The Fine Art of Stat Manipulation

[Kuiper]

Ahem. Before we begin, let’s get a couple things straight:
This assumes level 100 and the ability to manipulate IVs. (Maxing them, configuring them for specific Hidden Powers, etc.)

Stats are listed as:

HP / Attack / Defense / Speed / Special Attack / Special Defense


Also, all stats are rounded down unless otherwise stated. If you get a 50% boost on an odd stat, you just lost half a point. This is very important when considering nature’s effect on stats. Also, it plays a major point in Hit Points. When using the item Leftovers, for every 16 HP, you receive 1 HP extra per turn. That means that a Pokemon with 16 HP would get the same Leftovers recovery than one with 31. That means that when using Leftovers, you should try to make your Hit Points a multiple of 16, any more HP than that can be put to better use elsewhere.

Also, Sandstorm, Burn, Hail, Poison, and similar moves all do damage in increments of 16. That means that a Pokemon with 31 HP would receive less damage from one of these ailments than one with 32 HP. So if you are not using Leftovers, it would be most advantageous to make your HP one less than a multiple of 16.

The move Substitute takes one forth of the user’s HP and makes a Substitute with it. For every 4 HP of the users max HP, 1 HP is used in the Substitute. That means that a Pokemon with 12-15 HP would make 3 HP Substitutes while a Pokemon with 16-19 HP would make 4 HP Substitutes.

In the normal game, what the game defines as “In a pinch” is 1/3 HP. That means that a Pokemon with 10 HP would activate its “In a pinch” status at 3 HP, while one with 12 HP would trigger at 4 HP. (For reference, “In a pinch” status is used to trigger stat-raising berries like Petaya, Liechi, and Salac, as well as abilities such as Overgrow, Torrent, Blaze, and Swarm.

However, in the program Netbattle, “In a pinch” status is defined as 25% HP. That means that when using Substitute to trigger “In a pinch” status, you should make your HP a multiple of 4, so that each time exactly 25% (no less) of your HP will be used, and after three Substitutes you will be at exactly 25% HP and your “In a pinch” status will activate.


You should never use neutral natures. Thus, assuming you are using a nature that raises one asset and lowers another, (which you should be), I can provide the following guidelines.

For the stat that the nature is lowering, for every 10 points that that stat normally would have, the stat is lowered by 1 point. For the stat that is being increased, for every 10 points that that stat would ordinarily have, it gets 1 extra point. This means that it is more advantageous to give 40 EVs to a stat that is increased by the nature than to give those 40 EVs to a stat unaffected by the nature, or to give enough EVs initially in order for the stat to be a multiple of 10, if they weren't to start with. However, it is no more advantageous to give 36 EVs to a stat increased by the nature than to give those 36 EVs to a stat unaffected by the nature, except in situations where the extra 9 stat points would leave the stat a multiple of 10, so it in this situation it is merely a matter of which stat would be more useful. Generally this is used when "capping off" stats, especially when using defensive EV configurations.


Remember that you can not have half a stat point. This means that if you Dragon Danced with 9 speed, you would have a resulting speed of 13, not 13.5. However, if after this you Dragon Danced one more, you would have a speed of 18. This means that if you are planning on receiving an odd stat boost (such as the boost from a single stat-raising berry), it is optimal to have that stat be even. This applies to HP, as well. When using moves such as Recover, Softboiled, and Milk Drink, a Pokemon with 15 HP would recover no more HP than a Pokemon with 14 HP. That means that when using such moves, it is optimal to have HP be an even number.


Speed is a major concern. The most commonly targeted number is 394, Jolteon, Aerodactyl, and Crobat’s maxed speed. (Also Mewtwo, but hopefully that won’t be an issue.) After that is 372, a speed shared by Alakazam, Dugtrio, and Sceptile. When selecting your speed, consider what Pokemon might be faster than you. I once gave my Weezing enough speed EVs to Will-o-Wisp Tyranitar before it could Taunt me or set up a Substitute.


