This page covers where to EV Train Defense in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. It is recommended that you read through the basics in main Scarlet & Violet EV Training Guide first. You’ll find all of the worthwhile EV training options for training Defense further down on this page, and you can use the Defense EV Counter tool immediately below to keep track of your Defense after you’ve decided what to train against!
Keep Track of Your Defense EVs
Recommended Defense EV Training Spots
The following spots are the recommended spots to EV Train your Pokémon’s Defense stat, because they are consistent, always available, and require no or little Sandwich-making in order to train against. It is broken down by low-level, mid-level, and high-level spots, with low-level spots being ideal for early-game or situations where you don’t want to gain much Exp. Points.
Unfortunately, a lot of potential options are ruined due to the Pokémon having an annoying Ability, such as Sturdy, or not appearing as often. There also aren’t very many pure-Defense EV options by comparison to most other stats.
2 base Defense Pokémon are the easiest to train against if you are going for a specific EV amount, such as 160 Defense or 224 Defense, because you get 10 Defense EVs per fight, so in those two examples, you’d need 16 fights and 22 fights with the Power Belt equipped respectively (160 Defense and 220 Defense), and then for the 224 Defense example, you can just unequip the Power Belt and fight twice (2 Defense EV each) to get to 224 Defense EVs.
Also, any time this guide says “knock out” in regards to gaining EVs, that does not include Auto-Battle and it also does include catching the Pokémon. It’s just easiest to say “knock out” because most of the time that’s what you’ll be doing.
Lastly, if you have a mass outbreak for a Pokémon that gives Defense EVs, that’s a better option, but it’s not consistent—scroll further down to see a lot of all Pokémon that give just Defense EVs and consider any of them if they are in an outbreak.
Orthworm (mid-level, 2 base EV)
Perhaps the most consistent option for a 2 base Defense EV Pokémon is Orthworm, as they are a Steel-type that resides in the Asado Desert in western Paldea, and there aren’t really many other Steel-type Pokémon around there. They’re not overly common by default, though, so relying on a sandwich is important in order to reliably farm these. Also, despite being Steel-type, do not use Ground-type moves against it! It has the Earth Eater Ability, which gives it an immunity to Ground-type moves.
As each Orthworm gives 2 base Defense EVs when knocked out, you’ll wind up with a total of 10 Defense EVs for each Orthworm you take down. That means it will take a total of 26 Orthworm to go from 0 EVs all the way up to 252 EVs.
Which Food to Eat for Orthworm
Unfortunately, there are no restaurant options that provide Encounter Power: Steel, which is what you’ll need for Orthworm—you’ll have to make a sandwich for it. A Potato Salad Sandwich (#52) is your best bet for a quick, reasonably cheap recipe.
Where to Find Orthworm
There are two places to find Orthworm: in Asado Desert in the western part of Paldea, and in East Province (Area Three) in the eastern part of Paldea, which is where you fight the Titan Orthworm. However, East Province (Area Three) is not recommended, as there are also Varoom that appear there and will get boosted due to Encounter Power: Steel—these are obnoxious Pokémon because they’ll chase you and charge at you, so you’re best off not dealing with them.
Thankfully, Asado Desert is free from Varoom. The only other Steel-types you’ll potentially run into are Bronzor and Tinkatink, which are only near the ruins. Just keep in mind that some Orthworm like to dig into the ground when you approach them, so just sneak up and throw your Poké Ball at them with ZR to initiate a battle, or just find another one.
Scatterbug / Tarountula (very low-level, 1 base EV)
The tried and true duo of Scatterbug and Tarountula are available at the very beginning of the game and both give 1 base Defense EV, meaning you’ll earn 9 Defense EVs per fight while holding the Power Belt. Although it’s not a nice, round 10, it goes very quick as you’ll find plenty of these bugs around. It takes a total of 28 Scatterbug or Tarountula to go from 0 EVs all the way up to 252 EVs with the Power Belt equipped.
Which Food to Eat for Scatterbug / Tarountula
Once again, there are no restaurants that serve food that grants Encounter Power: Bug, so you’ll have to make a sandwich for it. A standard Cheese Sandwich (#84) gives Encounter Power: Bug Lv. 1, which should be more than enough to encounter the Scatterbug and Tarountula you need, plus it’s an extremely easy sandwich to make.
Where to Find Scatterbug / Tarountula
Although these Pokémon are all over the Paldea region, your best bet to find them is near the beginning, just south of Mesagoza in South Province (Area One). They seem to like to appear by trees and in grassy areas by the hills southeast of the Pokémon Center.
Corviknight (high-level, 3 base EV)
If you’re looking for something a bit stronger and you’ve already beaten the game, Corviknight is a good option for EV training Defense. It gives 3 base Defense EVs, meaning you’ll earn 11 Defense EVs every time you knock one out, so it takes 23 Corviknight to go from 0 EVs to 252 EVs.
Which Food to Eat for Corviknight
Although Corviknight is a Flying/Steel-type, there are a lot of other Flying-types in the main area you’ll find Corviknight in, so you’ll want to eat something with Encounter Power: Steel. As with Orthworm, there are no restaurants that sell anything with it, but you can make a Potato Salad Sandwich (#52) to get Encounter Power: Steel Lv. 1, which should be fine.
Where to Find Corviknight
You can find Corviknight all over Area Zero, pretty much in any of the open areas—in other words, stay away from caves, stay away from the underground section, and, well, stay away from overly watery areas. Beyond that, they’re all over, and should be level 55+. They don’t give a ton of Exp. Points, but they do give a nice amount, and they’ll help your lower-level Pokémon gain levels as you’re EV training them.
