Breeding - The Basics
In Pokémon, you can breed two Pokémon to get an Egg, which holds an unevolved form of the same species as the mother. This feature allows you to get new Pokémon to train for competitive battles, and the breeding mechanics allows for a lot of customization on the player's part to make the best Pokémon possible. However, there's a lot of information to learn to effectively breed your Pokémon.
First, you must find the Pokémon Day Care in your respective game. Then, you must leave two Pokémon of different genders and of the same egg groups. Finally, you must take 255 steps for the game to randomly determine if the Day Care will find a Pokémon egg for you to pick up.
First, you must find the Pokémon Day Care in your respective game. Then, you must leave two Pokémon of different genders and of the same egg groups. Finally, you must take 255 steps for the game to randomly determine if the Day Care will find a Pokémon egg for you to pick up.
Finding the Daycare Center
The first and easiest step in Pokémon breeding. The Pokémon Daycare Center is present in all games and will be hard to miss if you happen to be walking around in the general vicinity. Below are the Daycare Center locations for Gen IV to Gen VI games:
- Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum: Solaceon Town
- Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver: Route 34
- Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2: Route 3
- Pokémon X and Y: Route 7
Leaving Compatible Pokémon
Next, you must leave two Pokémon of different genders and of the same egg groups. This is the requirement for Pokémon to be qualified to create a Pokémon egg. For example, leaving a male Charizard (Monster and Dragon egg groups) with either a female Dragonite (Dragon egg group) or a female Snorlax (Monster egg group) will allow you to potentially pick up a Pokémon egg in the future. If, however, you leave a male Venusaur (Monster egg group) with a female Arbok (Field egg group) will have no chance of producing an egg.
There are a few Pokémon that are not able to breed and produce eggs.
There are a few Pokémon that are not able to breed and produce eggs.
- Genderless Pokémon - Pokémon with no defined genders, like Porygon, cannot breed and produce eggs unless their partner is Ditto.
- Legendary Pokémon - all Legendary Pokémon, like Mewtwo, cannot breed and produce eggs. There are only two Legendary Pokémon for which this rule does not apply: Phione and Manaphy.
- Nidorina and Nidoqueen - perhaps due to a glitch in the older games, Nidorina and Nidoqueen are unable to breed and produce eggs. This still applies to newer games. Their male counterparts, Nidorino and Nidoking, do not have this limitation.
- Baby Pokémon - Pokémon classified as babies, like Togepi or Pichu, are not able to breed and produce eggs. Their evolved forms, however, do not have this limitation.
- Ditto - Ditto can breed with other Pokémon and produce an egg for their species, but Ditto cannot yield Ditto eggs.
Finding an Egg
After leaving two compatible parents at the Day Care, you must take 255 steps to force the game to randomly decide whether or not the parents produce an egg. If after 255 steps they do not produce an egg, simply take another 255 steps to make the game randomly decide again.
The likelihood of an egg being produced after every 255 steps is calculated as follows:
The likelihood of an egg being produced after every 255 steps is calculated as follows:
- The two Pokémon are of the same species but different owners: 70%.
- The two Pokémon are of the same species and same owners: 50%
- The two Pokémon are of different species and different owners: 50%
- The two Pokémon are of different species but same owners: 20%
- The two Pokémon are incapable of making an egg: 0%
Pokémon Inheritance
Just like in real life, newborn Pokémon inherit some things from their parents. These are listed below:
- Individual Values - 3 random IVs from the parents are chosen and given to the newborn Pokémon
- Ability - If the mother Pokémon has a Hidden Ability, the newborn Pokémon has a 60% chance of inheriting that ability (In Gen VI, this is increased to 80% and not limited to Hidden Abilities)
- Nature - If one of the parents was holding an Everstone, the newborn Pokémon is guaranteed to inherit that parent's Nature (only in Pokémon Heartgold/Soulsilver and games released afterwards).
- Egg Moves - If the father Pokémon has moves that are listed as Egg Moves for Pokémon of the mother's species, then the newborn Pokémon will be guaranteed to inherit those moves (In Gen VI, mother Pokémon are also able to pass down Egg Moves).
What Will Hatch?
Most of the time, the species of the Pokémon that is hatched will always be the same as the species of the mother Pokémon. The main exceptions are when you breed a Pokémon with a Ditto partner, where the offspring will always be of the same species as the non-Ditto parent, and when you breed a Nidoran♀ or a member of the Nidoran♂ line with compatible mates.
Same Species, Same Evolution, Same Egg Group
Same Species, Different Evolution, Same Egg Group
Different Species, Same Egg Group
Special Case: Nidoran (Also applies to Volbeat/Illumise lines)
Ditto Partner
Different Egg Group
Unknown Egg Group
Further Reading
Click HERE for a more in-depth explanation of the breeding mechanics of Pokémon on Bulbapedia, including how its changed with each generation of games. Bulbapedia also has a list of Egg Groups HERE, with links to a list of Pokémon in each individual egg group and a quick read on the advanced concept of Chain Breeding.