-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4.1 - Influencing Individual Values -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this section, we are going to cover all the possible things you can do to improve your Pokémon's "Individual Values". This section is probably the most rewarding as the difference between good and poor IVs can often mean the difference between 0 and 31 free points in each of your statistics (at Level 100) totalling a potential bonus of 186 stat points. One of the problems with the game is that it doesn't tell you the IVs for any particular Pokémon on the Summary screen, so at low levels it's very difficult to discern if you received a quality Pokémon or not. Let's look at 4 attempts to capture a quality Zigzagoon. All of these Pokémon were Lv.3, so the only attribute that could haved possibly affected the variation in stats would have been the Individual Values. Attempt #: A1 A2 A3 A4 HP : 15 15 15 15 Attack : 7 6 7 7 Defense : 7 7 7 7 Sp. Attack : 6 7 7 7 Sp. Defense : 8 8 7 7 Speed : 8 8 9 8 ---------------------------------- Total: : 51 51 52 51 As you can see, each of these captures yielded different stats and it appears that attempt #3 was the best, but that doesn't tell us the entire story. Since we are working with integers and not real numbers, it's not possible to know if A1, A3 or A4 have the best IV for their Attack statistic due to the problems with rounding integers (this means that the game will always round down rather than use the .5 rule that you were taught in school). The only real way to find out which value is truly better is to raise them all up a few levels so we can see a larger difference between them. I did just that and made them all level 12 (However, the more you level them up, the more accurate values you will receive). Here is the chart: Attempt #: A1 A2 A3 A4 HP : 32 33 33 32 Attack : 15 12 16 14 Defense : 14 16 15 15 Sp. Attack : 12 13 15 14 Sp. Defense : 17 17 16 15 Speed : 19 20 21 19 ----------------------------------- Total: : 109 111 116 109 Note: In order to save a great amount of time in this area, always keep around 8-10 Rare Candies in your Bag. Whenever you need to check the IVs for a newly aquired Pokémon, save your game, use the Rare Candies to level-up the Pokémon to level 13-15 and then make the calculations. Once you have the IVs, you can then reset your Gameboy Advance and either decide to keep the Pokémon or try again. The real advantage to this is that you will not gain any Effort Values while you level-up so it makes the calculations as accurate as possible. Now that they are all Lv.12 (using Gameshark, so it was impossible for Effort Points to objectively affect the results), we can see that A3 continues to out-shine the others - it just has better genes. The second thing we notice is that A1 is clearly better than A2 or A4. This was not so obvious when observing the previous table since many of the stats had the same values. Now, you could be saying to yourself that a difference of 7 points isn't much and you'd be correct in questioning it - I agree with you. I think catching 5+ instances of the same species is probably a waste of time, let alone a waste of money on the mass consumption of Pokéballs. Breeding To Achieve Higher Stats -------------------------------- Thus, the other way to help engineer high IVs is to breed your own Pokémon. While this section isn't the complete guide to breeding (you should consult a seperate FAQ to learn about these issues), it does shed some light on why you should do it. First I'd like to say that breeding does in no way guarentee incredible IVs. Even in this example in which we made 3 breeding attempts, we received one egg that produced equivalent IVs to its wild counterparts and a second that was just slightly better. Actually, only one of them truely stood out and this could have taken us longer to achieve given how random breeding can be (since no one has discovered how the formulas really work yet). For this test, I took one Lv. 13 Zigzagoon from the grass area outside the Daycare Center (making sure it was a male) and bred it with my female Lv. 46 Linoone (which is the evolved form of a Zigzagoon). I then passed them along to the Daycare supervisor and after 3 attempts, this is what I got when I raised each of them up to Lv.12. B1 B2 B3 HP : 34 32 32 Attack : 15 14 13 Defense : 18 16 17 Sp. Attack : 15 13 13 Sp. Defense : 18 19 17 Speed : 23 23 20 ---------------------------- Total: : 123 117 112 As you can see, the IVs for two of these Pokémon are better on average then catching the 4 wild ones earlier. Now that we have B1, we can be assured that this Pokémon will be much more powerful than any of the wild instances we caught earlier since it has 7-14 more points at Lv.12. Note: An interesting result is that the quality of the Pokémon decreased after each egg. I originally thought