Breeding Guide: How to Breed Pokemon and Get Eggs

This is our guide on how to breed Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Learn the basics of how to breed Pokemon, how to obtain and hatch Eggs from Picnics, and how to pass Natures, IVs and best stats, Hidden Abilities, and Egg Moves to an offspring.

How to Breed Pokemon

How to Breed Pokemon
Breed Pokemon in Picnics Pokemon With Same Egg Groups Can Breed Determining the Offspring Use Egg Power

Breed Pokemon in Picnics

1	Bring two compatible Pokemon in a Picnic
2	Wait for a couple of moments.
3	Check the basket near the table for Eggs.

Picnics take the place of Daycares and Nurseries as the method in which you can breed your Pokemon for them to hatch Eggs. This allows you to breed almost anywhere in Paldea, with a few requirements like setting up outside of towns and doing it at a flat surface.

Picnic Features and Benefits

Bring Only Two Pokemon

Since you can bring up to a total of six Pokemon in Picnics, it may get hard to track which Pokemon are breeding and what Eggs you are going to get. We recommend only bringing the two Pokemon you will breed so the only Eggs you will obtain are from the pair.

Multiple Eggs Can Be Found At Once

Sometimes, you might find multiple eggs in the picnic basket even if you do nothing in-game. This feature allows you to obtain several Eggs even if you leave your system idle for a while!

Breeding Unlocked Once Picnics Are Allowed

Breeding is unlocked as soon as you have access to having picnics with your Pokemon, which is after you are allowed to go anywhere in Paldea.

Story Walkthrough

Pokemon With Same Egg Groups Can Breed

Egg Group Compatibility
Dragonite (Water 1 / Dragon)	These two can breed. They both belong to the Water 1 Egg Group.	Toxapex (Water 1)
Dragonite (Water 1 / Dragon)	These two can breed. They both belong to the Dragon Egg Group.	Seviper (Dragon / Field)
Toxapex (Water 1)	These two cannot breed. They don't share a common Egg Group.	Seviper (Dragon / Field)

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

A pair of male and female Pokemon from the same Egg Group are compatible to breed, and will produce Eggs at a Picnic.

Alternatively, any Pokemon, including male Pokemon and those with an unknown gender, can breed with Ditto. It can be found disguised as other Pokemon on the cliffs above Cascarrafa in West Province (Area Three).

The only Pokemon that cannot be bred are those belonging to the Undiscovered Egg Group, which is an Egg Group comprised of baby Pokemon, Paradox Pokemon, and Legendary Pokemon.

List of All Egg Groups

Determining the Offspring

Whatever will hatch in an Egg is determined by the characteristics of the offspring's parents. It is possible to influence an offspring's species, the Poke Ball it will be encased in, its Nature, and any possible Egg moves depending on its parents.

Note that parent Pokemon which are caught in a Master Ball or encased in a Cherish Ball will always have an offspring stored inside a regular Poke Ball.

Utilize Egg Power to Get Eggs Faster

The Egg Power Meal Power you can get from several meals and Sandwiches can help you get Eggs more quickly when breeding Pokemon in Picnics.

Meals with Egg Power

Name	Effect
Hot and Sour Soup	・Egg Power Lv. 2 ・Item Drop Power: Fairy Lv. 1 ・Humungo Power: Fighting Lv. 1 Can be purchased at the Kofu Lounge for ₽3,200
Compote du Fils	・Egg Power Lv. 2 ・Exp Point Power: Flying Lv. 1 ・Encounter Power: Fairy Lv. 1 Can be purchased at the Gastronomie en Famile for ₽2,800

The Kofu Lounge, which is found in Cascarrafa, as well as Gastronomie de Famile which is found in Levincia, Medali, Alfornada, and Cascarrafa offer meals that provide you with Egg Power Lv. 2.

We recommend ordering these meals if you do not like setting up picnics.

Gastronomie de Famile Levincia Location	Kofu Lounge Cascarrafa Location

List of Meal Powers

Sandwiches with Egg Power

The following Sandwiches listed below will give you Egg Power Lv. 1 or 2 while using only a couple of ingredients, which are also easy to obtain.

