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[BREEDING]Does a Pokemon need to have perfect IVs?

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So I'm trying to breed an Aron to get an Aggron, but after watching some videos on breeding, everyone keeps trying to get Pokemon with perfect IVs. Do competitive pokemon have to have perfect IVs?

Also, since I'm trying to do that process, I have an Aron with perfect IVs in 4 stats. But when I breed it, it seems to only give the egg one or 2 good stats (to the stats I do not need).

Breeding is really confusing. Help me out on this?

Thank you.

~Josh
 

PlatinumDude

Nyeh?
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Generally speaking, it's preferred for a Pokemon to have perfect IVs in the stats they'll be taking advantage of, preferably Speed.

Here are some breeding tips:
-having a parent hold the Destiny Knot lets the offspring inherit 5 out of the 12 combined IVs of both parents.
-having a parent hold the Everstone passes down the holder's nature to the baby
 
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These are the basics rules for breeding in GEN VI:
.A pokemon inherits 3 IVs selected randomly from both of the parents.
.If destiny knot is used, the pokemon inherits 5 IVs instead of 6. You can attach it to any of the parents.
.If you attach a power item to one of the parents, the baby will inherit its IV depending on the item.
.If you use a power item you can't use destiny knot, it won't work.
.If you attach an everstone to one of the parents, the baby will inherit its nature.

So, if you want to pass those 4 IVs to the baby the best way is, if you don't have another pokemon with good IVs,
1. attach everstone to the parent that has the right nature (if none does try to get one with that nature)
2. attach destiny knot to the other parent.
3. Select the best baby you got that is able to breed with the 4 IVs parent
4. repeat step 1 until you passed all the IVs you want.

If something wasn't clear, please tell me and I'll try to explain myself better.
 
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I never got into IV breeding just because I'd be pulling my hair out if I even began to understand it. But from my experience with battling people who do, yes having perfect IVs helps but it doesn't make as big a difference as a fight between somebody who EV trains and somebody who doesn't. Or as big as somebody who pays attention to natures against somebody who could care less. You can still have a great competitive team without worrying about IVs. But if you have the patience for it then by all means, shoot for the perfects.
 
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Polar Spectrum

I'm still here; watching. Waiting.
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Eh, nah not reeeeally - but it does help a noticeable amount. Most importantly just the 2-3 stats you plan on investing EV's into, or the one the nature boosts. Or HP - because every hit point counts on close KO's.

If you want to be very competitive though; the higher level of play you're on - the more mandatory perfect IV's in at least the stats you're using become.
 
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There are only two situations where the IV spread actually matters:
- if you want to make the most of your Pokemon
- if you want it to have a certain Hidden Power (the type of that move depends on the IVs)
 
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There really isn't a yes or no answer to this, is there?

I'm starting to think that investing that much time into IVs is not really worth it.

It seems like there are people who can build a perfect IV Pokemon in half an hour and have a team ready to go in like ... a day or so.


It is my 2nd week and I'm still working on one Pokemon.

Since I do not have a friend with a Ditto Friend Safari, this is beginning to become literally impossible.

The most I am able to get through breeding is 2 IVs, but the 3rd seems impossible to get (unless it just comes by itself.)

So I'm kind of debating giving up and just breeding for what I need, other than going for perfect Pokemon (I'll just leave perfect Pokemon with Pokemon Showdown.)

Very stressful.
 
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As one mentioned earlier, IVs usually only matter for two things - making the most out of a Pokemon, and for getting a certain Hidden Power type since the move's type depends on IV's, and from what I recall perfect IVs generated a type that doesn't provide any noteworthy coverage for Pokemon that are forced to run it.

Still, most competitive players tend to focus more on the EV aspect, where they mainly have to put focus in the best stats. Most tend to try and breed for IVs in the best stat as well, but you have to put a lot of dedication into it.
 

Nah

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You can get by with just 2 or 3 perfect IVs, as long as they're in the right spots. Having 5 or 6 perfect IVs is more to optimize your Pokemon; not exactly necessary, but still kinda nice to have.

