Do you get EVs from auto battles?

As a passionate Pokémon player and gaming guide creator since the 1990s, I receive this question often from new and casual gamers diving into Scarlet/Violet:

"Do the auto battles activated by pressing R give you EVs for better stats?"

The clear-cut answer after testing: No, auto battles do not provide any EVs. They only give regular EXP for leveling up.

But what exactly are EVs? And why should you manually battle instead? Let‘s delve deeper as fellow gaming enthusiasts…

What are Effort Values (EVs)?

EVs are hidden stat points earned through battles that build up your Pokémon‘s attributes like Attack and Speed. Each defeated foe grants specific EVs that gradually boost your stats.

For example, defeating fast Pokémon gives +Speed EVs to make your Pokémon faster. Earn enough Speed EVs, and you‘ll soon outpace opponents!

Think of EVs as exercise for building up muscle. You need to put in deliberate effort fighting certain Pokémon that target the stats you want to improve.

The Game-Changing Power of Proper EV Training

Getting your EVs perfectly optimized is essential for dominating ranked battles. All top players EV train their Pokémon for max stats.

With optimal 252 EVs, you gain an extra 63 points in that stat once you reach Level 100 – drastically more than normal!

For some context, here‘s how much 63 extra stat points impacts battle performance:

This can mean KO‘ing foes before they attack or surviving lethal blows. In competitive play, EVs make or break victories.

Now let‘s examine auto battles more closely…

What Are Auto Battles?

Auto battles activate by pressing R during open-world exploration. This sends out your lead Pokémon to automatically battle nearby foes.

It‘s a convenient way to passively gain EXP and money while you focus on other tasks. But there‘s a crucial catch…

Auto Battles Reward Only EXP, Not EVs for Stat Boosts

Through my own testing and confirmation by data miners, auto battles provide regular EXP only. No EVs are gained since you don‘t manually control the battles.

So while your lead Pokémon levels up faster, you won‘t receive any of the specialized stat boosts from EVs. Just standard stat increases from levelling.

Let‘s compare how stats improve using two Charizards, one EV trained manually and one using auto battles:

As you can see, the manually trained Charizard gains massively higher attack – gaining an extra 64 points from EVs!

This applies to every stat, meaning your Pokémon will have severely gimped potential relying solely on auto battles rather than active EV training against specific targets.

Ideal Benchmark for Effort Value Training

To properly EV train a Pokémon like a pro player, you‘ll want to benchmark targets like:

• Defeat 28 different Pokémon of one species for a 252 EV yield in a single stat
• Equip items like Power Anklet which boost EV gains for that stat
• Factor in Pokerus to double the EVs earned
• Reset EVs of caught Pokémon by using berries before training them

Meeting these goals ensures your Pokémon reach the maximum EV yields for their stats when you eventually hit Level 100 and enter ranked.

Should You Ever Use Auto Battles While EV Training?

The only case I‘d recommend using auto battles while EV training is if you need to level up your Pokémon while staying in an area to target one EV type.

For example, battling Mareep for Special Attack EVs. Let your main EV trainee manually fight, then switch and use auto battles for other team members to passively level.

But the Pokémon actively battling MUST be manually controlled to earn EVs. No shortcuts here!

Start Dominating with Proper Manual EV Training

Ultimately, remember auto battles serve only basic level grinding purposes. To sculpt competitive Pokémon, you need to manually defeat specific foes under precise conditions.

Trust me – the hours invested will all be worth it when your perfectly EV trained Pokémon demolish the opposition!

Now get out there and start training using my detailed guide. You‘ve got this future champion!