Pokemon Sword and Shield Camp Guide

Learn about the exciting new Camps feature in Pokemon Sword and Shield and how you can use it to cook curries and improve Pokemon bonds

To be a master Pokemon trainer, you need to make sure that you have a bond with your Pokemon. And what better way for bonding then camping! The tents you might have noticed in the new Wild Area are not just for decorations, but it’s actually a new big feature in the game, and it allows you to increase sync with your Pokemons. We have compiled a Pokemon Sword and Shield Camp guide for you to understand all the basics.

Pokemon Sword and Shield Camp

You get camping gear from your mum (in-game mum of course) as you set for Motorstoke from the Wedgehurst station for the first time. It will unlock the “Pokemon Camp” option in the X menu. You can try it out quickly as the next destination is the Wild Area.

The camp can be set up whenever you are traveling through the Wild Area, most routes and even some cities in the Galar region.

Just pick a place you like and select “Pokemon Camp” from the X menu and you are ready to go. You can also use the camps NPCs have set up around the world.

Curry Cooking
The main reason you have to set up a camp is to cook tasty curry for your Pokemon. This curry, however, is not just to enhance your cooking skills. Curries have a variety of effects on your Pokemon, from healing passed out Pokemon, to granting them EXP and even making them friendlier towards you.

You can experiment with different ingredients to see what kind of curries you can create.

The most basic ingredient is berries. They can be easily found in the Galar region by shaking berry trees.

Each tree will hold different berries allowing you to build up a good collection.

Other ingredients like Fancy Apple can be found in the Wild Area, although it might take you some time to hunt them down.

Fancy Apples, for example, can be found hidden on ground near regular trees.

Check the ingredients you have, and when you have enough, you can cook in the camp by selecting “Cooking” in the Camp Menu, followed by “Start Cooking”. Here is how to cook:

  • First, fan the flames, ensuring your curry is cooked at right heat. Either press A or move the Joy-Con to do so.
  • Second, stir the curry by rotating the Joy-Con. Try to not get to excites to keep the curry from spilling.
  • Third, put your heart into it. A yellow heart will appear and you have to get it into the curry before the timer runs out(a circle closing in on the aim)

What curry you have made will be revealed after you are done cooking. Then it will het taste rating from all your Pokemons. The Taste Rating depends on how complicated the recipe was and what ingredients you used.

Playing
Now your all done eating, what next? Well, you can also play with the Pokemon in your party at the camp. Press A to call them, or Y to bring out a toy to get their attention.

Once you have their attention, you can play with them using Poke Toy or balls. You can press down to get the trainer close to smaller Pokemon.

Camp Multiplayer
You can enjoy the multiplayer aspect of the camp by using local communication or by connecting to the internet.

(You have to subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online Service to use the internet, however, local communication does not require any payment)

Once you have connected to the internet, you will encounter many tents around the Wild Area. This is a sign that a player has set up a Pokemon Camp.

Interacting with the tent will allow you and a Pokemon from your party to enter the tent. Up to four players can hang out at a tent, cooking curries and playing with each other’s Pokemon.

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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...