Pokemon Sword and Shield - Individual Values and how to check them

Overview

Individual values or IVs are a set of predetermined numbers. Each number can have values from zero to 31 and corresponds to one of the Pokemon’s six stats. To determine a Pokemon’s IVs, trainers must complete the main story to unlock the IV judge.

Common practice

Some trainers aim for Pokemon with at least four IVs at 31 to have a better shot at winning Pokemon battles online. When obtaining a Pokemon from a trade, check to see if the Pokemon has been marked with symbols. If it has, chances are that the Pokemon’s markings indicate where it has 31 IVs. Usually, trainers mark symbols on Pokemon from left to right as HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. If you are having doubts on the IVs, verify them using the IV judge.

Hyper training

Another way to force a Pokemon to obtain a max of 31 IVs on one or more stats is to hyper train it. Use a silver bottle cap to set one IV to 31 or a gold bottle cap to set all its IVs to 31. You can purchase bottlecaps in the Battle Frontier using BP. To hyper train a Pokemon, take it to the hyper trainer on the rightmost counter of the facility.

IV checker

To unlock the IV judge, clear the main story and head to the Battle Tower. Take the challenge and garner a six-win streak to battle Leon. Defeat him and you will unlock the IV checker in your PC.

Tips to beat Leon

Leon’s team consists of the starter that has a type advantage against yours, along with Pokemon such as Charizard which can dynamax, a Rhyperior, a Seismitoad, Haxorus, Aegislash, and Mr. Rime. If you don’t have a team yet, you can still join battles using rental teams. A good example of a solid team to start with is one of the rental teams. If you chose to climb up the doubles format ladder, you may opt to use the rental rain team.

When the battle starts, set up a tailwind and use fake out to buy some time. After getting the speed advantage, choose super effective moves to knock out his Pokemon one by one. Ensure that your water type remains on the field to beat his Charizard later. If you can reach to his last Pokemon while the rain continues to pour and the tailwind is up, you can close this one out. When he’s down to one or two Pokemon, unleash a Max Geyser on his dynamaxed Charizard to knock it out.

Checking your Pokemon’s IVs

Open your PC and highlight the Pokemon you want to check. Press the “+” button to see your Pokemon’s IVs. Each stat will be described in a few words. If the word “Best” appears, it means that the Pokemon has a 31 IV on that stat. Pokemon that were caught in Max Raid battles have better odds of having at least three “Best” stats than those found in the tall grass.

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