A primer on Competitive Pokemon

A PRIMER ON COMPETITIVE POKEMON

Damage, damage, damage ●

Faint all of your opponent's Pokemon before they do it to you.

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The entirety of competitive Pokemon strategy is focused on damage -the ability to deal damage, withstand damage, and avoid damage.

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There are (now) well documented mechanics that affect damage. We will go over 4!

Type Matters

IV - individual values ●

There are 6 Key Stats

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Each Pokemon has been assigned a “grade” on each of those stats.

Ranging from “poor” to “best”

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Competitive Pokemon trainers aim at having Pokemon between 5 or 6 “Perfect” stats

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Perfect IV odds in the wild? There's a one in 4,096 chance of finding perfect IVs from a wild catch

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This is where the grinding begins

Nature

Nature ●

So you caught your fave Pokemon! Great.. Each Pokemon is unique and the Pikachu you spent the entire game levelling up might actually suck in battle… one of the reason is Nature.

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Each Pokemon has been assigned a Nature

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Each of the 25 Natures, with the exception of five, will increase one Stat by 10% while decreasing another Stat by 10%

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There are 25 Natures - so slim chances to catch the right nature in the wild in the first attempt

EV - effort value ●

EVs are hidden points that permanently boost the stats of your Pokémon. You can earn EVs in each stat

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There are maximum EV values for specific stats as well as a total maximum, meaning you can't infinitely boost your Pokémon's stats.

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If you are not counting the EVs and keeping track everytime you KO a Pokemon, you will mess up your Pokemon's EV spread