this feature is to give Pokémon players a simple, straight-forward beginner’s guide on how to raise the best Pokémon they can, without taking up tons of time or using a program like Pokésav to automatically generate your ideal Pokémon. The goal is to put forth enough effort so that your Pokémon feels well-earned and not cheaply made. In the end, as great as Pokémon battles can be, everyone knows that when it all comes down to it, winning is ultimately the most important thing. At the same time, though, having Pokémon that you are proud of is a special feeling altogether.

DEFINING TERMS

Stats:
A Pokémon has six different statistics: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. These are factored into the calculations of the game’s battle system, determining which Pokémon attacks first, how much damage their attacks do, and more. Ultimately, your goal as a trainer is make your Pokémon’s stat points as high as you are able to, according to the game’s limitations.

Nature:
Each Pokémon has one of twenty-five different kinds of natures, which can be observed by checking out your Pokémon’s summary in-game. The purpose of a Pokémon’s nature is to boost a particular statistic’s growth by 10%, while hindering another by the same factor. These can be observed in-game in the HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black, and White versions, as the the stats are highlighted red and blue for which stats are increased and decreased, respectively. However, it should be noted that there are five natures that do not boost or hinder any stat growth. Also, HP is not increased or decreased by any nature. The nature breakdown can be found in this table, crafted by Bulbapedia.

Ability:
Pokémon have an ability attached to them, which give them special powers in and/or outside a battle. For example, Snivy’s Overgrowth ability boosts its Grass-type moves’ strength by 50% if Snivy has 1/3 or less of its HP remaining. Most Pokémon have two different kinds of abilities available to them, with an additional ability available in Black/White’s new Dream World. These abilities are locked when a Pokémon is captured, however, and cannot be changed after that.

Individual Values (IVs):
Every Pokémon has a five-digit binary number randomly generated and attached to every statistic. This number, which technically ranges from 0 (00000) to 31 (11111), is that statistic’s Individual Value (IV). A Pokémon’s IVs are the equivalent of its genes and cannot be changed after encountering/catching the Pokémon. Simply put, a higher IV for a stat means a higher stat point total when the Pokémon reaches level 100.

Effort Values (EVs):
Simply speaking, every Pokémon has what is called an “effort yield” attached to them. Whenever your Pokémon gains experience from defeating another Pokémon, your Pokémon receives that Pokémon’s effort yield, which is an Effort Value (EV) in a specific statistic. Four EVs ultimately equals one stat point boost. For example, Lillipup’s effort yield is one EV in Attack. If your Pokémon defeats four Lillipups, that means it will receive 4 EVs in attack, which means one stat point boost in Attack. A Pokémon can only receive the benefits of gaining 510 total EVs and 252 EVs in one particular stat before the game stops counting them. Thus, a Pokémon can gain up to an additional 63 stat points (252/4) in one statistic. These stat points are distributed over time as the trainer raises the Pokémon to level 100.

YOUR GOAL

Its time to put all these new terms all together! Ready? For example, if you decide that you want your Pokémon to have the fastest Speed it can possibly have, it needs to have the following:
– A nature that boosts its Speed growth
– A maximum IV of 31 in Speed
– 252 EVs (63 extra stat points) in Speed

WHAT YOU NEED

The process of raising this ideal Pokémon can take a long time, but if you have a code device such as an Action Replay, here are codes that I use to expedite, but still maintain, the process:
– IV/EV Check
Instead of inputting statistics in a website or computer program and receiving an estimation of what your IVs/EVs are, this code has the game tell you exactly what those values are. This is very valuable when determining the worth of the Pokémon you raise.
– Fast Egg Hatch
You will be using the Daycare Center a lot and receiving/hatching many eggs. Hatching an egg can take a long, LONG time on its own, but this code speeds up the hatching time tremendously.
– Catch Espeon/Umbreon
Espeon and Umbreon are the only Pokémon (aside from Mew) that have Synchronize as their only ability. In battle, this ability passes on your Pokémon’s status ailments to your opponent. However, outside of battle, when Espeon/Umbreon is in the first slot in your party and you encounter a wild Pokémon, there is a 50% chance that the wild Pokémon will share the same nature as your Espeon/Umbreon. Therefore, I usually have the Action Replay change my wild Pokémon encounters to Espeon and/or Umbreon for a brief period of time, so I can catch one of every nature.