If you're having breeding troubles, try looking around in the Trade Shops section. There's a lot of shops there, some of which might be able to breed you flawless/near-flawless pokes for ya. Or maybe some kind soul will give you a 6IV Ditto (Arceus's gift to breeders) if you ask for one in the Quick Trades section.

And don't breed for IVs for Hidden Power types, unless you like the breeding equivalent of bashing your head against a brick wall repeatedly.
 

Zeffy

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IVs tend to be all about min/maxing the game when it comes to non-simulator play. Chances are, most of your opponents do not have perfect IVs as well. It's much more crucial to get the right EVs and nature in cartridge play, I would say.
 
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It is my 2nd week and I'm still working on one Pokemon.

Since I do not have a friend with a Ditto Friend Safari, this is beginning to become literally impossible.

The most I am able to get through breeding is 2 IVs, but the 3rd seems impossible to get (unless it just comes by itself.)

So I'm kind of debating giving up and just breeding for what I need, other than going for perfect Pokemon (I'll just leave perfect Pokemon with Pokemon Showdown.)

Very stressful.
There is a way that let's you systematically breed better Pokemon without a Ditto (well, except for genderless Pokemon). When I started, I had to do the same and it worked, but took a while.
If you're breeding on X or Y what you wanna do is catch a bunch of Riolu. They should all have a couple of perfect IVs, because baby Pokemon themselves can't breed (new mechanic in gen 6). Pick those that complement each other, evolve them and then breed them until you get one which has at least one more perfect IV than the parents. Just switch it with its parent counterpart and continue until you get one or two a males with 5 or 6 perfect IVs. Since Lucario is in the Field egg group, a lot of Pokemon are compatible with it and since a lot of them have a secondary egg group you can chain breed until you get what you want.
Or you could breed some Pokemon other people want and trade them on the GTS for Dittos.

That way I was able to breed about one Pokemon per day that had perfect IVs.
 
203
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There is a way that let's you systematically breed better Pokemon without a Ditto (well, except for genderless Pokemon). When I started, I had to do the same and it worked, but took a while.
If you're breeding on X or Y what you wanna do is catch a bunch of Riolu. They should all have a couple of perfect IVs, because baby Pokemon themselves can't breed (new mechanic in gen 6). Pick those that complement each other, evolve them and then breed them until you get one which has at least one more perfect IV than the parents. Just switch it with its parent counterpart and continue until you get one or two a males with 5 or 6 perfect IVs. Since Lucario is in the Field egg group, a lot of Pokemon are compatible with it and since a lot of them have a secondary egg group you can chain breed until you get what you want.
Or you could breed some Pokemon other people want and trade them on the GTS for Dittos.

That way I was able to breed about one Pokemon per day that had perfect IVs.


That's a pretty good idea, pokemon that can't breed (legendaries, babies and a couple more) always have 3 perfect IVs. That can also be done with Elekid, Magby, Smoochum, Tyrogue, Pichu, Budew, etc.
 
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I hate to disagree with everyone, but I think IV breeding is actually extremely important for competitive play, and in Gen 6 it's actually very doable, even easy.
The best example of it being critical would be with Pokémon that have particular speed stats, like a Choice scarf Garchomp. The reason why this Pokémon is so powerful is that it's base 102 speed allows it just enough speed to revenge kill the many 100 base speed Pokémon that like to get a single speed boost; dragon dance Salamence, dragon dance Charizard X, quiver dance volcarona, choice scarf Victini and choice scarf Staraptor all have base 100 speed and will often operate at +1 speed. If you are missing even a single speed IV you can miss on getting a revenge kill and end up with your whole team swept.
I know personally before I was breeding for 5 max IV Pokémon, whenever I would just barely get out sped or just barely miss a KO it would be very frustrating. By maxing out your Pokémon's stats you can operate with certainty that you are getting the absolute most out of each Pokémon on your team. Yeah, it can be a lot of work up front, but once you finish breeding a Pokémon you never have to breed it again, and can get as many battles with it as you want!
 

skyburial

Orca Hype
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IV's, in my opinion, can also be the deciding factor on whether certain defensive Pokemon are at all effective.

My Assualt Vest Blastoise, for example, relies on a Special Attack IV to do the chip damage that can turn a match for me. 10 points can mean a lot for those super effective hits.
 
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