If you want to breed Pokemon early in the game, you can make a Jam Sandwich; you can use the other two once you get the recipe from Deli Cioso, which are unlocked after getting 4 Gym Badges.

Best Sandwiches to Make

How to Get More Eggs During Picnics

Get More Eggs with Egg Power

You will be able to get more Eggs during Picnics if you have Egg Power active. Even if you eat a meal with Egg Power Level 1, you will still be able to gather more Eggs compared to setting up a Picnic with no Egg Power at all.

Number of Eggs Obtained Will Depend on Compatibility and Egg Power Level

Species	Trainer ID	Egg Power Lv.	Eggs Per Minute
Different	Same	0	~ 0
		1	≤ 1
		2	≥ 1
		3	~ 2
Same → Different →	Same Different	0	~ 0
		1	≤ 2
		2	≥ 2
		3	~ 3
Same	Different	0	~ 0
		1	≥ 2
		2	≥ 3
		3	~ 4.5

The number of Eggs you can get when breeding will depend on both the Pokemon's compatibility and the level of Egg Power you have.

If you breed a Pokemon of the same species (a male and female Pikachu for example) which originated from different trainers, you can potentially obtain more Eggs during the Picnic. On the other end, if you breed Pokemon of differing species (a Pikachu and Ditto, for example) caught by the same trainer, you will likely get less Eggs than usual.

Additionally, the number of Eggs you can obtain will also be influenced by the level of Egg Power active. You will get more Eggs with Egg Power Level 3 and less Eggs with Level 1, while you will rarely get any if Egg Power is not active.

Egg Power Sandwich Recipes

Item and Egg Checks Explained

The game checks whether you can get an item or an Egg during Picnics. If you set up your Picnic table next to a sparkling item on the ground you will be able to obtain that item multiple times if you check the basket from time to time, or get an Egg if you brought Pokemon that can breed.

Without Egg Power, the game will regularly check for items and will have less chance generating Eggs even if you bring compatible Pokemon.

Additionally, the game will still perform the check even if you cannot get any items, i.e. setting up a Picnic without any items nearby. This means that you will not get more Eggs even if you start a Picnic on clear grounds, free from any sparkling items.
How to Do the Picnic Item Farm Glitch

Egg Power Lets You Get More Eggs

If you set up a Picnic with Egg Power active, Egg checks appear to happen almost twice as often as item checks.

Without Egg Power active, the game will do the check approximately once every minute, but almost every check will be an item check, whether you can get an item or not. This is why you will likely not get any Eggs without Egg Power active, as the game is checking for items more frequently without that Meal Power.

On the other hand, if you have Egg Power active, most item/Egg checks will be for Eggs, meaning you can start getting a lot more Eggs.

Do note that you will only get Eggs if you bring compatible Pokemon with you during the Picnic. Having a Ditto in your party means that any Pokemon that can breed will be able to produce eggs!

Ditto Trading Board

How to Hatch Pokemon

Walk With the Egg in Your Party

After collecting your Eggs, you'll want to hatch them!

Eggs obtained from picnics are sent directly in your Boxes. To get them, exit the Picnic and grab the Eggs from your Boxes and add them to your party. Take note that you will not hatch any Eggs while in a Picnic.

Once you've walked the required number of steps for the Egg, it will hatch!

Mount on Koiradon or Miraidon

It is recommended to ride on Koraidon or Miraidon to speed up the process of hatching Eggs. These two can travel faster compared to running around on foot.

Include Pokemon with Abilities that Speed Up Hatching

You can also include Pokemon with the Flame Body, Magma Armor, or Steam Engine Abilities in your party to speed up the process of hatching Eggs even further by cutting the total number of steps required for the Eggs to hatch by half.

The most common Pokemon with these Abilities which you can easily encounter in the wild are Carkol at East Province (Area Three) or Fletchinder at West Province (Area Three).

Do note that these Abilities do not stack, so you only need to include one in your party while hatching Eggs.

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

How to Hatch Eggs Faster

How to Pass Natures Through Breeding

Give Everstone to Parent with Desired Nature

A Pokemon holding an Everstone while it is breeding will be able to pass its Nature to its offspring.

