When people EV train why do they only focus on 2 certain stats?

Question

So when I see pictures online and stuff like that I see that people only focus on 2 things for example, Attack and Speed. I have a dragapult on shield and it has max speed and attack but it also has some evs in SPD, SPA, Defence and HP. I was just wondering if it matters that there are EVs in those also.

Comments

You shouldn't concern yourself with EVs if you're not training your Pokemon for competitive play. If you are, however, it's usually optimal to max the two most important stats. Deviating from this norm is usually for a very particular purpose, e.g. to outspeed a key threat or prevent them from OHKOing you.
I wrote a reasonably extensive guide on typical EV spreads in a different thread, which may interest you if you'd like to know more. https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/329044/

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It depends on the format. What format are you asking about? I think doubles and Generation 3 have more Pokemon with weird EV spreads because it's easier to prepare for specific threats in those formats.

Answer 1

Under the global EV budget, you can max out 2 stats but then only have spares to earn a single stat point in one other stat. If you indeed have those two stats all the way at max, but then have spares in all four others, then they have to be so insignificant (1-2 EVs each) that you don't even get the last stat point.

When you have a Pokemon like Weavile, attack and speed are the most important assets for it, so maxing those out first is almost always a more meaningful impact than putting any focus into any other stat, diluting the budget more than 2 ways.