Version 0.90--Only missing one piece of information, and I can't seem to find it on Google... Help me finish this, so the guild can finally have a complete, even if shallow, IV guide!
IndexI. What are IVs?
II. How they affect your stats
III. How they are determined
IV. How to influence IVs
V. How to find out what they are [[info needed here!]]
VI. Action Replay, Pokesav and IVs
I. What are IVs?In the game of Pokémon, there are actually 20 different numbers that make up your Pokémon's 6 stats-- level and personality (nature) are the most easily seen of these numbers, and the six base stats are the same among all Pokémon of a certain species (Ex
razz ikachu always has the same base stats). But what about the other 12? This is where EVs and IVs come in. The game does not allow you to see your EVs and IVs directly, but there are ways of finding them so you can keep track of them for your own records or needs. IVs are like the Pokémon's genes--they are random and determine its strengths, and can carry on through breeding. Because of IVs, all Pokémon of the same species are different. One Pokémon of a certain species can have a very good Defense and a bad Attack, while another can have a great Speed and terrible HP, for example.
II. How do IVs affect your stats?IVs are random numbers assigned to each stat, ranging from 0 to a maximum of 31. At level 100, each IV adds one point to a stat. So it's possible to have 31 extra points in a stat due to good IVs, which can help a lot in a battle, especially when those extra points mean that you survive a normally lethal attack with 3 HP, or you KO an opponent in one hit as opposed to them hanging on with 3 HP.
III. How are they determined?When finding a wild Pokémon or receiving an egg at the day care, a Pokémon's IVs are randomly determined, from 0 to 31 in each stat. The exact moment that IVs are generated is when you encounter the Pokémon in the wild, or when you pick up the egg at the daycare. Also, when breeding Pokémon, some of the parents' IVs are passed down to the child, which leads us to the next topic.
IV. How do I influence IVs?Legendary Pokémon: When encountering a wild Pokémon, its IVs are randomly determined, so if you save before catching a legendary Pokémon, you can reset the game if you decide that you don't like its IVs, and they will be new the next time you encounter it.
Breeding: When you breed a Pokémon, three of the parents' stats are randomly chosen and passed down to the child. Occasionally, the child is passed the same stat twice, so it looks like it is only inheriting two (or one) of its parents' IVs, or it randomly gets an IV that happens to match one of its parents' IVs, so it looks like four (or more) IVs were inherited.
Some IVs are easier to inherit than others, because of the way IV inheritance is handled, which is described in the following sentences. First, the IVs for the child Pokémon are generated randomly, like you were encountering a wild Pokémon. Then, the first IV passed down from either parent can be from any stat either parent has, and overwrites the pre-generated IV that the child had beforehand. The second IV passed down to the child is chosen from any stat except HP. The third and final IV can be chosen from any stat except for HP or Defense. This makes HP and Defense harder to breed for. Just remember that high IVs as well as low IVs can be passed down from parent to child, so make sure both parents have at least three good IVs together. (Note: The HP and Defense restrictions apply only in Emerald, Diamond and Pearl; ignore these if you are breeding in earlier games.)
V. How do I find out what they are?Use an IV calculator, like
the one here, and read the instructions there. (For your information, EPs are the same as EVs.) It's best to know what your EVs are, or to start out without them, so you can get accurate results.
In Pokémon Emerald, there is a man north of the Pokémon Center in Battle Frontier who will tell you about a Pokémon's abilities. The abilities he is referring to are a Pokémon's IVs. When he talks about a Pokémon's average ability, "average" means from an average of 0-15, "better-than-average" means from 15-20, "impressive" means from 20-25, and "outstanding" means from 25-31. When he is talking about the best stat, "relatively good" is 0-15, "impressive" is 16-25, "outstanding" is 26-30, and "flawless" is 31.
Also, exclusive to D/P, on a Pokémon's "Trainer Memo" screen, there will be a short sentence like "Strong willed." or "Alert to sounds." This tells you something about a Pokémon's best IV- which stat it is in, and one of five or six possible numbers that the IV has. [[If you have a link to a chart/table with these sentences and their corresponding stats/numbers, PM me or post it here. Credit to who provided the link will be given.]]
VI. How do I use AR/Pokesav to change my IVs?I'm not an expert on the subject, but I'll try anyways, since a lot of expert battlers use these devices despite the slight controversy that non-users bring up because of how long it takes to breed Pokémon, and how easy it is to use these methods.
Pokesav is a Pokémon editor/creator program for your computer that allows you to fully customize your Pokémon, all the way down to its catch date. The most common way to use Pokesav is to get an Action Replay and use them together to transfer codes from Pokesav to the Action Replay. Don't ask me where to get Pokesav, because I don't know.
Action Replay can also be used alone to modify your Pokémon's data, but that requires knowing the right code and involves a little more risk, since you could mess something up if you type a code in wrong. Codes can usually be found using a search engine, notably Google.
If you have any questions, please be sure to ask, so I can answer your question and improve my guide.
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