Yo, Legend in the making!

Have you ever thought about getting into competitive battling

but quickly abandoned the thought because it sounds too technical? Do phrases like "IV
breeding" and "EV training" sound too complex or intimidating? Does the thought of breeding
sound daunting? If so, this guide was written to introduce you to these concepts in a way
that's less confusing and easier to understand. This guide will focus on the basic mechanics
of Pokmon and how to take advantage of those mechanics to breed competitive Pokmon.

Basic Mechanics Stats


On every Pokmons summary screen you will find a list of 6 basic stats. Those stats are:

Health Points (HP)
This stat determines how much damage a Pokmon can receive before fainting.
Attack (Atk)
This stat determines the how much damage a Pokmon can inflict when it uses a Physical Move.
Defence (Def)
This stat determines how much damage a Pokmon receives when it's hit by a Physical Move.
Special Attack (SpA)
This stat determines how much damage a Pokmon can inflict when it uses a Special Move.
Special Defence (SpD)
This stat determines how much damage a Pokmon receives when it's hit by a Special Move.
Speed (Spe)
This stat determines how quickly a Pokmon will make move. Pokmon with a higher Speed stat will
make a move before those with a lower speed stat, under normal conditions.

Basic Mechanics Physical, Special and Status Moves.

Physical Moves

These are moves that make direct physical contact, such as Tackle and Bite. Physical moves
make use of the Attack stat and target the Defence stat. Some moves like Earthquake, don't
involve direct physical contact but are still considered physical moves.

Special Moves

These are moves that don't make direct contact such as Ember and Thunderbolt. Special
moves make use of the Special Attack stat and target the Special Defence stat. Some special
moves like Grass Knot, make contact despite being special moves.

Status Moves

Status moves don't do direct damage but instead cause status conditions, or modify a
Pokmon's stats during battle, such as Toxic and Swords Dance. This also includes moves that
can't be categorised as being either physical or special like Recover or Rain Dance.

If a Pokmon has a higher attack stat than special attack it makes sense to teach it physical
moves. If a Pokmon has a higher special attack stat than attack it makes sense to teach it
special moves. Consider the base stats of the 2 Pokmon below:







Alakazam
HP: 55
Atk: 50
Def: 45
SpA: 135
SpD: 85
Spe: 120
Gallade
HP: 68
Atk: 124
Def: 65
SpA: 65
SpD: 115
Spe: 80

Both Alakazam and Gallade can learn the physical Psychic-type move Psycho Cut and the
special Psychic-type move Psychic. As you can see Gallade has a much higher Attack stat
compared to Alakazam so it would benefit more from learning Psycho Cut as well as physical
moves in general. In contrast, Alakazams special attack stat is higher than Gallades so it
benefits more from learning Psychic as well as special moves in general.

Basic Mechanics Natures


So you just caught a Lv.2 Scatterbug in Santalune Forest. After checking the summary screen
you find out that its timid. But what does it mean? At first you might think that the
Scatterbug is shy and lacking self-confidence, however, Timid is a Pokmon mechanic
known as a Nature. A Nature is a Pokmon mechanic that affects a Pokmons stats. It raises
a stat by 10% and decreases another by 10%. There are 25 natures in total. 5 of them are
neutral, that is, they dont increase or decrease any stat. Natures are randomly assigned to
Pokmon when they are hatched, caught or received from events.
The pictures above show the summary screens of a Vivillon with a Modest nature. Modest is
a nature that boosts the Special Attack stat by 10% and decreases the Attack stat by 10%. A
stat highlighted in red is being boosted by the nature. A stat highlighted in blue is being
reduced by the nature.
You might think that having a neutral nature is more beneficial as it means that no stats
will be hindered, however, for a competitive Pokmon its preferable to always have a
stat-boosting nature over a neutral one. This is because competitive Pokmon are always
better off having one of their stats boosted for maximum efficiency. Most of the times,
having a stat hindered is inconsequential. If you scroll up and check Alakazams stats you
will notice that it has an amazing Special Attack stat of 135 and an Attack stat of merely
50. Since Alakazam cant make any use of its poor Attack stat a Modest nature would suit
it best since it wouldnt mind a 10% decrease in that stat. Gallade on the other hand, has
an impressive Attack stat of 124 and a Special Attack stat of 65. Gallade cant make use of
a Modest nature, as it would hinder its Attack stat and boost its poor Special Attack stat,
which is very inefficient. A better nature for a Gallade would be Adamant, which boosts its
Attack stat and reduces its Special Attack stat.
As you can see, having the right nature is crucial for competitive Pokmon. I provided a
nature chart below that shows which stats are boosted, reduced, and which natures are
neutral.




