If you want to make your Pok\u00e9mon as powerful as they can be in Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet<\/em> and Violet<\/em>, you\u2019ll have to do more than level them up. You\u2019ll have to optimize their stats by training their EVs.<\/p>
EVs stands for \u2018Effort Values.\u2019 They determine what stats (HP, Attack, Defence, Sp. Attack, Sp. Defence, and Speed) a Pok\u00e9mon will gain after battling, and in turn, fine-tune it for competitive battling. Four EVs equal one stat.<\/p>
It\u2019s a system that functions independently from experience and leveling.<\/p>
A Pok\u00e9mon can have a maximum of 510 EVs, but no more than 252 EVs can in one stat. When you first catch one (or choose your starter), it won\u2019t have any EVs but will gain them over time.<\/p>
The problem, though, is the distribution will be all over the place. That\u2019s because defeating different Pok\u00e9mon will cause different EVs to increase. So, a bit of planning (or re-working\u2014we\u2019ll get to that later) is in order.<\/p>