Stonjourner (mid-level, 2 base EV, Scarlet-only)
Although it is exclusive to Scarlet, Stonjourner is actually a pretty good option if you’re looking for something a little less troublesome than Orthworm in Asado Desert. It gives 2 base Defense EVs, meaning you get the same 10 Defense EVs per Stonjourner so long as you hold the Power Belt, and it takes 26 Stonjourner to go from 0 EVs to 252 EVs.
Which Food to Eat for Stonjourner
Stonjourner is pure-Rock-type, so eating something with Encounter Power: Rock is recommended, although you’ll still find them fairly frequently even without the food. Plus, they’re big and stick out like a sore thumb, so they’re easy to spot. The Pickle Sandwich for sale in the Cafeteria in Naranja / Uva Academy is an affordable way to get that boost if you don’t feel like making a sandwich.
Where to Find Stonjourner
You can find Stonjourner in the Asado Desert, pretty much all over it. There are a few other Rock-type Pokémon in the area, but they should mostly be ignored unless you know what you’re doing. However, that being said, if you find any Orthworm while fighting Stonjourner, don’t hesistate to knock them out as well—they give the same amount of EVs. Orthworm just doesn’t get the encounter boost in this method.
Why not just fight Orthworm, then? Stonjourner is a lot easier to encounter and doesn’t hide in the ground like Orthworm sometimes does, plus you can just buy a Pickle Sandwich instead of having to make your own sandwich, so it’s a more convenient option for Scarlet players.
Eiscue (high-level, 2 base EV, Violet-only)
Pokémon Violet players have a different Defense EV option in the form of Eiscue, but it’s a lot more of a pain than Stonjourner is for Scarlet players, and really Violet players should consider Orthworm or even Scatterbug / Tarountula instead. That being said, as long as you can handle the difficulties surrounding Eiscue, it’s a pretty good EV training method for Defense, as each Eiscue gives 2 base Defense EVs, meaning you get 10 Defense EVs while holding the Power Belt. It takes 26 Eiscue to reach 252 EVs from 0, so long as you have the Power Belt equipped.
Something important to note about Eiscue: it has the Ice Face Ability! This means that you should NOT use Physical-based attacks against it! Make sure you’re only using Special-based moves, otherwise the Physical attack breaks the Ice Face and does no damage, giving Eiscue a turn to attack back and slowing the whole process down. You’ll also want something that is at a high level, because the Eiscue are around level 45–50 or so in the recommended location.
Which Food to Eat for Eiscue
It’s a bit expensive, but the Ratatouille du Grand-père in Gastronomie en Famille gives you Encounter Power: Ice Lv. 1. You can find this restaurant in a few cities, but not in Mesagoza. There’s one in the southern part of Levincia if you’re looking for a spot for one. Otherwise, make a sandwich with Encounter Power: Ice and you’ll be good, although there really aren’t that many default options available.
Where to Find Eiscue
Thankfully there’s a very easy location for finding Eiscue! Just fly to the North Province (Area Three) Lighthouse to the north of Team Star’s Fairy-type Base, and then head along the beach and you’ll find a bunch of Eiscue. You’ll also find some Eiscue swimming in the water.
Pokémon That Give Defense EVs
Unsure of whether the Pokémon you just fought gives you Defense EVs? Want to know if a Pokémon in a mass outbreak gives Defense EVs? Or maybe you’re fighting something that isn’t on the recommended list? Well, this list down below shows all of the Pokémon that give exclusively Defense EVs as well as how many they give, so you can use that as a reference, although where they are located will not be listed here.
| Image | Pokémon | Base EV | Power EV |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Applin | 1 | 9 |
 | Avalugg | 2 | 10 |
 | Bergmite | 1 | 9 |
 | Bonsly | 1 | 9 |
 | Bronzor | 1 | 9 |
 | Carkol | 2 | 10 |
 | Cloyster | 2 | 10 |
 | Coalossal | 3 | 11 |
| Corviknight | 3 | 11 |
| Eiscue | 2 | 10 |
 | Forretress | 2 | 10 |
 | Garganacl (Garganacl was not recommended due to Sturdy) | 3 | 11 |
 | Hippopotas | 1 | 9 |
 | Hippowdon | 2 | 10 |
 | Iron Treads | 3 | 11 |
 | Klawf | 2 | 10 |
 | Klefki | 1 | 9 |
 | Kricketot | 1 | 9 |
 | Leafeon | 2 | 10 |
 | Mareanie | 1 | 9 |
 | Nacli | 1 | 9 |
 | Naclstack | 2 | 10 |
| Orthworm | 2 | 10 |
 | Palossand | 2 | 10 |
 | Pelipper | 2 | 10 |
 | Pineco | 1 | 9 |
 | Rellor | 1 | 9 |
 | Rolycoly | 1 | 9 |
 | Sandaconda | 2 | 10 |
 | Sandygast | 1 | 9 |
| Scatterbug | 1 | 9 |
 | Shelgon | 2 | 10 |
 | Shellder | 1 | 9 |
 | Silicobra | 1 | 9 |
 | Slowbro | 2 | 10 |
 | Spewpa | 2 | 10 |
 | Spidops | 2 | 10 |
| Stonjourner | 2 | 10 |
 | Sudowoodo | 2 | 10 |
| Tarountula | 1 | 9 |
 | Torkoal | 2 | 10 |
 | Toxapex | 2 | 10 |