Basic Mechanics Abilities



An Ability is a Pokmon mechanic that generally serves to assist them in battle. Some
abilities are more useful outside of battle like Zigzagoons Pickup, which allows it to pick up
random items after battle. Some abilities actually hinder the Pokmon, like Slakings Truant,
which prevents it from attacking consecutively.
Each Pokmon can have only one ability from a set of three. Two of those abilities are
randomly assigned to a Pokmon when they are caught or bred. The third ability is a rare
one known as a Hidden Ability (HA). Pokmon with Hidden Abilities can only be found in
Horde encounters or in Friend Safaris.
For instance, consider the Pokmon - Bunnelby. It can have either Pickup or Cheek Pouch
(an ability that restores HP in addition when the Pokmon eats any berry) as an ability. Its
Hidden Ability is Huge Power, which doubles its Attack stat. Some Pokmon have only one
regular ability and the second ability is its Hidden Ability. Sometimes a Pokmons ability
can change upon evolution. For instance Fletchlings ability Big Pecks changes into Flame
Body when it evolves into Fletchinder.

Basic Mechanics Effort Values (EVs)

Effort Values or EVs, are a mechanic that increase a Pokmons stats (HP, Atk, Def, SpA,
SpD, Spe). Effort Values are awarded to a Pokmon whenever it defeats a wild one in battle.
Basically, every Pokmon that you defeat in the wild will award your Pokmon with specific
EVs for any one of the 6 stats. The stats that get boosted by EVs are determined by which
Pokmon you defeat. For example, every time your Pokmon defeats a Lapras in battle it
will gain 2 HP EVs. Lapras always awards 2 HP EVs. Whenever your Pokmon gets 4 EVs in
any one stat, that stat point will increase by 1 when it levels up. Using the example of
Lapras, if you defeat 2 of them your Pokmons HP stat will increase by 1 point.
You might be wondering if its possible to get 999 HP by simply defeating Lapras and getting
HP EVs. The answer is that it isnt possible because a Pokmon can only have a maximum
of 510 EVs. Furthermore, a single stat can only have a maximum of 252 EVs.
Since 4 EVs increase a stat by 1 point then 252 EVs in a stat is equal to 63 points in the
stat at level 100. 252/4 = 63
However, remember that the maximum EVs that a Pokmon can get is 510. Yet, 252 + 252 =
504. You will notice that this leaves you with extra 6 EVs. Out of the 6 extra EVs you can
only use 4 EVs to increase any other stat by 1 point.
Pokmon dont earn EVs when they defeat other Pokmon in Wi-Fi battles or from Battle
Facilities like the Battle Maison.
So to summarise:
A Pokmon is awarded EVs when it defeats another one in battle.
Certain Pokmon give out specific EVs when defeated, for instance Lapras gives 2 HP EVs
4 EVs = +1 stat point
A Pokmon can only get a maximum of 510 EVs
A Pokmon can only get a maximum of 252 EVs in one stat

EVs are the reason why a Pokmon raised by a trainer is stronger than one in the wild. As
you battle with your Pokmon it accumulates EVs by defeating other Pokmon in battle, thus
its stats increase gradually.
Other than battling, Pokmon can get EVs through other means. One of those is by using
Nutritious drinks that can be purchased at Laverre City for 9,800. Each nutritious drink
type adds 10 EVs to a specific stat. They will not work any further once you have 100 EVs in
a particular stat. Hence you can only use a nutritious drink a maximum of 10 times for a
particular stat. If your Pokmon already has a total of 510 EVs you will not be to use any
nutritious drinks on it.

Nutritious Drinks
HP Up Adds 10 HP EVs
Protein Adds 10 Atk EVs
Iron Adds 10 Def EVs
Calcium Adds 10 SpA EVs
Zinc Adds 10 SpD EVs
Carbos Adds 10 Spe EVs

It is also possible to remove EVs from a particular stat using berries. On first use, berries
reduce the number of EVs in a particular stat to 100. After that they remove 10 EVs per use.

Berries
Pomeg Reduces HP EVs
Kelpsy Reduces Atk EVs
Qualot Reduces Def EVs
Hondew Reduces SpA EVs
Grepa Reduces SpD EVs
Tamato Reduces Spe EVs


There are also held items that can boost the number of EVs that a Pokmon receives. One
of them is the Macho Brace, which doubles the amount of EV points gained, and Power
Items, which add 4 EVs to a specific stat after defeating another Pokmon. Power Items can
be obtained by exchanging Battle Points (BP) for them at the Exchange Service Corner at
the Battle Maison in Kiloude City.

Power Items
Power Weight Adds 4 HP EVs
Power Bracer Adds 4 Atk EVs
Power Belt Adds 4 Def EVs
Power Lens Adds 4 SpA EVs
Power Band Adds 4 SpD EVs
Power Anklet Adds 4 Spe EVs


Exp. Share
The item Exp. Share not only allows you to share experience points with other Pokmon in
your party but can also be used to share EVs. So if the Exp. Share is turned on and a Pokmon
defeats a Lapras and gets 2 HP EVs, all the other Pokmon in the party will also receive the
2 HP EVs.