Normally, if either parents are not holding an Everstone, a random Nature will be chosen.

Natures Changed with Mints Cannot Be Passed

Any Pokemon whose Nature was changed via Nature Mints will pass their original Nature to their offspring instead of the one that it was changed to.

Nature and IV Breeding Guide

How to Breed for Best Stats and IVs

Give Destiny Knot to Parent with High IVs

If one parent holds a Destiny Knot, 5 of the 12 IVs between both parents will be passed down to their offspring.

If you are aiming to get a Pokemon to hatch with high IVs, it is best to let the Pokemon with the highest IVs hold a Destiny Knot. If you have a Ditto with high IVs, it will be the one which will hold the item.

Nature and IV Breeding Guide

Check IVs with Judge Function

You can check the parents' IVs with the Judge function which allows you to look at a Pokemon's IV ratings.

This is unlocked from any Pokemon Center once you have completed the game.

How to Check IVs (Judge Function)

Hyper Trained Stats Cannot Be Passed

If a parent Pokemon has Hyper Trained stats, it will not be able to pass these stats at max, but it will instead pass the original IV on the offspring.

This is important to know in order to not waste Bottle Caps or Gold Bottle Caps on Ditto or any other Pokemon, so bear this in mind!

Use Pokemon Caught from High-Level Tera Raids

If you want an easier time breeding for max IV Pokemon, you can start with using Pokemon you caught from five to six-star Tera Raid Battles when breeding, including those featured in 7-star raid events. These Pokemon usually have max IVs in several stats, and some of them may even possess Hidden Abilities!

This also applies to Ditto you caught from Tera Raids, which will have better IVs compared to those caught in the wild.

How to Increase Tera Raid Star Level

How to Pass Hidden Abilities Through Breeding

Breed Pokemon with Hidden Ability

When you already have a Pokemon with Hidden Ability, you can pass the Ability to its offspring by Breeding it.

Only female Pokemon can pass its Hidden Ability to its offspring. If the Pokemon is male or has an unknown gender, it can only pass down its Hidden Ability if it breeds with Ditto.

How to Get and Breed for Hidden Abilities

Catch Pokemon in 3-Star Raids or Higher

Pokemon caught from 3-star raids or higher has a chance of possessing Hidden Abilities. If you want to collect multiple Pokemon with their Hidden Abilities without using an Ability Patch, try to participate in these raids!

How to Increase Tera Raid Star Level

How to Pass Egg Moves Through Breeding

Give Mirror Herb to a Pokemon to Receive Egg Move

In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, unlike breeding for Pokemon eggs, you can now transfer egg moves regardless of gender, species, and even egg group. Just make sure that the Pokemon you'll transfer an egg move to has an empty move slot and is holding a Mirror Herb, which can be bought at Cascarrafa Delibird Presents.

Transferring egg moves is similar to breeding for eggs. Just get both the Pokemon that has the Egg Move and the Pokemon you want to give it to in the same party, then hold a Picnic. After the Picnic, you'll see that the other Pokemon has learned the Egg Move.

How to Learn and Transfer Egg Moves

Transferring Moves from Same Egg Group

Pokemon Involved
Umbreon	Umbreon
Knows Yawn	Has one vacant move slot + Holding Mirror Herb = Learn Yawn

Transferring Moves from Different Egg Group

Pokemon Involved
Crabominable	Tinkaton
Water 1 Egg Group + Knows Ice Hammer	Fairy Egg Group + Has one vacant move slot + Holding Mirror Herb = Learn Ice Hammer

Transferring Moves from Multiple Pokemon from Different Egg Groups

It is also possible to transfer moves from two or more Pokemon in a single Picnic session, as long as the recipient has enough vacant move slots.

Pokemon Involved
Lilligant	Armarouge	Sprigatito
Grass Egg Group + Knows Petal Blizzard and Leech Seed	Human-Like Egg Group + Knows Ally Switch	Field Egg Group + Has three vacant move slots + Holding Mirror Herb = Learn Petal Blizzard, Leech Seed, and Ally Switch

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Related Guides

Training and Breeding