Pokemon Sword and Shield Breeding Guide

Breeding is an old mechanic in the Pokemon games that was introduced back in Generation 2's Gold and Silver. Breeding still exists in Pokemon Sword and Shield and it is essential to do if you play competitively against other players in the Battle Stadium.

Here is an in-depth guide on breeding in Pokemon Sword and Shield and how it can benefit you and your Pokemon.

The Basics of Breeding

Breeding is when two Pokemon of opposite genders are put in the Day Care Center for a prolonged period of time which eventually gives an egg. Not all Pokemon of opposite genders can breed together.

Just like the previous games, Dittos can be used to breed with Pokemon to give an egg. Pokemon with no gender or Pokemon with only one gender (such as Hitmonchan) can only breed baby Pokemon with Ditto.

Dittos have been a match made in heaven for all Pokemon since breeding was introduced...

As usual, you will need to give both Pokemon to the Day Care Center in order to breed them and look for an Egg. They are called "Nurseries" in Pokemon Sword and Shield. There are two Nurseries, one can be found in Route 5 and the other can be found in the Bridge Field Wild Area.

Once an Egg is produced, keep the Egg in your Party till it hatches (it typically takes about a 1000 steps to hatch a new Egg). Pokemon hatching from the Egg can inherit several traits from its parents. Briefly speaking these traits are:

• Individual Values (IVs) - A hidden value that determines the stats your Pokemon will get.
• Nature - Stats can change based on the Nature of the child Pokemon and it can be inherited from the parents.
• Ability - Hidden abilities or rare abilities can be unlocked via Breeding.

Egg Groups

Here are the Egg groups which Pokemon belong to in the game:

• Amorphous
• Bug
• Dragon
• Water 1
• Water 2
• Water 3
• Fairy
• Field
• Flying
• Grass
• Human-Like
• Mineral
• Monster
• Ditto
• Undiscovered - Baby Pokemon and Legendary Pokemon

Useful items for Breeding

There are two items that are very helpful when it comes to Breeding: Oval Charm and Destiny Knot. Here's a brief description of them and where you can find them.

Oval Charm

After you finish the game, go to the hotel in Circhester and go to the 2nd floor. You will find an NPC in a cop outfit. He's a trainer called GAME FREAK's Morimoto, inspired by the designer of the same name. It is a tough double battle but after defeating him for the first time, he gives you an Oval Charm.

A Pokemon holding an Oval Charm has a higher chance of delivering an Egg when Breeding. Getting Eggs isn't a 100% success rate so an Oval Charm is useful when you need to scale up your odds.

Destiny Knot

You can only get a Destiny Knot in Hammerlocke's BP Store. Earn BP by battling it out in the Battle Tower. Destiny Knots not only help to mutually attract two Pokemon in battle but it also allows you to inherit 5 IVs from the parent Pokemon!

Under normal circumstances, Pokemon will inherit 3 IVs from the parent Pokemon. Having two parent Pokemon with very high IVs and making one of them hold a Destiny Knot will guarantee you to have a child Pokemon with very strong stats.

Hatch Eggs fast with Steam Engine or Flame Body

Having a Pokemon with the ability Steam Engine or Flame Body will help cut down the number of steps you need to hatch an Egg by half. The following Pokemon have either of these two abilities:

• Rolycoly
• Carkol
• Coalossal
• Litwick
• Lampent
• Chandelure
• Sizzlipede (Hidden Ability)
• Centiskorch (Hidden Ability)

Pass Down Natures with an Everstone

Everstones are not only useful for stopping Evolution. You can use an Everstone to pass down a guaranteed Nature to the child Pokemon by giving the parent Pokemon you want the Nature from the Everstone. Nature also plays a part in the stats of a Pokemon.

You can find an Everstone by one of the rocks to the right of Turrfield Stadium.

Pass Down Hidden Abilities

Some Pokemon have hidden abilities that you can only find by catching them in Max Raid Battles. There is a 60% chance that the child Pokemon will inherit the Ability of the mother Pokemon. You can only pass down the Abilities of Males and Neutral gender Pokemon by breeding them with a Ditto.

Pass down Egg Moves

There are certain ways a Pokemon can learn Moves at Level 1 by breeding.

1. If the father Pokemon knows a move by TM/TR, it is possible for the child Pokemon to inherit the same Move provided it can learn the ability.
2. Some moves which are learned very late by a parent Pokemon can be inherited to the child Pokemon at Level 1.
3. Some moves are learned only via specific combinations in Breeding. For example, you can get a Pichu that knows Wish if you breed a Togetic that knows it with a Pikachu.

Incense Breeding

There are some Pokemon that can only be hatched if you give the parent Pokemon an Incense. You can get Incenses from the Hulbury market place. If you don't use an Incense on these Pokemon, the baby Pokemon won't be hatched.

Here are the Pokemon and the type of incense they need:

• Roselia / Roserade - Rose Incense - Get Budew
• Snorlax - Full Incense - Get Munchlax
• Wobbuffet - Lax Incense - Get Wynaut
• Sudowoodo - Rock Incense - Get Bonsly
• Mr. Mime / Mr. Rime - Odd Incense - Get Mime Jr.
• Mantine - Wave Incense - Get Mantyke