Pokrus

Pokrus from Pokmon Virus, is a very rare and beneficial virus that doubles the EVs that
a Pokmon gains once its infected (same effect as Macho Brace). A Pokmon can be
infected with Pokrus by battling another Pokmon in the wild that has the infection. It
should be noted that Pokrus is as rare as a Shiny Pokmon. Once a Pokmon is infected
with Pokrus you will see the icon above displayed on their summary screen.
A Pokmon infected with Pokrus can spread the infection to other Pokmon in the party.
This can be done by placing uninfected Pokmon next to an infected one in the main party
and engaging in some wild battles.
It should be noted that the infection does not last long (1 to 4 days), after your Pokmon is
cured it can no longer be infected by it again. Its useful to keep a Pokmon infected with
Pokrus in the PC so that you can use it to infect future Pokmon. While in the PC a Pokmon
infected with Pokrus will remain infected.

Super Training
An alternate method of gaining EVs in addition to battling and using nutrient drinks is through
Super Training. Super Training Regimens make use of mini games that award the Pokmon
with EVs and Training Bags. Training bags come in various types. They can add up to 12 EVs
to a particular stat and others can reset a Pokmons EVs entirely.


Vivillon with 0 EVs Charizard with 252 SpA EVs/252 Spe EVs/4 HP EVs

A very useful feature of Super Training is the Effort-o-Meter, which displays the Pokmons
stats as a graph on the Core Training Screen. The vertical meter to the right fills up as a
Pokmon gains EVs. It serves as a good way to monitor the EV gains of your Pokmon visually.
Once the meter is filled up it means that a Pokmon cannot gain any more EVs and has
reached its threshold.
Hidden Mechanics Individual Values (IVs)

Individual Values (IVs) are a hidden mechanic that make every Pokmon unique. IVs are
values that range from 0-31 that are assigned to a Pokmons stats (HP, Atk, Def, SpA, SpD,
Spe). IVs are permanent and cant be modified, unlike EVs. They are generated once a
Pokmon is caught, or received from an NPC or from an event.
IVs affect the stat growth of Pokmon. The higher the number of IVs in a particular stat, the
higher that stat becomes. For instance, if a Pokmon has 31 IVs in its Attack stat it will have
31 extra stat points in that stat at level 100.
To have a better understanding of how IVs influence stats consider the example below.



Quirky Lv. 100 Pinsir, no EVs
0 IVs 10 IVs 31 IVs
HP: 240 HP: 250 HP: 271
Atk: 255 Atk: 265 Atk: 286
Def: 205 Def: 215 Def: 236
SpA: 115 SpA: 125 SpA: 146
SpD: 145 SpD: 155 SpD: 176
Spe: 175 Spe: 185 Spe: 206


As you can see, each stat is raised according to the number of IVs. A Pinsir with 0 IVs in Atk
has a significant lower attack stat compared to one with 31 IVs in the same stat.
It should be noted that finding Pokmon that have perfect IVs (31) in their stats in the wild
is extremely rare. However, Kiloude City has a facility known as the Friend Safari where you
can catch Pokmon that will always have perfect IVs in at least 2 of their stats.
Since IVs are hidden values, the only way to determine their values is through IV checking
methods in-game.



Checking IVs


IV Judge at Kiloude City Pokmon Centre

In the Pokmon centre at Kiloude city, you can find an NPC who can check your Pokmons
IVs. He will not give you a numerical value but through his dialogue you can discover which
of your Pokmons stats have perfect IVs and get an idea of their IV total. When you bring
a Pokmon to him he will begin his dialogue by saying I see I see This Pokmon has X
potential overall. Thats how I judge it anyway

IV Total X
0 to 90 decent
91 to 120 above average
121 to 150 relatively superior
151 to 186 outstanding

Then he will continue his dialogue by commenting on the highest IV stat.
Incidentally I would say that its greatest potential lies in [Highest IV stat(s)]

Highest IV stat Range
rather decent 0 to 15
good 16 to 25
fantastic 26 to 30
cant be beat 31


If you were to show him a Pokmon with perfect IVs in every stat this would be his complete
dialogue: I see I see This Pokmon has outstanding potential overall. Thats how I
judge it, anyway. Incidentally, I would say that its greatest potential lie in its HP. But its
Attack stat is good too. Hmm. And its Defence stat is good, too. Although its Sp. Atk stat
is equally good. Its Sp. Def stat seems just as good, though. And, well its Speed stat is
good, too. Stats like those They simply cant be beat! Thats how I judge it.
So remember, when the judge lists a bunch of stats and says They simply cant be beat
at the end of his dialogue it means that the stats which he listed have perfect IVs.
The judge will also tell you if any of your Pokmons stats have very low IVs.


