Effort values

Effort Values (EV's)are a big part of Pokemon training, as much as gaining levels. Effort values are like an extra set of experience points, except they are applied to your stats. Each Pokemon gives a different amount of Effort points to each stat, and the more EV's you get in a certain stat, the higher that particular stat will go. For every 4 EV's you get in a certain stat, you gain 1 more point upon leveling up than you normally would. There is a limit to EV gains, to prevent over-boosting your stats. You can gain a maximum of 510 EV's, overall, and the most you can gain in a single stat is 255. This allows for the "maxing out" of 2 stats, which really means that you can gain a maximum of 63 points (~255/4) in one stat. EV training doesn't have to stop upon reaching Level 100; you can just battle Pokemon for EV's, deposit them in the PC, and withdraw them again. Their stats will be recalculated to reflect the gain in EV's.

Most Pokemon give only one EV in a partcular stat, but most of the Stage 1 and 2 Pokemon (2nd and 3rd evolutions) and Legendary/Rare Pokemon give up to 3 in one stat, or multiple EV's in two or three stats.

The vitamins in the Pokemon Games give 10 EV's to a particular stat. However, they dont work if you have more than 100 EV's in the stat you are trying to use them on.

Macho Brace, an equippable item in Ruby/Sapphire/Fire Red/Leaf Green, doubles the amount of EV's you gain from a Pokemon. So if you were battling a Rattata, which gives one Speed EV, upon winning the battle you would recieve 2 Speed EV's instead of 1.

Experience Share, other than sharing Exp. Points, also gives the same amount of EV's to the Pokemon holding it that the Pokemon battling recieves.

The rare disease Pokerus also gives double EV's to the pokemon afflicted.