Are you looking for: EV Traning Hotspots for Ultra Sun and Moon?

With Super Training and horde battles absent in Pokémon Sun and Moon, players are looking for new ways to get their Pokémon EV trained for competition. This guide is here to help you reach that point as quickly as possible!

Basic Information

A Pokémon can have a maximum of 252 EVs in one particular stat. This is different from the 255 cap present in Generations III-V, and it means you won’t accidentally EV train over 252 in any particular stat.

A Pokémon can only have 510 EVs total. This means if you train a Pokémon to have 252 EVs in two stats, you still have 6 EVs left over to put in another stat.

Each Pokémon, when defeated in-game, gives out a certain number of EVs, usually ranging from 1-3. For example, if you defeat a Wingull, your Pokémon gains 1 Speed EV, and if you defeat a Gyarados, your Pokémon gains 2 Attack EVs. A full list of EV yield for each Pokémon can be found here.

If the Exp. Share is turned on, all Pokémon in your party gain EVs from defeating Pokémon. This allows you to battle with a higher leveled Pokémon to EV train your freshly hatched Pokémon. You can even EV train multiple Pokémon at the same time!

Modifying EV Gain

Pokérus – A Pokémon infected with Pokérus gains twice the amount of EVs it usually would from a battle. Beating that Wingull now gives out 2 Speed EVs instead of 1, and beating Gyarados now gives 4 Attack EVs instead of 2.

Power items – The Pokémon gains +8 EVs in the particular stat the Power item raises after each defeated Pokémon. This is different from Generation VI and before, where Power items only gave +4 EVs in the particular stat it raised. Pokérus DOES stack with the Power items, meaning a Pokémon holding a Power item with Pokérus gains a whopping 16 EVs in its particular stat. You can obtain the Power items from the Battle Tree for 16 BP. Note: the Speed drop from the Power items does not affect the EVs your Pokémon obtains.

Power Weight +8 HP Power Bracer +8 Attack Power Belt +8 Defense Power Lens +8 Special Attack Power Band +8 Special Defense Power Anklet +8 Speed

SOS Bonus – When a Pokémon calls for help in the wild, defeating the Pokémon that was called for help yields yet another doubling bonus to your EV yield. You can think of this like a second Pokérus. Going back to Wingull, this means that if your Pokémon is holding a Power item, is infected by Pokérus, and has the added bonus of defeating a Pokémon in an SOS, it gains a total of 36 EVs in a single go!

Calculations for EVs per Pokémon

Defeating a Pokémon that yields 1 EV:

With Power Item + SOS Battle: 18 EVs

With Power Item + Pokérus: 18 EVs

With Pokérus + Power Item + SOS Battle: 36 EVs

Defeating a Pokémon that yields 2 EVs:

With Power Item + SOS Battle: 20 EVs

With Power Item + Pokérus: 20 EVs

With Pokérus + Power Item + SOS Battle: 40 EVs

Defeating a Pokemon that yields 3 EVs:

With Power Item + SOS Battle: 22 EVs

With Power Item + Pokérus: 22 EVs

With Pokérus + Power Item + SOS Battle: 44 EVs

Recommended SOS Battle Locations

To get ready for SOS battles, we’ll need a few things first:

A high-level Pokémon that knows False Swipe and another move capable of KOing wild Pokémon. Adrenaline Orbs (any Pokémon Center for $300 dollars each)

The general gameplan with SOS battles is to weaken the Pokémon down to 1 HP with False Swipe, which makes the wild Pokémon extremely likely to call for help. If low HP alone isn’t enough, Adrenaline Orbs also help speed up the process by increasing the rate that a Pokémon calls for help. Once a Pokémon is called, simply KO the Pokémon that was called and repeat the process until you’re finished EV training. If you are simply trying to max out a stat, you need 7 KOs to get 252 EVs (36*7), assuming you’re beating Pokémon that give out 1 EV.

Note: Several of these Pokémon are found in ambushes. To reactivate ambushes, simply change locations and come back to the area you were at.

HP



Pokémon: Wailmer (+1 HP)

Location: Poni Wilds, Surfing ambush (Poni Island)

Encounter rate: 90%

Level: 40-43

Attack



Pokémon: Crabrawler (+1 Attack)

Location: Any Berry tree in Alola (list)

Encounter rate: Assuming you find a wild Pokémon, 100%

Level: Varies

Pokémon: Yungoos (+1 Attack)

Location: Verdant Cavern’s dust cloud ambush [Sun only] (Route 2, Melemele Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 11



Pokémon: Lillipup, Pikipek, Mudbray, Yungoos, Grubbin (+1 Attack)

Location: Route 4 (Akala Island)

Encounter rate: 85%

Level: 11-14



Pokémon: Alolan Dugtrio (+2 Attack)

Location: Poni Coast (Poni Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 56-59

Defense



Pokémon: Exeggcute (+1 Defense)

Location: Eggy Island (Poni Island)

Encounter rate: 40%

Level: 14-17

Note: If it is raining, there is a chance for Castform and Sliggoo to appear.



