Gen VI Updated EV Training

So I got Pokemon X for Christmas, beat it the other day, it was a very enjoyable experience. Now for an update on EV Training! There are two effective manners of EV Training in these games.

The simplest is the Super Training. Located on your bottom screen, it's pretty self-explanatory, and yo do not need any of the fancy stuff to do it. You play a little mini-game that will reward you with 4, 8, or 12 EVs depending on which level of the game you play. As an additional reward for winning the mini-game, you get a training bag. There are a good variety of training bags, and breaking them will give certain rewards or perks. The more common bags give you extra EVs; a small (S) bag gives you 1 EV in the listed stat, a medium (M) gives you 4 EVs, and a large (L) gives you 12 EVs.

There are also bonus bags that you may get that are less common. The Double-Up Bag doubles the EVs you get from your next mini-game, so if you activate this bag and win a lv 1 game, you'll get 8 EVs, and 16 EVs for a lv 2 game, and 24 EVs for a lv 3 game. A Reset Bag will reset all of the EVs the Pokemon has, so you may restart a Pokemon's EVs to zero and start again if you decide to change them. A Soothing Bag will increase the Pokemon's happiness. The Team Flare Bag makes it easier to defeat other training bags, and the remaining bags (Swiftness Bag, Toughen-Up Bag, Strength Bag, and Big Shot Bag) all make the mini-game easier. None of the EVs given by the mini-game or training bags are affected by Pokerus or the Power Items.

The other method is making use of the Horde Encounters. You can trigger one of these through the use of Honey, or using Sweet Scent outside of battle (NOTE: the in-game weather must be clear for this to work). Each of the Pokemon you fight in the Horde Encounter will give EVs, and these EVs will be affected by Pokerus and the Power Items. For example, if you fight a horde of Axews, you will get 1 Attack EV for each of the Axews, 10 EVs each if you have the Pokerus and Power Item. Therefore, defeating all 5 of the Axews in the horde will grant you 50 Attack EVs. Defeating a horde becomes significantly easier if you have a multi-hit move, such as Surf or Rock Slide.

Unlike in the Gen V games, there are no set routes in which only Attack EV Pokemon reside, so these are your best options. Certainly if the weather is not permitting it, the Horde Encounter option is off the table. If you do not like the mini-game, Horde is your better option. I myself prefer the Super Training method, just because it's more engaging in my opinion. Try both and see which one you prefer!

Brock out.