Breeding Basics


Pokmon Day-care Centre at Route 7

Breeding is the process of placing a male Pokmon and a female Pokmon at the Day-care
centre and producing an egg of the lowest-evolved form of the Pokmon. Breeding is useful
for getting Pokmon with moves that you otherwise cant obtain. Its the only way to get
your own Pokmon with competitive stats, that is - Hidden Abilities, perfect IVs. And is
useful for getting the pre-evolved form of fully evolved Pokmon in order to help complete
your Pokdex.
In order for breeding to be successful, you have to meet certain criteria:
If the Pokmon are of the same species, they have to be different genders. For instance, a
male Bunnelby will be able to successfully breed with a female Bunnelby.
Pokmon of different species can only be breed if they are in the same Egg Group. For
instance, its possible to breed a male Scyther with a female Volcarona because they are both
in the Bug egg group. In this case, the offspring will always be the species of the mother. So
if you breed a male Scyther with a female Volcarona you will get a Larvesta egg.
Legendary Pokmon (except Manaphy) and certain Pokmon known as baby Pokmon cant
breed because they are in the Undiscovered Egg group. Baby Pokmon like Pichu, Magby and
Elekid have to be evolved for them to be able to breed.
Genderless Pokmon, such as Magnemite, Voltorb and Beldum can only breed with
Ditto
If you place two Pokmon at the Day-care that meet the above criteria you will be able to
successfully produce an egg. For every 255 steps that you take, there is a chance that an
egg will be produced. If an egg is produced, the Pokmon breeder outside the Daycare will
face you (as shown in the image above) and will give you the egg when you speak to him.
If youre unsure if the two Pokmon will produce an egg or if you want to find out the
chances of producing one, you can speak to the breeder outside for more information. The
table below details the information based on the breeders dialogue.
Note: ID numbers refers to your Original Trainer (OT) number. A Pokmon with a different
ID is one that you receive in a trade.

Same species with different ID numbers
The two seem to get along very well
70% chance to produce an egg
Same species with Same ID numbers
The two seem to get along
50% chance to produce an egg
Different species with different ID numbers
The two seem to get along
50% chance to produce an egg
Different species with same ID numbers
The two dont seem to like each other
20% chance to produce an egg
Different Egg groups
The two prefer to play with other Pokmon more than with each other
0% chance to produce an egg


Baby Pokmon and Incense

Remember that the Pokmon that hatches from the egg will always be the lowest evolved-
form of the mothers species. However, there are some Pokmon that can only be obtained
when breeding if the mother is holding a specific item. The table below details those items
and lists all the baby Pokmon and how to obtain them. Remember that baby Pokmon have
to be evolved otherwise they cannot breed. Note: All the incense items can be bought at a shop in
Coumarine City
Baby Pokmon Method
Pichu Breed Pikachu or Raichu
Clefa Breed Clefairy or Clefable
Igglybuff Breed Jigglypuff or Wigglytuff
Tyrogue Breed Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee or Hitmontop
Smoochum Breed Jynx
Elekid Breed Electabuzz or Electivire
Magby Breed Magmar or Magmortar
Azuril Breed Marill or Azumarill holding a Sea Incense
Wynaut Breed Wobbuffet holding a Lax Incense
Budew Breed Roselia or Roserade holding a Rose Incense
Chingling Breed Chimeco holding a Pure Incense
Bonsly Breed Sudowoodo holding a Rock Incense
Mime Jr. Breed Mr. Mime holding an Odd Incense
Happiny Breed Chansey holding a Luck Incense
Munchlax Breed Snorlax holding a Full Incense
Mantyke Breed Mantine holding a Wave Incense


Gender Ratios
Certain Pokmon species are always male like Nidoran and Volbeat while Nidoran and
Illumise are always female. Despite this, the eggs that Illumise and Nidoran hatch will
have a 50% chance of being Volbeat and Nidoran respectively and a 50% chance of being
the same gender as the mother. Incidentally while most Pokmon have a 50% chance of
producing either male or female offspring, certain species of Pokmon like Eevee and
starter Pokmon have a higher chance of being born male ( 87.5% male, 12.5% female).

Hatching Eggs
The same way it takes a certain number of steps to produce an egg, it also takes a certain
number of steps to hatch them. The number of steps depends on the Pokmon that will
hatch. The number of steps vary from 1,000 to 10,000. Rarer Pokmon like Larvesta and
Dratini are in the 10,000 step range. Regular Pokmon usually take over 5,000 eggs to hatch.
The fastest way to hatch them is by using the bicycle to cover a large number of steps
quicker.
You can also speed up the process by having a Pokmon with the ability Flame Body or
Magma Armor in your party. Magma Armor and Flame body reduce the number of steps by
half.

In addition, you can make use of the Egg Hatching O Power from the PSS. O Powers can be
used on yourself if you turn on Wi-Fi on your 3DS. Its a good idea to obtain the Hatching O
Power and level it up to 3 as soon as you can. It greatly reduces the amount of steps
needed to hatch eggs.
It should be noted that its possible to hatch Pokmon in a ball other than a Poke ball.
Female Pokmon can pass down the ball which they were captured in. So if you catch a
female Murkrow in a Dusk ball and breed it, all of its offspring will be born in a Dusk ball.



