How to Breed Pokemon Eggs in the Nursery [Pokémon Sun and Moon]

This article contains information on how to efficiently hand-pick Pokemons. Hand-picking in Pokemon is defined as obtaining a Pokemon with the ideal Individual Value (IV) by catching and hatching the Pokemon numerous times

What is hand-picking?

To catch and hatch a Pokemon numerous times to obtain an individual with a ideal ability and IV is called hand-picking.

The most common method hen hand-picking is mass hatching.

[Related Article]
Tips and Tricks: Breeding

Preparation

• The Pokemon species you want to hand-pick.
• A male with the ideal Nature that belongs to the same egg group as the target Pokemon; A Ditto. (It will make hand-picking much easier. A Ditto with high IVs is recommended.)
• Item: Everstone
• Item: Destiny Knot
• Pokemon with the Ability: Flame Body/ Magma Armor

It is convenient to have a Pokemon with  the ability Flame Body or Magma Armor as it halves the total steps required to hatch the egg. Needless to say, the male Pokemon can be the same species as the target Pokemon. If the female Pokemon has the ideal Nature, than the male Pokemon’s Nature doesn’t matter.

If Ditto is used, the gender of the target’s species can either be ♂ or ♀.

How to obtain the desired Pokemon

■ By using Power Items

This method allows you to efficiently obtain a 2 to 3 IV Pokémon.

Whenever a Pokemon holds a Power Item while it is placed in the Nursery with another, the Individual values will be inherited through:

• If Pokemon A holds a Power item while it is placed in the nursery with B, 3 random IVs will be passed down to the offspring.
• Among the three IVs passed down, one of those comes from the Power Item. For example: If the item Power Bracer is held, the Attack IV of the holder will be passed down to the offspring.

The above steps is effective in obtaining Pokemon that has at least (3) 31 individual values (IV).

■ By using Destiny Knot

This method applies when both Pokemon already have at least (3) 31 IVs. A Ditto with a high IV can be used in this method as well.

If you attach the Destiny Knot to one of the parents, the Individual value (IV) that are passed down increases to 5. This method makes it possible to obtain a perfect (6) 31 IV Pokemon.

Example:

Case 1: If the parents have the following IVs: Male has 31 IVs in HP, Attack, and Defense; while Female has 31 IVs in HP, Attack, Defense, and Sp.Defense. This case is inefficient since there is no 31 IV in Sp.Attack and Speed, in effect it will be left to relying on a low chance.

Case 2: If the parents have the following IVs: Male has 31 IVs in HP, Attack, and Defense; while the Female  has 31 IVs in Sp.Attack, Sp.Defense, and Speed. This case is efficient since it is possible to obtain a 31 IV in each stat. This makes it easier to obtain the desired Pokemon with high IVs.

■ Passing down Egg Moves

Egg moves can be passed down from both the male and female.

To obtain a Pokemon with an egg move, a male parent which learns that compatible move to be passed down should be placed in the Nursery with the female parent that belongs to the compatible species.

Individual Value (IV) Inheritance (“Time Machine Method”)

Note that the following information is currently being verified and there are some uncertainties.

In this version of the game, the Individual value (IV) inherited  appears to be set when you save in front of the NPC holding the egg unless the parent is swapped. This condition applies to all eggs that will be obtained after rejecting the first egg.

This means you get to know how the IV will be inherited for the next hatching egg.

■ About Changing Parents

For example, when Pikachu ♂ and Pikachu ♀’s IVs are determined, replacing the parents through resetting with other Pikachu (same species as the first parents), the same IV arrangement will apply to the offspring.

However, if you change the former Pikachu parents with Smeargle ♂ and Eevee ♀, this method will not work.

But the method will work if you change a Eevee with another Eevee since the parents conditions are the same.

If Ditto is swapped for one of the parents, it will work. Since in spite of Ditto belonging to a different egg group of its own, it still functions as the opposite gender of the other species when placed in the Nursery.

[Steps]

① Check individual values of the first parents

Note down the IV of the parents that you deposit before resetting.

Avoid using a male and female that has a similar IV arrangement.

The table below is an example of the parents IV arrangement.

② Determining the Individual value arrangements

Have one of the parents hold the Destiny Knot and deposit it with another pokemon in the nursery. Hatch several eggs afterwards.

Examine the IV of the new born Pokemons and see how the IV inherits.

The table below is an example of an IV arrangement for the hatched eggs.

The blue numbers indicate the individual values (IV) passed down from the ♂ parent while the red numbers were from the ♀ parent. For example: The fifth child obtained its HP, Sp.Defense, and Speed IVs from the ♂, while its Defense and Sp.Attack were from the ♀ parent.  This means that the following IVs can be passed down from the two Pokemon placed in the Nursery. The 5th egg has obtained 5 IVs from its parents with the exception of the Attack.

③ Reset and replace with compatible parents

Once you figure out how the IVs inherits, reset the game. Check which egg number you want to obtain, and replace the parents with new ones that have the desired IV arrangement. The next eggs to be hatched will have the same IV arrangement to the first batch. Avoid the error of replacing parents with incompatible ones. Please follow the table on Changing the Parents by only using parents that would result in IVs not changing (does not change).

■ Rejecting the egg

For each time you refuse an egg, the next eggs will obtain a random set of IVs where some of which are passed down from its parents. Whenever you reset, the order of IVs passed down is the same as the first provided that you have saved correctly and used parents that are compatible to switch with the previous ones.

With this process, it is possible to reset the game in order to control the IVs passed down from the parents. This can be done by resetting then changing the parents.

The table provides a summary of the individual values (IV) obtained for each egg.

Pokemon Sun and Moon Recommended Article List

This article is about Pokemon Sun and Moon. For information about Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon, click below.