Pokemon breeding and Pokemon Eggs have been a part of the franchise since the second generation. As its name implies, breeding involves leaving a male and female Pokemon of a compatible Egg Group at the Pokemon Daycare/Nursery. Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet players looking to hatch Pokemon Eggs will be surprised to know there isn't a Daycare/Nursery in Paldea. Instead, Eggs are obtained through a different method.
Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet introduces the Picnic feature, similar to the Camping in Sword/Shield. Unlike Camping, Picnics are the new way of getting Eggs in Generation 9. If players have already listened in on Jacq's Biology lecture, they'll already know how to hatch the Eggs, but for those that don't, they should take a look through the following guide.
How to Get Eggs
As stated, Pokemon Eggs can be obtained from Picnics. More specifically, they can be found in the basket on the ground next to the table. Unlike the Pokemon Nurseries where players could only obtain one Egg at a time, picnic baskets can hold up to 10 Egg, meaning players can get 10 Eggs just by checking the basket once. However, if non-compatible Pokemon are present during the picnic, then there won't be any Eggs to collect from the basket.
Non-compatible Pokemon can be any of the following, and players will not receive any Eggs from them:
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Different, non-compatible Egg Groups.
- For example: A Gardevoir is part of the Human-Like and Amorphous Egg group. Tyranitar is part of the Monster Egg Group. Since Tyranitar is neither Human-Like or Amorphous, it is not compatible with Gradevoir.
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Pokemon of the same sex.
- Example: Having a picnic with a team full of male Pokemon won't yield any Eggs.
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If a Pokemon at the picnic is incapable of breeding
- Example: Legendaries and Mythical Pokemon, such as Koraidon/Miraidon.
Compatible Pokemon are the following, and players have a chance of receiving one (or more) Eggs from them:
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Two Pokemon of the same Egg Group that are opposite sex.
- For example: Evolutions of the same species of Pokemon can usually produce an Egg. But Pokemon like Muk and Gardevoir, who look nothing alike but share the Amorphous Egg group, can also breed together.
- Ditto and any Pokemon that can breed.
To increase the chances of getting an Egg (or two) in the basket, players can make sandwiches that have Egg Power. This doubles the rate at which Pokemon Eggs appear for a set amount of time. If there's no space in the player's party, Pokemon Eggs will be sent directly to the PC.
Players can get Pokemon Eggs much faster from Compatible Pokemon that have different Trainer IDs, or are from a different language. This is recommended for those looking to Shiny Hunt.
How to Hatch Eggs Quickly
The only way to hatch Eggs is to walk while having them in the Party. Each Pokemon Egg has an "Egg Cycle," which indicates the amount of steps needed to hatch. For example, an Eevee Egg takes 8960 to hatch, while a Riolu Egg takes 6400. The best way to hatch Eggs is by riding around on Koraidon/Miraidon. Get the first Herba Mystica from Arven's quest and Koraidon/Miraidon will be able to boost by pressing down on the left stick.
There are also certain Abilities that make hatching easier. Fletchinder, Fletchling's second evolution, may have an Ability called Flame Body. In-battle, this has a small chance of inflicting the Burn status effect on any Pokemon that attacks it with a Physical move (ex: Quick Attack, Low Kick). Players can check their Pokemon's Ability by going into the menu (X-button), selecting a Pokemon, and "Check Summary."
Outside of battle, Flame Body helps Eggs catch faster. Meaning players can have five Eggs and one Fletchinder in their Party and the Egg Cycle will be much shorter than its original counter. The Eggs don't need to be "surrounding" the Pokemon with Flame Body in the Party. As long as it's there, effects of Flame Body will count for all Eggs.
Keep in mind that a Pokemon Egg will not hatch if it's in the PC.
Some of the benefits of hatching Eggs are obtaining "Baby Pokemon" such as Pichu and Igglybuff. Through chain-breeding, players can get a Pokemon with an Egg Move. These are moves that can't be learned via leveling up or through TMs. Chain-breeding itself may be complicated for newcomers to the series, but it's essentially taking two Pokemon of Compatible Egg groups but different species. A move from the father will then transfer to the offspring. Egg Moves are useful for trainers who play competitively.
Another benefit of hatching Eggs is a Pokemon's Happiness/Friendship level. Every Pokemon species have different Friendship Levels once they're caught, with Legendaries being at 0 and a Pokemon like Pikachu at 50. Hatched Pokemon will instead have a Friendship of 120. This makes it easier to evolve Pokemon that require high friendship to evolve.
Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are available for Nintendo Switch.