Tools for Breeding

Learn about essential breeding tools in pokemon sword and shield, including the Everstone, Destiny Knot, Ditto, and Shiny Charm.

Everstone

You can obtain an Everstone for free. This hold item prevents Pokémon from evolving, but if a Pokémon holds an Everstone, it will always pass down its Nature to its offspring. Without an Everstone, the offspring will have a completely random Nature. You can find an Everstone in a sparkling spot in Turffield, south-east from the stadium. If you’ve lost it, you can obtain more randomly from the Digging Duo in the Wild Area’s Bridge Field or via Poké Jobs.

Destiny Knot

So long as one of the parents is holding a Destiny Knot, the offspring will inherit a total of 5 IVs from its parents, instead of the usual 3. The easiest way to get a Destiny Knot is after beating the game. Once you gain access to the Battle Tower, win a few battles until you acquire 10 BP. Then return to the (first) Hammerlocke Pokémon Centre and buy a Destiny Knot from the BP Shop below the Poké Mart clerks. You can also earn BP from online battles and tournaments, etc.

A Ditto (or Multiple)

One of Ditto’s useful properties is that it can breed with any Pokémon that can normally breed. In this scenario, it can substitute for the male or female Pokémon. This can be useful when breeding a particular species that has a larger chance of being male, so you don’t need to find a female of that species. You can catch Ditto as an uncommon overworld encounter in the Lake of Outrage within the Wild Area. In addition, you’re guaranteed a Max Raid Battle with Ditto in the Pokémon Den in the south-eastern corner of Stony Wilderness, if there’s a rare raid (indicated by a purple beam of light).

Oval Charm

If you want to speed up the rate of receiving eggs from the Pokémon Nursery, you’ll need to defeat Morimoto in an upstairs hotel room in Circhester (it’ll be the first room on the left in the left-hand side hotel). Do so and you’ll receive this Key Item. However, you must be the Champion to challenge him.

Shiny Charm

If you obtain all 400 Pokémon in the Galar Pokédex, you can obtain the Shiny Charm from the doctor in an upstairs hotel room in Circhester (it’ll be the left-most room in the left-hand side hotel). This Key Item will provide two additional chances for a Pokémon to be shiny.

Pokémon with a Different Language Tag

When you breed a Pokémon with another Pokémon that has a different language tag compared to it, the game will give you five additional chances for a Pokémon to be shiny. This can stack with the Shiny Charm. The easiest way to obtain Pokémon with a different language tag is probably via Surprise Trade. If possible, try to arrange for a trade for a foreign Ditto, since it can work with any Pokémon.

Pokémon that Speed up Egg Hatching

After receiving your egg, you can speed up the rate of egg hatching if you have a party Pokémon with one of the following Abilities: Flame Body, Magma Armor or Steam Engine. These Abilities do not stack with each other or themselves, so you only need one. Common Pokémon that fit this bill include: Litwick, Lampert and Chandelure (Flame Body); Rolycoly (Steam Engine); Carkol and Coalossal (Steam Engine or Flame Body). Your best bet is the Rolycoly line, starting from Carkol. Because it’s guaranteed to have Steam Engine or Flame Body. Unless you catch one in a raid, in which case it may have its Hidden Ability Flash Fire, which won’t work here.

Judge Function

To unlock the Judge Function, you must become the Champion first. Then battle your way through the Battle Tower until you reach Rank 4. Once you’ve got it, simply press the + or - Button when viewing Pokémon in your boxes until you reach the Judge display.