Last blog, I introduced you to the basics of Competitive Pokemon. It was a lot to go into, for sure, but do know that everything comes back in later additions and it'll be explained in finer detail in a shorter article.
So today, I want to discuss Breeding. This component won't give you competitive knowledge, however, it's important to understand Breeding, as without it, you'll be at a disadvantage.
So let's start with the first step in this process. Choosing a Pokemon to breed. For the purpose of this article, let's look at Gengar.
So today, I want to discuss Breeding. This component won't give you competitive knowledge, however, it's important to understand Breeding, as without it, you'll be at a disadvantage.
So let's start with the first step in this process. Choosing a Pokemon to breed. For the purpose of this article, let's look at Gengar.
Now, there are a handful of components that go into breeding a Pokemon. But before we get into that, it's time to talk the birds and the bees.
In order to breed a Pokemon, you must pair them with another Pokemon in the daycare. Eggs take a certain amount of steps to hatch, which you can find out on their Serebii Pokedex pages. Having a Pokemon with the Ability Flame Body in your party will halve the steps needed. You can find "Breeding Paths" online that show where you can mindlessly hold a button and get the steps "automatically".
While almost every Pokemon can breed, there is a caveat. Each Pokemon is in an egg group and can only breed with Pokemon from within that Egg Group, or Ditto. There are quite a few Egg Groups and some Pokemon can be found in multiple Groups.
In order to breed a Pokemon, you must pair them with another Pokemon in the daycare. Eggs take a certain amount of steps to hatch, which you can find out on their Serebii Pokedex pages. Having a Pokemon with the Ability Flame Body in your party will halve the steps needed. You can find "Breeding Paths" online that show where you can mindlessly hold a button and get the steps "automatically".
While almost every Pokemon can breed, there is a caveat. Each Pokemon is in an egg group and can only breed with Pokemon from within that Egg Group, or Ditto. There are quite a few Egg Groups and some Pokemon can be found in multiple Groups.
The Ditto Egg Group is the most unique Egg Group. Although it only contains Ditto, any Pokemon that can breed can breed with Ditto. In addition to that, any Pokemon found in the Undiscovered Egg Group, can NOT breed, regardless of its partner in the Daycare. As for the rest of the groups, click here to find out which Pokemon is in which Egg Group, and scroll all the way to the bottom for a drop down menu.
Now, you may ask yourself, "Ryan, why bother teaching us Egg Groups if everything can just breed with Ditto?". Well, for the most part, I urge you to just find a Ditto and use it for the majority of your breeding. It's easy and you never have to worry about spending in game money to take out 2 Pokemon every time you're done breeding. However, an important factor in Breeding is Egg Moves. These are Moves that the Pokemon can only obtain via Breeding. Unfortunately, Ditto doesn't give any Pokemon any kind of Egg Move. So, this is where Egg Groups come into play. Let's talk Gengar. Here are Gengar's Egg Moves, as listed on Serebii.net.
Now, you may ask yourself, "Ryan, why bother teaching us Egg Groups if everything can just breed with Ditto?". Well, for the most part, I urge you to just find a Ditto and use it for the majority of your breeding. It's easy and you never have to worry about spending in game money to take out 2 Pokemon every time you're done breeding. However, an important factor in Breeding is Egg Moves. These are Moves that the Pokemon can only obtain via Breeding. Unfortunately, Ditto doesn't give any Pokemon any kind of Egg Move. So, this is where Egg Groups come into play. Let's talk Gengar. Here are Gengar's Egg Moves, as listed on Serebii.net.
When you want an Egg Move on a Pokemon, you need a Female of the Pokemon you want (Gengar, in this case), and a Male Pokemon that has the move you want bred on. So, for example, let's get the move Astonish, onto our hypothetical Gengar. All you have to do, to easily get this information, is go to the right most column and click "Details". For example, here is Astonish's details.
As you can see, there are quite a few Pokemon that can give Gengar the move Astonish and it's broken down how they can obtain that move themselves. You usually have a few options; Level Up in X&Y, Level Up in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, or an Egg Move of their own. So, for example, Both of the Level Up sections for Astonish are the same, so you can choose anyone of the Pokemon listed, level them up to the appropriate level, and then breed it with the Female Gengar. However, some moves aren't that easy. As you can see, Gengar can also get Astonish from other Pokemon that also obtain it from an Egg Move as well. For moves like Astonish, where you do have an option to obtain a move from Level Up, it's no more complicated that what I said before. However, imagine a move that a compatible Pokemon doesn't learn via level up. What then? Well, to continue with our example, what would happen if you wanted your Gengar to have the attack Reflect Type?
