Complete Guide to Competitive Building in Pokémon Legends Z-A

Individual Values, or IVs, are hidden values for each of a Pokémon's stats. For competitive battling, generally you want to have a score of "Best" for each stat's IV.

Judge Function

To check your Pokémon's IVs in Legends Z-A, you first need to unlock the Judge function. This is done by completing the main story and then going into your boxes will.

Hyper Training

If you have a Pokémon with less than perfect IVs, you can use Hyper Training to maximize their IVs. To do this, you will need Bottle Caps or Gold Bottle Caps, which can be obtained through various in-game activities. Once you have the necessary items, visit the Hyper Trainer in the Justice Dojo. Note that Hyper Training can only be performed on Pokémon that are at level 50 or higher.

Effort Values, or EVs, are hidden values for each Pokémon's stats. These are gain through battling or using vitamins on your Pokémon. There are only 510 EVs that can be distributed over each Pokémon's stats. You can check each Pokémon's EVs in their status page. If a stat has sparkles over the name, it means that stat has reached the maximum of 252 EVs. If the graph is white, then not all 510 EVs have been distributed yet. Otherwise, the graph will be yellow.

Using Vitamins

The easiest way to gain EVs is through using vitamins. Each vitamin will give 10 EVs to a specific stat. After rank C, you can buy vitamins from Pokémon Centers. However, this method can be expensive, as each vitamin costs 5,000 Poké Dollars.

Vitamins

• HP Up - Gives 10 HP EVs
• Protein - Gives 10 Attack EVs
• Iron - Gives 10 Defense EVs
• Calcium - Gives 10 Special Attack EVs
• Zinc - Gives 10 Special Defense EVs
• Carbos - Gives 10 Speed EVs

Using Feathers

Stat boosting feathers can also be used, but they only give 1 EV each. So generally they can be used as the last 2 EVs needed to max out a stat (with 250 coming from 25 of a vitamin).

Gaining EVs through Battling

Each Pokémon you defeat in battle will give specific EVs based on their species. These EVs will be given to each Pokémon in your party. You can boost the number of EVs a Pokémon gains by having it hold a "power item" (like Power Weight for Speed EVs). Power items can be bought from Quasartico's HQ for 180 Mega Shards each. They can also be obtains via certain side quests.

Power Items

• Power Weight - Gives an extra 8 HP EVs. Side Mission 72 Reward.
• Power Band - Gives an extra 8 Special Defense EVs. Side Mission 99 Reward.
• Power Belt - Gives an extra 8 Defense EVs. Side Mission 39 Reward.
• Power Bracer - Gives an extra 8 Attack EVs. Side Mission 38 Reward.
• Power Lens - Gives an extra 8 Special Attack EVs. Side Mission 104 Reward.
• Power Anklet - Gives an extra 8 Speed EVs. Side Mission 69 Reward.

Resetting EVs

If you need to reset your Pokémon's EVs, you can do so by talking to the lady behind the desk at the Rust Syndicate building. She will remove all EVs from a Pokémon for 5 Mega Shards. You can also use some berries to reduce specific EVs, but they only remove 10 EVs at a time.

EV Reducing Berries

If you wan to reduce specific EVs, you can use the following berries. Each berry will reduce a specific stat's EVs by 10. These can be bought from various vendors around the city. A man near Nouveau Cafe Truck Number 3 sells every kind of berry.

• Pomeg Berry - Reduces HP EVs by 10
• Kelpsy Berry - Reduces Attack EVs by 10
• Qualot Berry - Reduces Defense EVs by 10
• Hondew Berry - Reduces Special Attack EVs by 10
• Grepa Berry - Reduces Special Defense EVs by 10
• Tamato Berry - Reduces Speed EVs by 10

Natures affect how a Pokémon's stats grow. Each nature increases one stat by 10% and decreases another stat by 10%. For competitive battling, you generally want to choose a nature that boosts a Pokémon's main attacking stat while lowering a stat that is less important for that Pokémon. So you'll want an Adamant nature for physical attackers and a Modest nature for special attackers.

You can buy nature mints from the outdoor market near Cafe Pokémon Amie.

Physical and Special Moves

Attacking moves come in two types: Physical and Special. Physical moves use the user's Attack stat and the target's Defense stat to calculate damage. Special moves use the user's Special Attack stat and the target's Special Defense stat to calculate damage. Physical attacks are represented by an star shaped icon, while Special attacks are represented by a circle icon.

Physical:

Special: