EV Training Hotspots in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are here, and the best places to EV train have slightly changed. If you’re familiar with EV training from Pokémon Sun and Moon, you’ll feel right at home.

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 yields 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 Royal Dome for 16 BP, and you can also find most of the power items scattered across the eastern side of Poni Island. 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 successfully calls for help in the wild, KOs on either wild Pokémon from this point onward 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, you’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) (Optional) A Pokémon with the Ability Intimidate, Unnerve, or Pressure

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. If your Pokémon has Intimidate, Unnerve, or Pressure, that also increases the chances of a Pokémon calling 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 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: Wishiwashi (+1 HP)

Location: Brooklet Hill, Totem’s Den (normal fishing) (Akala Island)

Encounter rate: 40%

Level: 10-16

Pokémon: Caterpie (+1 HP)

Location: Route 1 (grass closest to Iki Town) (Melemele Island)

Encounter rate: 35%

Level: 2-3

Pokémon: Wailmer (+1 HP)

Location: Poni Breaker Coast, Surfing ambush (Poni Island)

Encounter rate: 70%

Level: 41-44

Note: Knows Rest, so ways to prevent sleep like Worry Seed are recommended.

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 [Ultra Sun only] (Route 2, Melemele Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 10

Note: Knows Sand Attack, so sure-hit accurate moves like Aerial Ace are recommended.

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

Location: Route 4 (Akala Island)

Encounter rate: 85% (night) / 75% (day)

Level: 11-14

Note: Mud-Slap and Sand Attack are known, so sure-hit accurate moves like Aerial Ace are recommended.

Pokémon: Alolan Dugtrio (+2 Attack)

Location: Poni Coast dust cloud ambush (Poni Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 56-59

Note: Dugtrio knows Dig, which prevents SOS calling while underground

Defense

Pokémon: Alolan Sandshrew (+1 Defense)

Location: Mount Lanakila [Ultra Moon only] (grass at bottom of the mountain) (Ula’ula Island)

Encounter rate: 30%

Level: 30-33

Note: If it is hailing, there is a chance for Castform and Vanillite to appear.

Pokémon: Pineco (+1 Defense)

Location: Route 10 tree ambush (Ula’ula Island)

Encounter rate: 30%

Level: 26-29

Note: Pineco has Sturdy, so Mold Breaker, Moongeist Beam, or Sunsteel Strike is recommended.

Pokémon: Pelipper (+2 Defense)

Location: Route 15, grass (Ula’ula Island)

Encounter rate: 50%

Level: 30-33

Special Attack

Pokémon: Petilil (+1 Special Attack)

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

Encounter rate: 50%

Level: 54-57

Pokémon: Zorua, Magnemite (+1 Special Attack)

Location: Trainer’s School (Akala Island)

Encounter rate: 40%

Level: 5-8

Note: Magnemite knows Supersonic.

Special Defense

Pokémon: Kecleon (+1 Special Defense)

Location: Dividing Peak Tunnel (invisible) (area between Routes 7 and 8, Alaka Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 17-20

Pokémon: Tentacool (+1 Special Defense)

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

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 22-25

Speed

Pokémon: Alolan Rattata (+1 Speed)

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

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 10

Pokémon: Alolan Diglett (+1 Speed)

Location: Route 5, dust cloud ambush (south of Lush Jungle, Alaka Island)

Encounter rate: 100%

Level: 18-21

Note: Diglett knows Mud-Slap.

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. They can also be purchased in the Battle Royal Dome for 2 BP each.

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 / BP that could be used for TMs, clothing, tutor moves, or Mega Stones.

2. Festival Plaza shops (Bouncy Houses, Restaurants) boost EVs by certain amounts in exchange for Festival Coins. You can read more about these here.

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

Cons: Uses up valuable building space that could be used for other purposes, 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 phase 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. You can read more about Isle Evelup here.

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 phase 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 Ultra Sun and Ultra 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 data-mining encounter rates. Happy EV training!