Pokemon Sword and Shield: Nature and Mints guide

Pokemon Sword and Shield bring back Pokemon Natures, a concept that has been in Pokemon games since Generation 3's Ruby and Sapphire. Natures affect your Pokemon by modifying the stats they grow. Some Natures will give an extra boost to some stats and a downward growth on another stat.

Learning about the Natures of Pokemon is important especially if you are playing Pokemon competitively. They will allow you to channel the right amount of stats into your Pokemon to have exactly the power level they need. For more information on EVs and stats, check out our detailed guide on EVs.

There are currently 25 Natures available in Pokemon Sword and Shield. You can't choose your Pokemon's nature, it will be shown to you and randomized whenever you catch the Pokemon. In addition to the stat modification, there are also flavors your Pokemon of a certain nature will enjoy when consuming Berries or Curries.

Nature Chart

Here is a small chart about what Natures affect which stats, along with their Favourite and Hated Flavours. The format will be the +10% stat - -10% stat - Favourite Flavour - Hated Flavour.

Adamant: +10% Attack - -10% Special Attack - Spicy - Dry

Brave: +10% Attack- -10% Speed- Spicy - Sweet

Lonely: +10% Attack - -10% Defense - Spicy - Sour

Naughty: +10% Attack - -10% Special Defense - Spicy - Bitter

Bold: +10%Defense - -10%Attack - Sour - Spicy

Impish: +10% Defense - -10% Special Attack - Sour - Dry

Lax: +10% Defense - -10% Special Defense - Sour - Bitter

Relaxed: +10% Defense - -10% Speed - Sour - Sweet

Modest: +10% Special Attack - -10%Attack - Dry - Spicy

Mild: +10% Special Attack - -10%Defense - Dry - Sour

Quiet: +10% Special Attack - -10%Speed - Dry - Sweet

Rash: +10% Special Attack - -10% Special Defense - Dry - Bitter

Calm: +10% Special Defense - -10% Attack - Bitter - Spicy

Careful: +10% Special Defense - -10% Special Attack - Bitter - Dry

Gentle: +10% Special Defense - -10% Defense - Bitter - Sour

Sassy: +10% Special Defense - -10% Speed - Bitter - Sweet

Hasty: +10% Speed - -10% Defense - Sweet - Sour

Jolly: +10% Speed - -10% Special Attack - Sweet - Dry

Naive: +10% Speed - -10% Special Defense - Sweet - Bitter

Timid: +10% Speed - -10% Attack - Sweet - Spicy

Bashful: N/A - N/A - N/A - N/A

Docile: N/A - N/A - N/A - N/A

Hardy: N/A - N/A - N/A - N/A

Quirky: N/A - N/A - N/A - N/A

Serious: N/A - N/A - N/A - N/A

Manipulate Natures with Mints

You cannot change the Nature of your Pokemon no matter what. You can, however, change the way your Pokemon's stats grow by manipulating their nature. To do this, you need items called Mints. You cannot access Mints till you beat Pokemon Sword and Shield and get access to the Battle Tower.

The Mints are named after the respective Nature they mimic. A Lonely Mint will make your Pokemon have a higher Attack and a lower Defense. It works the same way for all the nature named Mints. Mints cost a whopping 50 BP so spend on the right Mint wisely.

Passing down Nature via Breeding

While you can't change the Nature of an existing Pokemon, it is possible to pass down the Nature of a Pokemon via Breeding. To do this, you'll need to give the Pokemon whose desire you intend to pass down an Everstone. You can find an Everstone in Turrfield, very close to where the first Day Care Center is.

Doing this will guarantee the child Pokemon to inherit the Nature of the Pokemon which is holding an Everstone. Not that you cannot use Mints to manipulate the Nature of the baby Pokemon as it will only pass down the original Nature of the parent.

Choosing a Nature

In general, it is recommended that you continue to boost the stat that the Pokemon naturally has a very high stat of. This combined with the special Nature of the Pokemon can help you grow the Pokemon immensely.

For example, Solosis and its evolutions have a very high Special Attack. Having a Nature such as Mild or Modest will lower another stat but it will massively boost its Special Attack which will make its Psychic Type moves extremely powerful.

It is also recommended to boost the Speed stat. There are some exceptions but Speed will determine which Pokemon goes first in a Battle. It also determines how many turns you skip after using an item on your Pokemon.

So when choosing a nature, boost the stat which it is already strong in and if possible, try to also boost its Speed stat.