that this was intended by the developers, but I hadn't bred enough eggs to see the larger picture. This just goes to illustrate that breeding does not provide you with amazing IVs all the time - you really have to work at it and have some luck. Note: Although I am using a higher level Zigzagoon, the actual level of your male or female has no effect on the IVs passed down to the child (while the IVs of the parents does have some effect on the child). We'll get more into this in the breeding section of the guide, as this sort of talk is better discussed there. Although some people might believe this extra time and effort in hatching multiple eggs may or may not be worth these extra points, keep in mind that this is only the first step in achieving powerful stats. Also keep in mind that as you gain more levels, your IVs will continue to be an asset as they are multiplied by your current level. Thus, the higher your current level is and the higher your IVs, the higher your stats will be. Since this Pokémon is only level 12, we still have (potentially) another 88 more levels to go! Calculating IVs --------------- Now that you have some examples of stats at various levels, it's actually possible to calculate your IVs. While the formula is correct (since we are working with the game's rounded numbers), our values can only be estimates to the actual values stored within the game. However, for our purposes, this should be sufficient enough since all we can do is compare them to others using the same methods anyway. First off, you need to know the formula for calculating your IV given the base stat, the actual value of the statistic, the effort value and the personality value (for non-HP stats). For your convenience, I derived the new formula by rearranging the variables using basic algebra. All you have to do is plug in the values. IV = (( Math.Ceiling( Stat/P ) - 5 ) * 100/Level ) - 2 * BaseStat - EV/4 Note: It is *very* important that you round-up "Stat/P" or the formula will produce smaller, inaccurate values. In most cases this isn't a problem, but if your Pokémon have low or non-existant IVs, this formula will produce negative values. Thus, make sure you always round-up this 'sub-result' before you compute the rest of the formula. Note: Since the input values to this formula come from the game, you have to keep in mind that they are not accuarate. Many people have complained that this formula produces negative values or different values depending on the input. When you put in "23" into the "Stat" variable, the value could have actually been 23.111111 or 23.999999 - there is no way to tell. Thus, the best way to ensure accurate results is use higher level Pokémon - preferably level 12 or higher. Anything lower, and your values will be completely inaccurate. Note: Some moves like Hidden Power rely on a Pokémon's IVs, so if you want to calculate its exact power, you need to heed the advice given in the warning above. Now, to calculate the IVs for our Zigzagoon, we need to first find out our base stats. I have looked these up at the following website: http://user.yagb.de/meowth346/index.php?data=stats/stats_rs_pokemon.php For convenience, I have shown the base stats here along side the actual statistics of B1 (our first attempt at breeding a Lv.12 Zigzagoon). Base Stats B1's Actual Stats ---------------- ----------------- HP : 38 HP : 34 Attack : 30 Attack : 15 Defense : 41 Defense : 18 Sp. Attack : 30 Sp. Attack : 15 Sp. Defense : 41 Sp. Defense : 18 Speed : 60 Speed : 23 Now that we have the base stats, finding the IVs is a simple matter of using the formula shown above and applying the techniques of basic algebra. By assuming that, Level = 12; and Effort Value = 0; and Personality = 1 (for 100%, let's assume to make it simple), we can begin to calculate the IV for each stat given our Summary information from within the game. Let's find out our Attack and Sp. Attack IVs. Some of you might be able to calculate this in fewer steps, but I wanted to show each step for clarity. IV = (( Math.Ceiling( Stat/P ) - 5 ) * 100/Level ) - 2 * BaseStat - EV/4 IV = (( Math.Ceiling( 15/1 ) - 5 ) * 100/12 ) - 2 * 30 - 0/4 IV = (( 15 - 5 ) * 100/12 ) - 60 IV = ( 10 * 100/12 ) - 60 IV = 1000/12 - 60 IV = ~23 So by using the formula and solving for IV, we managed to figure out that our Attack IV and Sp. Attack IV are both 23, which is two-thirds of the maximum value of 31 - Not bad. Let's calculate our Defense and Sp. Defense IVs next. IV = (( Math.Ceiling( Stat/P ) - 5 ) * 100/Level ) - 2 * BaseStat - EV/4 IV = (( Math.Ceiling( 18/1 ) - 5 ) * 100/12 ) - 2 * 41 - 0/4 IV = (( 18 - 5 ) * 100/12 ) - 82 IV = ( 13 * 100/12 ) - 82 IV = 1300/12 - 82 IV = ~26 Now Speed. IV = (( Math.Ceiling( Stat/P ) - 5 ) * 100/Level ) - 2 * BaseStat - EV/4 IV = (( Math.Ceiling( 23/1 ) - 5 ) * 100/12 ) - 2 * 60 - 0/4 IV = (( 23 - 5 ) * 100/12 ) - 120 IV = ( 18 * 100/12 ) - 120 IV = 1800/12 - 120 IV = 30 Since the HP statistic uses a different formula, we need to come up with a new formula for calculating the HP IV as well. This formula was derived in the same way as the others, but simply rearranging the variables in order to solve for IV. Here is the formula: IV = (( Stat - Level - 10 ) * 100/Level ) - 2 * BaseStat - EV/4 Using this formula, we can now calculate the HP IV for our Zigzagoon. IV = (( Stat - Level - 10 ) * 100/Level ) - 2 * BaseStat - EV/4 IV = (( 34 - 12 - 10 ) * 100/12 ) - 2 * 38 - 0 IV = ( 12 * 100/12 ) - 76 IV = 100 - 76 IV = 24 When we receive numbers like 23, 26, 30 and 24 for Individual Values, we can clearly see that wild Pokémon produce poor IVs in comparison to ones hatched in the breeding process. In the breeding section of this guide, I'll talk more about how to get quality IVs. When using these formulas for all our main stats, we can now fully list our set of IVs for this Lv.12 Zigzagoon: HP IV : 24 Attack IV : 23 Defense IV : 26 Sp. Attack IV : 23 Sp. Defense IV : 26 Speed IV : 30 ------------------- Average :~25 As you can see, we made out pretty good with B1 with an efficiency rating of 81% (since we received an average of 25 out of a possible 31). If you use these steps followed in this section of the guide, you can now be absolutely certain that your breeding is working correctly. Now that you have the actual values for the IVs, you can also re-input them with various EVs and level values to calculate your projected stats at later points in the game. Note: Although we demonstrated that breeding has provided us with some more favourable results, IVs are generated by the game randomly when both catching Pokémon from the wild and hatching eggs, thus making it possible to receive a 'super' Pokémon. Since IVs range from 0-31 and there are 6 stats, there is a 1 in 1,073,741,824 chance of receiving a perfect set of IVs (or equally a set of all 0's as well). When considering these terrible odds, as long as you receive a total of 144 or more points in your all of your IVs (i.e. 75% of the maximum), you should consider jumping up and down for joy and start working on your EVs next. Looking back to the Pichu example shown earlier in this guide, I realized that I was unlucky and received a Pichu that had poor IVs (or at least ones that compared with the wild Pikachu at best). If I had known that from the beginning, I would not have wasted so much time leveling it up to Lv. 50. After reading this section, I'm certain you won't make the same mistake. A Common Problem People Have ---------------------------- If you have had some problems with the formulas, you should really read this section. Otherwise, you can go on to section, "2.4.2 - Influencing Effort Values". A person named John had just emailed me stating that he was having some problems with the formulas outlined in this guide. While he wasn't the first to have issues, he was the first person to actually provide me with adequate information that illustrated the main problem. In this section, I'm going to show you his email that illustrates the problem and the explanation I gave him that shed some light on the subject. Here is the email sent to me on April 09, 2003: Hello. I read your Advanced Trainer Guide from Gamefaqs last night and sought out to breed and raise a Vulpix with decent IVs across the board, using your formula to calculate the values from the ones that I've bred and hatched. The problem I'm having is in the consistency of the solutions for various levels. I would assume that rather I did the calculations at level 5 or level 50, they should come out the same, assuming that I have not attained any EVs (which I haven't), and that I'm actually doing the math correctly. Here's what I did, and perhaps you can see what I'm doing wrong. I took a newly hatched Vulpix, used a Fire Stone to evolve it to a Ninetails (I did this because the Base Stat Guide that I look at only had the bases for Ninetails), and then did my calculations from there. The Pokemon did not fight in any battles whatsoever, and no EV altering items were used. I could only go as high as level 17, as I have only received 12 rare candies thus far in my travels. I got the base figures using the material that was recommended within your guide. All numbers under each corresponding level are respective in the order that I've listed the Bases. Species : Ninetails Personality : Quirky Base Hp : 73 Base Attack : 76 Base Defense : 75 Base Speed : 100 Base Sp. Attack : 81 Base Sp. Defense : 100 Lv.5 IV Lv.10 IV Lv.11 IV Lv.17 IV --------- ---------- ---------- ---------- HP: 23 14 37 24 40 26 57 30 Attack: 11 32? 