IV Breeding



IV breeding in a nutshell

IVs cant be modified, however, its possible to transfer a Pokmons perfect IVs to its
offspring through a process called IV breeding. IV breeding is done the same way as regular
breeding, however, the IVs of both parents are a key factor in determining the IVs of the
offspring. The most important thing is to first ensure that you get parents with perfect IVs
in as many stats as possible. This is because of the fact that when you breed two Pokmon
without any external influence, the IVs in any three of their stats combined are chosen to
be passed down to the offspring. Consider the example below in which two Feebas are bred:

Pokmon HP Attack Defence Sp. Attack Sp. Defence Speed
Male
Feebas
15 21 31 4 15 25
Female
Feebas
19 25 1 15 31 0
Baby
Feebas
17 25 31 12 31 18

As you can see, without any items, the baby Feebas randomly inherited IVs from a total of
three stats from both parents. The baby inherited its fathers perfect IVs in Defence and its
mothers perfect IVs in Special Defence. The baby has perfect IVs in two stats. If you wanted
a baby with perfect IVs in more stats you would have to breed the baby with another Feebas
with perfect IVs in other stats. But because of the random aspect of IV breeding, youd have
to breed a lot of Feebas before you got one with perfect IVs in the all the stats that you
were satisfied with.
Its possible to manipulate which IVs will be passed down with the use of held items. Consider
the Power items that you learned about earlier in this guide. Each of them, when held by a
Pokmon, has a 100% chance of passing down IVs from a specific stat during breeding.

Power Weight 100% chance to pass down HP IVs
Power Bracer 100% chance to pass down Atk IVs
Power Belt 100% chance to pass down Def IVs
Power Lens 100% chance to pass down SpA IVs
Power Band 100% chance to pass down SpD IVs
Power Anklet 100% chance to pass down Spe IVs

In this case, if the male Feebas was holding a Power Belt, the offspring would inherit its
perfect Defence IVs, 100% of the time.
Another held item, known as the Destiny Knot, transfers IVs from a total of five stats from
both parents to the offspring, instead of three. Note: The effects of the Destiny knot and
Power items dont stack up. So you cant use both at the same time.

Acquiring Parents with perfect IVs
Acquiring parents with perfects IVs in as many stats as possible will greatly reduce the tedium
of IV breeding.
Wonder Trade
Wonder trade is a good way to get Pokmon with perfect IVs. This is because a lot of people
trade away Pokmon that have perfect IVs in less than five stats. Its still possible to get
Pokmon with perfect IVs in five or all stats from Wonder Trade. If you happen to get a Lv.1
Pokmon from Wonder Trade take it to the IV judge in Kiloude City. Chances are that it has
perfect IVs.
GTS
Not highly recommended but some people actually make good offers for Pokmon with
perfect IVs. If youre unlucky with Wonder Trade the GTS is a good alternative.
Note: If you see people advertising a Pokmon and they say that it has, for instance, 4IV, it doesnt
literally mean that it only has 4 IVs in its stat(s) but they mean to say that it has perfect IVs in four stats.
Friend Safari
If youve accumulated a lot of Friend Codes, then the Friend Safari is a good place to get
Pokmon with perfect IVs because every Pokmon that you catch there is guaranteed to
have perfect IVs in at least two stats. You can get lucky and catch a Pokmon with perfect
IVs in three or even four stats, though its very rare.
Hacked 6IV Ditto
Ditto is very useful because it can breed with any Pokmon (except another Ditto and
Pokmon from the Undiscovered egg group). If you happen to receive a hacked one with
perfect IVs in all six stats it will make IV breeding a whole lot easier. People have reported
receiving one from Wonder Trade, although, you have better chances of getting one from
Giveaways from various Pokmon fan forums and the like, online.


Passing down Natures

When you breed two compatible Pokmon the nature of the offspring is randomly generated.
Its possible to ensure that the offspring will have the nature of one of its parents if they
hold an Everstone. The offspring will always be born with the nature of the parent that
holds an Everstone. For instance if you bred an Adamant Larvitar with a Jolly Ditto and you
let the Larvitar hold the Everstone, the resulting offspring would always be born with an
Adamant nature. If you wanted a Larvitar to be born with a Jolly nature instead all you would
have to do is make Ditto hold the Everstone.

Passing down Hidden Abilities

Its possible for offspring to inherit the Hidden Ability (HA) of the parent. Both male and
female Pokmon of the same species can pass down their Hidden Ability, even when bred
with a Ditto. Female Pokmon have a higher chance of passing down their Hidden Ability
(60% chance). For instance, if you breed a female HA Fletchling with a male Fletchling or a
Ditto the offspring will have a 60% chance of being born with Gale Wings.

