As some of you may have noticed, I am very into playing Pokemon at a competitive level. I've beaten many people before, and one of the reasons is because I made sure my Pokemon were as strong as they could be. This means that I made sure their stats were as high as possible, and IVs are a very important factor in this. Breeding for IVs is a very long process, but thanks to Pokemon X and Y, the process has become a lot easier. One thing to remember is that IVs are only one part of making a Pokemon strong, there are other factors such as Moves, Natures, Base Stats, Abilities, and Effort Values. This guide is only for IV breeding.

What are IVs?
IV is short for Individual Value. These are values that cannot be seen and cannot be changed. IVs can be between 0-31 and affect what a Pokémon’s stats will be at level 100. Each IV point adds one stat point to the corresponding stat. IVs cannot be changed, however you can influence what IVs a Pokémon has through breeding.

It is best to have Pokémon with as many 31 IVs as possible, so you will need Pokémon that already have perfect 31 IVs. Every Pokémon found in the Friend Safari will always have at least 2 31IV stats. To check which stats are perfect, you can go to the stats judge in the Kiloude City Pokémon Center. The stats judge is the guy standing in front of the TV. Talk to him and show him a Pokémon. At some point he will name some stats and tell you how good they are. If he says that any stats “Simply can’t be beat”, it means that the IVs for that stat are 31. To get a Pokémon with 5-6 perfect IV stats, you will need to breed. It is also a good idea to breed natures along with IVs. Natures greatly affect how strong a Pokémon’s stats will be.

---

Items you need for IV breeding: Destiny Knot, Everstone

---

Destiny Knot
Destiny Knot is used to pass down 5 total IVs to the baby between the two parents. This means that 5 of the baby’s stats will be the same as either parent. The IVs chosen from each parent are random. The baby could inherit any number of IVs (between 0-5) from one parent, and then would inherit the rest from the other parent (excluding one stat). The remaining stat would be randomly generated for the baby. One parent must hold Destiny Knot.

Example 1: The baby could inherit the father’s HP, Defense, and Sp. Defense IVs, and inherit the mother’s Attack and Speed IVs. The Sp. Attack IV would be randomly generated:
Father: HP: 11 | Attack: 9 | Defense: 30 | Sp.Atk: 8 | Sp. Def: 31 | Speed: 1
Mother: HP: 31 | Attack: 16 | Defense: 3 | Sp. Atk: 9 | Sp. Def: 18 | Speed: 20
Baby: HP: 11 | Attack: 16 | Defense: 30 | Sp.Atk: 24 | Sp. Def: 31 | Speed: 20

Everstone
Everstone is used to pass down a parent’s nature. The parent holding an Everstone during breeding will always pass down its nature to the baby.

The Process
In order to get a Pokémon with multiple perfect IVs, you need to switch around the Pokémon you are breeding when the baby outclasses one of its parents. Let’s say that the mother has perfect IVs in Attack and Speed and the father has perfect IVs in Defense. If you have a male baby that has perfect IVs in Defense and Speed, you should switch it out with the father because this increases future babies’ chances of having perfect Speed IVs because it could receive either the mother’s or the father’s Speed IV, which is 31 for both. The purpose of switching babies with parents is to increase the future babies’ chances of receiving the perfect stats.
Now, let’s say both parents have perfect IVs in Attack, Defense, and Speed, but you also want the baby to have a perfect Sp. Defense IV. Breeding those two parents using Destiny Knot will only lower the baby’s chance of getting a Sp. Defense IV, so you will need to find another Pokémon of the same species that has a perfect Sp. Defense IV and have it replace one of the parents. This new Pokémon can replace either parent. Your hope is to make babies that can outclass that new Pokémon. An example: The new Pokémon is a male with a 31 Sp. Defense IV. The mother has perfect Attack, Defense, and Speed IVs. You want to try to breed a male with 31 IVs in Attack, Defense, and/or Speed AND Sp. Defense. That baby will then replace the father to make breeding easier. You will repeat the replacement process until you get a baby with perfect Attack, Defense, Sp. Defense, and Speed. The same process can be used to get a baby with 5 and then 6 perfect IVs.

Dittos
The process can take a lot of time, so it is easier to use dittos. Dittos pass their IVs down in the same way as every other Pokémon, but can replace either parent and can breed with MOST other Pokémon. Dittos can speed up IV breeding greatly, so it is best to have different dittos with different perfect IVs. If one of the babies outclasses the Ditto, you can replace the ditto with the baby.

One last thing to remember: Always make sure to give the babies the Destiny Knot/Everstone!

If you want to read more on IV Breeding, here are some links:
Bulbapedia
A Visual Guide