Pokemon Pyrite - Trainer Pokemon with EVs (sort of)
18READ DESCRIPTION!
I have received comments saying that the game gets easier as it advances, that the last gyms and pokemon battles are easier that the first ones. Kinda got the same feeling myself too. Your Pokemon's EVs start to make a difference, and you become able to teach better moves and all that stuff. Even if the opponent's Pokemon also get better moves, good moves vs good moves favours the player over bad moves vs bad moves, for the mere reason that the player is more intelligent than the AI. So, inevitably, the game progressively becomes easier for the most part.
The solution I've come up with is some sort of EV system that is applied to trainer Pokemon, instead of just going nuts overincreasing the levels of the opponents to keep the same level of competitivity. This EV system doesn't work exactly like EVs would so to speak, since it affects the stats directly insetad of affecting them indirectly via other variables like the EVs themselves. But regardless, these stat changes (boosts) are intended to resemble EVs. Why shouldn't the rest of the trainers be able to get bonus from EVs just like you, if they also train their Pokemon? :P
The increase in the stats depends on the level of the pokemon. The higher the level, the higher the stat boost is, obviously, since that's how EVs work. The stats affected are attack, defense, special attack, special defense and speed, and the boost is the same for the five stats.
The stat boosts applied are (for each of the following level ranges):
[1,32]: boost = 0
[33,54]: boost = level/16
[55,73]: boost = level/16 + level/16
[74,77]: boost = level/8
[78,99]: boost = level/8 + level/32
[100,100]: boost = level/4
Notice how it never comes close to the maximum possible boost provided by EVs, which is nearly level*64/100. Another thing to keep in mind is that, even when the player's Pokemon reach level 100, they still don't have had their EVs maximized, and the most recently caught Pokemon would have low EVs at the beggining. So I had to make sure that the boosts aren't too high. In the end, they still leave the opponent's Pokemon a bit weaker than the player's on average; after all, the player's good training should be rewarded!
The video shows the comparison between a battle against an EV'd Pokemon (right), and against the same pokemon before the boosts had been implemented (left). Obviously, it's still subject to RNG, but I think the differences can be seen clearly enough.
This feature will be included in the next release of Pokemon Pyrite and is subject to minor adjustements.
For those interested, the asm implementation can be seen here: http://pastebin.com/F3B9tnCC
I do believe and hope it's bug-free. It's free for anyone to use it on his/her hack if desired, but if so, crediting is always welcome :)