As you can tell, not a single Pokemon learns Reflect Type via Level Up, in both X&Y and Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. What this means is that you need to choose another Pokemon that obtains it via Breeding, and start what we call a "Breeding Chain". Basically, you click each Pokemon to find the shortest chain to a Pokemon that learns Reflect Type via Level Up. Sometimes you have to breed multiple Pokemon. For example, Stunfisk also has Reflect Type as and Egg Move, so we need to find another breeding partner. Thankfully, the Omastar line also gets Reflect Type and can breed with Stunfisk. Unfortunately, Reflect Type is also and Egg Move here. So, we must go deeper. Thankfully, the chain ends here, as Omastar can breed with Tentacruel, who gets Reflect Type via Level Up. So, our Breeding Chain ends up becoming as follows. Level a Tentacruel to get Reflect Type and breed it with a Female Omastar. The Omanyte that results from the Egg will now have Reflect Type. Now, we need an Omanyte that is Male and a Female Stunfisk. Then, grab yourself a Male Stunfisk from that, and breed it with a Female Gengar. FINALLY, you'll have a Gengar with Reflect Type. Sometimes breeding for a specific move can be involved, but you shouldn't need to hatch more than a handful of eggs, as the move will ALWAYS be a part of the hatched Pokemon, so all you need to do is breed for the proper gender. There is one slight caveat, however. Since every Pokemon can only have 4 Attacks learned, this means that you're limited to 4 Egg Moves. Such is life.
Now, I mentioned it very quickly in the previous section, but this is important. If you aren't breeding with a Ditto, you need a Female of the Pokemon to breed with. Eggs produced will always follow what the Female Pokemon is, with the exception of Ditto. Male or Female, Ditto's partner will always produce a Pokemon of that species.
So before we talk about how to achieve certain aspects via breeding, let's first talk about the chain of breeding, or, in which order you should approach each aspect. So, the order would be; Egg Moves >/= Ability > Nature > IVs. However, as I'll explain in a bit, it might be a good idea to approach the Ability while you are in the final steps of getting all of the Egg Moves you want.
So, Abilities. As we covered in the previous entry, Pokemon have somewhere between 1-3 Abilities. One of these potential Abilities can be something called a Hidden Ability. If the parent Pokemon does not have the Hidden Ability, it can NOT be passed down. Much like Egg Moves, a Hidden Ability can only be passed down via a Female parent, or a parent paired with Ditto. How do you get these Hidden Abilities? There are a few ways. In fact, there are so many specific ways, it's best you just follow this link.
So, what about breeding Abilities? Well, no matter what Ability the parent Pokemon has, it'll still be a chance. As mentioned, if you want the Hidden Ability, the parent must have that Ability. However, the resulting Egg still only has a 60% chance to have said ability, and then another 20% chance for the other abilities, if it has 2 other choices, or 40% if it only has 1 other choice. On the contrary, if you don't want the Hidden Ability, or don't have it, the parent Pokemon, basically not Ditto, has an 80% chance to pass on it's ability, and a 20% chance to pass on it's other Ability, if it has one. So let's look at Gengar again.
Now, I mentioned it very quickly in the previous section, but this is important. If you aren't breeding with a Ditto, you need a Female of the Pokemon to breed with. Eggs produced will always follow what the Female Pokemon is, with the exception of Ditto. Male or Female, Ditto's partner will always produce a Pokemon of that species.
So before we talk about how to achieve certain aspects via breeding, let's first talk about the chain of breeding, or, in which order you should approach each aspect. So, the order would be; Egg Moves >/= Ability > Nature > IVs. However, as I'll explain in a bit, it might be a good idea to approach the Ability while you are in the final steps of getting all of the Egg Moves you want.
So, Abilities. As we covered in the previous entry, Pokemon have somewhere between 1-3 Abilities. One of these potential Abilities can be something called a Hidden Ability. If the parent Pokemon does not have the Hidden Ability, it can NOT be passed down. Much like Egg Moves, a Hidden Ability can only be passed down via a Female parent, or a parent paired with Ditto. How do you get these Hidden Abilities? There are a few ways. In fact, there are so many specific ways, it's best you just follow this link.
