Breeding is a major part of all modern Pokemon games, and Pokemon Sword and Shield is no different. The game lets you breed all types of Pokemon and manipulate different facets of their abilities, including their Nature, IVs, Egg Moves, and more. Given its many moving parts, the entire process can be difficult to understand, and this is where we come in.
This guide’ll take a comprehensive look at breeding in Pokemon Sword and Shield. This guide has everything from the basics of breeding to passing on certain abilities and moves. We’ll also look at how you can breed Shiny Pokemon in the game, hatch your eggs faster, and the locations of all Daycares.
How to Breed Pokemon in Sword and Shield?
The process of breeding and then hatching an egg in Pokémon Sword and Shield is very straightforward.
- First, ensure you have a male and female version of the same Pokémon.
- Ensure that they like each other. If they don’t, keep them in your party for a while, and they’ll eventually grow to like each other.
- Drop them off at one of the two Pokémon nurseries in the game: Route 5 or Bridge Field.
- Return one in-game day later to collect the egg.
- Keep the egg in your inventory and continue with your adventures so that it hatches.
Egg Groups in Pokemon SWSH
There are specified egg groups in Pokémon Sword and Shield. If two Pokémon have the same egg group, you can get them to breed together. For example, Wailord and Skitty have the same egg group, so you can breed them.
The only exception to this Egg Group Rule is Ditto. Since Ditto can take on the form of almost any Pokémon, it can also breed with almost every Pokémon, irrespective of gender. The only limitation for Ditto is Legendary Pokémon. Below, you’ll find a complete list of all egg groups in Pokémon SS.
- Grass
- Monster
- Field
- Water 1
- Water 2
- Water 3
- Bug
- Fairy
- Amorphous
- Flying
- Dragon
- Ditto
- Human-Like
- Mineral
How to Hatch Eggs Fast in Pokemon Sword and Shield?
While adventuring and running around with a Pokémon egg in your inventory will eventually hatch, you can speed up the process by placing a Pokémon with the Flame Body ability in your party. Besides being a strong move against the enemy, Flame Body provides heat to all eggs in your inventory.
It essentially incubates them, letting the Pokémon emerge significantly quickly. Defeating Shigeki will reward you with an Oval Charm, which allows Pokémon to lay more eggs. You can pair the charm with the Flame Body ability to quickly hatch multiple Pokémon.
How to Pass Down Individual Values (IV) and Natures?
In Sword and Shield, your Pokémon possess special hidden characteristics, IVs, or Individual Values. These values allow your Pokémon to perform better in combat and give them the upper hand in most situations. These IVs can be crucial to winning high-level battles later in the game.
Thankfully, if you want to breed a new Pokémon, you won’t have to do away with your current IVs because there is a way to transfer them from the parent Pokémon to the offspring. To do so, you need a Destiny Knot.
Giving one or both parents a Destiny Knot during breeding ensures they pass down at least five IVs to their offspring. For the best result, we recommend giving each parent a Destiny Knot so that your new Pokémon is as powerful as can be.
To get a Destiny Knot, you must beat the game, acquire 10 Battle Points from the Battle Tower, and then head to Hammerlocke. Here, you can exchange your Battle Points for a Destiny Knot by speaking to a trader located to the right of the Pokecart at the Pokémon Center.
Like IVs, Natures is another unique stat that your Pokémon possesses. Usually, each nature comes with a buff and a debuff that makes your Pokémon more effective in combat. To pass on a Nature from a parent Pokémon to an offspring, ensure the parent Pokémon whose Nature you want to pass on is holding an Everstone during the breeding process.
Everstones can be acquired by sending your Pokémon on Poke Jobs or engaging with the Digging Duo in the Wild Area.
How to pass down Hidden Abilities and Egg Moves?
Hidden Abilities are special abilities available in adult Pokémon that you can pass down by simply breeding them with another Pokémon. When going the conventional breeding route, there is about a 50% chance that the Pokémon with the hidden Ability will pass it on to their offspring. However, breeding them with a Ditto increases the chances to 100%.
On the other hand, Egg Moves are simply passed down from the parent to the offspring without acquiring another item. You can also pass Egg Moves from one adult Pokémon to another adult Pokémon by leaving them at a daycare.
How to Pass Down the Same Pokéball?
Apart from manipulating your baby Pokémon’s IVs, Nature, Hidden Abilities, and Egg Moves, you can also change the Pokeball your Pokémon is born with. There is a 50/50 chance that either the father or mother’s Pokeball will get passed down. This is only true when breeding Pokémon of the same species.
If you breed two Pokemon with the same egg group but not the same species, only the mother’s Pokeball will get passed down. If you breed a male Pokemon with a Ditto, the former’s Pokeball will get passed down 100% of the time.
How to breed a Shiny Pokémon?
You can use the Masuda Method to breed a Shiny Pokémon in Sword and Shield. This involves you having to acquire one parent Pokémon from a player who’s playing the game in another language.
For example, if you’re playing the European version of the game, you’ll need to acquire the same Pokémon (but with the opposite gender) from a player who’s playing the game’s Japanese or North American version.
Breeding a foreign Pokémon with your Pokémon increases the likelihood of hatching a Shiny variant manifold, and using a foreign Ditto further increases your chances.
Pokémon that require Incense to breed
Certain Pokémon require incense to produce an egg. Below, we’ve listed all of them
| Pokémon | Baby Pokemon | Incense |
|---|---|---|
| Wobbuffet | Wynaut | Lax Incense |
| Snorlax | Munchlax | Full Incense |
| Mantine | Mantyke | Wave Incense |
| Mr. Mime/Mr. Rime | Mime Jr. | Odd Incense |
| Sudowoodo | Wbonsly | Rock Incense |
| Roselia/Roserade | Budew | Rose Incense |
All Daycare Locations in Pokemon Sword and Shield
Nurseries are found within Daycares, and these are the areas where you can breed your Pokémon. In Pokemon Sword and Shield, two Daycares provide breeding facilities and can be found in Route 5 and Bridge Field.
Daycare Location #1 (Route 5)
The first Pokémon daycare is located along Route 5 in Sword and Shield. It is very hard to miss, and players can access it once they take down the first gym leader, Milo. When visiting the Route 5 daycare for the first time, you can claim a Baby Toxel from the NPC standing in the lobby.
Daycare Location #2 (Bridge Field)
The Second daycare is located in Bridge Field (Wild Area); you’ll need to journey there by bike to unlock it. Once it’s unlocked, you can simply fly there using any flying-type Pokémon.