Based on what we know already, let’s create an EV distribution and nature for this Gyarados:

Gyarados (M) @ Liechi Berry
Trait: Intimidate
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Hidden Power
IVs: 31 / 31 / 31 / 30 / 30 / 30 [resulting in Hidden Power Flying 70]
stats: 331 / 286 / 194 / 197 / 155 / 235
remaining EVs: 508

First, let us put 252 EVs into attack. He’s a physical attacker, and this should be a given. (remaining EVs: 256)

Next, let’s give him enough speed EVs to out speed Jolteon after one Dragon Dance. He’ll need an actually speed stat of 264 to do this. In order to reach this number, he’ll need a Jolly nature. Then 172 speed EVs, and we’ve met this goal. Notice that 264 is a nice multiple of 11, that means that we just took full advantage of his nature. Also, since this leaves his speed an even number, he’ll be able to take full advantage of Dragon Dance. (remaining EVs: 84)

Now we’ve got some EVs left over. If we put them all into HP, this would result in an actual HP stat of 352. Since we are not using Leftovers, we do not want his HP to be a multiple of 16. So let’s give him 80 of the remaining EVs for HP. (remaining EVs: 4)

Now we have 4 EVs to increase one stat by 1 point. This could be put into speed to give the possibility of out speeding other Dragon Dancers. Or used to bolster either of the defenses. Let’s put it in special defense, just to leave things tidy. (remaining EVs: 0)

The product looks like this:

Gyarados (M) @ Liechi Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Hidden Power
IVs: 31 / 31 / 31 / 30 / 30 / 30 [resulting in Hidden Power Flying 70]
stats: 351 / 349 / 194 / 264 / 139 / 236

Of course, this is not the only way we might have done things. You might give him more speed EVs to out speed other stat-up artists. You might give him defense EVs instead of HP EVs to survive Rock Slide better. You might use a different IV configuration. This is just the most “basic” of the “advanced” distributions.

Also note that when used on Netbattle interface, this Gyarados would optimally have 68 HP EVs so that his HP would be 348, four less than a multiple of 16. This would allow him to activate the Liechi Berry after the third Substitute while still taking minimal damage from Sandstorm, Poison, Burn, etc. That would leave 12 extra EVs, best spend in the same way the leftover 4 were.

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this extensive post. If you have anything to add or any inaccuracies to point out, please post. Hopefully later I’ll have the time to do more of these. This has just covered the really basic stuff and later I’ll get into optimal defensive EV spreads and other such topics. If this gets to be a continuing series, maybe I’ll just republish everything in one thread and try and get it stickied.

Well, I guess that’s it, have a nice day, don’t get hit by a bus. (Unless I don’t like you. Then you can get hit by a bus several times.)

[clown master]

Nice Article, very informative...

[Houndooms Revenge]

You should put this in the RS help thread or FRLG help thread. If you organized it a little differently, such as different headings like recovery moves, status condition, and don't waste IVs. Good Information.

[clown master]

Check your inbox, my PM to you was sparked by this post, and the crappy ingame teams that pop up every time somebody gets to the E4...

[xxbattosaixx]

Very informative. It helped quite a lot.

[PhazonElite]

You just may want to note that when using a stat increasing nature, you get the additional point after the first 16 EVs in that stat, and then every 40 EVs afterwards.

[Kuiper]

Originally Posted by PhazonElite

You just may want to note that when using a stat increasing nature, you get the additional point after the first 16 EVs in that stat, and then every 40 EVs afterwards.

Ah, yes. Fixed.

[Chao Trainer]

A question about your Gyarados example,

Why is Gyarados's HP 351 if you recommended any pokemon using sub and in a pinch item should have a HP that is a multiple of 4 (exact 25% after 3 subs for netbattle rules)?

[Kuiper]

Originally Posted by Chao Trainer

A question about your Gyarados example,

Why is Gyarados's HP 351 if you recommended any pokemon using sub and in a pinch item should have a HP that is a multiple of 4 (exact 25% after 3 subs for netbattle rules)?

Ah, yes. Thank you for pointing that out. (Fixed.)

[RareHunterX]

Nice Informative post, good work.I found that rather helpful