So, what about breeding Abilities? Well, no matter what Ability the parent Pokemon has, it'll still be a chance. As mentioned, if you want the Hidden Ability, the parent must have that Ability. However, the resulting Egg still only has a 60% chance to have said ability, and then another 20% chance for the other abilities, if it has 2 other choices, or 40% if it only has 1 other choice. On the contrary, if you don't want the Hidden Ability, or don't have it, the parent Pokemon, basically not Ditto, has an 80% chance to pass on it's ability, and a 20% chance to pass on it's other Ability, if it has one. So let's look at Gengar again.
Gengar only has one Ability, Levitate, so no matter how you breed it, you'll always end up with Levitate as the Egg's Ability. Easy enough.
Say you're breeding a Charizard, though.
Charizard has Blaze as its normal Ability, and Solar Power as its Hidden Ability. If you want to breed Solar Power, you'll need a parent Charizard with Solar Power, which will get you a 60% chance to obtain said Ability. If you want Blaze, you can breed a Charizard with Solar Power and hope for the 40% chance to get Blaze, or, get a Charizard with Blaze and any eggs it produces will always have Blaze as the Ability.
But let's go one step further. Say you're breeding a Shuckle.
Shuckle can have the Abilities Gluttony and Sturdy as its normal Abilities, or Contrary as its Hidden Ability. Much like Charizard, if you want Contrary on your Shuckle, you'll need a parent Shuckle with the Ability. If you want Gluttony or Sturdy, you have a few option. You can stick a Shuckle with Contrary into the daycare for a 20% chance at either Ability. If you wanted to test your luck, going for Sturdy as an example, you can put in a Gluttony Shuckle for a 20% chance at Sturdy. Finally, you can put in a Shuckle with the Ability you want (Non-Hidden that is), and have an 80% chance to get that Ability in the egg.
And that's breeding for Abilities. The only way to get Hidden Abilities bred, is to have that Ability already. As for other Abilities, it's best to already have said Ability.
So, moving down the list, we come to Natures. As explained in the last entry, there are quite the handful of Natures. At this point in the chain of breeding, you can make it easy on yourself. I highly suggest you find yourself a Ditto that has every single Nature. Ditto are easily found in X&Y, so if you have that game, you're in luck. After a while of catching a bajillion Ditto, you should be golden. You see, at this point in the breeding process, you don't need to breed for anything that Ditto can not provide, thus, you're safe to use Ditto from here on out. If you can't find plenty of Ditto, it's a crapshoot. Each Nature has the same chance of being bred out, so you might be stuck breeding for a while. Either way, you'll eventually come to an Egg that has the Nature you want. Now, the most important aspect of this part is locking in that Nature. Whether you have a Ditto with the appropriate Nature, or you bred 1000 Gengars to get the right Nature, this next step is important. Take the Pokemon with the right Nature, either the Ditto or the bred Pokemon, and attach an Everstone. This will guarantee that every egg hatched will retain the Nature that you want. And that's all there is to breeding for Natures. Once you have the Everstone attached, you'll never have to worry about it again.
Now, finally, the hardest, and most time consuming aspect of Breeding; Individual Values. Before we talk about this, I'd like to mention that in Sun and Moon, there is a chance this portion will become obsolete. You see, they are introducing a new mechanic where you can influence IVs outside of Breeding. No one knows how it will work just yet, so there's no point in NOT talking about obtaining IVs via Breeding. So let's get into it!
Every Pokemon is "born" with a set number for each stat. We've gone over this in the previous entry, and these are called Individual Values, or IVs for short. For the most part, you will want 31 IVs in most stats. For example, our Gengar that we've been using as an example will want an IV Spread of 31/x/31/31/31/31. The x means that it really doesn't matter, as we won't be using those stats. Also, the spread follows the stats in this order: Hp/Atk/Def/SpAtk/SpDef/Speed.
So, every Pokemon is born with an IV for each stat that's between 0 and 31. If you want to find out what stats your Pokemon has, a Judge will tell you in a very roundabout way. Follow this link to find out what they say to help. What's important, though, is that the Judge will have specific phrases for perfect stats, such as 31 or 0. A 0 IV is useful in certain situations, but I'll cover that in future entries.