19 12 21 7 31 1 Defense: 13 10 22 20 24 22 34 20 Speed: 15 0 25 0 27 0 39 0 Sp. Attack: 13 2 22 8 24 10 34 8 Sp. Defense: 16 20 27 20 29 18 42 17 I also did the same with a standard Vulpix (after I found the base stats), but posting those would probably be irrelevant as they aren't as "detailed" as what I have above, however I will note that I got the same end result as I have above. The last one I did was of a Pichu, and those results were even more insane looking than those of the Vulpix and Ninetails. I'm sure many people have had a similar situation, so I wanted to let you know why this is happening and I also wanted to ease your mind that there is nothing wrong with the formulas directly. If you compare the results from the Level 5 Ninetails to the Level 17 instance, you can clearly see the results are completely different. The reason for this is that these formulas do not work very well at low levels (such as Level 5). The main reason for this is due to fact that the final stat doesn't change much if the IV is "0" or "31". At Level 5, you'll be lucky to see more than a 5 point difference. The more levels you gain, however, the more accurate the formulas will become. That is why I recommend that you raise the Pokémon in question to level 12 or higher, as stated earlier in this guide. If you have more Rare Candies or a Gameshark, feel free to level the Pokémon up as high as possible to receive the most accurate results (for data collection purposes only). John's assumption that the formulas should provide the same IV results for level 5 to level 50 is actually incorrect. While that statement might be true while doing algebra or calculus equations, you have to remember that we usually work with real numbers in those equations and make an effort to avoid rounding down. However in these equations, your input is already incorrect - it's been rounded by the game. Thus, you can't really trust the actual stat values being provided on the Summary screen. While at level 5, it might show you 23 for your HP stat, it may actually be anywhere between "23.000001" or "23.999999". If you plug that information into the IV formula, you will receive two totally different IVs even though they produce the same integer value. Therefore, the best way to 'estimate' your IVs is to level up your Pokémon as much as possible so that the actual stat value is closer to the real value rather than the inaccurate integer that has been rounded by the game. Now, there is another interesting observation that I would like to point out. When you look at the calculated IVs for Level 11 and 17, you should be able to see that the IVs do not differ all that much - they are relatively close together. In fact, you had calculated the IVs for higher levels, you would start to get the impression that the values are stablizing to their correct value. This is clearly different when you look at the difference between the Level 5 and 11 values - the degree of seperation is huge (in fact, they are opposites in some cases). What does all this mean? John's Level 17 results are probably fairly accurate, and if they aren't, they are at most 1 point off from the actual value stored from within the game. Thus, if you plotted a graph of all the IV values for levels 5 through 100 with the correct stat values, you'll probably start to see it flatten out after level 12. This means that anything before level 12 is nonsense. Where's the proof of this? Well, let's take a look at the Defense and Speed values, as this clearly shows that IVs are influencing the final values. You'll see that the Defense value is "34" and the Speed value is "39". If you look closely however, the Speed Base stat for Ninetails is 100 - that's 25 more points than the Defense Base stat. Then how can the actual stats be so close? If you look at the IVs, this particular Ninetails has a very good Defense IV of 20 while the Speed IV is 0. This is how its Defense stat was only a few points behind its Speed - truely not the norm for most Ninetails Pokémon. Now, I know many people probably don't like these uncertainties, especially when mathematics is supposed to be an exact science. If the game provided you with real numbers, these formulas would work perfectly no matter what level you used. Since the inputs are inaccurate to begin with, you can't expect your answers to be perfect either. There isn't much you can do unless you can find a way to hack into the game and find the real numbers stored in the console or emulator's memory, and I'm sure many of you aren't prepared to do that. So remember everyone, the results of using these formulas are only "estimates". All you should be interested in is comparing your estimates with others. If you need the exact IVs later on, you'll probably have to do some more digging, but I can't see many practical uses for that anyway. All you really need to care about is getting the best IVs possible (as your estimates indicate) and then get max EVs (which we will discuss in the next section of this guide). That's all there is to it folks and that's really the best you can hope to accomplish.