What does 31 IV mean in Pokemon?

Hey there! As a longtime Pokemon fan and data analyst, I wanted to provide an in-depth look at what 31 IV means and why it matters so much, especially for competitive battling and breeding the ultimate Pokemon! Strap in, because we‘re going to dive deep on IVs.

A Quick Refresher on IVs

Let‘s start with a fast refresher. IV stands for "individual values" – these are hidden stats that exist for each of your Pokemon‘s six base stats:

• HP
• Attack
• Defense
• Special Attack
• Special Defense
• Speed

Each IV can range from 0 to 31, with 31 being the max. When you first obtain a Pokemon, whether catching it or hatching it from an egg, it is randomly assigned an IV for each stat. This value is locked in and can‘t be changed later (except through Hyper Training in some games).

Think of IVs as a Pokemon‘s genetic potential. The higher the IV, the more points will be added to that base stat at level 100.

For example, two Gyarados with identical EVs in Attack but different Attack IVs would end up with different maximum Attack stats:

• Gyarados A has an Attack IV of 0
• Gyarados B has an Attack IV of 31

At level 100, Gyarados A would max out with 271 Attack while Gyarados B would reach 302 Attack. That‘s a 31 point difference from the IVs alone!

So in summary, IVs help determine how high or low your Pokemon‘s stats can ultimately reach. Now let‘s move on to what it means to have a perfect 31 IV.

What Does a 31 IV Mean?

When your Pokemon has an IV of 31 in a particular stat, that‘s considered a "perfect" IV for that stat. It means your Pokemon has the maximum possible genetic potential for that area!

For instance, if my Pikachu has a perfect 31 IV in Speed, its Speed stat will be able to hit the absolute highest point possible for Pikachu once I get it to level 100. I‘ve maximized my Pikachu‘s potential Speed!

The difference between 0 IV and 31 IV in any base stat is 63 points at level 100. That‘s a huge boost from a single IV! So you can see why having a 31 IV is highly desirable.

How Rare are Perfect 31 IV Pokemon?

Now you might be wondering…just how uncommon are these ideal 31 IV Pokemon out in the wild? Let‘s dig into the stats:

• Each individual IV has a 1 in 32 chance of being 31 for a wild Pokemon.
• That means the odds of finding a Pokemon with at least 1 perfect 31 IV are about 16.2% (1 – (31/32)^6).
• What about 2 or more perfect 31s? The odds drop to 5.4%
• For 3 or more, it‘s 1.5%
• The chance of 4 or more perfect IVs is just 0.4%!
• And only 0.1% of wild Pokemon will have 5 perfect 31s.
• Finally, the odds of getting a wild Pokemon with perfect 31 IVs across all 6 stats is a miniscule 0.024%!

As you can see, coming across those incredible 6IV Pokemon in the grass is extraordinarily unlikely. But thankfully there are ways to improve the IV odds through breeding, chaining, and more!

Why Do IVs Matter for Competitive Battling?

You might be wondering why IVs make such a big difference when building a competitive Pokemon. Here are the key reasons they matter:

• Maximize Stat Potential: The higher the IV, the higher your Pokemon‘s stats can reach at level 100. Perfect 31s across the board allow you to hit the absolute peaks for each stat.

• Small Differences Add Up: Even a 1 point difference in Speed, HP, or Attack could shift matchups. Competitive battles are often decided by the smallest of stat differences, so every IV counts.

• Hidden Power Requirements: The move Hidden Power is influenced by IVs. Specific Hidden Power types require certain IV spreads. So having control over IVs is essential.

• Benefits of 0 IVs Sometimes: While 31 is ideal normally, there are niche cases where a 0 IV in Attack or Speed is preferred to reduce certain damage.

Battling against human opponents requires optimization. So ensuring your Pokemon have their IVs tailored to their role is critical. Even small variations make a difference!

Breeding – The Best Way to Get Perfect IVs

Alright, so now that you know why 31 IVs are so important, how do you actually obtain Pokemon with these ideal IVs consistently? The best way is through breeding.

Breeding allows you to pass down IVs from parent Pokemon. By selecting and breeding the right parents, you can steadily produce Pokemon with more 31s across their stats.

Here are a few tips:

• Use a 6IV Ditto + Destiny Knot – This will pass down 5 max IVs from the Ditto.

• Give the other parent an Everstone – This will ensure the right Nature is always passed down.

• Replace the missing IV using Bottle Caps – Hyper train the one stat that didn‘t get perfect IVs.

• Rinse and repeat – Swap out parent Pokemon as you build up a pool of perfect 5IV Pokemon.

It takes some effort, but this method allows competitive players to eventually breed teams of Pokemon with ideal Natures and maxed out IVs across all six stats.

Let‘s look at a quick example:

Ditto (HP/Atk/Def/SpA/SpD/Spe IVs = 31/31/31/31/31/31) 
+ Destiny Knot

Gible (HP/Atk/Def/SpA/SpD/Spe IVs = 31/31/31/x/31/31)  
+ Everstone (Jolly Nature)

This would pass down 5 max IVs from Ditto + guaranteed Jolly Nature from Gible.
I could then use a Bottle Cap to max out Gible‘s missing SpA IV.
Result: 6IV Jolly Gible!

