IVs are "free" that go from 0 to 31 in all the stats, its better to have them than not coz the compyter will have them all on 31 on several scenarios. And evs are 63 points at level 100 asuming you trained it on a neutral nature since positive natures have jump points basicly a free point every 40 if i recall that increases the number sligthly.
If I didn't know anything about IV's or EV's, I'd have no idea what you were talking about in that post.
ArtsyTrainer: I've decided to try the Battle Maison. I did a Single Battle with Sylveon, Gardevoir, and Gogoat. I got up to battle 17 and lost. It started getting hard after the 15th battle, so that probably isn't a good sign for my team. I don't know anything about IVs, or what moves work best with what Pokemon. Can I get far without paying much attention to IVs (EVs?- I'm not sure on the difference)?
All Pokemon in the Maison have maxed IVs (might be some Trick Room mons with a 0 in speed, idk) and the full 508 (510, but the last 2 points don't do anything) EVs, so yeah, they're important.
Basically IVs are what make 2 freshly caught Pokemon of the same species, level, and nature have different stat values. IVs can't be changed, they are fixed upon meeting in battle, receiving as a gift, or hatching from an egg, but you can pass IVs through breeding to get a Pokemon with better IVs. Each stat has an IV value between 0 and 31, the higher the number, the higher the stat can be. There's an Ace Trainer in the Kiloude Pkmn Center who can check IVs. If he says a stat "simply can't be beat!" its a 31. If he says something about it being crappy, its 0.
EVs also boost stats, and are earned through battling. Any time a Pokemon gains exp, it gains EVs.
Each Pokemon can gain a max of 510 EVs. Each stat can gain a max of 252, so the narrowest EV spread you can have is 252/252/4(6, but the last 2 points don't do anything). Every 4 EVs equals 1 point increase in a stat. So 252/4= 63. A stat can gain a max of 63 points via EVs. These points are distributed throughout the 1-100 level range, so you won't get the full benefit of EVs until lv 100, but they're still vital for the Maison @50.
Boosting items (HP Up, Protein, Carbos, etc.) give 10 EVs in a stat, but stop working after you have 100 or more EVs in that stat. Likewise the berries remove 10 EVs.
Each species of Pokemon beaten in battle gives a point to a specific stat (some mons give 1 point in 2 stats), and stronger evolutionary stages give more points. For example Geodude always gives 1 Defense EV. Graveler gives 2 Defense points, and Golem gives 3.
EV gains through battle can be increased by holding Power items purchasable at the Maison with BP. Horde battles against the right Pokemon with the right Power item equipped are a good way to earn EVs fast.
...Anyway, my main reason for posting was that I finally finished Super Triples and have 4/5 trophies. Probably not gonna do Super Multi at least for a while, b/c for me, it's just an unnecessarily tedious Super Doubles with 2 games/devices. Triples was the most difficult. Or maybe simply the most punishing to lose because 6v6 takes forever. Ended up turning off battle animation after about 5 losses. Lost a total of 6-7 times before getting to and beating the Chatelaine, the most losses for any format I've done, and made a lot of changes to my team before the end of it. Started with-
Greninja || M-Aerodactyl (middle) || Klefki
Mienshao
Amoonguss
Aromatisse
My strategy revolved around using Greninja's Mat Block when possible and Klefki's priority Safeguard on the first turn, to null out all damage and stat conditions and give Aerodactyl an opportunity to M-evolve and set up with Hone Claws, then go to town.
Made a lot of changes as I went. Aromatisse's Heal Pulse was kind of useless b/c other party members usually died before it could be used, and Trick Room was a liability for the faster members. Replaced with my Gengar from Singles. Also Amoonguss who was great for Doubles would just get smashed before he could do his job, so on my most recent victorious attempt, I brought in good ole' Garchomp who I used in Rotations.
