Why didn't my Pokemon get all the EVs that it was supposed to?

Question

In Emerald, my Poochyena defeated 25 wild Spindas while holding a Macho Brace, and then leveled up. Its Special Attack only went up by 6.
Given that:

• Spinda give 1 Special Attack ev each,
• Macho Brace doubles the ev gain,
• 4 evs equal one stat gain,

shouldn't my Poochyena's Special Attack have gone up by 12?
I notice similar things in Platinum.

Answer 1

4 EVs = 1 stat point only applies for level 100 Pokemon; for every other level, due to how the formula for determining stats works, the effects of EVs will be less noticeable. Basically, the lower the Pokemon's level is, the more EVs are needed to actually effect the stat.

To be clear though, Pokemon that were EV trained at a lower level are at no disadvantage, since this formula is revised every time a Pokemon levels up or gains EVs. The level the Pokemon was at when it gained its EVs makes absolutely no difference at level 100.

Expert edit: The below paragraph is wrong in all games before Generation 5.

Another little detail to throw in is that a Pokemon doesn't get its EV points when it levels up, it gets them as soon as they're earned. This basically means that if a Pokemon gains enough EVs without levelling up (enough to increase the stat value provided as a result of the above formulas), it can gain stat points without levelling up. The stat gains you see when your Pokemon levels up are the extra points added when the value of "Level" in the formula increased and the stat point value changed, with the changes from EVs included.

Credit to Bulbapedia for the formulas.

Answer 2

While EV training, your stats will go up offscreeen. You won't see most of the changes when leveled up, especially when you're a low level. The changes will be obvious once you reach a higher level. Raise your Poochyena to a higher level, amd you'll be able to see that it has a higher Special Attack stat than normal. It is most obvious at level 50 and up.

Source: Experience

Hope I helped :)

Comments

sorry, but fizz's answer simply had more information in it.