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Guides · 252 EVs in 15 minutes

How to EV train (Gen 9)

Three methods, fastest to slowest. The vitamin route costs money but takes 5 minutes. The sandwich+Power item route is the cheap meta. The wild-kill route is for purists.

Method 1: Vitamins (fastest, costs money)

Buy vitamins from Chansey Supply (Mesagoza or any major city's Pokémon Center): Protein (Atk), Iron (Def), Carbos (Spe), Calcium (SpA), Zinc (SpD), HP Up (HP). Each costs 5,000P and adds 10 EVs. To max one stat (252 EVs) you need 26 vitamins = 130,000P. Cost to fully EV train a 252/252/4 spread = ~270,000P.

Reset EVs first if needed using the berry method below. Then feed the Pokémon vitamins from your bag. The Pokémon eats them animation, and EVs are applied instantly.

Method 2: Sandwich + Power item (15 minutes, near-free)

This is the speedrunner method.

  1. Make a sandwich with Encounter Power: [Type] Lv 3. This spawns waves of Pokémon of your chosen type for 30 minutes. Recipe: 2 of the matching ingredient + Curry Powder + 4 Sweet Herba Mystica for Lv 3 (or just 1 if you have the right ingredient mix).
  2. Pick a route with the right encounter type. For Speed EVs: chase Yungoos / Zigzagoon / Tandemaus. For Atk: Pawniard / Lechonk / Mankey. For HP: Wooper / Clodsire / Bonsly. The Pokédex Yield page lists what each species drops.
  3. Equip the matching Power item on your Pokémon: Power Anklet (+8 Spe per KO), Power Bracer (Atk), Power Belt (Def), Power Lens (SpA), Power Band (SpD), Power Weight (HP). Each KO gives base 1-3 EVs + the +8 from the Power item.
  4. KO 25-30 of the chosen species. You'll hit 252 EVs in under 15 minutes.

The Sparkling Power sandwich also boosts shiny odds simultaneously — you might catch a shiny while EV training. Use our shiny odds calculator to see your combined rate.

Method 3: Wild kills (the long way)

Walk around, KO Pokémon, get base EV yield only. Most species drop 1-3 EVs in one stat. Without a Power item, you'd need 84+ KOs per stat. With no Power item and no sandwich, ~125 KOs. Avoid this method unless you don't have the materials for vitamins or sandwiches.

Resetting EVs (changing spreads)

If you made a mistake or want to redistribute:

  • EV-lowering berries: Pomeg (HP), Kelpsy (Atk), Qualot (Def), Hondew (SpA), Grepa (SpD), Tamato (Spe). Each removes 10 EVs from the matching stat.
  • You can grow these berries from seeds (rare drops) or buy them from specific NPC shops.
  • Once cleared, retrain with vitamins/sandwich.

EV spread recommendations

Standard offensive spread: 252 Atk (or SpA) / 4 Def / 252 Spe. Standard defensive: 252 HP / 252 Def (or SpD) / 4 [other defense]. Mixed bulk: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD. For competitive benchmarks, use our EV calculator with preset buttons for these spreads.

FAQ

Do EVs apply at any level?

Yes — but the EV bonus is scaled by level/100. At level 100, 252 EVs = +63 to the stat. At level 50, 252 EVs = +31.

What's the 510 limit?

Total EVs across all six stats cap at 510. With 252+252+4 = 508 you have 2 left over (unused). The math doesn't reward going past 252 in any one stat (only multiples of 4 actually increase the stat).

Do I need to EV train if I have Bottle Caps?

Bottle Caps fix IVs (Hyper Training), not EVs. EVs always need to be earned through wild battles / vitamins / sandwiches. There's no Bottle Cap equivalent for EVs.