Egg Moves
Through breeding its possible to get Pokmon with moves that they cant normally obtain.
These moves are known as Egg Moves and are obtained by taking advantage of egg groups.
For instance, its possible to breed the move Outrage onto a Charmander by breeding a male
Dragonite that knows the move with a female Charizard. This is possible because both
Charizard and Dragonite are in the Dragon egg group.
Egg moves can be passed down to the offspring by both parents. Some egg moves require
longer chains to be passed down. For example, take the Pokmon Larvitar. In Pokmon
X/Y Larvitar can only get the moves Stealth Rock and Pursuit via breeding.
There are two Pokmon that are in the same egg group as Larvitar that can learn one of
those moves via level up. Those two Pokmon are Cranidos and Tyrunt. Cranidos learns
Pursuit at Lv. 10 and Tyrunt learns Stealth Rock at Lv. 15. Both of those Pokmon are in the
same egg group as Larvitar (Monster egg group) so both can breed with it.
Since you want a Larvitar with those egg moves, you will need to have a female one first.
You can breed a male Cranidos with the female Larvitar in order for the offspring to be born
with Pursuit. Make sure you get a female Larvitar with the egg move.
Now that you have a female Larvitar with Pursuit as an egg move you can breed that Larvitar
with a male Tyrunt that knows Stealth Rock. The offspring will have Stealth Rock from the
Tyrunt and Pursuit from the Larvitar. You now have a Larvitar with two egg moves, Pursuit
and Stealth Rock!
The game doesnt tell you what Pokmon belongs in which egg group and doesnt list the
possible egg moves, either. You will need to search for that information online.

Markings



You might have noticed these shapes on a Pokmons summary screen. Theyre known as
markings and can be used to mark the stats which have perfect IVs. Each shape denotes a
specific stat. A pentagon simply indicates that a Pokmon was born in Kalos.

(Born in Kalos) (HP) (Atk) (Def) (SpA) (SpD) (Spe)



By default, theyre greyed out. But you can manually mark them. This is done by accessing
the PC and selecting MARKING on the Pokmon you wish to mark. As shown above.

The IV Breeding Procedure


Having access to a Fire-type Safari with Fletchinder means that I can consider breeding a competitive
Talonflame!

Lets say that I want to breed and raise a competitive Talonflame. It would need an Adamant
nature and have its Hidden Ability Gale Wings, which gives priority to Flying-type moves,
most notably Brave Bird. It would also need to have an IV spread of 31/31/31/xx/31/31
(perfect IVs in HP, Atk, Def, SpD, Spe). Since I would be going for an Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
nature it wouldnt need to have perfect IVs in Special Attack. As it is, Talonflames Atk stat
is higher than its SpA stat.
In addition, I would want it to be in an elegant Luxuary Ball. So using all the information
above, how would I go about getting one? Here is the walkthrough:

Goal: 5IV HA, Adamant Fletchling in Luxury Ball

For starters, I made sure to bring a Pokmon with the ability Trace and put it in the first
slot of the party. Trace is an ability that allows the user to copy the opposing Pokmons
ability. This is useful for detecting a Pokmons Hidden Ability the moment you encounter
it in battle. It made it easier to obtain a Fletchinder with Gale Wings.


It helps if the Pokmons level is high so you can flee more easily

I caught a female Fletchinder so that it could pass down the Luxury ball to its offspring
I took the Fletchinder to the IV Judge at Kiloude and found out that it had perfect IVs in
HP and Attack. I marked it accordingly.
Then I had to get an Adamant, male Fletchling with Gale Wings and, possibly, with more
perfect IVs than the Fletchinder I just caught. I tried my luck at the GTS.


Score! 5IV Adamant, HA Fletchling from the GTS

I was extremely fortunate to get a 5IV Gale Wings Adamant Fletchling for a Bunneary on
the GTS. The only problem was that it had perfect IVs in SpA instead of Def. I decided to
try my luck again but was only able to get a 2IV Japanese Fletchling. I decided to settle for
that because it had perfect IVs in Defence, which would still be helpful.


The perfect Def IVs will come in handy

I bred the 2IV Japenese Fletchling with my Fletchinder. I made sure to make the Japanese
Fletchling hold a Power Belt, so that it could pass down its perfect Def IVs. Then I hatched
a female Fletchling with Gale Wings.
The new-born female only had perfect IVs in Def. I made her hold the Destiny Knot and I
bred her with the 5IV male Fletchling that I had received from the GTS. I made sure to
make the male Fletchling hold an Everstone in order to pass down its Adamant nature.

It took several eggs just to get a 3IV female HA Fletchling

I made sure to only hatch females with Gale Wings, to ensure that the Luxury ball would
be passed down. After hatching the Fletchling above, I bred it with the same male 5IV GTS
Fletchling and kept hatching eggs until I got offspring with perfect IVs in at least 4 stats. I
made sure that one parent was holding the Everstone and the other was holding the
Destiny knot.

Almost there!

After several more eggs, I managed to hatch the female above. I bred that same female with
the same GTS 5IV Fletchling until I finally hatched one with perfect IVs in HP, Atk, Def, SpD,
Spe.