Rinse and repeat this process, replacing parents as you go, and you‘ll end up with a strong breeding pool of 5-6 IV Pokemon!

Using Hyper Training to Fix IVs

In later Pokemon games like Sword/Shield, a feature called Hyper Training was introduced. This allows you to exchange Bottle Caps for max IVs at level 100.

While breeding is still ideal, Hyper Training gives you an option to patch up imperfect IVs on an already trained Pokemon without having to breed an entirely new one.

However, one key downside is that since Hyper Training happens at level 100, the Pokemon‘s IVs can‘t be passed down for breeding at level 1. So it doesn‘t fully replace proper breeding. But it‘s a useful supplement!

Hidden Power and IVs

The move Hidden Power has a very interesting relationship with IVs. Hidden Power‘s actual type and power are determined by the specific IVs of the Pokemon using it.

This means competitive Pokemon looking to run Hidden Power need to ensure they have the proper IV spreads for the desired Hidden Power type.

For example, here‘s one Hidden Power Fire spread for Modest Heatran:

• HP – Even IV (30 IV would work)
• Attack – Odd IV (29 IV for instance)
• Defense – Odd (31 IV)
• Special Attack – Odd (31 IV again)
• Special Defense – Even (30 IV works)
• Speed – 31 IV

Getting the right Hidden Power type requires both odd and even IVs in the right stats. So breeding competitive Pokemon with Hidden Power means you need to pay close attention to passing down those exact IVs combinations.

When Lower IVs Can Be Better

Here‘s a counterintuitive IV fact – sometimes a 0 IV can be better than a perfect 31 IV in certain cases! Let me explain.

For special attacking Pokemon, a 0 IV in Attack reduces the damage they take from moves like Foul Play or from the confusion status condition.

And for some Trick Room team members, a 0 IV in Speed lets them move first in Trick Room by minimizing their Speed stat.

So while 31 is ideal in most cases, be on the lookout for scenarios where a minimal IV might actually be preferable!

Effort Values – The Other Half of Training

Alright, let‘s shift gears and talk about EVs real quick. Effort values are the other key element to building up your Pokemon‘s stats along with IVs.

While IVs are set randomly when you first acquire your Pokemon, EVs can be directly increased through battling, vitamins, and other methods. And EVs also contribute to your Pokemon‘s final stats at level 100.

It‘s important to remember to max out your Pokemon‘s EVs in the most beneficial stats in addition to optimizing the IVs. Doing both is crucial to reaching peak potential!

The IVs set the maximums, while EVs increase the stats further within those limits. So don‘t neglect your EVs!

Is Hyper Training as Good as Perfect IVs?

As we covered earlier, Hyper Training allows you max out all of a Pokemon‘s IVs at level 100. However, it doesn‘t make that Pokemon totally equivalent to one bred with naturally perfect IVs.

Why is that? Well, Pokemon bred with ideal IVs can be trained up from level 1 with those optimized IVs. Hyper Training can only modify the IVs of a Pokemon that‘s already high level.

This means breeding is still the only way to get competitively-viable Pokemon ready for training at level 1. So while Hyper Training is useful on trained Pokemon, bred Pokemon are still preferred.

What Are the Odds of Breeding a 6 IV Pokemon?

Breeding a Pokemon with naturally perfect 6IVs takes some patience, but is very feasible. Let‘s look at the math here:

• Each individual IV has approximately a 1 in 32 chance of being 31 when breeding
• To get 6 specific IVs requires hitting that 1 in 32 six separate times
• So the odds of 6 perfect IVs is roughly (1/32)^6, or approximately 1 in 1,073,741,824

As you can see, trying to just randomly breed a 6IV Pokemon through sheer luck would take forever! But using the Destiny Knot makes it far more achievable:

• Destiny Knot passes down 5 of the parent‘s 12 IVs to the child
• This means the child is guaranteed to inherit 5 max IVs from a 6IV parent
• Leaving just 1 of the 6 IVs to chance…
• Which has a 1 in 32 shot of being 31
• Making the overall odds around 1 in 200!

Much more reasonable. So with some perseverance and a 6IV Ditto, you can absolutely breed legit competitive-ready 6IV Pokemon!

Closing Thoughts on IVs

• IVs are randomly generated hidden stats that affect a Pokemon‘s maximum potential.

• A 31 IV is considered "perfect", and allows that stat to hit its highest point at level 100.

• Finding Pokemon with multiple perfect 31 IVs is very rare in the wild.

• Proper breeding is the most reliable method to obtain excellent IVs.

• The Destiny Knot item is extremely helpful for passing down great IVs when breeding.

• Hyper Training can fix imperfect IVs, but bred Pokemon are ideal.

• Perfect IVs maximize stats, enable Hidden Power, and provide flexibility.

• Sometimes a 0 IV in Attack or Speed can be beneficial.

• Effort Values are the other crucial element in building competitive Pokemon!

And there you have it – an in-depth look at IVs and what 31 IV means in Pokemon! Hopefully this gave you a helpful understanding of how hidden IV stats work and why they are so essential for competitive play. Let me know if you have any other Pokemon topics you‘d like me to cover!