Checking the IVs of your Pokemon is a good indication of whether you want to put them into your strongest team or if their use is in a more limited capacity. Knowing how to check IVs in Pokemon is usually pretty simple, especially in titles like Pokemon GO, but in Pokemon Sword and Shield, checking IVs requires some prerequisites.
Table of Contents
What are IVs in Pokemon?
Before we get into the nitty gritty, some of you may be confused as to what IVs actually are so here’s a short explanation.
Individual Values (IVs) relate to the stats of your Pokemon, with each and every one of them being unique. IVs though are somewhat hidden but in Pokemon Sword and Shield’s case, can be viewed via an IV Checker and reading IV Judge statements. We’ll get into how you do that a bit later. As mentioned previously, IVs are an extremely important factor in determining how strong your Pokemon are and can really be the difference in winning or losing an important battle against a formidable opponent. These IV numbers can range from No Good (0) all the way up to Best (31) with 0 being the worst and 31 being the best you can get in a specified stat. Naturally, the bigger the number the better so pretty simple!
How to check IVs in Pokemon Sword and Shield
Knowing how to check IVs in Pokemon Sword and Shield is certainly a bit of knowledge you’ll benefit from. It’ll help you in situations such as the Battle Tower, Online Battles, and even when battling Dynamax Pokemon as you can come across some high stat opponents. In Pokemon Sword and Shield, you’ll need to go through a few steps before being able to check the IVs of your Pokemon. Luckily, we’ve listed the steps below:
- Finish the main story
Beat Pokemon Sword and Shield main story
- Challenge the Battle Tower
Go to the Battle Tower and challenge it
- Beat Leon to unlock the judge function
Once you beat Leon (after six initial victories) you will unlock the IV checker/judge function
- Open your Pokemon Box and press + to check IVs
To check your Pokemon’s IVs, open your Pokemon Box and press +. This will show you your Pokemon’s IVs.
Pretty straightforward right?! There is a lot of work to get to the IV checking stage but during the main story there’s little use so it makes sense for it to be acquired post story. As alluded to earlier, the higher the number on these IVs the better the stat so always be looking out for the scared Best (31)!
So there you have it, you’ve just learnt how to check IVs in Pokemon Sword and Shield. We’ve got a bunch more how to guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield and here’s a few examples if you’re stuck in other areas:
- How to change uniform – Pokemon Sword and Shield
- How to get hidden ability Pokemon – Pokemon Sword and Shield
- How to restart Pokemon Sword and Shield
- How to get Mew in Pokemon Sword and Shield
- How to trade Pokemon – Pokemon Sword and Shield