Success! HA Adamant 5IV Fletchling in a Luxury Ball.
Things to note:

I made sure to have a Pokmon with Flame Body in my party to make the egg hatching
process faster.
The entire breeding project took well over 40 eggs or so, because a lot of the Fletchling were
either not born female or were born with the ability Big Pecks instead of Gale Wings.
For every Fletchling that was born I had to fly to Kiloude city and have it judged to figure out
their IVs.
Since the Fletchling I received from the GTS had a different ID number, I had a 70% chance
of getting it to produce eggs with my own Fletchling.
I did a lot of cycling along the straight road that extends from Route 5, Camphrier Town and
Route 7. Its a long enough path to hatch eggs by going back and forth, but otherwise, the
best way to hatch eggs is by flying to Lumiose City and cycling around the Lumiose Tower in
circles.
A Pokmons IVs are determined when you receive the egg from the breeder, and not
when they hatch. So soft-reseting your game in an attempt to hatch Eggs with better IVs will
not work.
IV breeding is a process that can take an extremely long time even with the Destiny Knot.
Thats why its extremely important that you get parents with perfect IVs in as many stats
as possible. Consider taking advantage of egg groups so that you can re-use the Pokmon
that you IV bred as parents to breed other Pokmon.

EV Training

Once youre done IV breeding your competitive Pokmon youll want to EV train it in order
to make it efficient for competitive battles. Youll want to EV train your Pokmon in
whatever stats you want them to excel in. For instance, I would EV train my 5IV HA Adamant
Fletchling in Attack and Speed. That is, I would defeat Pokmon that give Speed and Attack
EVs until my Fletchling got a maximum of 252 EVs in Atk and 252 EVs in Spe. This is because
the primary objective I have for Talonflame is to hit hard and fast so an EV spread of 252
Atk/252 Spe would achieve that. The remaining 4 EVs could go into HP.
Normally, people tend to EV train a Pokmons best stats, for instance, Alakazams best stat
is its SpA of 135 and its Spe of 120, so you would want to max out the EVs in those stats.






Alakazams defensive stats are too frail, and its attack stat is poor so EV training any stats
other than SpA and Spe would hinder Alakazam, preventing it from accomplishing anything
useful.
Alakazam
HP: 55
Atk: 50
Def: 45
SpA: 135
SpD: 85
Spe: 120
When deciding on which stats to EV train think about what you want your Pokmon to
accomplish in battle. Pokmon with very high HP, Def or SpD usually want to have a lot EVs
in their defensive stats so that they can survive longer in battle.

You learned earlier in this guide that EVs are obtained by defeating Pokmon in battle,
using nutrient drinks, holding Power Items and by Super Training. You can combine all
these methods to EV train your Pokmon in a short amount of time.
A very useful method of EV training is through Horde encounters. Horde encounters allow
you to battle 5 Pokmon at once. So if you defeat a horde of 5 Gulpin you would get 5 HP
EVs because Gulpin awards you with 1 HP EV when you defeat it.
If you have a Pokmon that has the move Sweet Scent, you can summon hordes 100% of
the time.
But even so, getting 5 HP EVs per battle is still too slow. Using a combination of EV
manipulating methods its possible to earn up to 50 EVs per horde battle. This can be done
by holding the right Power Item and being infected with Pokrus.
In the case of a horde of Gulpin, this is how it would work:
[(1 + 4) x 2] x 5 = 50 HP EVs
1 = Base EV yield. Every Gulpin gives 1 HP EV
4 = Additional EVs from the Power Item. The Power Weight always adds 4 EVs
2 = Pokrus. Pokrus doubles the amount EVs earned.
5 = Number of Gulpin in the horde.
With the Exp. Share turned on, all Pokmon that participate in battle will receive the EVs.
So in the first party slot you can keep a Pokmon that has a move that can damage multiple
Pokmon at once like Earthquake, Surf or Heatwave. If its a high level Pokmon you will
usually knock out horde Pokmon in a single hit since they are usually in very low levels.

The table bellows lists the locations of horde Pokmon and their total EV yield.
HP Attack Defence Sp. Attack Sp. Defence Speed
5 HP Gulpin
(Route 5)

5 Atk Bellsprout
(Route 14)
5 Def Geodude
10 Def Durant
(Terminus Cave)
5 SpA
Vanillite/Smoochum
(Frost Cavern)
5 SpD Hoppip
(Route 7)
5 Spe Wingull
(Route 8)

Having Pokmon that are infected with the Pokrus is vital for this method to be efficient.
Its possible to obtain Pokmon infected with Pokrus from Wonder Trade or even the GTS.
If you ask for a Pokmon with Pokrus using the shoutout feature on the PSS you could get
lucky enough to have a random passer-by trade one to you.
List of things necessary for efficient EV Training:
1. The Pokmon you want to EV train must be infected with Pokrus
2. You must have the appropriate Power Item
3. If you are EV training multiple Pokmon in the same stats, make sure the Exp. Share is on
4. Have a Pokmon in the first slot that has moves that can knock out multiple Pokmon at once