M-Aerodactyl was a great speedy offensive member, but it's kind of a glass cannon and doesn't really benefit from its ability. Being weak against Water, Ice, Electric, and Rock in the Battle Maison feels like you're weak against literally everything. Plus there's Ice Shard, Aqua Jet, and Boolit Pawnch. I kept Aero, but stuck him in reserves, since Garchomp pretty much does everything Aero does, only better, and its still plenty fast. The final team looked like this:
Greninja || Garchomp (Middle) || Klefki
Mienshao
Gengar
M-Aerodactyl
Protean Greninja w/ Wise Glasses
Timid w/ sweeper EV spread
Scald
Dark Pulse
Protect
Mat Block
Rough Skin Garchomp w/ Yache Berry (f*** you, and f*** your ice moves)
Jolly w/ sweeper EV spread
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Iron Head (just kinda there, its an egg move so I didn't want to drop it)
Swords Dance
Prankster Klefki w/ Air Balloon
Bold EVs: +HP, 1/2Def,1/2SpDef
Draining Kiss
Safeguard
Reflect
Swagger
Regenerator Mienshao w/ Life Orb
Jolly w/ sweeper EV spread
Drain Punch
Wide Guard
Fake Out
U-Turn
Gengar w/ Focus Sash
Timid w/ sweeper EV spread
Shadow Ball
Sludge Bomb
Thunderbolt
Destiny Bond
M-Aerodactyl w/ Aerodactylite
Jolly (why the f*** do I keep running into all these base 130+ spd mons?)
EVs: +Atk, enough Spd to outrun and 1-shot a Weavile on the first turn who is too dumb to use Ice Shard, rest in HP.
Rock Slide
Sky Drop
Earthquake
Hone Claws
Klefki turned out to be a really useful support Pokemon, just as I thought it would be. Prankster Safeguard making your team hax-proof to status effects for 5 turns is amazing. It didn't become a god-mode support mon though, until I swapped Light Clay for the Air Balloon (nobody aims for Klefki anyway, unless they're a Fire type, and fires normally get wrecked by Gren, Gar, or Aero before they can do anything. Plus fights usually don't last long enough for Reflect+ Light Clay to matter, and it doesn't affect Safeguard.), and swapped Protect for Swagger. Swagger was pivotal. Especially since after Prankster Safeguard which I used 98% of the time on turn 1, Swagger could be used either to screw up the opponent, or boost Gar or Aero's attack without becoming confused (with somewhat unreliable 90% accuracy :/ ). Needless to say, Safeguard+ Swagger made the battles go a lot faster. On some fights Gar could set up with Swords Dance behind Mat Block and Safeguard on turn 1. Priority Swagger from Klefki to boost Atk to +4 at the start of turn 2, and annihilate everything with Earthquake while Greninja and Klefki sit pretty w/ Protect and Air Balloon. Swagger again to maximize Atk and split the planet in half with another Earthquake on turn 3, switch Gren out for Gengar or Aero beforehand if I want to make the win look squeaky clean, it's game over for the other guys.
The Chatelaine ended up being easier than I thought, I think her Pokemon's relatively slow speeds and lack of priority moves were what made it less difficult in practice than on paper. The only member I lost was Klefki. I made some alterations to movesets, but the only one that really mattered in the end was swapping Garchomp's Dragon Claw for Rock Slide.
Gotta hand it to Greninja, he's taken part in all 4 Super Chatelaine victorious and been vital in 3 of them (Lets just forget for his sake about that time in Rotations where he got smashed early on and Garchomp and Latias saved the day...). For Doubles, Mat Block made it easy for Azumarill to set up Belly Drum and then sweep Raikou and Entei aside, before Greninja took care of Latios w/ Dark Pulse. For Singles Greninja made good use of Protean and switches with Gengar to dance between immunites, then checkmate with Ice Beam and Gengar's Thunderbolt, leaving neither of the duo with a single scratch on them. The only major issues Greninja ran into during Triples were being unable to use Mat Block if Jolteon, Electrode, or Accelgor were within range, in which case he could either Protect or get the heck out of there while Garchomp smashed them.