Pokémon: Roggenrola (+1 Defense)

Location: Ten Carat Hill (cave area) (Route 1, Melemele Island)

Encounter rate: 30%

Level: 10-13



Pokémon: Pelipper (+2 Defense)

Location: Route 16, Pokémon Center side (Ula’ula Island)

Encounter rate: 50%

Level: 30-33

Special Attack



Pokémon: Petilil (+1 Special Attack)

Location: Bush ambush on Poni Plains [Moon only] (Poni Island)

Encounter rate: 70%

Level: 54-57



Pokémon: Psyduck (+1 Special Attack)

Location: Brooklet Hill (West of Route 5, Akala Island)

Encounter rate: 30%

Level: 14-17



Pokémon: Gastly (+1 Special Attack)

Location: Hau’oli Cemetary (Route 2, Melemele Island)

Encounter rate: 50%

Level: 7-10

Special Defense



Pokémon: Tentacool (+1 Special Defense)

Location: Hano Beach, Surfing ambush (east of Hano Grand Resort)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 21-24

Speed



Pokémon: Rattata (+1 Speed)

Location: Verdant Cavern, dust cloud ambush [Moon only] (Route 2, Melemele Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 11



Pokémon: Diglett (+1 Speed)

Location: Diglett’s Tunnel, dust cloud ambush (south of Heahea City’s Pokemon Center, Alaka Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 19-22

Alternative methods

1. The vitamins (HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Carbos) boost their respective stat by 10 EVs each, but they cannot raise EVs above 100. Vitamins cost $10,000 dollars each, and they are found in Mount Hokulani’s Pokémon Center.

Pros: Saves a bit of time EV training, and they can outright complete EV investments of 20, 60, or 100.

Cons: Costs a lot of money that could be used for TMs or clothing.

2. Festival Plaza shops (Bouncy Houses, Restaurants) boost EVs by certain amounts in exchange for Festival Coins.

Pros: Can give a Pokemon 252 EVs in a single stat immediately.

Cons: Uses up valuable building space that could be used for EV-reducing buildings or for grinding Bottle Caps, they can only be used once per day, and they cost Festival Coins.

3. Poké Pelago allows players to EV train passively in the Isle Evelup. Once maxed out at rank 3, a Pokémon gains 4 EVs for each session they complete. A session takes 30 minutes to complete, or 15 minutes if Poké Beans are utilized.

Pros: You can theoretically EV train 18 Pokémon at a time, and you don’t have to actively focus on EVing your Pokémon.

Cons: Even utilized optimally, it takes 15 hours, 45 minutes to EV train a single stat to 252, which will take enormously more time than SOS battling.

Lowering EVs

Without the Reset Bags of Super Training, the process of reducing EVs to change a Pokémon’s spread is much trickier than before. There are two main ways to reduce EVs in Sun and Moon.

1. EV-reducing Berries

Pomeg Berry -10 HP Kelpsy Berry -10 Attack Qualot Berry -10 Defense Hondew Berry -10 Special Attack Grepa Berry -10 Special Defense Tamato Berry -10 Speed

The Berries listed above reduce a Pokémon’s EVs by 10 each, sort of like a reverse vitamin. Unlike vitamins, however, you can use these Berries to reduce the amount of EVs in a stat all the way down to 0 – there’s no restriction. These Berries can be found on Route 10’s Berry tree (it is most easily accessible by traveling from Malie City on Ula’ula Island). However, you can only acquire a few per day from the tree alone.

To maximize the amount of EV-reducing Berries you can have, plant them on the Isle Aplenny in Poké Pelago. Though it does take 48 hours to grow the Berries completely (without the use of Poké Beans), at rank 3, you’ll gain a whopping 14 Berries for each Berry you planted. Plant your Berries early, so you have them ready when you need to quickly reduce your EVs!

2. Festival Plaza Friendship Café and Friendship Parlor

After becoming Champion, reaching rank 30 in Festival Plaza, and obtaining high-leveled Friendship Cafés and Friendship Parlors, you can unlock the ability to purchase “Secret Meals”. Secret Meals reduce the EVs of one of a Pokémon’s stats to 0, in exchange for a hefty 200 FC. Five-star Friendship Cafés have the ability to reduce HP, Attack, and Defense EVs to 0, while five-star Friendship Parlors have the ability to reduce Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed EVs to 0. In addition to the effort in acquiring such a building and achieving the appropriate requirements, there are other restrictions:

Each Secret Meal can only be purchased once per day.

If a Pokemon has their happiness maxed out, they cannot use the meal. To get around this, simply lower the Pokemon’s happiness by causing it to faint, or using bitter Herbs on it, which can be found from a salesman in Konikoni City on Akala Island.

Conclusion

SOS Battles are by far the most efficient way to EV train Pokémon in Sun and Moon. Special thanks goes to Gonzo (GonzoVGC) for the inspiration and general structure of this article, Serebii and Bulbapedia for providing useful data, and Project Pokémon for datamining encounter rates. Happy EV training!