Hints and Tips Shiny Pokmon



A shiny Lopunny

A shiny Pokmon is a Pokmon with a different colouration to what is usual for its species.
They are exactly the same as regular Pokmon, however, they have a sparkling animation
when they are sent out to battle and have a symbol in their summary screen to indicate
their uniqueness. Their alternate colour makes them very rare and highly sought after by
Pokmon fans.
Shiny Pokmon are extremely rare, in fact, the chances of finding one in the wild is 1 in
4096.
Its possible to hatch shiny Pokmon but the chances of doing so are the same as the chances
of getting one in the wild.
Masuda Method (named after the director of the Pokmon games, Junichi Masuda)
The Masuda Method is a technique that can improve the odds of hatching a shiny Pokmon.
If you have a Pokmon from a game of a different language, such as Japanese, Korean,
French, German, and you breed it with a Pokmon of the same language as your game the
chances of them producing shiny offspring becomes 1 in 1024. For instance, if I breed a
Japanese female Bunneary with my male Bunneary there is a better chance that I will get
a shiny Bunneary.
Masuda Method improves the chances of hatching shiny Pokmon however the process is still
extremely tedious and can take anywhere from days to weeks as its still up to chance.
As with IVs, resetting the game to re-hatch an egg in hopes of getting a shiny is futile. A
Pokmons IVs and shiny value are determined the moment the egg is received.

Hints and Tips Easy Money and Fast Exp



Restaurant Le Wow at Hibernal Avenue in Lumiose City

Tired of beating the Elite 4 over and over again? If so, there is much more efficient and
quicker method of accumulating a lot of money and Exp.
In Lumiose city there is a restaurant called Le Wow. They allow you to challenge the staff
to either Double, Triple or Rotation battles. You face 5 trainers and if you can beat them in
the mentioned number of turns you will be awarded with up to 25 Balm Mushrooms. The
entrance fee is 90,000 however, one Balm Mushroom sells for 6,250. So you can sell 25
Balm Mushrooms for 156,250. It helps to have a Pokmon hold an Amulet Coin so that you
can earn more money from the battles.


Its extremely useful to get this O Power and level it up to 3

In addition to being a good source of money, you can earn a lot of Exp at Restaurante Le
Wow because the trainers all have Lv. 63 Pokmon. If you do triple battles, one of them has
an Audino which awards a huge amount of Exp.
This method of gaining is Exp is so efficient, that if you put a Lv. 1 Pokmon in your party
holding the item Lucky Egg (item that boosts Exp gain), and activate the Lv. 3 Exp O Power,
you can get it to level 50 in one to two runs!


Hints and Tips Locations of useful items
The locations of the items mentioned in this guide and are listed below:
Item Location Information
Amulet Coin Parfum Palace Doubles Prize money if the Pokmon holding it participates
in battle
Destiny Knot Cyllage City Transfers IVs from a total of five stats from both parents

Everstone

Geosenge Town
Prevents the Pokmon holding it from evolving. In addition
it passes down the nature of the held Pokmon when
breeding.
Lucky Egg
Coumarine City
Boosts the amount of Exp earned if the Pokmon holding it
participates in battle.
Luxury Ball
Lumiose City
A comfortable Pok ball that makes caught Pokmon
friendly.
Macho Brace Route 15 Doubles the amount of EVs earned

O Power Locations

Hatching O Power - Lumiose City Caf Introversion. In order to obtain this O Power you must own
every other O Power. This also requires max style in Lumiose City.
Bargain O Power Lumiose City, Hotel Richissime
Capture O Power Default
Exp. Point O Power Arnistar City, Pokmon centre
Encounter O Power Laverre City, Pokmon centre
Stealth O Power Hotel in Couriway Town
Prize Money O Power Hotel in Cyllage City
Befriending O Power Coumarine City Pokmon centre
HP Restoring O Power Default
PP Restoring O Power Snowbelle City Pokmon centre
Accuracy O Power Dendemille Town
Critical O Power Shalour City, Pokmon centre
Attack O Power Route house between Lumiose City and Route 5
Defense O Power Route house between Lumiose City and Route 5
Sp. Atk O Power Hotel in Camphrier Town
Sp. Def O Power Hotel in Ambrette Town
Spe O Power Hotel in Geosenge Town


Knowledge is Power


If you were able to grasp everything in this guide, congratulations!
You should now have a solid understanding of various Pokmon mechanics and how to
utilise them to breed and raise competitive Pokmon of your own.
As for the mechanics of battling and the basics of competitive battling, youll have to seek
out other guides that deal with those topics. I chose not to include that information
because it would make this guide twice as long. Even so, everything that you learned from
this guide is already more than enough to get you into competitive battling.
As for final recommendations, I can only suggest furthering your knowledge. There are
many useful Pokmon information sites like Bulbapedia and Serebii. Good luck!

Information obtained from various sources and compiled by Solonir.