Codes aside, here are some things that I would highly recommend for this process:
– A Ditto (ideally with high IVs across the board)
– One of each of the Power items (Weight, Bracer, Belt, Lens, Band, Anklet)
– An Everstone
– A bunch of Pokéballs and some way to easily catch Pokémon (a False Swiper, a 100% catch code, etc)

THE PROCESS

STEP ONE: WHAT DO I WANT?
Before you start this process, you need to consider everything that you can control regarding your Pokémon. Ask yourself these questions.
– Which SPECIES of Pokémon do I want?
– What are this Pokémon’s statistical STRENGTHS?
– Considering these strengths, is there a ROLE that I want this Pokémon to play on my team (if you are aware of competitive battle strategies)?
– What MOVESET is best for this Pokémon’s role and strengths?
– Which NATURE best suits this Pokémon’s role, moveset, and strengths?
– Which ABILITY should I target for this Pokémon?
– What IVs need to be strong for this Pokémon? How should I distribute the EVs for this Pokémon?
– Which ITEM should I attach to this Pokémon?

So, for an example for this process, here’s how I would answer the questions. If you need any assistance, feel free to consult smogon.com for suggestions (although they are currently developing their Black/White sections):
– I want to raise a Raichu.
– Raichu has nice Speed (base 100). If I want to consider how it attacks, it has equal Attack and Special Attack stats (base 90 each), but it has nicer special moves than physical moves.
– Since Raichu learns Nasty Plot in his moveset, which really ramps up his Special Attack stat, he is mostly used as a special sweeper in most teams. Special Sweepers try to hit hard and hit fast with special moves, ideally aiming to K.O. your opponents in one hit. Since Raichu doesn’t have the best defensive stats, though, it will be difficult to set up the Nasty Plot without Raichu taking some heavy damage.
– MOVESET: Nasty Plot, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power of Ice (covers Ground, Grass types), Focus Blast (covers Steel, Rock, more)
– A Timid nature would be best for Raichu, which boosts his Speed, but hinders his Attack. Sweepers need high Speed to try to attack first to make up for their defensive shortcomings.
– Raichu’s only ability is Static, Dream World aside.
– Raichu needs the highest IVs he can in Speed and Special Attack. However, since we have Hidden Power (Ice) planned, we need to factor in how Hidden Power is calculated. Use this article for this game mechanic. As far as EVs go, let’s distribute them this way: 252 Special Attack, 4 Special Defense, and 252 Speed. This adds up to 508 EVs, 2 shy of the 510 maximum, but since 4 EVs equal one stat point, it’s OK to let these two go by the wayside. You’re still maximizing Special Attack and Speed by giving them the maximum of 252 to each.
– Giving Raichu a Life Orb boosts his damage output by 30%, but takes 10% HP damage when he lands an attack that deals damage. This will boost Raichu’s sweeping potential even more.

STEP TWO: START CATCHING
Now that you have everything determined, the process is actually an easy, albeit very repetitive one. Start by catching the simplest form of your target Pokémon. In my example’s case, it’s easiest for me to catch as many Pikachu as possible. Make sure your proper Synchronizer is first in your party (example: Timid). When you catch enough Pokémon to fill up your party, stop, go to a Pokémon Center, and compare their IVs. Box the good Pokémon and release the comparatively weaker ones. Keep repeating. Maybe you’ve never released a Pokémon before, but you better get used to doing so for the IV breeding process.

STEP THREE: LEARN ABOUT BREEDING
Next, allow me to explain what actually happens during the breeding process so you know exactly what you are trying to aim for with all of these catches/releases.

MALE Pokémon (FATHER)
FEMALE Pokémon (MOTHER)

– Must be in the same “egg group” to be able to breed (or Ditto can breed with all, except No Egg group), but for our purposes, if they are the same species of Pokémon, they will generate eggs faster.
– Hatched Pokémon will always be the FEMALE (or non-Ditto) species.
– One IV is chosen at random from each parent and is passed on to the baby. The baby’s other IVs are randomly generated. The baby’s nature is randomly generated.

However, here’s how we can control things further:
– Attach an Everstone to the MOTHER. This gives the baby a 50% chance of sharing the mother’s nature.
– Attach a Power item to the FATHER. Each item shares a correlation with a statistic – Weight/HP, Bracer/Attack, Belt/Defense, Lens/Special Attack, Band/Special Defense, Anklet/Speed. The Power item you attach to the father guarantees that the correlating IV is the one that he passes on to the baby.

