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Pokemon Scarlet & Violethas certainly endured its fair share of valid criticisms, but one thingGame Freakgot right was the quality of life (QoL) improvements. From items that change a Pokemon’s effective Nature toa simpler method to check a Pokemon’s IVs, building your ideal competitive Pokemon has never been easier.
RELATED:Strategies For Playing Competitive Pokemon In Scarlet And Violet
While the competitive scene may seem intimidating at first glance, there has never been a more accessible Pokemon game when it comes to building your perfect Pokemon. There are a number of factors to consider, from moves to abilities, but luckily, Scarlet & Violet features a whole host of useful items that will make your life easier.
How To Get Pokemon With Good IVs
Individual Values, also known asIVs are the hidden values from zero to 31 that give a Pokemon an extra boostin a particular stat. For example, a Dondozo with zero HP IVs can have 410 HP at max level, whereas one with 31 IVs will have 441 HP.
A Pokemon’sNature also factors into this stat equation, along with their Effort Values, or EVs.
There arethree major ways to acquire Pokemon with high IVtotals.
Bottle Caps can be bought, or earned via Tera Raids, so if you are concerned about efficiency, thenTera Raids present the best value for your time.
Most Pokemon benefit from perfect IVs, butPokemon used in Trick Room sets usually demand a zero in their Speed IV. For this type of scenario, your best bet is tobreed your Pokemon using a parent with zero IVs in a given stat and giving them a Power Item or Destiny Knot.
A Power Item will pass down one specific IV from the parent to the child, but the other five IVs will be randomly generated. Power Items are alsouseful for EV training.
Parent’s Speed IV inherited / +8 Speed EVs from battle
Power Band
Parent’s Special Defense IV inherited / +8 Special Defense EVs from battle
Parent’s Defense IV inherited / +8 Defense EVs from battle
Parent’s Attack IV inherited / +8 Attack EVs from battle
Power Lens
Parent’s Special Attack IV inherited / +8 Special Attack EVs from battle
Power Weight
Parent’s HP IV inherited / +8 HP EVs from battle
A Destiny Knot will pass down five of the parent’s IVs at random, so it willnotguaranteeyou get the right ones, but it’s helpful if the parent has most of the IVs you want.
Natures & EV Training
Nature
You caneffectively change the nature of your Pokemon by using a set of items called Nature Mints.
Using a Nature Mintwill not change the displayed Nature, it onlyaffects the growth rate of your stats.
An Adamant Pokemon (usually +Atk, -SpAtk) that is given a Modest Mint will still display as Adamant, but its stats will grow according to a Modest Nature (+SpAtk, -Atk).
Effort Values (EVs)
Unlike IVs, EVs range from zero to 252 withevery four points granting a plus-one to a given statat level 100.
There are two routes you may go to train your Pokemon’s Effort Values up:
Pokemon gain EVs from defeating foes in battle,and each Pokemon defeated can awardbetween one and three points for one of the six stats.
Equipping a Pokemon with aPower Item will greatly accelerate your growth rateas you battle wild Pokemon. Since Pokerus was moved, those items will be all you need to get started.
Changing Moves & Abilities
Ability Items
Ability Capsules and Ability Patches are required to change a Pokemon’s ability or Hidden Ability (HA).
Hidden Abilities are generally rare for a Pokemon to have and often superior to their other options, but not always.
Changing Moves
While you previously needed the Move Tutor to change your Pokemon’s moves, you can nowremember and forget any level-up move straight from the Pokemon’s summary screen.
Some moves are only available via TMs(Technical Machines), so head over to your nearest Pokecenter if you need to craft one.
Some moves – like Belly Drum –can be learned by putting two Pokemon together and starting a picnic while holding a Mirror Herb. The Pokemon you want to learn a given move musthold the Mirror Herb to learn the move.
Almostevery Pokemon can benefit from learning Protect, so try to incorporate this move into your movesets, or use it to fill in empty slots for Pokemon who only need two or three moves.
How To Choose A Tera Type
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s signature mechanic, Terastallization, can be used to surprise opponents and counter their attacks.
There aretwo major strategies for choosing Tera Types.
If you are following an offensive strategy, then choose the Tera type matching the attacking move you want to be more powerful than usual.
If you are following the defensive strategy, choose the Tera Type that resists or negates the type of attacks that are most likely to KO your Pokemon.
RELATED:Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: Best Pokemon To Have Psychic Tera Type
Which Held Items To Equip
Although held item choices are extremely subjective and dependent on team composition/strategy,some items are simply better than the rest.
Some situational items, like the Wide Lens still find excellent usage on top-tier choices like Maushold, so use your judgment when selecting your options.
If you can only afford a few items, these options are exceptional andeasily among the best at their roles:
Follow these guidelines as you train your Pokemon to ensure each one is prepared for the challenges that await in the competitive scene.
