The hidden secಌrets of Pokemon Heart Gold♈/Soul Silver.

Written by Raymond Padilla

Many people are under the impression that Pokemon is nothing mor🎶e than a

series of role-playing games g♒eared toward youngsters. This 🎃is partially 

true. The Pokemon game🔴s are superbly-crafted titles thatꦬ appeal to 

children of all ages. They're fun games that a🌼re easy for players of all 

skill levels to en♎joy. Underneath it all is an amazingly complex system 

thatℱ most players don't even know about. It's called EV training.

EV training can make an enormous difference in how strong your 𓆉Pokemon 

becomes. If you take two Pokeꦫmon of the same species with𓄧 the same 

nature and same attacks, they can be drastically different depe♏nding

on how ﷽they💃're EV trained. A properly EV trained Pokemon will trounce 

one that's poorly trained or not tဣrained at all (e.g. leveled up throu🦂gh 

Rare Candies). To become the best tr🎀ainer you can be and to make your 

Pokemon as 🔜strong as possible, EV training is essential. This week's 

Pokemusings will give y෴ou the basicꦐs on this wonderfully intricate 

aspect of Pokemon.

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What are EVs?

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EV stands for effort valu⛄es. These are points ꦅ(that you'll never see 

accounted for in the game) that🐼 determine how your Pokemon's statistics&nbs🌳p;

will grow as you level it up. Four EV poin🍎ts equal one stat point at 

level 100. For example, if you've earned♉ 16 EV points in Speed then yo♑ur 

Pokemon will have four more Speed points in addition to its base when i💫t 

hits level 100.

Eac🦋h Pokemon can earn 510 EV points in total. Each individual stat 

(Defense, Special Attack, Speed, etc.) 😼can have up to 255 EV points 

allocated to it. Though in practical terms, you shoulꦬd go for 252 EV 

poin🥀ts if you want to max out a stat, since 255 is not♔ divisible by four. 

This means that you can earꦬn up to 63 additional points in a single stat💮 

through careful training.

You absorb all tha🧸t complex math yet? Good! Next we'll tell you how 

to snag EV points for your favorite Pokemon.

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How are EV points earned?

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Every time your Pokemon earns experience p💧oints from battling, it earns 

EV🎉 points as well. Every opposing Pokemon has a certain number of EV 

poi𒆙nts assigned to it. For example, defeating a Starly will net you a 

Speed EV poin♈t, while beating a Geodude will e💦arn you an EV point in 

Defense. More powerful Pokemon will give you even more points and💜 

sometimes a combination of points! Taking🍌 down a powerful Togekiss&nb♌sp;

(yes, we still love this Pokemon) will earn y𓆉ou two EV points in 

Special Attack and one ꧋EV point in Special Defense.

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How can I use EV training to my advantage?

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A-ha! This ꦏis where the whole crazy system gets even more interesting 

and complicated. Simply maxing out stats t🍨hrough EV training is ༒not 

enou𒅌gh. You need to consider your Pokemon's base stats and attacks for 

it to really matterও. Here are two diffeꦆrent Pokemon that present two 

very different types of EV training situations.

First, let's take our Weavile f🌺rom last week's issue. Weavile is all 

about S🍌peed and Attack. Therefore you'll want to max out those stats 

🦋☂to take full advantage of it. Its other stats are pretty poor, so it 

d🍸oesn't make sense to EV train for Weavile's Special Attack and Defense, 

just to change them from poor to🌜 mediocre. To make Weavile the best it 

can be, you'll want to pick on lots of Gyarados (two Aꦗttack EVs) and 

Pikachus (two Speed EVs).

A Pokemon like Charizard 🃏is a little tougher to EV train since its 

stats are more balanced. Its base stats for Special Attack a𒅌nd Attack 

are onl▨y 23 points apart. For situations like these, youꦯ'll want to 

think about the kinds of moves you want to💝 give your Pokemon and use 🍰;

EV training to maximize their effectiveness. For a Charizard that u☂ses 

moves based on Attack (Dragon Claw, Fire Fang, Earthqua🧸ke, etc.), you 

should have it trounce some Weepinbells (two At♈tack EVs). A Charizard 

with moves based on Special Attack (Flamethrower, Hyper Beam☂, etc.) 

should conquer♐ some Magnetons for two🍌 Special Attack EVs.

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Prime EV Training Locations

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While it might be tough to grඣasp 🌌initially, EV training is well worth 

the effort. You'll be making your pokemon the bꦯest that they can be if 

you're🧜 mindful about the types of pokemon they defeat. Now that you know 

the basics of EV training it's important to kn☂ow what areas are t💎he most 

useful for your goals. Finding an area with pred♔ictabl✱e wild Pokemon is 

essential for EV training as it allows you to focus 𓂃on a൲ single stat and 

maximize it.

* Hit Points- Slowpoke Well. This is extermely usef🔯ul since when you swim 

here yo𒈔u will on💞ly encounter Slowpoke, allowing you to focus on HP EVS.

* Attack- Surf Near Cerulean city. There are plenty o♏f Goldeen and Seaking 

here.

* Defense- Victory road. Focus on the Rhyhorn, Onix, Graveler and Ge🦹odudes 

here for maximum Defense Evs.

* Special Attack- 🌳Route 35, if you Surf, the only thing you will encounter 

is Psyduck🦄 and Goཧlduck. They all give Special attack EV.

* Special Defense- Use Surf on Route 40. Tentacool and Tentꦏacruel are the 

only thing you will encounter.

* Speed- Powerplant/route 10- 💫All the pokemon in Route 10 grass give speed 

EV. Another is route 30 since you can find Pidge⛄ys and Weedle Everywhere.&n🍨bsp;

Ilex forest i🔯s also good foಌr Weedle. The second option is for if you are 

low in level but the best place is route 10.

Now you know about ಌfour excellent locations for optimum EV training! Now go 𒉰;

out and help your pokem⭕on reach their full potential. Not only will they be 

stronger forces in HeartGold/SoulSilver, a properly EV trained pokemon will 🌺;

꧅give you an edge when you play against other trainers over wi-fi.</p>

Need help facing the Gym bosses of HeartGold and SoulSilver? Take a look at our Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver boss battle guide.