How to Breed for Natures and IVs

This guide talks about how to breed for good natures and how to hatch high IV Pokemon for competitive and battle-ready teams! Make sure to read on to learn more about breeding and hatching in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV).

Should You Breed for a High IV Pokemon?

It's Easier To Use Your Playthrough Pokemon

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet introduces a plethora of Quality-of-Life changes that make it so much easier to take the Pokemon you already have and get them Battle-Ready. It's a drastically more expensive option, but it also saves a lot of time and makes it a lot more accessible!

Desired Trait	Helpful Items	How to Obtain
High IVs	Bottle Caps	Sold at Delibird Presents for ₽20,000 after the 6th Gym is cleared. Also drops from 5-Star+ Tera Raid Battles Hyper Training a Pokemon can now be done from Lv. 50!
Specific Natures	Mints	Sold at Chansey Supply for ₽20,000 after the 6th Gym is cleared. Also drops from 5-Star+ Tera Raid Battles
Egg Moves	Mirror Herb	Sold at Cascarrafa's Delibird Presents for ₽30,000. Egg Moves can be transferred through Picnics.
Alternate Abilities	Ability Capsule	Sold at Chansey Supply for ₽100,000 after the 6th Gym is cleared. Also drops from 5-Star+ Tera Raid Battles
Hidden Abilities	Ability Patch	Rare Drop from 6-Star+ Tera Raid Battles Ability Patches now also allow a Pokemon with a Hidden Ability to regain its Standard abilities.

Consider using the items above in case you'd rather skip out on the traditional method of breeding a Battle-Ready Pokemon. If you insist on doing it the old-fashioned way, continue reading! Otherwise, time to line those pockets since it won't come cheap!

Money Farming Guide
How to Make Money Fast

What You Need to Breed High IV Pokemon

Recommendations Before Breeding for Battle-Ready Pokemon
High IV Parents, preferably a Ditto A Destiny Knot or the Power Items An Everstone

Ditto With High IVs

Getting a Ditto with 5 or 6 high Individual Values will make breeding strong Pokemon a lot simpler, since Ditto can breed with almost any Pokemon and any gender. Getting a Ditto with high IVs saves you from searching for Pokemon with high IVs from each Egg Group.

If you're looking for Dittos, you can check out our Ditto Trading Board.
Ditto Trading Board

Other High IV Parents

Searching for a High IV Ditto can be painstakingly difficult and require tremendous luck. As long as you aren't breeding for a Genderless Pokemon, you can also opt to use alternative High IV parents from the appropriate egg group. 5-Star Tera Raids guarantee 5 IV Pokemon.
Introduction to IVs

Destiny Knot

Destiny Knot	When a Pokemon holding Destiny Knot lays an egg, 5 out of 12 of the parent Pokemon's IVs will be passed down to the child Pokemon.

If one parent holds the Destiny Knot, 5 of the 12 IVs between both parents will be passed down to their offspring. Without it, only 3 of the 12 IVs of the parents will be passed down. Let a High IV Parent, such as the Ditto with high IVs, hold the Destiny Knot while breeding to improve chances of High IV offspring.

Power Items

Power Item	Effect as a Held Item When Breeding
Power Weight	Passes down the parent's HP IV.
Power Bracer	Passes down the parent's Attack IV.
Power Belt	Passes down the parent's Defense IV.
Power Lens	Passes down the parent's Special Attack IV.
Power Band	Passes down the parent's Special Defense IV.
Power Anklet	Passes down the parent's Speed IV.

Although not as effective as the Destiny Knot, having a parent hold a Power Item guarantees one specific IV out of the 12 to be passed down to the offspring. Refer to the table above to see which stat's IV gets passed down.

Everstone

Everstone	An item to be held by a Pokemon. A Pokemon holding this peculiar stone is prevented from evolving.

When a Pokemon holds an Everstone while breeding, the Pokemon will pass on its Nature to its offspring. Normally, a hatched Pokemon's nature will be randomly selected among the different natures it can have.

You'd want to have complete control over what Nature the offspring will have, as you typically don't want to get a Nature that decreases its more prominent attack power (Physical or Special) or its Speed.

Introduction to Natures

How to Breed High IV Pokemon

Start a Picnic

Facilities such as Daycares and Nurseries cannot be found in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Instead of breeding Pokemon, eggs are obtained from Picnics. After a certain amount of time has passed since a picnic has started, you may find eggs in a basket on the ground.

Have the Pokemon You Want To Breed in your Party

The Pokemon that hatch from eggs found during your picnic are determined by the Pokemon you have in your party.

By bringing your desired Pokemon and the high IV Ditto holding a Destiny Knot to the picnic, the basket will be populated with eggs that provide offspring with high Individual Values.

If the non-Ditto parent has the Nature you want to pass onto the offspring, make that parent hold an Everstone to pass on the desired Nature.

Wait for the Egg to be Ready

Spend time walking around until eggs appear in your Picnic Basket. Sometimes multiple eggs will be available, so check regularly. The Eggs will instantly be added to your PC. We also recommend eating Sandwiches with the Egg Power Meal Power.

Hatch the Egg Quickly

To hatch the Egg, you need to walk a certain number of steps. Certain Pokemon have abilities that greatly lessen the steps needed to hatch the Egg.

When hatching multiple Eggs, make sure to remove unnecessary Pokemon in your party and only retain the eggs you want to hatch, and a Pokemon that has either Flame Body, Magma Armor, or Steam Engine.

Pokemon with Flame Body
Carkol	Coalossal	Fletchinder	Talonflame
Pokemon with Steam Engine
Rolycoly	Carkol	Coalossal	-

How to Hatch Eggs Faster

Repeat Steps Until Desired Stats Obtained

After hatching the new Level 1 Pokemon, check its Nature and check its IVs. If the Pokemon has the desired Nature, your breeding has in-part been a success.

Replace parents with offspring that has higher IVs

Check the IVs of the newly hatched Pokemon to see if they have better IVs. If they are better than that of the parent's, replace the parent with the newly hatched Pokemon, so that you can continue to get better offspring. You're free to do this until you produce the Pokemon you want with better IVs across the board.

How to Check IVs (Judge Function)

Breeding Pokemon Requirements

Opposite Genders from the Same Egg Group

Normally, without a Ditto, the 2 Pokemon need to be part of the same Egg Group in order to produce an Egg/offspring together at the Nursery. There are currently 15 Pokemon Egg Groups. Unfortunately, this means ungendered Pokemon cannot be bred without a Ditto.

Parents with Egg Moves

If you want to hatch a Pokemon with an egg move, you'll have to start with a parent that has the egg move.

Learn how to transfer Egg Moves between Pokemon even of different species and different Egg Groups and how to breed Egg Moves onto offspring.

How to Learn and Transfer Egg Moves

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Related Guides

Training and Breeding