Breeding for Beginners: Pokemon Breeding

Learn the basics of Pokemon breeding in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire! Find out where to breed, how to get Eggs, and what your new Pokemon can inherit.

Alright, so you want to get into breeding Pokémon in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire? It sounds complicated, but it's actually pretty straightforward once you know where to go and what to do. Think of it like this: you're setting up your Pokémon for success by giving them the best possible start!

First things first, you'll need to progress a bit in the game until you reach Route 117. This is where the magic happens. You'll find the Daycare Centre here, and this is where you'll leave your Pokémon to do their thing.

Where to Breed

Once you've found the Daycare Centre on Route 117, you can leave two Pokémon there. They'll gain 1 EXP for every step you take while they're in the Daycare. When you want to get them back, it'll cost you $100 plus an extra $100 for every level they've gained. Just a heads-up, though: you can't control which moves they learn or forget while they're in there, and they won't evolve if they reach a level-up evolution point. Keep that in mind!

How to Breed

So, how do you actually get Pokémon to breed? It's pretty simple: you need two Pokémon, one male and one female. You can tell their gender by the little symbol next to their name in battle – a blue arrow for male and a pink cross for female. If a Pokémon has no mark, it's genderless and usually can't breed. There are some exceptions, but we'll get to those later.

When you leave two Pokémon of opposite genders (or in those special cases) at the Daycare, there's a chance they'll produce an Egg. You'll know when an Egg is ready because the man standing outside the Daycare will give it to you. It's pretty exciting to get your first Egg!

The Pokémon inside that Egg can inherit some pretty cool stuff from its parents. This includes things like IVs (which are basically hidden stats that affect growth), Natures (which give a 10% bonus or penalty to certain stats), some moves, and even the species itself!

How to Hatch

Now for the fun part: hatching the Egg! To do this, just carry the Egg around in your party. As you walk, bike, or skate around the Hoenn region, the Egg will slowly get closer to hatching. Depending on the species inside, it can take anywhere from 5,000 to a whopping 31,000 steps. Don't stress too much about it; just keep moving!

You can actually speed up this process quite a bit. If you have a Pokémon in your party with the Magma Armor or Flame Body ability, it'll make the Egg hatch much faster. So, try to get a Pokémon with one of those abilities if you're serious about breeding!