Now, before we get further into how to get specific IVs, we must talk about Hidden Power. Hidden Power is an Attack that changes type based on the IVs of a Pokemon. Check this link to understand which IVs lead to which Hidden Power. Since the judge will give you a phrase that's only a RANGE of IVs, outside of 31 and 0, it's impossible to judge which specific IVs your Pokemon have. In this case, you must use an IV Calculator. Just follow the instructions on the bottom of the page and you'll get it down.
So, with all of that out of the way, how do we even achieve such a perfect IV spread on a Pokemon? Well, the easiest way to begin this process is either catch a partner Pokemon in the Friend Safari (X&Y) or via the DexNav (ORAS). These Pokemon will always have at least a few perfect IVs, no matter what. Now, I don't know much about DexNav, so I can't give you a guide, but since it isn't necessary, if you want to try that method you'll have to look it up yourself. The other way to start is to find a perfect parent, most notable a 6 IV Ditto, online. However, the most common option is to simply just breed to your hearts content until you get a single perfect IV. Regardless of which option you choose, you have two options to approach passing those IVs down.
Now, finally, the hardest, and most time consuming aspect of Breeding; Individual Values. Before we talk about this, I'd like to mention that in Sun and Moon, there is a chance this portion will become obsolete. You see, they are introducing a new mechanic where you can influence IVs outside of Breeding. No one knows how it will work just yet, so there's no point in NOT talking about obtaining IVs via Breeding. So let's get into it!
Every Pokemon is "born" with a set number for each stat. We've gone over this in the previous entry, and these are called Individual Values, or IVs for short. For the most part, you will want 31 IVs in most stats. For example, our Gengar that we've been using as an example will want an IV Spread of 31/x/31/31/31/31. The x means that it really doesn't matter, as we won't be using those stats. Also, the spread follows the stats in this order: Hp/Atk/Def/SpAtk/SpDef/Speed.
So, every Pokemon is born with an IV for each stat that's between 0 and 31. If you want to find out what stats your Pokemon has, a Judge will tell you in a very roundabout way. Follow this link to find out what they say to help. What's important, though, is that the Judge will have specific phrases for perfect stats, such as 31 or 0. A 0 IV is useful in certain situations, but I'll cover that in future entries.
Now, before we get further into how to get specific IVs, we must talk about Hidden Power. Hidden Power is an Attack that changes type based on the IVs of a Pokemon. Check this link to understand which IVs lead to which Hidden Power. Since the judge will give you a phrase that's only a RANGE of IVs, outside of 31 and 0, it's impossible to judge which specific IVs your Pokemon have. In this case, you must use an IV Calculator. Just follow the instructions on the bottom of the page and you'll get it down.
So, with all of that out of the way, how do we even achieve such a perfect IV spread on a Pokemon? Well, the easiest way to begin this process is either catch a partner Pokemon in the Friend Safari (X&Y) or via the DexNav (ORAS). These Pokemon will always have at least a few perfect IVs, no matter what. Now, I don't know much about DexNav, so I can't give you a guide, but since it isn't necessary, if you want to try that method you'll have to look it up yourself. The other way to start is to find a perfect parent, most notable a 6 IV Ditto, online. However, the most common option is to simply just breed to your hearts content until you get a single perfect IV. Regardless of which option you choose, you have two options to approach passing those IVs down.
The first of which is slapping a Power item onto the Pokemon with the perfect stat. These items will pass down a single IV in relation to the chart above. Say we bred our Gengar earlier and the Gastly that popped out had a 31 IV in Speed. If we use a Power Anklet on that Gastly while breeding, every egg will always have that perfect Speed IV. But what about when we get more than 2 perfect IVs?
The only option from there on out is to use a Destiny Knot. A Destiny Knot will pass 5 IVs taken from both of the parents. It doesn't matter who holds the Destiny Knot, as it has a random chance to pass down 5 IVs from both or either Pokemon.
Now, the process of eventually getting to 5 or 6 perfect IVs is fairly similar, but slightly varies depending on how you start. If you do not have a perfect parent at the beginning, you have to replace the parent Pokemon more often. Once you get the 2 perfect IVs, breed for a Pokemon with 3 perfect IVs. Once you get a Pokemon with 3 perfect IVs, replace the parent that doesn't have 2 perfect IVs. So now, using our Gasty as an example, you'll have a Gastly with 3 perfect IVs breeding with a Gastly who has 2 perfect IVs. From here, breed for a Gastly with 4 perfect IVs and then use that Gastly to replace the Gastly with 2 perfect IVs. Keep replacing the parent with the least amount of perfect IVs with the new hatch that has more perfect IVs. Eventually, you'll end up with two 4 perfect IV Pokemon, and from there on out, it's just a matter of time for a 5 or 6 IV Pokemon.
