EVs

If you're thinking this:


NO!

     Effort Values. This is apart of the more advance section within pokémon, and within game play of pokémon. Ever heard of the Power items(Power Bracer, Power Weight, Power Lens, Power Band, Power Anklet, and Power Belt)? How about Pokérus? Perhaps the Vitamins within the game? Macho Brace? Berries? Anyone of the 649 pokémon? If so, then realize this: All of the previous asked questions relate to EVs!


What are Effort Values?

     Let me put a scenario up: Have you ever caught and raised a lower level pokémon to a certain level, and for some reason you decide to catch a fresh wild pokémon of the same species, at around the same level as the one you raised? Then you compare both pokémon, and end up looking at the stats, showing the one you raised from a lower level with significant higher stats than the newly caught pokémon? Probably not, but if you had, then you would noticed that the trained pokémon gained Effort Values!

     Effort Values(EVs) are what determine what stats you gain upon level up when battling against pokémon that award your pokémon experience points. This is meaning that every wild or trainer pokémon you beat(not including connected battles with friends, and Pokémon Tower/Pokémon Subway/Battle Frontier), gives you these points called EVs. Think of it as this: Every pokémon gives off a different set of EVs within the different six stats, and different amounts from one to three depending on pokémon. For example, the pikachu gives off one speed EV when battled, while it's evolution, raichu, gives off two speed EVs.

     I'll get into what EVs do in a bit, but I'm going to give a little history lesson, BECAUSE I CAN! Anyways, EVs have been apart of  pokémon since it's first generation, and mostly was unrecognized back then. However, the process of how many and how much EVs are given out are different between the first two generations, and the latter three, tying together with how generation three became incompatible with generation two.

What do Effort Values do?

     Simple as this: Four EVs to a stat, gain +1 in that stat. Now how many EVs can you get? Well, guess this is where it gets confusing a little. All pokémon third generation and up can obtain 510 total EVs, but, only 255 EVs can be transferred to a stat, meaning two stats can be maxed out with EVs. Another complication though; it's four EVs per stat increase, so it brings the amount of EVs usable at 252. This is a rule also, the Rule of 252. Basically it means you can only have a +63 to any stat you max out, and you'll have three left over(because the fourth EV determines what stat it goes to). Max out two stats, and you have six left. Hey, what do you know, you got room to add one more stat point! I hope you realize at this point that you can only use 508 out of the 510 EVs you have.

How to Quickly Train EVs and Get Rid of Them
    
     Remember those questions I asked at the beginning about what you know? Well, they help make EV training faster!

Macho Brace and Power Items:



These items help directly with raising EVs. All of these are held items, and lower your speed. The macho brace doubles any EVs normally gained from the pokémon you're battling. The power items gain +4 on the EVs the specific item gained(like wingull gives one speed EV, if you battled one, but was wearing the Power Bracer, you would gain one speed EV and four attack EVs).

Vitamins and Wings:



These health drinks, some named after actual various things that your body stays healthy with, boost your pokémon's specific EVs depending on the drink(like Iron goes to Defense, HP Up goes to HP) by 10 EVs. Max per stat is 100 EVs from the drinks, so you can only use 10 drinks each! In 5th generation introduced wings dropped by birds on bridges that give one EV per specific stat, and are unlimited.

Pokérus:

This is a rare and healthy illness to obtain! There's a 21,178.6 chance to get it(waaaay rarer than shiny pokémon). Luckily, since fourth generation came with wifi, it's easier to trade with someone across the world to get an infected pokémon. It's also a status condition for awhile, instead of something to hold. Guess what it does? It doubles EVs, and all held item EV gaining items(basically Macho Brace and the Power Items double EV intake)! It is a really useful illness. To spread a pokémon infected by the sickness, just battle wild or trainer pokémon with the infected pokémon in your party to spread it around. It only lasts as a status condition from one to four days though. The effects of the illness lasts even after it goes away, leaving a little face on the status screen(when you check the summery of the  pokémon). A way to preserve the positive sickness to spread to other pokémon later is to keep it in the storage.

Berries:

There are six berries to lower EVs. What? Lower? Why would you want to do that? If you make a mistake and train in the wrong EV, these berries help lower that EV by 10 to get rid of unwanted EVs. Each berries lower a specific EV(like Pomeg berries lower HP EVs), and all of them raise friendship with the pokémon as a tradeoff.

     I guess that's enough spam about EVs for now. As a final say, you can give specific EVs to specific stats to make the stats more balance, or boost something like attack and speed to get the highest out of the stat. Your choice, since it's your pokémon! However you use them, use them well, and I hope you enjoyed a little knowledge in the depth of pokémon!

Red vs. Ash

When you were first looking at that character sprite on pokémon Red and Blue(or male sprite on Firered and Leafgreen), were you think of the name of the game,


Red,
 

or



were you thinking of the anime kid Ash?










Well whether you think so or not, it was Red, not Ash.

     Often there is the Red vs. Ash debate, about who is who, who is better, and whatnot. Here's my opinion: Red rules, and Ash is stuck in the past.

     The shed some light on this debate, let's look back at the humble beginnings. In Pokémon Red and Blue, you noticed those extra names you could have selected from? How one said Ash on Red, and one on Blue said Gary? Well, those are English translations of the maker of pokémon's name, with Satoshi Tajiri's first name in place of Ash, and his mentor's, Shigeru Miyamoto, first name be in place of Gary. With this in mind, you can tell how those names got chosen to be the names of Red and Blue in the anime.

     When the idea of the anime came around, the idea was that Ash go through the land of Kanto like Red did, and play similar to the game, where he learns to be a better trainer throughout his journey(the aspect of two gym leaders joining him made it better), and become champion in due time. That is why the first two seasons were better than they are now! However, it didn't come to light.

You want to know why?

Only one thing!

It fuels a lot of motives to change things just please the crowd.

Money.
 |
v
(remind you, this happened in Japan)
 ^
|

     Yes, money changed it all. Back when the anime came out, Game Freak and pokémon itself was still new, and when money was pouring in from child viewers, they kept it kid tone in order to not lose business rolling in on a red carpet. That means Ash really never grows up, keeping his young age, never really learning anything, and constantly moving from region to region as if he was starting with that for the first time(and losing all his previous experience)!

     So that's my stand to where Ash is just a bad clone of Red, to where Red in the games becomes a champion, and you get to live through him, and learn how to get better, train more, and beat the elite four, and your rival in the original pair. Red lives up to his name, even the second generation games when he is the final opponent, and has the highest level team in game of both second generation, and the fourth generation remakes! Ash, well, I've said enough.

     This blog post isn't done yet. Remember when I mentioned that there was the idea basically involving Red outside the game? Tajiri did come up with the anime idea like that, but he was upset when he didn't get to keep the cool idea of Red outside the game, and in a darker and more mature style of pokémon. As there is anime, being Japanese cartoons, there is the manga, which is basically Japanese comics. Pokémon in the way Tajiri wanted it came true in the manga.



     Tada, Pokémon Adventures! Warning: Pokémon do die in this comic at various points. Tajiri wanted a more mature version of pokémon, and he got it. In here the protagonists learn to get better through many events that affect their lives, and their names are based off of the versions! They also give their own story they isn't super direct to the in-game plot, but still has the become pokémon champion, and defeating Team Rocket.

     Red vs. Ash is often transcribed to the anime vs. manga a lot, or at least from what I've heard for the while. If you want my suggestion, I say read the manga over the anime, and always play the game!