Pokemon Advanced Breeding Mechanics

By Matt

For those that want to breed especially powerful Pokemon, the Day-Care is an especially important place to utilize. The Day-Care has a couple of hidden mechanics that have been revealed through some players. I felt strange when hearing a couple of breeding secrets from my friend, but after I tried it, I was sorry that I doubted. Breeding is a relatively simple concept that most people do every day. They could breed Pokemon to trade in the GTS, or have a collection of their favorites. But, breeding for competitions is one of the most important reasons. Players can have boxes full of Pokemon that didn’t make the cut, which will soon have to be released in order to obtain newer, original Pokemon. What the Day-Care Man tells you is a very important message. The message you want to see is that your Pokemon get along, or they get along very well. This means that your Pokemon will have the highest probability of making Eggs. The higher the probability, the more often the Day-Care Man will give you Eggs.

What you don’t want to hear if you’re breeding is that they prefer to play with others. This means that you’ve made a small error when picking breeding partners. Keep in mind that they have to be in the same Egg group (some Pokemon have several), and must be of opposite gender. Remember, breeding legendaries with no genders will not work. However, some legendaries, like Manaphy, can breed. However, it can breed only with Ditto, since only one exists in the whole game.

Now, let’s look a little closer at breeding mechanics. For example, did you know that the Everstone provides a 50% chance for the offspring to have the same nature as the breeding partner that holds it? I didn’t know, but my friend told me that it saves a lot of time, and delivers results. I looked around for the next hint, but Power items (the ones that give 4 EVs no matter what you fight) have a 50% chance of carrying the holder’s IV in that stat to the child. If you’ve read about IVs, you know the highest one in each chart, so try to aim for a Pokemon with that IV. If it passes on, you could have a very special Pokemon as a result. This is because its IV could be maximum, giving a chance for its other stats to as well.

Recently, I’ve tried breeding a Chikorita with a good HP IV and a Bold nature. I’ve gotten many, but after consulting the judge in Gear Station, it severely limits my choices, since the judge tells you how your Pokemon ranks. So, if you want to breed and end up with Pokemon that have the highest potential, remember what I’ve said, and put it to good use.

Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White