If you have a Pokemon with 5 or 6 perfect IVs, this process is way more streamlined. Instead of replacing every single parent with something better, you just have to replace one of the parents, Gastly in our case. And form there, as before, you keep on replacing that Pokemon with the Pokemon that you breed that has more perfect IVs.
What about breeding for Hidden Power? Well, for the most part, it is the same. You breed, replace and repeat. However, there are a few extra steps in between. For starters, every egg you hatch, you will want to bring it over to the Hidden Power Checker. This NPC will let you know what Hidden Power a Pokemon has. From there, you'll wan to know the specific stats. Everything said and done, you still want your Pokemon to have the highest IVs possible, and in Hidden Power's case, that's usually 30. So, from here, once you discover the Hidden Power, check out the Battle Institute. This will automatically level your Pokemon to level 50. From here, input the stats into the IV Calculator I linked above and you'll figure out what the IVs are. From there, breed, breed, breed! Eventually, lady luck will shine upon you and you'll get the proper IV spread.
Finally, let me drop a useful bit of information that isn't competitive, but will make your life easier. Make note of the picture below.
The only option from there on out is to use a Destiny Knot. A Destiny Knot will pass 5 IVs taken from both of the parents. It doesn't matter who holds the Destiny Knot, as it has a random chance to pass down 5 IVs from both or either Pokemon.
Now, the process of eventually getting to 5 or 6 perfect IVs is fairly similar, but slightly varies depending on how you start. If you do not have a perfect parent at the beginning, you have to replace the parent Pokemon more often. Once you get the 2 perfect IVs, breed for a Pokemon with 3 perfect IVs. Once you get a Pokemon with 3 perfect IVs, replace the parent that doesn't have 2 perfect IVs. So now, using our Gasty as an example, you'll have a Gastly with 3 perfect IVs breeding with a Gastly who has 2 perfect IVs. From here, breed for a Gastly with 4 perfect IVs and then use that Gastly to replace the Gastly with 2 perfect IVs. Keep replacing the parent with the least amount of perfect IVs with the new hatch that has more perfect IVs. Eventually, you'll end up with two 4 perfect IV Pokemon, and from there on out, it's just a matter of time for a 5 or 6 IV Pokemon.
If you have a Pokemon with 5 or 6 perfect IVs, this process is way more streamlined. Instead of replacing every single parent with something better, you just have to replace one of the parents, Gastly in our case. And form there, as before, you keep on replacing that Pokemon with the Pokemon that you breed that has more perfect IVs.
What about breeding for Hidden Power? Well, for the most part, it is the same. You breed, replace and repeat. However, there are a few extra steps in between. For starters, every egg you hatch, you will want to bring it over to the Hidden Power Checker. This NPC will let you know what Hidden Power a Pokemon has. From there, you'll wan to know the specific stats. Everything said and done, you still want your Pokemon to have the highest IVs possible, and in Hidden Power's case, that's usually 30. So, from here, once you discover the Hidden Power, check out the Battle Institute. This will automatically level your Pokemon to level 50. From here, input the stats into the IV Calculator I linked above and you'll figure out what the IVs are. From there, breed, breed, breed! Eventually, lady luck will shine upon you and you'll get the proper IV spread.
Finally, let me drop a useful bit of information that isn't competitive, but will make your life easier. Make note of the picture below.
In the image, I circled what is called "Markings". You can control which shapes are highlighted and this is the PERFECT way to keep track of which IVs your Pokemon have. Following the order that we established above, you'll note that; Circle = HP, Triangle = Atk, Square = Def, Heart = SpAtk, Star = SpDef, and Diamond = Speed. You might notice people online using this system as well, so make sure you remember this!
And that, my friends, is how to breed. It's tedious, especially the IV aspect. There is nothing innately difficult about it, but it's something that can take a while to get done. Either way, it's impossible to get by in a competitive battle without it, so make sure you do it!
And that, my friends, is how to breed. It's tedious, especially the IV aspect. There is nothing innately difficult about it, but it's something that can take a while to get done. Either way, it's impossible to get by in a competitive battle without it, so make sure you do it!