Breeding is as important as ever for getting the very strongest Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet.

However, the daycare centre is nowhere to be found, so how you go about it is now a little different.

Instead, you’ll need to master the picnic - including giving your Pokémon the right ingredients in their sandwiches to encourage those Eggs.

What hasn’t changed, though, is that breeding is still the best way to get competitive-level Pokémon with perfect IVs, good abilities, positive natures, and special egg moves. In this guide we’ll explain how to make sure your newly hatched Pokémon are as strong as they can be.

How to breed in Pokemon Scarlet and VioletWhich sandwich ingredients will increase Egg Power level?How to pass down IVs by breedingHow to pass down Egg Moves by breedingHow to pass down Abilities by breedingHow to pass down Natures by breedingHow to pass down Poké Balls by breeding7 Things We Liked (and 4 Things We Didn't) About Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

How to breed in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Breeding Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet can now be done anywhere and at any time, thanks to the picnic system. Whenever you host a picnic with two compatible Pokémon there’s a chance they’ll produce Eggs.

There's a few simple rules to this:

Compatible means a male and a female Pokémon in the same Egg Group.If the Pokémon are different species, the hatched Pokémon from the Egg will be of the same species as the mother.However, any Pokémon regardless of gender or species can breed with a Ditto, so these are very helpful Pokémon to have around.

To collect Eggs at a picnic, take a look at the basket on the floor close to the picnic table.

The basket seems to accumulate Eggs as you spend time in picnic mode, even if you just stand still, so leave the Switch alone and go and do something else if you like.

However, there are some ways to speed things up and therefore increase how many Eggs you get. This involves buying ingredients from the various food shops around Paldea.

Which sandwich ingredients will increase Egg Power level?

In order to produce more Eggs during picnics, you’ll need to increase your Egg Power by using sandwiches. A raised Egg Power means that Eggs will appear more frequently in the basket near the table.

From the basic menu, the Jam Sandwich will raise your Egg Power.

You can also make a sandwich with Egg Power in Creative mode. There are many ingredients that raise Egg Power, including Strawberry, Banana, Apple, Watercress, Basil, Kiwi, and Pineapple. For seasonings, you can use Jam, Whipped Cream, Olive Oil, Marmalade, and Vinegar.

Using more than one of these is usually necessary to ensure the Egg Power boost rather than any other effects. Using several will get you a lot of Eggs very quickly, so stock up!

Now we know the basics - how do we influence key elements such as IVs, moves, abilities and natures, as well as other factors such as the Ball it appears in? Let's go through all these one by one.

How to pass down IVs by breeding in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Breeding is one of the key ways to make sure that your Pokémon have the absolute best stats that they can. This is particularly important if you want them to hold their own in competitions.

IV breeding also appears to work similarly in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to the ways that it did in previous games. Hatched Pokémon seem to inherit three IVs selected randomly from the two parent Pokémon, and have three IVs set completely randomly.

However, there are ways to increase the amount of IVs that come from the parent Pokémon.

The first of these is using the Power Items: Power Weight, Power Bracer, Power Belt, Power Lends, Power Band, and Power Anklet. These should pass down the IVs for HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Defense, and Speed respectively.

This is ideal if you want to pass down a specific stat from parent to child. The Power Items can be found in the Delibird Presents, under the General goods menu - costing 10,000 Pokédollars each. (If you are in need for some easy cash, our Pokémon Scarlet and Violet money making explainer can help.) If they don’t appear, try coming back when you have more Gym Badges.

The second method for passing down IVs is the Destiny Knot. This can be obtained from the Delibird Presents in Mesagoza - this costs 20,000 Pokédollars - although you may need several Gym Badges first.

It seems that if a parent Pokémon holds the Destiny Knot, five IVs will be taken from the two parents, rather than three. Although this is still random, it means there is a better chance of the child Pokémon getting good stats if the parents are also strong.

How to pass down Egg Moves by breeding in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Egg Moves are moves that a Pokémon can only learn through breeding - sort of. There’s actually a new twist to that in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet that we’ll get to in a second!

Egg Moves can be passed down when either parent Pokémon knows a particular move that the child Pokémon wouldn’t normally know, but can learn in this method.

Usually, a father Pokémon of a different species will be used who knows the move, with the mother Pokémon determining the species of the child Pokémon. In this way, unusual moves can be passed on.

Chains can also be developed with certain moves and Pokémon if you carefully consult move pools and Egg Groups.

However, as I mentioned, there’s an additional twist added in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. During a picnic, if one Pokémon holds the Mirror Herb and has an open slot in its move list, it can learn certain Egg Moves from other Pokémon in the picnic. Confusingly, there’s no actual Egg required!

This makes obtaining Egg Moves much easier. For example, I was able to get an Eevee the Curse move just by throwing a picnic with the Eevee and a Sandygast and waiting a few minutes.

The Mirror Herb can be purchased from Delibird Presents for 30,000 Pokédollars, from the Battle Items menu. If it doesn’t appear, try coming back when you have more Gym Badges.

How to pass down Abilities by breeding in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

It appears that passing down Abilities works in the same way as in other recent Pokémon games.

If a Pokémon could have more than one Ability, it is more likely to hatch with the same one that the mother Pokémon had. However, it could still hatch with the other Ability, this is just less likely.

If the mother Pokémon has a Hidden Ability, it may also be passed to the hatched Pokémon. It also seems that father Pokémon can pass down Hidden Abilities if bred with a Ditto.

How to pass down Natures by breeding in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Natures appear to be randomly selected for child Pokémon. However, if you give the parent Pokémon an Everstone to hold, there is a high chance that the hatched Pokémon will have the same Nature. This works for both the male and female parent Pokémon.

Everstones can be purchased from Delibird Presents for 3,000 Pokédollars each, although you may need to have some Gym badges under your belt for them to appear.

How to pass down Poké Balls by breeding in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet appears to work like other previous Pokémon games, meaning that hatched Pokémon will come in the same Poké Ball as the parent Pokémon. If the parent Pokémon come in different balls, it will be a random chance which gets passed down.

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