There's a lot to do in the world of Pokémon, but once you've completed your PokéDex and caught all the Pokémon possible, it can seem like there's nothing left to do. This couldn't be farther from the truth, as the competitive scene of Pokémon is an incredibly thriving one. Pokémon training is a lot more complex than it appears, with IV and EV training.
In Sword & Shield, EV training is as easier than it's ever been. There are many tricks to making the normally tedious process much more bearable, and prevent having to reset your Pokémon stats to make sure you get the EVs you want. Pokémon can have a max of 510 EVs, so it's important to know the best way to get that max.
10 Level Up To 100
Pokémon can not reach their max stats until they reach level 100, and as such before starting the process of EV training, should be maxed out in order to know when you hit the right stats. By starting the EV training process at level 100, it's much easier to keep track of how much longer there is to go. It also ensures that you won't mistakenly over-train your Pokémon by the time you start working towards your end goal for the EV levels.
9 Make Money
Currency in Pokémon often time doesn't have much use after you complete the game, as you don't have as much need for things like Potions, Poké Balls, or Medicine. Luckily, when it comes to leveling up your Pokémon with the intent to max out your EVs, the currency sees a lot more use thanks to the many items available to help with the EV training process. Once you have all the Pokémon that you want and no longer have the need for money, make sure to keep a pocket full since having a big pocket will make the process much easier and faster!
8 Use Vitamins
Vitamins are the main reason you want a hefty amount of currency while you're in the process of EV training. They're the quickest way to EV train, though the most costly.
Each Vitamin will raise the EVs of Pokémon by 10. HP Up will raise HP, Protein will raise Attack, Calcium ups Special Attack, Iron boosts Defense, Zinc adds Special Defense, and finally, Carbos increases Speed. These are permanent boosts and will keep the new stats as they are. You can theoretically use exclusively Vitamins to max out your EV stats.
7 Use Wings
In case you don't have the currency to invest in Vitamins, there's an alternative way to get easy EV boosts in the way of Wings. Wings can be found on the bridges on Route 5 and Motostoke and will spawn every day. While free, Wings offer less of an EV gain, only providing 1. However, they are readily available each day for a new one. The Health Wing adds an HP EV, Muscle to Attack, Swift to Speed, Clever to Special Defense, Genuis to Special Attack, and Resist to Defense.
6 Use Pokémon
Pokémon can increase EVs simply by battling other Pokémon. Over the course of the game, you're likely to have obtained multiple EVs without even knowing any better, potentially to the point of being maxed out. This is the traditional way of EV training and perhaps the longest way to do so. Each Pokémon provides a different stat, with the easiest to find and fight being Skwovet for HP (often found on Route 1), Timburr for Attack (Galar Mine), Rolycoly for Defense (Route 3), Gastly for Special Attack (Watchtower Ruins in the Wild Area), Duskull for Special Defense (Watchtower Ruins in the Wild Area), and Rookidee for Speed (Route 1 and 2).
5 Know The End Values
Perhaps the most important part of EV training is knowing what numbers you want. In order to calculate properly, you need to know the max stats of a Pokémon with the max level and IVs. Afterward, you can determine how much EVs you need by adding the potential 510 EVs to the stats as you want to.
The EVs can be added into any of the main 6 stats, with a maximum of 252 EVs in a certain stat. Once you determine how much EVs to reach a certain amount in a stat, you can focus on getting to that exact number. There are multiple websites to determine how much EVs are needed to reach the max of a stat out there to help make the process easier.
4 Lower EVs With Berries
If you're using certain Pokémon over the course of a playthrough, you're guaranteed to run into a fair bit of EV gain. Since there's a limit on how much EVs a Pokémon can have, you may want to re-invest where the EVs are. Luckily, there's a way to lower EVs so you can get the ones that you want. Berries are available in trees scattered around the Galar region, and work similar to Vitamins, albeit taking away 10 EVs rather than raising. A Pomeg Berry lowers HP, Kelpsy reduces Attack, Hondew reduces Special Attack, Qualot takes away from Defense, Grepa lowers Special Defense, and Tamato removes Speed.
3 Give Your Pokémon Power Items
While the grinding for EVs can be slow and tedious, there are items available that help speed the EV training process along. You can give Power items to your Pokémon to hold which will increase EV gains. The Power Weight is for HP, Bracer for Attack, Lens for Special Attack, Belt for Defense, Band for Special Defense, and Anklet for Speed. These items can be purchased with BP in the Hammerlocke Pokémon Center. These boost the EVs gained from events that would cause the EV of a Pokémon to be increased.
2 Get Pokérus
Pokérus is a "virus" that will randomly infect Pokémon without warning or prompting. Despite being a "sickness," Pokérus will actually double the amount of EVs gained from EV training.
This boost can be stacked with Power Item boosts in order to get the max value out of EV training activities. Pokérus can even be spread to other members of your party if the infected Pokémon is on your team and battle in order to get the most value out of the time your Pokémon has Pokérus. There's no downside to Pokérus to, so it's nothing but valuable if a Pokémon catches it!
1 Use Jobs
Perhaps the easiest way to max out EVs, Poké Jobs is the most automatic way to EV train. Upon reaching Hammerlocke, Poké Jobs called Seminars become available. Unlike Berries and Vitamins, it's very clear what Seminar will increase what stats since they're simply named after the stats. You can send Pokémon out on these jobs for various amounts of time, with the longer times leading to bigger EV gains. If stacked with Pokérus and Power Items, it is possible to max out an EV stat with one full day job.