Now that you have a general idea of how Pokémon breeding works, let’s throw a couple more terms at you that I’ve created to use for demonstration purposes only. Using the example of my Timid Raichu, I NEED his Speed IV to be a 31. I would PREFER that his Special Attack IV is also a 31 so he maximizes his potential as a special sweeper in my party. Using this example, I will dub my Raichu’s Speed as its “primary IV” – the one I NEED to maximize. Similarily, I will dub Raichu’s Special Attack IV as its “secondary IV” – the one I PREFER to maximize. It would be ideal if all IVs were maximized, but it is ESSENTIAL that your primary and secondary IVs are 31 in order to maximize your Pokémon’s potential in battle.

STEP FOUR: START BREEDING
So now that you’ve caught and released many of your target Pokémon, when do you actually start breeding?

Ideally, the goal is:
FATHER: Nature is irrelevant, primary IV is 31 (example: Speed), attach correlating Power item (example: Power Anklet, Speed)
MOTHER: Target Nature (example: Timid), secondary IV is 31 (example: Special Attack) (NOTE: Not as essential, but will take FAR less egg repetitions if secondary IV is 31), attach Everstone

Much like catching, you will need to hatch a lot of eggs. This is, for Action Replay users, where the Quick Egg Hatching code becomes a lifesaver. If you’ve followed all these steps, your baby will turn out like you wanted it to.

Species: Same as Mother (example: Pichu)
Nature: 50% chance same as MOTHER (example: Timid)
Primary IV: 31, from Father (example: Speed)
Secondary IV: 20% chance of carrying over from Mother (example: Special Attack)
Remaining four IVs: Randomly generated

Feel free to substitute parents as needed to get the optimal results, especially if the Mother did not initially have a secondary IV of 31 and you happen to breed a female that does (example: would need to evolve Pichu into Pikachu before breeding new Mother).

Ideally, you are done when:

Species: Target, same as Mother (example: Pichu)
Nature: Target (example: Timid)
Primary IV: 31 (example: Speed)
Secondary IV: 31 (example: Special Attack)
Remaining four IVs: As high as what makes you content

Now we raise that little baby into the full-grown, fighting machine!

STEP FIVE: EV RAISING
IMPORTANT: You need to be VERY careful with whom your Pokémon battles. Be diligent in how your Pokémon gains experience and keep track of what and however many it defeats!

Note the lowest level and easiest Pokémon to find and defeat in your region (Unova, Sinnoh, etc) that yield EVs in each statistic. Try to find locations where you have a high percentage chance of encountering these Pokémon. These locations are commonly referred to online as “EV Training Hotspots.”

Example: Sinnoh
HP: Bidoof (+1)
Attack: Goldeen (+1)
Defense: Geodude (+1)
Special Attack: Gastly (+1)
Special Defense: Tentacool (+1)
Speed: Magikarp (+1)

Now start raising with careful calculation! Pro Tip: Attach the corresponding Power item to get a +4 EV boost to the statistic from each battle. For example, if I were trying to amass the 252 Speed EVs that I wish to give my Raichu, I would try battling Magikarp if I were in Sinnoh. If I give Raichu the Power Anklet (Speed), every time he defeats a Magikarp, he receives 5 EVs (1+4) instead of just one! This makes the process much faster.

Final notes:
– Don’t forget about developing your Pokémon’s moveset along the way! This may involve TMs, Hidden Power, and Egg Moves – the last two being a bit too complicated for this beginner’s guide.
– In Generation IV (D/P/Pt/HG/SS), reaping the benefits of EV training were spread out and were fully realized once your Pokémon reached level 100. It is currently undetermined if this has been changed in Generation V.

Good luck out there and get ready to raise them all! Actually, don’t. That would just be cruel. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Peter “Youko” Spezia is the creator, host, and editor of the gaming podcast “Show Me Your News” at showmeyournews.com. Aside from pondering the plausiblility of the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo, he wonders to this day why Ash Ketchum never evolved his Pikachu into a Raichu. Peter may be reached via email at peterspezia(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

Sources:
Bulbapedia: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page
Smogon: http://www.smogon.com/